An African safari is a dream vacation for many lovers. And the East African nation of Tanzania is one of the top destinations for game viewing, with more than a quarter of the country under some kind of protection.  

African safaris were once oriented around hunting big game with rifles. Today's safari-goers are armed with different equipment, on a quest to bring home photos of animals like hippo in their natural setting.  

Tanzania's Serengeti National Park is one of Africa's crown jewels, a game area sprawling across an area larger than Connecticut. The park has abundant wildlife, lead by what may be Africa's greatest concentration of big cats.  

Standing as much as 18 feet from hoof to horn, male giraffe engage in dramatic 'necking' contests—fighting with their necks and heads to establish dominance.  

One of the most romantic ways to see Africa is via hot air balloon. Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is one of the few places set up for these trips, with morning flights daily and followed by an elegant bush breakfast with champagne and white linen beneath an umbrella tree.  

Though their population is spread across most of central and southern Africa, lion are found throughout Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, in prides numbering as many as 40 animals.  

A nomadic grazer, zebra typically live in bachelor herds or in harems—one stallion with up to a half-dozen mares and their foals. Serengeti National Park is home to 200,000 zebra, often traveling in great herds along with wildebeest.  

The name Serengeti translates to 'endless plain' in Swahili, and a truer description could not be had. But the raw, expansive landscapes are punctuated by kopjes—charismatic rock outcrops that break the surface of the flatland.  

Although the kopjes of Serengeti appear serene and protective, they also provide shelter for one of Tanzania's fiercest predators—lion sightings are common in these rock outcrops.  

Safari accommodations in Tanzania encompass a relatively broad spectrum. At one extreme is the new Bilila Lodge Kempinski, a 74-room facility in Serengeti designed for those who can't stray far from creature comforts like air-conditioning, TVs, and a spa.  

More typical of Tanzania safari options is Olakira, an eight-tent camp in Serengeti that relocates twice a year to occupy prime locations for the wildebeest migration. There's a welcome absence of cement or glass that might otherwise separate lovers from the natural environment, but each tent has its own flush toilet and sun-heated shower.  

Tanzania's pastoral Maasai Mara nomads live within the unique Ngorongoro ecosystem, nestled in and around an extinct volcanic caldera. It's Africa's only wildlife area where human communities, tourism, and wild animals coexist. Designated cultural villages invite visitors to participate in Maasai dancing and purchase handcrafts.  

The remarkable Ngorongoro Crater is a 13-mile-wide extinct caldera that is home to 25,000 mammals, including large collections of lion, hyena, and zebra, plus cheetah, black rhino, and occasional breeding herds of elephants that clamber down the steep crater walls.  

Of all the safari lodge options in Tanzania, perhaps none tops Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, with 30 suites perched on the lip of the caldera. The imaginative, fanciful architecture—conical mud, thatch and wood structures on stilts—is inspired by traditional Maasai village textures and shapes, while plush interiors marry the rustic safari world with the myth of old Hollywood glamour.