ADVANCING
CANCER CARE
ADVANCEMENTS IN CANCER CARE ACROSS TANZANIA
Advancing training, research and partnerships to optimize access to comprehensive cancer care
Advocacy for cancer awareness,
screening and early detection
Holistic approaches to palliative care
Multidisciplinary Approaches
to Adult and Pediatric Cancer Care
Mapping cancer trends:
The role of cancer registries
Dr. Jerry Ndumbalo MD., MMED (Onc, SA)., MBA., Ph.D. (c).​
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Dr. Ndumbalo is a Consultant Clinical and Radiation oncologist, Senior Lecturer, and Researcher at Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) and the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS). He has over 15 years of cancer treatment, care, and research experience. He is currently the President of the Tanzania Oncology Society (TOS) and President-Elect of the East Central and Southern Africa College of Oncologists (ECSACO).
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Dr. Ndumbalo is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and was awarded the International Development and Education Award (IDEA). He is a member of the Africa Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), serving on its Research, Education/Training Committee. He also holds membership in the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). He is a board member of the Tanzania Non-Communicable Diseases Association (TNCDA).
Kathryn Dusenbery​​​
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Kathryn Dusenbery attended medical school at Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan followed by residencies in internal medicine and radiation oncology as well as a fellowship in medical oncology at the
University of Minnesota.
She served in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the
University of Minnesota since 1990, specializing in pediatric and gynecologic radiotherapy. She was the department head until 2020 and is a founding member of the Foundation for Cancer Center in Tanzania.
Minke Huibers MD PhD
Following her residency and PhD (2017),
at the Amsterdam Medical Centre and the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Dr. Minke Huibers began working as a paediatrician; employed by the Baylor College of medicine, the Texas Children Houston, USA, the Haematology Oncology Paediatrics Excellence (HOPE), working in the pediatric oncology unit in Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi.
In 2021 she moved back to her home country the Netherlands where she started her fellowship in pediatric oncology at the Princes Maxima Centrum for pediatric oncology, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Besides her clinical work, she is also currently fulfilling the role of coordinator of care and education, a part of the outreach program of the Princes Maxima Centrum, as well coordinating three of the eight collaborations (Kenya, Tanzania,
Suriname) in this program.
Rachael Guenzel
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Rachael Guenzel is a Nurse Practitioner in the Department of Radiation Oncology who
specializes in head and neck and hematological malignancies at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
She is also a Mayo Clinic Assistant Professor in Radiation Oncology. Ms. Guenzel received her Bachelor of Science Nursing Education through College of Saint Benedict/St. John’s University in May 2009. She achieved her Family Nurse Practitioner degree through Viterbo
University In May 2017.
In collaboration with her colleagues, she serves as a program director for the Global Bridges Oncology Nursing Seminar. Through this initiative, they facilitate virtual lectures for oncology providers across Africa and have organized specialized oncology workshops in Nairobi and Kumasi.
Additionally, her team has hosted African nurses for two-week observerships at their clinic in Minnesota, further enhancing professional development and knowledge exchange in the field of oncology nursing.
Arkadiusz Z. Dudek​​​
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Arkadiusz Z. Dudek, M.D., Ph.D., is a medical oncologist with an interest in developing new cancer therapeutics, including small molecules, cell therapy and immunotherapy.
He has more than 20 years’ experience
in clinical management of skin cancer
and melanoma, in designing and leading clinical trials for cancer therapy, and in the field of tumor angiogenesis, signal
transduction, and cancer immunotherapy.
His translational research is focused on
understanding the interplay between tumor angiogenesis and tumor immunology. Dr Dudek’s clinical goal is to provide multidisciplinary care for treatment of skin cancer, malignant
melanoma of eye, skin and mucosa.
Molly Feely MD
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Dr. Feely is triple boarded in family medicine, internal medicine, and palliative medicine. Her clinical interests lie in palliative care for patients with dual diagnoses of cancer and substance use disorder. She has been highly active in education throughout her career, is a former program director for the hospice palliative medicine fellowship at Mayo and immediate past chair of education for palliative medicine. She has mentored hundreds of learners at various educational levels during her career. She is a course director for the CME course Updates in Palliative Care. She is also a test question item writer for Palliative Medicine board certification.
Dr. Godwin Nnko
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Dr. Godwin Nnko is a Clinical Oncologist at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) Cancer Care Centre in Tanzania, where he also serves as the Head of the Radiation Unit. He completed his Master of Medicine in Clinical Oncology at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and his Doctor of Medicine at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College. He treats all solid tumors, including breast, lung, GI, GU, and gynecological cancers, with expertise in radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and multidisciplinary cancer care. Dr. Nnko is an active researcher, with multiple peer-reviewed publications on cancer care access, radiotherapy expansion, and treatment delays in Sub-Saharan Africa. His work has been published in ASCO, e-cancer, and Frontiers in Oncology. He has also secured grants supporting cancer research, including funding from the Tanzania Comprehensive Cancer Project and the Global Colorectal Cancer Association. He is an active member of leading global oncology organizations, including: ASCO, ESMO, AORTIC, IASLC and TOS
Dr. Edgar Ndaboine​​
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Dr.Edgar Ndaboine is an Obstetrician and Gynecologic Oncologist with a decade of medical experience who is enthusiastic about improving Maternal and Newborn Child Health (MNCH) outcomes in Tanzania.
Dr. Oliver Henke
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Oliver Henke is a medical oncologist and haematologist with a background in International Health. He has worked in different international settings in the past, from short term military deployments to long term development co-working.
His main focus of work is the implementation of the high resource discipline “cancer care” into low resource settings. From 2016 to 2021 he has worked permanently in Tanzania and helped to establish a comprehensive cancer care centre in the country´s Northern regions.
Through this work he has cooperated with various national and international organizations and universities like MAX Foundation, AORTIC, German Institute for Medical Mission, Foundation for Cancer Care in Tanzania, Duke University and the University of Oxford, for which he works as an external consultant within a multinational East African project on childhood cancer. Previously, he has served in Afghanistan (2008, 2014/2015) and Kosovo (2009) for the Joint Medical Service of the German Armed Forces and was a Senior Physician in the Berlin Army Hospital. His research activities then focused on underserved immigrant populations in End-of-Life Care.
Dr. Lulu Chirande
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A lecturer at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) and a consultant Paediatric Hematologist and Oncologist at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH). She is an educator and clinician with a passion to improve patient care through training and research.
Dr. Desderius Celestine Chussi
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Dr. Adnan Sadiq
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Dr. Adnan Sadiq is a Consultant Radiologist working at KCMC. He has been the head of radiology department at KCMC for the last 2 years.
He completed the undergraduate MD program from 2005 to 2010 and postgraduate Masters of Medicine in Radiology from 2011 to 2015 at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College.
Dr. Ndibalema Yemela
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MD, MMed Clinical Oncology (MUHAS) Fellowships Oncology Training (Yonsei University Severance, Seoul South Korea).
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15+ years in Medical practice including 10+ years’ experience in managing various cancers, specializing in Medical and Radiation Oncology.
Dr. Ahlam Nasser
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Dr. Ahlam Nasser, a consultant hematologist and lecturer at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Tanzania, has extensive experience in teaching and mentoring.
She completed her postgraduate training in Hematology and Blood Transfusion at MUHAS, followed by a fellowship in Molecular Diagnostics at Severance Hospital, South Korea.
Currently a PhD scholar under the NIH-funded D43 Program, her research focuses on blood cancer genomics, treatment resistance in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), and strengthening local capacity for cancer genomics.Dr. Nasser is also one of the founding members of the Blood Cancer Foundation of Tanzania (BCFT), a patient advocacy group dedicated to raising awareness of blood cancers. She remains deeply committed to advancing molecular diagnostics and improving patient care across Africa.
Steven Leak​​
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Steven is a Senior Haematology Registrar and Clinical Lecturer based at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Sheffield in 2014. His General Medical training was undertaken in England and Australia, and he obtained his Diploma in tropical medicine from the London
School of Tropical medicine and Hygiene in 2018.
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Steven spent time practicing haemato-oncology at KCMC in 2019 and began his Haematology training in the West of Scotland in 2020. His interests are in Acute Leukaemia with a special interest in the Teenage Young Adult Haemato-Oncology. His current research interests are in T cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.​
Kristin Schroeder
Kristin Schroeder, an Associate Professor in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Neuro-Oncology, and Associate Research Professor of Global Health, at Duke University. She leads the Duke childhood CNS tumor survivorship care clinic at Duke.
For the past 10 years she has spent six
months of each year in Tanzania, collaborating with clinicians and administrators to develop a
pediatric cancer program at Bugando Medical Center.
In addition to developing capacity for
pediatric cancer care, her research focuses on creating interventions to improve pediatric cancer outcomes and reducing treatment abandonment in low resource settings. She is also co-founder of ICCARE, an NGO that supports care for children with cancer in Tanzania.
Laura A.McGrath
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Ms. McGrath has been a member of the Mayo Clinic staff since 2010 and serves as a Nurse Practitioner in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Rochester, Minnesota campus.
She specializes in head and neck cancer care, with a focus on survivorship and quality improvement initiatives to enhance patient outcomes. An Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, Ms. McGrath is also dedicated to advancing global oncology nursing education.
She serves on the APSHO Membership Committee Board, acts as an APP Liaison for the ECOG-ACRIN Radiation Committee, and co-directs the Global Bridges Oncology Nurse Seminar, fostering innovation and global collaboration.
​Dr. Yvonne H. Datta​
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Dr. Yvonne H. Datta received her medical degree at the University of Minnesota, and trained in
Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Virginia and in Hematology/Oncology at the
University of Michigan.
She is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota where she
practices clinical hematology and is the Director of the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Training Program.
She has extensive laboratory and clinical research experience in hemostasis and thrombosis.
Dr. Datta has been a board member of the Foundation for Cancer Care in Tanzania since 2014, and has visited Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center on several occasions.
Ms. Anna Massawe
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Ms Anna A. Massawe is palliative care coordinator at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre
(KCMC). She is a founding member and champion of palliative care services at KCMC, She holds BScN at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University college
(KCMUCo) and MSc in Supportive,
Palliative and End of Life Care at Sheffield Hallam University UK.
She is part time lecture at KCMUCo. Authors and co- authors of a number of publications on palliative care and cancer.
She has extensive experience and expertise in community palliative care. She is coordinating
palliative care basic training under KCMUCo to health care workers and paramedical.
Professor Blandina Theophil
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Professor Blandina Theophil Mmbaga is the Director of Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute (KCRI), a Paediatrician at KCMC, and Associate Prof. Paediatric and Child Health at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College in Moshi,Tanzania.
She is also, Adjunct Associate Professor Duke Global Health Institute, and
Adjunct Professor at University College Cork’s Department of Paediatrics
and Child Health. Prof Mmbaga’s had her PhD in Public Health, from the University of
Bergen, Norway, in 2013. Prof Mmbaga’s ability to work with multidisciplinary teams in different areas has enabled her to collaborate with researchers in maternal and child health, infectious diseases including Tuberculosis, HIV and zoonoses, and non-communicable diseases including mental health, Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases.
She provides mentorship and supervision to several students both within and outside Tanzania who pursue their careers in different fields. She has interest in capacity building and mentorship to African researchers, supporting inclusion of women in research. She is a Tanzania PI for NORA project and REACCT-CAN oncology capacity building research, the MPI for training grants on Trauma and Injury (D43TW012205) and PD for the social behavioural science in HIV (D43TW009595) building capacity for mental health specialist with a focus on HIV in Tanzania.
She is a mentor and supervisor for several students and faculties on their career development supporting their research career navigation and leadership development. She is a Member of steering committee for the African Esophageal Cancer Consortium (AfrECC).
She has authored over 400 publications majority being with mentees as the products of mentorship.
Dr Luke Nordquist
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Dr. Luke Nordquist Founder & CEO of the Urology Cancer Center and the XCancer organization.
Dr. Luke’s organizations and programs have rapidly gained international recognition. His focus is the development of not just sustainable and thriving community cancer research and theranostic programs but also finding ways to lift the burdens that cancer patients around the globe as part of their disease.
Alex Mremi
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Alex Mremi is a mid career cancer researcher and anatomic pathologist based at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre and Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute, Moshi, Tanzania. He's a lecturer at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College. He completed a PhD on HPV-testing and cervical cancer. His research interests are centered on improving breast, cervical, esophageal and prostate cancers screening and early diagnosis, particularly in limited-resources settings.
Antje Henke​​
Kennedy Misso General Surgeon
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Julius Pius​
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SPEAKERS
Mandy Marnholtz​​​
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Ms. Mandy Marnholtz is a Family Nurse Practitioner in Radiation Oncology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, specializing in gynecologic cancers. In addition to her undergraduate
degree in nursing, she holds a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
She is an Instructor in Radiation Oncology at Mayo Clinic and enjoys sharing knowledge with learners within her department. She has particular interests in sexual health,survivorship, complex treatment for recurrent gynecologic malignancies, and research.
She is a member of the “Global Bridges Oncology Nursing Seminar” and is enjoying collaborating with nurses globally that share passion for oncologic care.
Shaji K. Kumar, MD
Shaji K. Kumar, MD, is Consultant in the Division of Hematology and Mark and Judy Mullins Professor of Hematological Malignancies at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He is the Chair of the Myeloma, Amyloidosis and Dysproteinemia Disease Group at Mayo Clinic, Research Chair for Division of Hematology, and Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine.
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Dr. Kumar received his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi,India.
His postdoctoral training included a residency in Internal Medicine from the
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, followed by an Internal Medicine residency and hematology/oncology fellowship at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. He then completed a Mayo Foundation Scholar at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
He serves as Chair of the NCCN Multiple Myeloma Guidelines Panel. He is the President-Elect of the International Society of Amyloidosis and the Vice- President of the
International Myeloma Society. He is the current Editor in Chief of The Hematologist-American
Society of Hematology’s official member newsletter.
Ms. Casey Fazer-Posorske​
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Ms. Casey Fazer-Posorske is a Physician Assistant (PA) in the Division of Medical Oncology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, specializing in head and neck cancers.
She holds a Master of Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ms. Fazer-Posorske is a Mayo Clinic Assistant Professor of Oncology.
She is the Program Director for the Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Hematology/Medical Oncology Fellowship at Mayo Clinic.
She is actively involved in global oncology education, serving as
co-program director for “Global Bridges Oncology Nursing Seminar,” which collaborates with hospitals in Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania to educate nurses worldwide about oncologic care.
Dr. Erius Tebuka
Dr. Erius Tebuka is a Medical doctor who specialized in hematology and transfusion
medicine. He works as a consultant haematologist and senior Lecturer at Bugando Medical
Centre and the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences in North-western Tanzania.
Being the first haematologist in the region, he has helped establish a first hematology unit at
the hospital that has translated in timely diagnostics and treatment for patients with a wide
range of haematological disorders. He is passionate about changing the landscape of
multiple myeloma in Tanzania with increasing awareness and timely referral of patients. He
has published several peer reviewed journal in both benign and malignant hematology.
Furahini Godfrey Mndeme (BSc, MD, MMed, PhD)​
Paediatric Ophthalmologist and strabismus surgeon at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center and Senior Lecturer in the department of Ophthalmology. Received his PhD from the University of London-UK in blinding and life-threatening eye disorders in new-borns and young infants.
His research interest is on effective method of detection of blinding and life-threatening eye disorders in children. He has been involved in laboratory studies using qPCR for molecular detection of HCMV and rubella in infants with congenital eye disorders. He has also been involved in several community-based surveys for assessment of avoidable blindness in Tanzania as Principal Investigator.
Dr. Ayesiga Herman
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Dr. Ayesiga Herman is a General Surgeon at KCMC and also a Board Certified Colorectal Surgeon, Cert.Gastroenterology (SA), from the College of Medicine South Africa (MMed, FCS ECSA). He works as a head of the Colorectal unit at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC)
and a Director of Surgical servicse at KCMC.
He is affiliated with the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College where he holds a post as a Senior lecture. While he is specialized in care of general surgical patients, he has a special interest in cancer care, particularly in colorectal
cancer. In pursuit of improving cancer care among my patients, He has established an audit on patients presenting to KCMC with colorectal cancer. This has helped to better characterize the disease among the Tanzanian population.
He is currently working with Vanderbilt University Medical Centre to run a project that is aimed at building capacity at KCMC for research on molecular basis of colorectal cancer in Tanzania.
He also works hand in hand with the oncology department on surveillance for patients with colorectal cancer. Using this information, together with colleagues, he has launched several research projects, including setting a plan for hereditary colorectal cancer screening in Moshi, Kilimanjaro.
Dr. Elizabeth Skinner
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Dr. Elizabeth Skinner is a board-certified gynecologic oncologist who provides comprehensive care for women diagnosed with gynecologic malignancies at the Novant Health Cancer Institute in Winston Salem, North Carolina. She received her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine. She completed her residency training for obstetrics and gynecology and fellowship training for gynecologic oncology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
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Dr. Skinner joined Duke University’s Center for Global Reproductive Health as a consulting associate in 2019. In this role, she spends time in Tanzania, working directly with the OB/GYN specialists at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center to enhance the medical and surgical care of women with gynecologic malignancies.
Dr. Skinner is interested in minimally invasive surgery for gynecologic cancers and was instrumental in developing the minimally invasive surgical program for GYN oncology at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center. She has taken this knowledge and expertise to Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, where she is currently working with the OB/GYN specialists to develop a minimally invasive program. In addition to providing medical and surgical care for women with gynecologic cancers, Dr. Skinner is very passionate in raising awareness about GYN cancers, and is the cofounder of Athena’s Run for GYN Cancers, acommunity event and non-profit entity created to raise awareness, funds and support for women battling gynecologic malignancies.
Paul Z. Mmbando
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Dr. Mmbando is a Health Programs Director at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT). He also heads the ELCT Palliative Care Program – which is the largest palliative care program in Tanzania with about 25 active hospital-based palliative care teams. Dr. Mmbando helped lead the development of these programs in collaboration with FHSSA (now Global Partners in Care) and USAID. He is a Hospice and Palliative Care Physician with over 20 years of experience in the field of medicine and public health. He is a trainer and visiting lecturer for tertiary institutions, conducts clinical research and is a strong advocate for access to health services especially in rural and less privileged communities.
Dr. Njoki Njiraini
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Dr. Njoki Njiraini is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist based at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
She has been key in instituting multidisciplinary meetings, problem oriented research in the department, and streamlining patient care within the oncology clinics in the public and private sector.
Dr. Njiraini holds a bachelors degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Nairobi, a Masters Degree in Radiation Oncology from the University of Cape Town, is a Fellow of the College of Radiation Oncology (FCRO) South Africa and a graduate of the Harvard POETIC Fellowship programme.
Dr Nichola Ngowi
Dr. Bariki Mchome​
PARTICIPANTS
Nurses
Medical doctors
Residents
Medical specialists
Medical physicists
Radiotherapists
Dosimetrists
Lab scientist
Pharmacists
Cancer registry experts
Public health professionals
TANZANIA AT A GLANCE
DODOMA
ZANZIBAR
NATIONAL PARKS
Serengeti
Ngorongoro Crater
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DAR ES SALAAM
Arusha National Park
KILIMANJARO
DODOMA
Capital city​
DAR ES SALAAM
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Largest city​
KILIMANJARO ( Region )
​​​Main city - Moshi
NATURAL ATTRACTIONS
Tanzania is renowned for its stunning natural attractions, making it a top destination for wildlife and adventure enthusiasts.
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​Africa’s highest peak, Kilimanjaro attracts climbers from around the world, offering breathtaking views and diverse ecosystems from rainforest to alpine desert.
NATIONAL
PARKS
Serengeti National Park
Famous for the Great Migration, this vast savanna is home to an incredible diversity of wildlife, including the "Big Five" (lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros).
Ngorongoro Crater
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this massive volcanic caldera offers a unique ecosystem, where visitors can see a variety of animals in a stunning landscape.
ZANZIBAR
Known for its stunning beaches, crystal-clear waters, and rich cultural history, Zanzibar offers a perfect blend of relaxation and adventure, including snorkeling and spice tours.
