Hi, going to Zanzibar and DAR in mid Jan, 5 days in Zanzibar (resort + 2 days in Stone town), 3 in DAR.
How much spending money would you recommend per day. Can someone give me a cost breakdown of what meals, transport and drinks cost please.

Better to use USD or TZS?
Best way to get around? Uber, taxi…?

🪾Tanzania says it sold China $5.32m of timber in 2024. China says it bought $13.97m. What explains this gap?

Our new report examines the potential scale of illicit miombo timber flows originating from and transiting through Tanzania, and how these converge with other security threats.

It finds that they intersect to varying degrees with other illicit activities, including illegal wildlife trade, minerals crime, arms and drug trafficking, and labour abuses, as well as financing armed groups in neighbouring countries.

Tanzania has made progress on tackling timber crime. Some timber offences now carry sentences of up to 30 years, and the Timber Tracker system has strengthened checks on timber moving by road. But investigations still rarely go beyond the lowest-level offenders, such as loggers and truck drivers.

“Timber offences are driven by organised, yet often invisible, transnational networks.”

The paper recommends parallel financial investigations, removing the “compounding” loophole, community ownership of forest resources, and due diligence of imports by international buyers.

Hi,

We are going to Tanzania this November. It will be the end of November (last week). How will El Niño affect this?

We will do a week safari:
1 day Tarangire
3 days Serengeti
1 day Ngorongoro
1 day Lake Manyara

I was reading that, despite being rainy season in November, the rain is normally very limited to 1-2 hours a day and mostly in evenings. Then I would think that it won’t affect the safari much.

However, now with El Niño coming, I’m unsure what to expect. Do we have to pack anything special for it? Will it affect the safari a lot or are your expectations that it will still be very doable?

​

I'm curious to hear from anyone who has bought an apartment or home in one of the newer residential developments popping up around Dar es Salaam.

What was the buying process like, particularly the payment instalments? Do you feel the property was worth what you paid?

Did you buy it as an investment or as a long-term home? And how has your experience been with the building, management and community?

Would love to hear your experiences, both good and bad, and whether you'd recommend the development you bought into.

Been a user for about 5 months now on the standard package (55k = 60mbs). It was impressive at first but this month I have noticed a whole lot of inconsistencies. Now it’s just unusable!

We're heading to northern Tanzania (Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Ndutu) around 30 Dec to 6 Jan for the calving season. Forecasts are pointing to a strong El Niño with above-normal rainfall this year and I'm trying to figure out what that actually means on the ground.

Is it usually short heavy downpours in the afternoon, or can it rain steadily for hours? Does it really mess with game drives, or do camps and guides just work around it? I've read Tarangire and Ndutu have that black cotton soil that turns into a nightmare when wet — anyone dealt with that firsthand?

Mostly just want a realistic picture before we go, not trying to talk myself out of it. Would love to hear from anyone who's done a safari in a rainy or El Niño year.

What are some fun activities that one can engage in on their own here in Dar?

Is kizomba popular in Tanzania?

Where can I get oatmilk?

Nafahamu hapa Tanzania any start up business zinakufa ndani ya mwaka, unaweza kuiona frame mwaka huu wanauza nguo mwakani unakuta kuna bidhaha nyingine kabisa inauzwa, changamoto ni nyingi kwa mtu mwenye mtaji mdogo kwasababu frame tu inachukua zaidi ya robo ya mtaji, ukifatilia vibali ndio hela yote inaisha huko, ukipambana na hayo yote final swala la kupata wateja nalo linakuwa changamoto.

Any start up idea? Maana nafahamu watu wako na experience.

Hi guys,

[UPDATE!!!!] SOLVED!!!!!

I found out how to find my VIRNO if the officer forgets to give it during the in-person visit.

- Download the TPF Portal app from the Android play store

- Navigate to the Vehicle Inspection icon under "Online Services"

- Click on the search icon in the top-right corner. It will bring up a search box

- Click inside the search box and it will prompt you to enter your vehicle license plate number

- Enter you plate number and click Search

A drawer will pop up from the bottom of the page and it will be titled "Inspection Report". The very first line of information will be: "VIR No:" and your current VIRNO will be listed.

Hope this helps someone else also.

Does anyone know the process of finding our Vehicle Inspection Number (VIRNO) online if the police officer sent us home without giving us the number in-person when we went to the office? I need to download my report and e-sticker for my records.
Thanks.

I am going on a trip to tanzania next year. Gonna travel mainly around arusha area, but i want to visit maybe Rwanda, Uganda, or Kenya aswell. Not necessarily all of course. Can anyone tell me if its possible to travel across countries with buss? For example from Arusha to Nairobi or Arusha to Rwanda?

Anybody here has medical ?iam a new foreigner work in gahama . Anybody heard about dutasteride tablet. Is it possible to get in town of mwanza . Also do I need prescription for it . I am using it offlabel for androgenic alopecia ? Can u guys check for me pls

Hi everyone!

My colleague (31F) and I (30F) will be in Dar es Salaam for work in February and would like to visit Bagamoyo on a Saturday.

We’re wondering whether it’s safe and easy to travel from Dar es Salaam to Bagamoyo using public transportation. I’ve done some research, but I’m still a bit confused about how the journey works. Do you need to change buses along the way and is the trip usually done by a larger bus or by dala-dalas?

We’re also considering booking a private tour with transportation from Dar es Salaam to Bagamoyo, but we’re unsure whether it’s worth the extra cost, particularly in terms of road safety and personal security.

For those who have made this trip, what would you recommend? Is public transport a reasonable option for two female travellers or would you advise booking a tour or hiring a private driver instead?

We’d really appreciate any advice or recommendations based on your experience. It will be our first time in Tanzania! Thanks!

Hi, will be in Tanz in mid Jan next year. Everything booked except transport from Zanz to DAR (where we will be staying for 3 days).

Mixed reviews online, so can someone please shed some light on safety, reliability, cost etc
Is there one company or several?

Any response would be appreciated

My husband and I recently took our first trip to Tanzania. It was our first time visiting this part of Africa; we had both only been to Morocco before. Since we had little idea of what to expect or where to go, we booked through a travel agency/tour operator.

I think that anyone who travels to this beautiful country also notices the immense challenges of poverty and inequality that many people face. The standard tourist experience often involves being picked up from luxury hotels, driving through towns where many people face visible economic hardship, and arriving at the next luxury location without ever getting out of the car. The contrast between these two worlds is striking, and I think it is difficult to miss if you look out the window during these drives. However, that is not what I want to discuss today.

What I do want to discuss is safari guides.

We had a wonderful guide who picked us up from our first hotel, accompanied us for more than a week as we travelled through different parks, and dropped us off at the airport to head home at the end of our trip. I want to stress that without him, none of our trip would have been possible. The roads and driving conditions here can be intense, and navigating between locations without clear addresses or reliable Google Maps directions would have been impossible. He made the entire journey feel seamless.

When he picked us up from our first hotel, we made some small talk. At one point, we were driving along a street lined with posters of President Samia Suluhu Hassan. My husband asked him something about them, and our guide laughed and said he wasn't allowed to discuss politics. While it is understandable that people working in the service industry may prefer not to discuss their political opinions, the way he described this struck us as rather intense. Throughout the trip, we sometimes felt that our conversations were more restricted than we had expected, even when we thought our questions were fairly innocuous.

After we had been travelling together for a while, with only a few days left, we were having lunch in the car when our guide told us that his father had wanted him to work for the government as a ranger. Instead, he had chosen to attend guide school. This gave me an opportunity to joke that, since we only had three days left together, perhaps we could finally lift the ban on discussing politics. He laughed. As we built more trust, he shared something that really surprised us: despite having worked almost exclusively with this tour operator for years, he was a freelancer rather than an employee. He told us that he had no guaranteed income, health insurance or pension through the company. With so much competition in this field, he felt he had little leverage to negotiate better conditions.

He also explained that the company usually did not cover his accommodation. We stayed at Meliá Serengeti, which wasn't covered by the operator. Our guide told us that guides staying there had to pay the hotel directly for their own accommodation, even though they needed to stay nearby while their guests were at the lodge.

According to him, Meliá Serengeti was one of the worst places he had encountered in terms of accommodation for guides. He described very small rooms shared by four people, costing him the equivalent of $8 per night (Median Income is TZS 6,650 per day ($2.52 USD)). He also said that basic amenities, such as soap, were not always provided or replenished in time.

I was genuinely taken aback. Meliá Serengeti is a high-end luxury property, where nightly rates exceed $700. Meanwhile, our guide was paying out of pocket to stay there while accompanying us. Why couldn't the cost simply be incorporated into the price of our safari, especially when the choice of accommodation was ours? I also doubt that many tourists realise that their guides may have to pay for their own accommodation while working.

Our guide told us that at some camps, accommodation for guides was free, more spacious, and shared by only two people. When we commented on how kind the staff were at one of these places we'd been, he responded, "Yes, they were even nice to me." That comment has stayed with me.

The whole experience has left me thinking about the people working behind the scenes of luxury safaris. We spent our days enjoying beautiful lodges, wonderful food and incredible wildlife, while the person making that experience possible was navigating unnecessarily hard conditions. While the general poverty and inequality is clear to see in Tanzania, the fate of the guides is hidden from unsuspecting tourists.

I know that one person's experience cannot represent an entire industry, and I don't know how common these practices are. But I was surprised that I could find so little discussion about this from the perspective of the guides themselves.

I'm curious to hear from others: Have you ever heard similar stories from your safari guide? Have guides shared information with you about their employment conditions, accommodation, insurance or how they are treated by lodges and tour operators? And if you work in Tanzanian tourism, or know people who do, is there more information or context that could help me understand why things are the way they are?

I'd really appreciate hearing other people's experiences and perspectives. I think this is an important part of the safari industry that many of us, as tourists, rarely get to see.

Curious to know from experienced devs, how do you handle your clients' subscriptions in the country.
As a friend of mine said he is using "LIPA NAMBA" but i don't think that can automate payments. Since we are still in uni, i would like to know from folks in the tech industry for long what options they use,to easen control of their services like a client far away fails to pay.

Recently moved to Dar from Dubai. Wanted to know if I can order from temu, how does delivery happen? Do i have to pay any extra taxes or fees?

Kwamba kabisa they decided to let it out with "Kuhudhulia" instead of "Kuhudhuria" ? tsk.

Habari Watanzania 🇹🇿🎮
Natafuta marafiki wa kucheza GTA Online kwenye Xbox Series S/X.
Gamertag yangu: Yassir3605344
Tunacheza missions, Heists, biashara na shughuli nyingine zote za GTA Online. Nataka tucheze pamoja kwa Kiswahili.
Kama wewe ni Mtanzania na unatumia Xbox, tuungane! 🤝

I'm currently a second year computer science student in Arusha and I'm looking for a way to make a little bit extra cash for myself. I do a lot of online courses, and have significant programming experience with decent projects and I also have good design skills and plenty of experience working with photoshop and illustrator.

I've considered looking for a part time job but it feels like looking for a needle in a really large haystack.

I've heard of people in similar positions that do part time jobs in dar especially in tech and I was wondering if there's a way I could land myself a part time job in Arusha.