Travel Visas

For a journey to Tanzania you need a passport, valid for at least 6 months after entering the country and an ordinary tourist visa. This visa can be bought on arrival at all international airports and overland borders. It is better to buy the visa beforehand at the Tanzanian embassy or consulate in your country if one is available.

The ordinary tourist visa costs 50$ and is valid for 3 months from the day of arrival and for a single entry only. You will be required to present a return ticket to your country of origin when entering Tanzania on a tourist visa.

For more information please contact the Tanzanian Embassy or Consulate in your country.

A yellow fever certificate can be obtained from travel clinics in your country, please contact us if you are unsure as to whether you require one. 

Currency

The official currency in Tanzania is the Tanzanian Shilling (1$ = 2150 TSh), but you can also easily pay with US dollars. The US$ is the most widely accepted currency in Tanzania apart fro the Tanzanian Shilling.

In the main towns and tourist areas are banks and bureaux de changes where you can change other currencies Euro, Pound, Dhiram etc. Credit cards are now widely accepted although they generally incur transaction fees of 5% and up. Major towns and cities also have ATM's where cash can be withdrawn although these can be unreliable in regions outside the major cities

Time Zone

The local times is G.M.T. +3HRS

The official language in Tanzania is Kiswahili, but English is widely spoken. Most people in tourism speak English and sometimes another foreign language.

Health

In Tanzania you have a high risk of malaria. The best way to protect yourself is to use malaria prophylactics, to use insect repellents, to wear long clothes after sunset and to sleep under a mosquito net. (In most hotels and lodges you can find a mosquito net over each bed). Drink only boiled or bottled water and avoid ice cubes and salads. Be sure to have your prescription medicines like creams, tablets, plasters and bandages and a first aid kit for headaches, diarrhoea, cold and flu, sunburn, with you.

Recommended Immunisations

It's very important to have the following immunisations before travelling to Tanzania: Hepatitis A and B, Typhoid, Tetanus, Cholera, Polio and Meningitis and Yellow Fever. For more information please contact your doctor or the hospital for tropical medicine at least six months before your planned trip to Tanzania.

Clothing

It's important to have enough light, washable clothes with you, they will easily get dirty. In the morning and evening it can be fresh, so you need long sleeves and trousers and sometimes a jacket, also to avoid insect bites. Short trousers are mostly no problem. On Zanzibar on the beaches swimwear is usually acceptable, nudity however, isn't.

Baggage

The baggage is limited for safaris and should not exceed more then 20 kilos, plus one small piece of hand luggage per person excluding a camera bag. Please take a soft bag and no hard cover baggage. While you are on trekking or safari it's possible to leave a part of your baggage in the storage rooms of the hotels. Sometimes the baggage can get lost on the way to Tanzania and arrives a day later. The Airline will send the bag to us one day later but remember this might be the case when you pack your bag and ensure you have your essentials in your hand luggage.

Photography

Take care of your camera, keep it safe from dust and heat and ask every time for permission before you photograph local people.
It's very important to bring plenty of films and batteries with you on safari or trekking. It can be also a problem on some tours to recharge the batteries every day, but mostly it's possible in the hotels or in the car with the necessary accessories

Electronics

The electricity is 230V. Power failures, surges and troughs are common, so a torch flashlight or headlamp can proove to be your most useful travel accessory. Bring a universal adaptor with you.

Tanzania is generally a safe and friendly country but take all your actions and decision with care. Always only take small money with you, pay attention to your pockets and leave your jewellery at home. Don't walk in the cities at night without a guide and don't give in to the various temptations.

Tanzania has a few international airports, the Kilimanjaro Airport, the Dar es Salaam Airport and the Zanzibar International Airport. There are daily flights from Europe to Tanzania with several airlines. The best starting point for safari and trekking is the Kilimanjaro Airport. To change the places locally you can use the domestic flight airlines from several landing strips or airports. Another option is to fly to the international airport in Nairobi/Kenya, to start the safari there or to take a domestic flight directly to Kilimanjaro Airport.

On every travel you can have problems and situations you can't suspect before. A travel insurance may help to make your trip more protected. Take an insurance that includes trip cancellation and interruption due to sickness, trip/baggage/weather delay, lost or stolen baggage, emergency medical transportation, doctor or hospital payments and travel accidents.

Medical transportation back home to Europe starts mostly from the hospitals in the big towns.

To insure that you receive help in case of an accident on trekking or safari tour you need help from other medical transportations like the Flying Doctor Society.

A membership for 2 weeks up to 2 month is not expensive and ensures you a quick help in emergency.

When you had fun and the service and friendship on your tour was good it will be a good option to give some tipping, but this should not exceed 10% of the tour price. To give something is obviously a free decision and not obligatory.