Among African countries, Tanzania’s
tally of seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites is exceeded only by Ethiopia and
South Africa. Five of these - Ngorongoro, Kilimanjaro, Selous, Serengeti and
Zanzibar Stone Town - are household names, but two lesser-known sites on this
prestigious global roll call deserve greater recognition.
Kilwa Kisiwani, an offshore island south
of Dar es Salaam, supports the haunting ruins of the most important of the
Swahili city-states that flourished as a result of the medieval gold trade
between Africa and Arabia - indeed, the 14th century globetrotter Ibn Buttata
called Kilwa ‘one of the most beautiful and well-constructed towns in the
world’.
The Kondoa Rock Art Site, inscribed as
recently as 2006, consists of 150-plus painted rock shelters in the vicinity of
Kolo in the central Rift Valley. Some of these exquisitely crafted panels are
thousands of years old, and several can be visited as an extension to the
Northern Tanzania safari circuit.