Mikindani is a small, quietly remarkable town on Tanzania's far southern coast, the kind of place that most travelers never reach. For centuries it was a trading port — ivory, slaves, and spices passed through its harbor — and in 1866 David Livingstone chose it as the starting point for his last expedition into the African interior. The Old Boma, the German colonial fort where Livingstone stayed, has been beautifully restored and now operates as a guesthouse and community project. Walking through Mikindani's narrow streets, past crumbling coral-stone houses and a handful of mosques, you get the sense of a place with far more history than its size would suggest.
Mtwara, a few kilometers down the road, is the regional capital and the practical hub for this corner of Tanzania. It has a port, a market, banks, and the kind of infrastructure you will need if you are staying in the area for any length of time. The town itself is pleasant but unremarkable — the real draw is what lies offshore and along the coast. The Mnazi Bay-Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park stretches south to the Mozambican border, with coral reefs, mangrove forests, and some of the most pristine underwater scenery in East Africa.
Getting here takes effort. Flights from Dar es Salaam are infrequent, and the overland route is long and rough. But that remoteness is also the reward: you will have the reefs, the beaches, and the history almost entirely to yourself. If you have the time and the appetite for a corner of Tanzania that tourism has barely touched, Mikindani-Mtwara is well worth the journey.