Recommended Books & Films

For trivia fans, Tanzania's Kilimanjaro was the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway's classic short story "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (1936); it was the dramatic backdrop to the animal realm of Disney's The Lion King (1994); and it was mentioned in Toto's 1982 hit song, Africa ("I know that I must do what's right, sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti").

Books

There are countless pictorial books on the big safari destinations such as the Serengeti, as well as Zanzibar, available in Tanzania and these make a great souvenir of a visit. Look out for books by Javed Jafferji, a local photographer who has written several books on Zanzibar style and living. For anyone with an interest in wildlife conservation, choose one of the dozens of books about Jane Goodall, who has dedicated her life to rescuing and caring for chimpanzees in Tanzania.

Over 20,000 people a year attempt to climb Africa's highest peak, and National Geographic's Kilimanjaro: Mountain at a Crossroads is a book of fantastic photography to accompany the IMAX movie of the same name. It covers the geology and history of the mountain and documents the climb. However, it's too heavy to lug up the mountain, so buy it as a souvenir of your own climb.

To get your tongue around the lingo, take along the Lonely Planet Swahili Phrasebook, which contains a comprehensive two-way dictionary with phrases for any situation. Words are spoken as they're spelled, so it's not too difficult to pick up, and having a go at the language is also appreciated by local people.

For a detailed look at how the colonials carved up Africa, dip into Scramble for Africa. Over 700 pages long, it documents the numerous battles and conflicts from 1876 to 1912 when Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Belgium acquired 30 new colonies in a race to "civilize" the African continent. It's a well-written account and tells the good, the bad, and the ugly of a fascinating aspect of world history that changed Africa forever.

Booker Prize finalist William Boyd's An Ice Cream War is set in German East Africa in 1914, as it's swept up in the throes of World War I. It tells the story of German, British, and American settlers, once friendly neighbors who reluctantly turned to enemies on a continent thousands of miles from home.

Another war story, Going Solo, is the second volume of Roald Dahl's autobiography (after the acclaimed Boy), and follows him to Tanganyika to work for an oil company and then into World War II when he was involved in rounding up German colonists before joining the RAF as a pilot. It's an entertaining book about idealistic youth and British bravado in the heat and humidity of Africa.

In Dhow of the Monsoon, writer William H. Holden goes on a hair-raising adventure from Zanzibar to Oman by dhow, hand-built traditional wooden sailing boats that have sailed on the monsoon winds around the Indian Ocean for centuries. They are built exactly the same as they were some 3,000 years ago, with no navigation equipment, no radios, no running lights, and primitive accommodations for its crew.

Films & Music

The 1962 movie Hatari! (meaning "danger" in KiSwahili), starring John Wayne, is a comedy about the adventures of a group of hunters in Africa who have 3 months to fill an order of wild animals for zoos back home. It was shot in and around Arusha National Park.

One of the best-known Masai ceremonial songs is the "Engilakinoto," which is sung after a victorious lion hunt. It's a deep rhythmic chant performed by the warriors who display their strength and prowess by leaping directly and vertically into the air. On the coast is a unique style of music called Taarab, which combines African percussion, Arabic rhythms, and KiSwahili lyrics, and uses large numbers of musicians and Arabian instruments such as the oud. In recent decades, most of Tanzania's popular music has been performed by individual musicians and whole ensembles settling in Tanzania from neighboring countries and beyond. During the 1970s and '80s, pop groups from Zaire playing infectious dance music were popular in Tanzanian nightclubs. Today, pop music in Tanzania has a wide range of styles with both local and international origins. Rap and a local dance music known as "Bongo Flava," a take on hip-hop and R&B, are the most popular locally produced music among young Tanzanians.

Freddie Mercury, an Indian Parsi, was born in Zanzibar in 1946 and moved to the U.K. at the age of 17. He rose to fame as front man for the supergroup Queen.