Tanzania

Tanzania is East Africa's great safari-and-beach destination — home to the legendary Serengeti and its great migration, the Ngorongoro Crater, and Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, plus the dreamy Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar with its spice farms, turquoise water and atmospheric Stone Town. It pairs world-class wildlife and adventure with white-sand island bliss and a warm, Swahili-coast culture. Vast, beautiful and welcoming, it delivers some of the continent's most iconic experiences. An unforgettable, bucket-list country.

What things cost: Safari and the national parks are expensive (park fees and lodges add up), but Zanzibar and everyday coastal life can be very affordable. Bring US dollars (widely used alongside the shilling); cards work in bigger hotels but cash rules elsewhere. Bargaining is normal in markets. When a zone says 'low', it's cheap by Western standards — the big costs are safaris and flights.