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Tanzania 2007

Route

• Days: 23
• Period: September 2007
• Weather: Sometimes cloudy but warm (25-30 degrees). Only in the north we had some rain. In the south it was very dry.

General information:

• Currency:  Tanzanian Shilling (TSH)

• Internet: Widely available throughout the country

• ATM's: In almost every town there is an ATM for Visa. ATM's for Cirrus and Maestro are also available in most cities.

• Creditcards: Creditcards are accepted but not used a lot. Entrance fees for National parks cannot be paid with creditcard.

• Safety: Tanzania is a safe country, but also here you have to be careful in the big cities. On the ferry across the harbour in Dar Es Salaam they try to steel things from our backpacks.

Prices (per September 2007)

• Value Money: €1 = around 1682 TSH

• Fuel:  1520 TSH per liter diesel in Mwanza and 1350 per liter in Arusha. Also around Dar Es Salaam it is cheaper.

• Camping: Between 2000 and 5000 Shilling per person per night. Camping in the National Parks was more expensive. Serengeti NP and Ngorongoro both 30 US$ per person per night.

• Ferry across the harbour in Dar Es Salaam: 1000 TSH for a car and driver and an extra 100 TSH for extra additional passenger

• Slow ferry to Zanzibar (Flying Horse): 25 US$ per person, one way

• Fast ferry to Zanzibar: 40 US$ per person, one way

• Tourist bus from Stone Town to Nungwi: 5 US$ per person, one way. Back to Stone Town the prices are higher, but when you make an appointment with the driver that dropped you, you can go back for the same price.

Visa

• We got it in advance in Kigali (price 60 US$ per person), but you can also get it on the border.

• Visa is a single entry visa and valid for 3 months.

Border crossing

• ENTRY: We've entered from Rwanda in Rusumu. Although we were the only customers, the whole procedure took us 1,5 hour. First stamp you passport at the immigration office. Then go to customs for your Carnet and last but not least have everything registered at the police office.

• Costs: Foreign Vehicle Permit: 20US$ and Fuel tax: 5 US$. Both prices are valid for one month however when you exit the country nobody checked our receipts, so you can easily stay longer. At the police office you do not have to pay anything.

• EXIT: We left Tanzania at Songwe (border with Malawi). Formalities quick and easy and without costs.

Highlights or not

• Serengeti NP: Even if you only want to transit you always have to pay for at least 24 hours. When you enter early you can exit in time and same cost for camping. In the dry period (August/September) there are not many animals. Only around the Seronera river we saw some animals, but the parts between Ndabaka gate and Serenora and between Seronera and Naabi Hill gate were pretty empty. In the western part of the park we there were a lot of Tseetsee flies. The famous plains are mainly in the south betwee Seronera and Naabi Hill gate. Although empty we liked this part very much. Camp site have almost no facilities, but the views are great. We slept at Dikdik camp site and liked it very much. Compared to the Masai Mara the Serengeti has less tracks and therefore when you spot animals they can sometimes be quite far away. The road within the park are not very good; a lot of corrugation.

• Ngorongoro Conservation Area:   50 US$ per person per day, 40 US$ per day for the car and 30 US$ per person per night for camping. When you enter of exit the Serengeti at the Naabi Hill gate you always have to cross the Conservation Area. The Naabi Hill gate is the entry/exit gate for the Serengeti and the entry/exit gate for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area at the same time. The landscape between Naabi Hill gate and the crater rim is very beautiful, nice views and many Masai in traditional clothing. From the rim you can look down in the crater. In the morning this is not possible because of the fog. The campsite on the rim was not as nice as in the Serengeti and we would skip it the next time. It was crowded, dirty and cold. The only fun part was the elephant that visits the campsite.

• Ngorongoro crater: 100 US$ per person per day. We have no info because we did not enter the crater. If you want to go down please note that the descend is steep and a 4x4 is needed.

• Beaches: We visited the beach at Peponi just below Tanga. At low tide you can walk through a nice mangrove forest here. We also visited the beaches south of Dar Es Salaam (Sunrise Beach Resort), especially here the beach is nice and very clean.

• Zanzibar Stone Town: We really like the old part of Stown Town. It has nice old colonial buildings and many narrow streets, like in the medinas in the Middle East. Stown Town is a mix of Arab and African culture and there are many nice restaurants and souvenir shops although not cheap. Amore Mia is a basic but very good Italian restaurant and it has the best ice cream of the island; real handmade Italian ice cream. Except for the monument the slave market was not very interested. The cells are just two dark rooms and thats it.

• Zanzibar, Spice tour: 10 US$ per person including lunch. We really liked this trip. It was very interesting to see how all the spice grow and how the are harvested. At the end you can try some strange exotic fruits. During this trip we also visited one of the secret slave caves and we went to a nice beach.

• Zanzibar, Nungwi: This is a beach resort at the northern tip of Zanzibar. It was a very nice place and when low tide walking over the beach was really fun. Even without swimming you can see many seastars and other sea life. In Nungwi we stayed at Paradise Beach Bungalows. The beach next to this hotel is one of the only beaches where a small trip remains open when high tide. Most beaches flood completely.

• Mikumi NP: The main road runs straight through the park. You do not have to pay for crossing this road, but when you are lucky you can see some animals. We saw buffalo, elephant, giraffe and some antilope.

• Snake farm next to Genesis Campsite at Mikumi: 5000 TSH per person. Not very well maintained, but the keeper knows a lot. When you stay at the campsite it might be worth visiting.

• Dinner at the Old Farm House: The nicest restaurant of the whole trip so far. If you want to have dinner here, make sure you make a reservation.

Tips

• When you buy your boat tickets for Zanzibar make sure all taxes are included in the price.

• If you want to save money you can skip the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro and follow the road passing south to/from Kahama. This is new tarmac.

• If you only want to visit the Serengeti. You must avoid Naabi Hill gate. Driving from west to east you can enter at Ndabaka and exit at Kleins gate, this takes at least 8 hours. When you do not want to camp in the park you must enter early in order to exit in time. From Kleins gate there are tracks passing Lake Natron back to Arusha. The tracks can be rough and are very dusty.

• When visiting both the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro good timing is essential. The 24 hour limit is very strickt and when you stay longer you have to pay a whole day extra. When you want to camp in the park you need enough time to get out the next day. For this reason it is important not to enter too early. To be able to do a morning game drive and still have time to drive to the gates you need a least 5 or 6 hours (till 12 or 1 o'clock). This means that as you only have 24 hours you should not enter the park earlier the day before. When leaving Naabi Hill gate you immediately enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area where the new limit of 24 hours start. From Naabi Hill to the crater rim the road is bad and will take about 3 hours. If you do not want to sleep on the rim (campsite is cold, dirty and not nice), you must calculate another hour to exit at the Arusha side. Based on what your plan is, you can have a break at the Naabi Hill Gate to save some time, this can be handy if you want to visit the crater the next morning. Please note that if you want to view the crater from the rim, that this must be done during the afternoon. In the morning it is mostly covered in thick clouds.

Roads (September 2007)

• Rusumu - Kahama: 4 hours, good tarmac with a few big holes.

• Kahama - Mwanza: 280 km, 4,5 hours good tarmac.

• Mwanza - Ndabaka gate Serengeti: 2 hours, good tarmac.

• Serengeti (Ndabaka gate - Seronera): about 5 hours. Rough track with a lot of corrugation.

• Serengeti (Seronera - Naabi Hill gate): about 2 hours. Rough track with a lot of corrugation

• Serengeti (Naabi Hill gate) - Ngorongoro (Simba A camp): 90 km, about 3 hours very rough track. Heavy corrugation and up hill many stones.

• Ngorongoro (Simba A campsite - Lodoare gate): 30 km / 1 hour piste. Can be slippey when wet. In the morning the road is mostly covered in mist.

• Ngorongoro (Lodoare gate) - Arusha: 1 hour, very good tarmac

• Arusha - Moshi: 90 km good tarmac, about 1 hour.

• Moshi - Segera: tarmac with some potholes.

• Segera - Tanga: 80 km very good tarmac.

• Tanga - Peponi Beach: 40 km piste can be rough but when scraped it can also be good. About 45 minutes.

• Tanga - Dar Es Salaam: about 6 hours, good tarmac.

• Dar Es Salaam - Mikumi: good tarmac.

• Mikumi - Iringa: bad old tarmac with a lot of potholes.

• Iringa - Mbeya: good tarmac.

• Mbeya - Songwe (Malawi border): 103 km good tarmac.

Important addresses

Links

www.tanzaniaparks.com - website of the game parks in Tanzania. At the bottom of the "Tanzania Experience" page you can download the park brochure. The brochure contains a lot of information about the parks as well as other info like best travel period.

GPS-waypoints

Grid: Lat/Lon hddd°mm.mmm"