Visit Karatu, Tanzania

Karatu is a colourful bustling town and the gateway to the Ngorongoro Highlands. Dusty but absolutely delightful, the main street is wide and always vibrant with people in brightly coloured clothes chatting, laughing and going about their daily activities.

Maasai-related souvenirs

Maasai herd cattle and goats along the verge, there are stalls selling everything from spices to saucepans and oxcarts weave all over the road. In the centre of town there is a lively market selling fruit and vegetables. It's a fun place to visit to practice your bartering for souvenirs including Tinga Tinga paintings, carved wooden ornaments and the brightly coloured kangas that many Tanzanian women wear every day.

Ngorongoro Highlands

Outside Karatu, rolling hills merge into the Ngorongoro Highlands. Here, mountainsides are covered in thick forest and cultivated areas are filled with farms and coffee plantations with villages scattered in between. Waterfalls tumble over rocks, sunbirds flit from flower to flower and elephant and buffalo follow ancient paths through the vegetation to rivers to drink and to mineral rich caves to extract salt.