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Tanzania

 
Author wojtek
Partaker
#1 | Posted: 12 Jan 2021 03:25 
I've just returned from Tanzania and after visiting all WHS there I want to share a few thoughts.

First of all, the country is completely open, no tests or quarantine required. For most countries it is e-visa or visa on arrival, so Tanzania is currently mecca for tourists from all the world. Masks are not used, only temperature is checked at the airports. In general, being there was like in time machine taking you back to the pre-COVID world - what a great feeling!

Visiting Tanzanian WHS is not very difficult, they are all accessible, even using public transport (to main cities). I did them in 11 full days (+ coming there and back) and this is a minimum time you should reserve. If you want to use public transport, add at least 3 days.

My itinerary was as follows:
Day 1 - Arrival to Arusha, plane to Dar es Salaam, arrival at night
Day 2-4 Pick up from hotel, safari in Selous Game Reserve and drive to Kilwa Masoko to visit Kilwa Kisiwani ruins (all in one package). Note that road from Dar to Selous is really bad, don't go without proper 4x4.
Day 5 - back to Dar, ferry to Zanzibar, visiting Stone Town
Day 6 - Stone Town + spice tour, plane to Arusha via Dar
Day 7-10 Safari in Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro
Day 11 - Kilimanjaro NP one day hike from Arusha
Day 12 - Kondoa Rock Art by rental car from Arusha and back
Day 13 - back home

Songo Mnara and Kilwa Kisiwani can be visited in one long day, but you should be in Kilwa Masoko in the morning. I think it can be visited from Dar es Salaam in two days, if you catch the earliest bus to Kilwa Masoko day 1 and the last one to Dar day 2. Road to Dar quite bad, takes around 5.5 hours.

Kondoa is a very large site with multiple locations. To cover most of them properly one day may not be enough. Doable in two days from Arusha/Dodoma. Road from Arusha is very good, ride to the first rock art site takes 4 hours one way.

Kilimanjaro NP is really not worth it unless you are going to the summit. One day hike until the first base is just tropical forest, but you have to pay 87$ entrance fee + compulsory guide (I paid 35$, but others wanted 50$). I went there from Arusha in rental car, but if you want to go on an organized tour, it may cost 300$-350$, including park fees.

All other national parks (Selous, Serengeti, Ngorongoro) have to be done in safari tour. In theory, you can do them on your own, but it is impractical and even more expensive, unless you are at least 4 people with experience in driving real 4x4. Be prepared for expenses - 4-day safari to Serengeti/Ngorongoro is about 750$ pp in shared car and basic accomodation (tents). Similar price for Selous from Dar or Zanzibar. The safaris are that expensive mostly because of government fees. Entrance to Serengeti/Ngorongoro is above 70$ pp per day and going down to Ngorongoro caldera is additional 300$ per car! But for those high fees you receive adequate quality - everything was on time and according to the schedule.

Self-driving is available and although rental car is expensive, using it for two days to go to Kilimanjaro NP and Kondoa saved me about 400$, comparing to the offers I received! Be prepared for frequent police checks and speed control in most unexpected places. I paid fine two times (there is a fixed fine of 13$ for all infractions), once being caught by a policeman sitting in a truck on the opposite side of the road. The second time was exactly while passing the speed limit sign.

English is widely spoken in places where tourists go. People can be very annoying towards tourists, but I met also really nice locals. Accomodation can be found very cheap. USD is widely accepted (EUR way less), but Tanzanian shilling (TZS) is the official currency and people usually prefer being paid in TZS.

Author Jarek Pokr
Partaker
#2 | Posted: 12 Jan 2021 13:52 
Congratulations! Road Runner :)

Author sveinh
Partaker
#3 | Posted: 20 Jul 2022 01:32 
Tanzania itinerary June/July 2022

We decided that our 2022 summer trip would be a treat - outside Europe. We connected with this agent Tanzania Explorer and they where keen to "tailor" us "a special WHS tour of Tanzania". Their idea is - not going mainstream (unless the client asks for it). So we went for it.
Having everything prepared is really a treat, more like vacation. Everything was "lined up" at everywhere we vent. They added value for us by putting in extra so it fitted a natural round trip.
There were guides and driver taking us everywhere.

Day 0
Flight Oslo-Dubai

Day 1
Midnightflight Dubai - Dar-es-Salam
Drive: airport - Kawe beach
Full day relaxing at the villa on the property of Tanzania Explorer
Overnight at the villa

Day 2
Drive Dar-es-Salam - Kilwa Masoko
Afternoon relaxing at the beach
Overnight at Kimbilio Lodge (on the beach)

Day 3
Boat ride to visit Kilwa Kisiwani WHS
Afternoon relaxing at the beach
Overnight at Kimbilio Lodge

Day 4
Drive Kiswa Masoko - via Kibiti - lodge near Mloka
Afternoon visit at local village Mloka
Overnight at Mpingo Lodge

Day 5
River safari from lodge into
Nyerere National Park/Selous WHS
Safari visit Nyerere National Park/Selous WHS
Overnight at Mpingo Lodge

Day 6
Safari visit Nyerere National Park/Selous WHS
Overnight at Pingo Lodge

Day 7
Drive Lodge near Mloka - Dar-es-Salam airport
Flight Dar-es-Salam - Kilimanjaro airport
Drive: airport - Kilala
Overnight at Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge

Day 8
Drive Kilala - Londorossi gate Kilimanjaro
Hike visit Kilimanjaro National Park WHS
Overnight at Ngare Sero

Day 9
Drive Kilala - Tarangire National Park
Safari visit Tarangire FTWHS
Overnight at Burunge Tented Lodge

Day 10
Drive Tarangire - Kondoa/Kolo
Hike visit Kondoa/Kolo WHS
Overnight at Burunge Tented Lodge

Day 11
Drive Tarangire - Lake Manyara - rim of Ngorogoro
Safari visit Lake Mayara FTWHS
Overnight at Ngorogoro Rhino Lodge

Day 12
Safari visit Ngorogoro Conservation Area (the cater) WHS
Overnight at Ngorogoro Rhino Lodge

Day 13
Drive Rim of Ngorogoro - Kilimafheda Serengeti
Visit museum Cradle of mankind
Afternoon safari visit Serengeti (east) WHS
Overnight at Mawe Tented Lodge

Day 14
Safari visit Serengeti (east) WHS
Overnight at Mawe Tanted Camp

Day 15
Drive Kilimafheda Serengeti - Kirawira Serengeti
Safari visit Serengeti (east to west) WHS
Overnight at Lahia tented lodge

Day 16
Drive Kirawira Serengeti - Mwanza
Safari visit Serengeti WHS
Afternoon flight Mwanza - Dar-es-Salam - Stone Town Zanzibar
Overnight at Emerson Spice "Kate room" (or Kathrine Hepburn room)

Day 17
Hike visit Stone Town Zanzibar WHS
Overnight at Emerson Spice

Day 18
Drive Stone Town - Jozani forest
Hike visit Jozani - Chwaka Bay Conseration Area TWHS
Afternoon ferry to Dar-es-Salam
Overnight at Mediterraneo Hotel Kawe beach

Day 19
Drive Kawe beach - Bagamayo
Visit Bagamayo (element of The Central Slave and Ivory Trade Route) TWHS
Overnight at Mediterraneo Hotel

Day 20
Early morning flight from Dar-es-Salam - Blantyre Malawi

Author Zoe
Partaker
#4 | Posted: 18 Jun 2023 09:19 
Previously when Els laid out her "missing WHS" plan I mentioned that Tanzania and Kenya should be combined. I am planning my trip for this year and I have realized this is not so true, at all. I also see the previous visitors haven't combined them. Naturally they are close and jumping from one to the next is easy but that's pretty much all there is to it. The road access is limited, worst being you cannot cross the Serengeti from Tanzania over to Kenya which would have been the most useful section of the combo trip. Having said that, one will also have issues trying to bring a foreign car for game drive in the other's park so frankly this is all useless.

In other news I realized Zanzibar has an international airport and I booked a KLM flight from Schiphol which save a lot of trouble arriving in Dar-es-Salam, staying overnight, then ferrying over the next day, not to mention the extra cost (flight to Zanzibar was cheaper and removes the $40 ferry ticket to get there in the first place). There are also very cheap flights from Zanzibar to the capital if you are flexible, i.e. $30 for a night flight. Might also be worth the other way but I haven't searched myself.

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 Tanzania

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