General Safety Tips
If you are on a guided Tanzanian safari, your chances of encountering problems are minimum. We make it our business to know very well the areas that you will be visiting, thus reducing any risk. However, it is sensible to take normal precautions on your Tanzanian Safari, particularly when travelling through urban areas.
Contacting Back Home
This is an expensive affair if you need to call home regularly to your relatives and friends, especially in emergency, when you may wish to call your Travel Insurance Company. We advise that you buy a local chip and buy time for Ts 20,000, at least while you are on safari. Advantages for buying a local chip:-
- The cost is nearly a fifth to call home.
- You are not charged when somebody calls you.
- You can receive text messages with no cost to open them.
- You can have your mobile on at all times.
- Surprisingly, your mobile phone works on your safari locations most of the time.
- You can give away your chip to a local. He will be very grateful.
Do not bother with this advice if you need a complete break from home, business and travelling incognito.
Cultural Interaction
Some part of all trips will involve meeting people from local tribes with cultural backgrounds different from the western world. Please be courteous when taking pictures. It is always a good idea to build up rapport with your subjects first, and then ask them if it is OK to take their picture. Tribal folk can be very vocal and demonstrative with people who shoot first and make friends after. Masai and other tribes will always expect to be paid to take their photos.
Travel Documents/Money
Be certain to have with you a valid passport with valid visa - if required, one other picture identification (e.g. driver’s licence), photocopy of your passport and any visas (to carry separately from the originals in your wallet), air tickets, some cash, travellers cheques, credit cards and comprehensive Travel Insurance Policy. We advise you to have some passport size photographs as well. You might need cash for purchases in the local markets - keep this in a travel wallet or a zip pocket. You should cash at least $200 for Tanzanian currency at the airport, where the rates are usually very competitive. The Tanzanian unit of currency is the Shilling (Tsh). Bank notes are issued in denominations from 200 to 10,000 Tsh; coins from 5 cents to 200 Tsh.
Currently the rate is Tsh 2300 to £1 or Tsh 1300 to $1. This rate is not guaranteed and will change on a daily basis, but is given as guidance only.
Traveller’s cheques and major credit cards are accepted at most major hotels, safari, lodges, large shops and restaurants. Cash is the best currency.
Regulations on Safari
Although animals may at times seem unconcerned by our presence, they ARE wild and ARE dangerous. Therefore, DO NOT walk outside the limits of your camp without your guide. DO NOT get out of the safari vehicle without first consulting your guide. DO NOT provoke or unduly disturb wildlife.
Protecting your Luggage and Valuables
Never leave cameras and hand luggage unattended, whether in a vehicle or even in a hotel foyer. Never pack valuables (this includes medication), in your check-in luggage. If you leave your luggage in your room make sure everything is locked, or leave in the hotel’s safety deposit box, if there is none in your room.
Personal Safety
When travelling independently on your Tanzanian Safari, stay informed in terms of local news. Ask at your hotel about any unsafe areas and codes of dress and behaviour. Don’t openly carry valuables. If you must carry your passport and money, keep them in a buttoned-down pocket.
Small Creatures
Although Tanzania is known to be home to a number of potentially dangerous species, especially snakes, scorpions, spiders and insects, very few visitors are adversely affected. Snakes tend to be shy and generally stay away from built up areas. Lodges and camps generally have insect proofing (especially mosquito) in your room. If you go on a walk, it is always a good idea to wear comfortable and enclosed walking shoes with socks and long trousers and apply insect repellent cream or spray to your exposed parts.
Shopping
In all the tourist towns, curio shops sell wooden animals, batik, jewellery, pottery and wickerwork (bags and baskets made of sisal fibre). Masai handicrafts (shields, beads, lances, carved gourds) are available everywhere that tourists roam. Whatever you buy, make a habit of haggling.
If you buy Makonde sculptures, make sure you’re getting the genuine article: many pieces are carved from lighter wood and dyed with boot polish. Real ebony weighs a ton.
You can also bring home African cottons - brightly coloured kikoi with printed patterns, which the men knot round their waist like a skirt, and precious or semi-precious stones. As well as rubies, sapphires, rhodolite (a kind of garnet) and malachite, you will find tsavorite, which looks something like an emerald, and the highly prized violet-blue tanzanite.
Spices are readily available; take home a bag or two and put some fun into your cooking.
Customs
Visitors may import the following goods, duty-free : 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 gms tobacco, 1 bottle of alcoholic beverages ; 1 pint of perfume.
Electricity
The voltage is 220 - 240 AC, 50 Hz. Plugs may have round pins, or three square pins. Most safari vehicles have a 12V cigarette lighter socket. There is electricity in most of the private camps, lodges and hotels, so bring adapter plugs.
Protecting your Health
Protect yourself from the sun. Hat, sunglasses and sun cream are indispensable at this latitude. Never bathe in a lake or river, often infected with the bilharzia parasite.
Language
The official languages are Kiswahili and English. Arabic and Indian languages are widely spoken too.
Time
GMT + 3.
Public Transport in Tanzania
In Dar-es-Salaam, Arusha and Zanzibar, buses and mini-buses operate on a flat fare basis. They are very crowded and it is best to use authorised taxis. All national parks have airstrips and several charter companies operate flights to any town or bush airfield. There is a daily speedboat service between Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar (60 to 90 minutes), as well as a hydrofoil and a catamaran service. There is also a crossing from Zanzibar to Pemba Island. Steamers cross Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria with first, second and third-class seating. Railways link Dar-es-Salaam to Mwanza on Lake Victoria and Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika.
Dressing for Safaris
On Tanzania safari, most people wear shorts and a T-shirt during the day and put on long sleeved shirts and long pants in the evening for warmth as well as protection from mosquitoes. Should you be particularly sensitive to the sun a loose cotton shirt is essential during the day. Khaki, brown, olive and beige colours are best for safaris and game walks.
White is not a suitable colour for these activities, as it increases your visibility to wildlife you want to get a closer look at, and it will get dirty very quickly. Take a fleece or sweater and a windbreaker for game drives, because it is highly possible that you may go out on a hot day, but be faced with a chill evening on your return. Remember that layering your clothing will keep you warmer than relying on one thick item.
Clothing to Pack for Safaris
2 pairs khaki cotton pants, 2 pairs khaki shorts, 2 long sleeved shirts/blouses (for sun protection as well as warmth), 1 light sweater or sweatshirt, 1 lightweight waterproof windbreaker, swimming costume, sturdy walking or hiking boots, sandals, 3-5 short sleeved shirts or T-shirts, 5 changes underwear and socks, hat with a brim (baseball caps might cover your nose but not your ears and neck), gloves, under vest or jacket (if you really feel the cold), a sarong or kikoi type garment .
Most lodges and safari camps offer laundry as part of their service. Hotels all offer laundry, at additional cost.
Essentials
Toilet kit (including shampoo and soap), insect repellent, good quality sunglasses plus protective case, hand wipes or ‘Baby Wipes’, stuff-sacks or plastic packets (to compartmentalise items within your travel bag), repair kit (needle and thread, nylon cord, rip-stop tape), camera, film or memory card, spare batteries. Film and batteries can generally be obtained at lodges, but at a price of course, so please be sure to have sufficient supplies for your needs, binoculars, paperback reading, writing material (keep weight at a minimum), sunscreen or block moisturiser, lip balm, personal first-aid kit (headache pills), antihistamine cream etc), large towel and washcloth (thin, quick-drying) if required for camping/overland safari.
If you take prescription medication, be sure to bring a sufficient supply with you. If you are on a lengthy holiday, we suggest that you carry a copy of your prescription with you
Luggage for a Mobile Safari
For Tanzania safari travel, the best type of luggage to bring is a soft bag, or backpack with an internal frame. As packing space in safari vehicles is limited, only one bag is allowed, but you should also have a daypack for all of your personal items/camera/binoculars. Hard suitcases are usually scuffed or damaged in transit and are inappropriate for a game safari.
Travelling on light aircraft
International baggage allowance provides for two pieces of luggage per son, as per normal. The luggage weight limit for departures from Tanzania is 20 kgs (44 lbs) per person. If part of your itinerary includes light aircraft internal flights, there are serious weight restrictions. You are usually restricted to 10 or 15 kg (22 or 32 lbs) per person, in a soft bag. Storage space in a light aircraft is at a premium, and the pilot may refuse to take on bulky or excessive luggage. The most common aircraft types used for charter work are Cessna 206 or 210, and Cessna 208 caravans. Slightly larger aircraft are often used in East Africa, but luggage is still restricted.
Therefore, we suggest you limit yourself to one suitcase plus a carry on bag if possible. We recommend soft and and rugged travelling luggage such as canvas or a water resistant fabric duffel type bag. A reasonable amount of hand luggage and camera equipment is generally allowed. Remember that the charter pilot has the final say in terms of taking the luggage and you will be responsible for costs should your luggage need to be forwarded for you, or should an extra aircraft be required for transportation.
QUICK CHECKLIST
Passport / Airline Tickets / Money
Lightweight walking shoes and / or sneakers
Plenty of cotton socks and underwear
Two pairs light to medium weight slacks or jeans and two pairs of shorts
Good camera equipment & binoculars
Extra batteries for camera, camcorder and battery charger
Lightweight sweater or sweatshirt
Flashlight (mini mag lights and head lamps are excellent)
Wind/rain jacket
Several cotton shirts (long & short sleeved)
Sunscreen, sunglasses, lip balm
LIGHTWEIGHT HAT FOR SUN PROTECTION
Personal First Aid Kit
Insect repellent
Swimsuit
Personal medicines and toiletries
Malaria Tablets
Plenty of mouth refreshing sweets