Located in
Tanzania :: Tanzania
Category:
Places :: Country
Tanzania is a country which offers something for everyone, from wildlife safaris, exquisite lakes and high mountains to beautiful beaches, great snorkelling, and interesting islands. You’ll need a few weeks to soak up everything this amazing country has to offer.
The Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater are the most iconic wildlife destinations in Africa, but the northern safari circuit also includes Tarangire, Lake Manyara and Arusha National Parks which are all worth a visit. These parks are without a doubt busier than the more remote and less travelled southern safari circuit. Overlanders who prefer to venture off the beaten track will enjoy Katavi, Ruaha and Selous in the south.
Nature lovers who prefer primates to game, should visit Gombe Stream and Mahale National Parks. In contrast to the dusty and dry game drives, the cool green of the Usambara, Udzungwa and Mbeya Mountains is quite refreshing, and there’s prolific bird life.
For a break from wildlife watching, relax on the shores of Lake Tanganyika or on one of the beautiful beaches, dotted with coconut palms, on the coast. While Zanzibar is one of Tanzania's must-see destinations, the more adventurous would want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, or snorkel in one of the country’s marine reserves.
The people in Tanzania are most welcoming. Karibu! (welcome) is heard everywhere and the children are always happy to see Mzungu (white people) and will greet with a friendly Jambo. The Masai people live in the Ngorongoro Conservation area, through which you have to pass en route to the Serengeti. Here it is quite interesting to see big herds of cattle co-existing with game like wildebeest and zebra. You can’t miss the traditional herders with their bright red wrap herding their cattle. People who are interested in their culture should visit one of their villages.
Address : | Tanzania |
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CURRENCY:
Tanzanian shilling.
DRIVING IN TANZANIA:
Drive on the left-hand side of the road. Driving conditions in Tanzania vary as the road surfaces are a mixture between dirt and tar. All the main roads are tarred and the conditions are mostly good but speed restrictions are enforced with ferocious speed humps and traffic police wielding radar guns. Where you see speed humps slow down to below 50 km/h, even if there are no signs.
The condition of gravel roads vary from deeply potholed, rutted or corrugated to excellent, depending on the season, how heavily it is used and when last the road was graded. There are plenty of heavy trucks and buses on the road. Most truck drivers are quite courteous and indicate when it is safe for you to overtake them. The buses are, however, notorious for bad driving and they often speed and overtake recklessly.
Even when the roads are good, driving is still slow because of lower speed limits in the many villages. Apart from trucks and buses which assert themselves as they thunder along, there also are plenty of bicycles and motorbike taxis on the roads so you have to be alert at all times.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGES:
Swahili & English.
POPULATION:
59 million.
TIME ZONE:
GMT+3 East Africa Time.
VISAS:
Nationals of the following countries do not need visas to enter Tanzania: Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Ashmore & Certie Island, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Belize, Brunei, British Virgin Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Botswana, Cyprus, Cayman Island, Channel Island, Cocos Island, Cook Islands, Christmas Island, Dominica, Falkland Island, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey, Guyana, Heard Island, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Montserrat, Malaysia, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nauru, Niue Island, Norfolk Island, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Romania, Ross Dependency, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Swaziland, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, St. Helena, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Citizens from eligible countries can either obtain visas on arrival or apply online for visas at www.immigration.go.tz. Online visa applications are processed within ten days. Visa options for Tanzania and Zanzibar are single entry for a maximum period of three months or multiple-entry, valid for 12 months, which allow stays of up to 90 days at a time.
Eligible countries are: Aland Islands, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Antarctica, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bonaire, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Curacao, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Russia, St Bart, St Eustatius, St Martin (French), St Maarten (Dutch), St Pierre and Miquelon, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, South Korea, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands as well as Wallis and Futuna.
If you are travelling from southern Africa and you are pressed for time, a lovely compact trip would be to combine a visit to the Lakeshore Lodge on Lake Tanganyika with the southern parks: Katavi, Ruaha and Selous.
The best time to see the big migratory herds in the Serengeti is between April and June. However, January/February is an excellent time to visit the south of the park near Ndutu and Naabi Hills as the wildebeest calve then and predators gather in huge numbers to feast.
The Ngorongoro Crater is extremely expensive and as you pay per 24 hours many overlanders choose to spend just a day in the crater. If you check in at Lodoare Gate near Karatu in the late afternoon you can explore the crater for about six hours the next day, which is sufficient. If you exit at Naabi Hill Gate you will reach Seronera well before dark.
“Riaan Marais commented on the T4A Forum: We’re having a big problem with dirty (mixed with anything from water to kerosene) fuel in Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. The small in-between petrol stations are usually the culprits. We had a dead vehicle in the convoys yesterday because of dirty fuel. Personally, I will only fill up at BP, Total, Engen, Gapco, Oilcom. (28/02/2012)” - Karin Theron, 2012/02/29
TOP ATTRACTION: Serengeti National Park
TOP ATTRACTION: Ngorongoro Crater
TOP ATTRACTION: Kilimanjaro National Park
TOP ATTRACTION: Zanzibar Island
TOP ATTRACTION: Lake Tanganyika
TOP ATTRACTION: Mahale Mountain National Park
TOP ATTRACTION: Gombe Streams National Park
TOP ATTRACTION: Mnazi Bay Marine Reserve
TOP ATTRACTION: Usambara Mountains
TOP ATTRACTION: Mount Meru
TOP ATTRACTION: Katavi National Park
TOP ATTRACTION: Ruaha National Park
TOP ATTRACTION: Selous Game Reserve
TOP ATTRACTION: Udzungwa Mountain National Park
TOP ATTRACTION: Tarangire National Park
TOP ATTRACTION: Lake Manyara National Park
TOP ATTRACTION: Arusha National Park
TOP ATTRACTION: Livingstone Museum
TOP ATTRACTION: Isimila Stone Age Site