Tips for Visitors

It is possible to visit Tanzania in such a wide range of ways that you could have a conversation with someone and wonder how they were in the same country. The factors likely to influence what sort of trip you undertake are - as so often - time and money.

Budget

You can travel quite cheaply in Tanzania, as long as you don't want to go near a national park. You can get a meal and a drink for a couple of euro, travel quite long distances for very little money in mini-bus taxis, and find hotels for five euro a night7. The problem is that the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and quite possibly Kilimanjaro are likely to be on your list of places to see, and for all of them you will be paying 25 US Dollars per person per day to the government just to be in the park, and that's before campsite fees (extortionate), and paying your safari agency (not cheap). So you can count at least €200 for a short trip through the Serengeti, and around €500 to climb Kilimanjaro. It adds up quite quickly.

Budget travellers could consider an overland company (but you will need a backside of steel and considerable tolerance of your fellow passengers to deal with the eight hours a day in a truck). Alternatively, the coast and Zanzibar is quite cheap for independent travel, central Tanzania is cheap for the bits you can get to with public transport, and it is possible to see some very beautiful scenery outside the parks. A wallet preserving option would also be to climb Mount Meru rather than its bigger neighbour. If you want the big five8, you will have to pay.

If money is not your problem, it would be possible to get through extroardinary quantities of the stuff. There are luxury safaris with fully equipped camps, five star beach resorts, light aeroplane services to all the places tourists want to go, and so on. You could do an entire trip without seeing a single poor person.

Time

The more rushed your schedule is, the less you will be able to take ordinary methods of transport, and the more stressed you will be. In Tanzania, as in most of Africa9, it is quite difficult to say that you will necessary leave at an exact time or arrive at an exact time. If you complain that your coach is 30 minutes late, you can probably expect an amused smile. The further you head into central and southern Tanzania, the greater the level of unpredictability will be.

How long do you need to visit Tanzania? Three weeks would enable you to see a fair bit of northern Tanzania and have a week in Dar and Zanzibar. With five weeks you could add some of the the lesser visited destinations, climb a mountain or go diving. In eight weeks you could see most of what there is to see in Tanzania, including the bits that are rather complicated to get to.

Health and Safety

Tanzania is generally rather safe. Some basic advice:

Don't drink the tap water - but you can eat nearly all the food.

Do care about mosquitos - as well as your anti-malarial treatment, the best remedy is being bitten as little as possible - this means nets, spray, long sleeved clothing in the evening and so on.

Don't be paranoid about crime. But do be careful around bus and train stations, ports and in Dar. It is safe to walk around at night in Zanzibar, but probably best to keep this to a minimum, as in any other large town or city.

Don't put on barbecue sauce deodorant before sleeping next to an elderly lion. In fact, barring an act of stupidity, you will almost certainly not be eaten on your trip, but bear in mind that elephants move very quickly and it is always a good idea to avoid crocodiles.

Things to Buy

Please avoid anything containing bits of wildlife, rare trees or historical artefacts. Ivory is an obvious no-no, but other issues can be more complex. You will probably see statues in a very black wood. The vendors will try to convince you that this is ebony, but given the rather low price that these things sell at, it obviously isn't. In fact, if you look closely, you will see most of them have been treated with shoe polish. This means it is okay to buy them, but if you can pass the message on that you wouldn't buy it if it was ebony, this will help protect this endangered resource. Similarly, on the east coast beaches, you will see there are a lot of pretty shells and bits of dead coral. It would be better if you leave them where they are, where they can be reused by other marine creatures. Just because there are some prime specimens on sale at the shops at Dar airport, doesn't mean this is right.

Cool things to purchase include Masai blankets and knives10. Makonde sculptures, paintings, Sukuma jewelry, musical instruments, wooden goods, cooking ingredients, Swahili goods in papyrus, and so on. Tanzania has a rich art and craft heritage - try and buy from the small stallholders or from the artist themselves where possible - they get a better cut, and you will get a better price.

Photography

Photographing the animals is easy. See if they care. The IFS11 estimate that every lion in the Serengeti is photographed an average 227 times per year. Photographing the people of Tanzania requires more care and attention. Not surprisingly, many of them feel that carrying a jar of water on their head does not make them a tourist attraction. Ask first, and if they say no, respect their decision. In addition, many people consider that a photo of them is a transaction, and should be paid for. Agree the price first. If you buy a bracelet or similar object from a market lady, this will generally get you a free photo. You would be amazed at what distance this rule is considered to apply at - the Masai can spot a camera just as well as they can spot a hunting lion. A digital camera is nice as you can show the photos you have taken to local people, especially children. You'll probably still have to pay though.