Tanzania

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Quick Facts

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Capital

Dodoma

Population

35,922,000

Government

Republic

Religions

Islam, Indigenous Beliefs, Christianity

Languages

Swahili, English

Calling Code

+255

Nationality

Local name

Contributors

• Utrecht (65%)
  from http://utrecht.travellerspoint.com

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Introduction

Matemwe beach

© All Rights Reserved namfon

Sailors return from Zanzibar with tales of the heavy scent of cloves that can be smelt even before the island is visible on the horizon. Zanzibar, known alternatively as the Spice Island, has made its impression on the world for centuries, acting as a significant trading port for Arabs and Europeans alike. Now, in a smart political move that's had great ramifications for tourists, the island has joined forces with Tanganyika to form Tanzania. Travelling there never looked so good. The fine attractions of Zanzibar are packaged together with the mainland's equally impressive collection of crowd-drawers: Mt Kilimanjaro (Africa's tallest peak and arguably its most rewarding climb), Dar es Salaam (the capital and hub of cultural activity), Serengeti National Park (for East Africa's best safari) and the sensational Ngorongoro Crater. The range and frequency of Tanzania's highlights makes it one of your best bets for a great East African holiday.

Brief History

Geography

Regions

• Northwestern Tanzania includes the Serengeti and access to Lake Victoria.
• North Coast of Tanzania
• North Coast of Tanzania
• Central Tanzania is a vast grassland plateau
• Northern Highlands includes Africa's tallest mountain, Kilimanjaro
• Southern Highlands
• Southern Tanzania
• Western Tanzania includes Lake Tanganyika
• Southern Highlands
• Zanzibar, an island off Tanzania's coast in the Indian Ocean.

Cities

• Dar es Salaam - the biggest city
• Dodoma - the capital
• Arusha - gateway to the Kilimanjaro
• Moshi
• Mwanza
• Kigoma
• Tanga
• Mbeya
• Mtwara

Sights and Activities

Tanzania is one of the best countries in Africa to experience a real African safari and along with Kenya it probably is the best in East Africa. For more information about a safari in Tanzania check the safari article for more details about possibilities, costs and parks to choose from.

Serengeti National Park

Tanzania's oldest and most popular national park, the Serengeti National Park is famed for its annual migration, when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing.

Ngorongoro Crater

After a good meal in Ngorongoro

© All Rights Reserved Utrecht

The Ngorongoro Crater with its steep walls of 610m has become a natural enclosure for a very wide variety of wildlife, including most of the species found in East Africa, except the giraffe. Aside from herds of zebra, gazelle and wildebeest, the crater is home to the "big five" of rhinoceros, lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo, and is often an excellent chance to see wildlife.

Selous Game Reserve

The Selous Game Reserve is the second biggest game reserve of Africa and you can find wild dogs here as well, next to most large predators and large herds of elephants. It is the only place in Tanzania where you can join a guide for a walking safari.

Events and Festivals

Weather

Tanzania generally has a warm tropical climate with humid weather year round. Temperatures are generally around 30 degrees Celcius during the day and still above 20 degrees at night at most places around the coast and on Zanzibar as well as places more south and west. In the central and central north though conditions are somewhat different with temperatures during the day slightly lower during the cooler June to September period, but a bit higher in the hot December to February period. Night temperatures can drop below 10 degrees at night though during the cooler June to September period, mainly because of the altitude of places like Arusha and the capital Dodoma. The central parts of the country have a totally dry time during these months as well, whereas the coastal areas and Zanzibar never are entirely dry. Instead, they have a long wet season from March to May with April being the wettest month. It can rain for several days on end, whereas during the short wet period from late October to early December rain usually comes in late afternoon downpours. Note that some parts like the Ngorongoro Crater Rim and the higher parts of the Kilimanjaro mountain never get really hot.

Getting there

Plane

Air Tanzania is the national airline of the country and is based at Julius Nyerere International Airport near Dar es Salaam. It has a limited number of international flights, including Johannesburg, Moroni (Comoros) and Entebbe (Uganda). Several other airlines fly here directly, like KLM from Amsterdam, Emirates from Dubai, British Airways from London and Swiss from Zürich. Other destinations are mainly within Africa.
Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) is probably of more importance to travellers as it is closer to the Kilimanjaro mountain and safari parks. There are direct flights from Amsterdam with KLM and Frankfurt with Condor. Other flights are mainly within the continent.

Train

Centrally located in Zambia, north of the capital Lusaka, Kapiri Mposhi is the starting point of a two nights trainride to Dar es Salaam on the Tanzanian coast. From here you can travel further by boat or plane to the tropical island of spices, Zanzibar. This so called TAZARA Railway (Tanzania-Zambia Railway) operates scheduled services twice a week, leaving in both ends of the line on Tuesdays and Fridays around 16pm, arriving on Thursdays and Sundays at 9.30am in Zambia, but after noon in the other direction in Dar es Salaam.

By Car

Travelling to and from Tanzania is straightforward, provided you have your car papers and insurance in order. A bribe usually is not necessary, though you never know in Africa. You can use a lot of border crossings, mainly with Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda and Malawi.

By Bus

Buses connect Dar es Salaam with Lusaka in Zambia, taking almost 30 hours to cover the distance. Buses also travel several times a week between Dar es Salaam and Lilongwe in Malawi.

By Boat

There are boats across Lake Tanganyika to and from Zambia and across Lake Malawi to and from Malawi.
The trip to Zambia starts in Kigoma, usually on Fridays or Satudays. There are ferries between southwestern Tanzania and Mozambique via Malawi on the MV Songea between Mbamba Bay and Nkhata Bay. From here it goes on to Likoma Island (Malawi), Cóbuè and Metangula (both in Mozambique) on the MV Ilala. The MV Ilala departs from Monkey Bay (Malawi) at 10am Friday, arriving in Metangula (via Chipoka and Nkhotakota in Malawi) at 6am Saturday, reaching Cóbuè (Mozambique) around midday, Likoma Island at 1.30pm and Nkhata Bay at 1am Sunday morning. In southern direction departures are at 8pm Monday from Nkhata Bay and at 6.30am Tuesday from Likoma Island, reaching Cóbuè at 7am and Metangula at midday.

Getting around

Plane

Precision Air flies between Bukoba, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Musoma, Mwanza, Shinyanga, Tabora and Zanzibar. Air Tanzania has several flights as well between Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam and Mwanza. http://www.coastal.cc|Coastal Air]] has flights between many private air strips and the country and the major towns and cities, as well as the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia.

By Train

Tanzania Railways Corporation has services from Dar es Salaam to the interior at Tabora. Here, a branch goes to Kigoma in the west and one goes south to Mwanza.
Tanzania and Zambia Railway Authority has twice a week trains between Dar es Salaam and Zambia, with stops in Tanzania on the route as well.

By Car

Tanzania has a surprisinly well maintained network of tarred roads and some secondary dirt roads which are passable at all times. Many other roads on the other hand become impassable after heavy rains. It is best to rent 4wd vehicles, especially if you want to explore the beautiful national parks that Tanzania has to offer.
Traffic drives on the left and cars can be hired at major cities like Dar es Salaam and Arusha, also with a driver if you prefer. A national driver's licence is valid as long as it is in English, otherwise an international driving permit is recommended. Note that it is expenisve to rent cars, so it is best to split up the costs with several persons.

By Bus

There are dozens of bus companies, one of which is Scandinavia Express (yes, you have read it right!), offering services between all major cities and regional towns, like Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Tabora, Dodoma, Mwanza, Moshi, Morogoro and Kigoma.

Alongside the large bus companies are smaller independents who run 'Dala Dala's'.
These are small people carriers, transit vans and converted pick-up trucks. They run all the main routes and many more. Simply turn up, hop on and off you go. There are two slight drawbacks, they only go when they are full and even when they are full, they can squeeze more on. In general though, they are cheap, fast and fun.

By Boat

Azam Marine and Sea Express run frequent, fast and comfortable hydrofoils and catamarans between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, taking around one and a half hour each way. There are also services from Zanzibar to Pemba.

There are ferries on Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria. There is an overnight service on Lake Victoria between the ports of Bukoba and Mwanza which takes 10 hours. The service on Lake Tanganyika runs between Kigoma in the west of Tanzania and Mpulunga in Zambia at the south of the lake, stopping at other Tanzanian places as well.

Red Tape

Nationals of the following countries do not need a visa:
Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, Brunei, Cyprus, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malaysia, Malawi, Malta, Maldives, Mauritius, Namibia, Nauru, Sao Tome & Principe, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Swaziland, Tuvalu, Tonga, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Also no visa is required for stays of less than 3 months for citizens of Namibia, Romania, Rwanda, Hong Kong and all commonwealth member states (except the United kingdom, Canada, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Nigeria, India, & South Africa).
The latter Commonwealth countries ad most other nationalities can get a visa upon arrival for a fee which is usually around $50, but can be higher for some foreigners. Double entry visas are usually twice as expensive as well, around $100.
You can get the visa upon arrival at Dar-es-Salaam International Airport, Kilimanjaro International Airport, Zanzibar International Airport and Namanga boarder crossing point between Tanzania and Kenya. Some other points might join this list later, but for now you will need a visa beforehand if travelling from Mozambique or Rwanda for example.

In general, it is advised to obtain a visa before you arrive in Tanzania, because some rules tend to change now and then. Most times though, travellers will be fine to get one upon arrival.

The following nationalities cannot get a visa on arrival:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Somalia , Sudan, Syria, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen.

Money

See also Money Matters

The local currency is the Shilling, which can only be obtained in Tanzania. US Dollar's are welcome in all shops, but they often use their own exchange rates. ATM's can be found in many large cities and usually have their own security guards.

Work

Study

Language

Eat

The food in Tanzania is of a relatively high standard, with less chance of catching stomach complaints than in other countries. Meals provided by Safari and Trekking companies are general much better compared to streetfood etc.

Sleep

Drink

Health

See also Travel Health

Safety

See also Travel Safety

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

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