I am an archaeologist in Canada and will be going to Tanzania next year with a school group and obviously very much want to visit the incredible abundance of archaeology there. I will probably only be in the northern half of the country (to my absolute dismay, I probably won’t be able to make it to Dar 😭 though I am trying to make it to Tanga!) and have looked through every place labelled historical landmark or ruins. Surprisingly, not a lot! Olduwai gorge is an obvious one but when it comes to other sites I can’t find much. I was going to do a deep dive into academic papers later to get more specifics but I was wondering if anyone knew anything. More specifically, are archaeologists in Tanzania open to showing their sites to people (who ask?). It would be super educational for my group! I wanted to inquire in person at a university at Dar but… unfortunately that does not seem possible 😔. However there are certainly excavations all over the country. I’d love to learn about Tanzania’s rich history face to face!

Haya sasa watu wa mazingira, nina jambo la kudiscuss with you guys!

Recently, I noticed something interesting in Germany. You rarely see plastic bottles littering the streets, and one thing that seems to help is a system called Pfand.

For those who haven't heard of it, here's how it works: when you buy a drink, you pay a small deposit for the bottle or can. In Germany, it's usually €0.25 (25 cents) for single-use plastic bottles and cans, while some reusable bottles have a deposit of around €0.08 (8 cents).

Once you finish your drink, you can return the empty bottle to a machine at a supermarket and get your money back.

Instead of throwing it away, you have a reason to return it. You'll even find people collecting empty bottles from public places to get the deposit money.

Now, this got me thinking... what if we had something like this in Tanzania?

Imagine if returning your empty soda or water bottle meant getting some money back. It could help kupunguza uchafuzi wa mazingira, keep our streets and mitaro cleaner, and create opportunities for people to earn money by collecting bottles.

Of course, implementing it wouldn't be that simple. We'd need collection points, recycling infrastructure, and shops willing to participate.

But for watu wanaojali mazingira, do you think a system like this could work in Tanzania? What would it take to make it happen, and what challenges would we need to solve?

Let's discuss this. Maybe there are people here who have worked on waste management or environmental projects and have interesting perspectives.

We are 3 weeks away from our first safari trip. We had to cancel this once before due to family illness…now we are concerned about the pending rains from the El Nino being predicted. How much should we worry about it? Our safari company (local Tanzanian) so far is saying it will be OK. I don’t want to have to rebook all this again and risk losing money but I don’t want to be stuck in the mud in the rain somewhere miserable. Thoughts please? Thank you…

Just curious as to whether it’s more of a tourist vibe

US citizens traveling to Tanzania at the end of this month. We’re landing around 2AM on a Sunday.

I’ve read differing things but most say getting Visa on arrival is much quicker. But is that still the case on a weekend and in the early morning?

Thanks for any advice!

Edit: flying into JRO

I'll be in Tanzania (a week in Dar es Salaam and 3 weeks in Morogoro) this November. I train boxing & Muay Thai and I'd like to keep it up while I'm in TZ.

Any good gym/coach recommendations (esp Morogoro)?

Thank you/asante in advance!

Hi folks, I'm looking to get in a taster, one-day hike before an upcoming safari trip, but am having trouble sorting through the hundreds of tours advertised and getting clear details on the actual conditions of the routes.

In the U.S., I'm experienced in solo hiking pretty rugged trails (lots of big boulders, roots, scrambly sections), typically 10-12mi (16-19km) gaining upwards of 914m elevation. In terms of pace, I'm not trail runner, but I'm also not a total turtle. Ideally, I'd like a similar somewhat challenging day hike - it looks like this isn't really possible for day hikes, though?

Has anyone done a one-day hike on Kili or Mt. Meru, and if so, can you share some details about the route/s?

Thank you!

We have a safaris for mid December doing the northern circuit in Tanzania. Any experiences with doing the safari during el niño ,how we should prepare, and how we may be affected? TYIA

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice from people in Tanzania, particularly anyone familiar with NMB Bank or international wire transfers.
I initiated an international wire transfer from TD Canada Trust in Canada to a beneficiary’s account at NMB Bank in Tanzania for a legitimate travel-related payment. Several weeks later, the funds remain unaccounted for.
TD has advised me that the intermediary bank, Citibank, received the funds and forwarded them to NMB Bank. However, NMB has indicated that it has not received the payment to my safari operator.
I have shared the intermediary bank’s reference information with NMB and contacted both banks repeatedly. Unfortunately, I have not received a satisfactory resolution. My attempts to follow up with NMB have largely gone unanswered.My safari operator is also not being particularly helpful.At this point, I am frustrated by both the missing funds and the lack of accountability and communication from the banks involved.
I would appreciate advice on a few questions:
NMB Bank: What is the most effective way to escalate a missing international wire when customer care is not responding? Is there a specific complaints department or senior office that can help?
Bank of Tanzania: Has anyone successfully lodged a complaint with the Bank of Tanzania regarding an unresolved banking transaction? What is the process like?
TD/Citibank: Should TD be able to initiate a formal SWIFT trace and recall through Citibank, even if NMB is not responding?
Practical experience: Has anyone experienced a similar situation involving an international transfer to Tanzania, and how was it eventually resolved?
I am not looking to name or blame the beneficiary or any business publicly. I simply want to understand the appropriate escalation channels and how to get the funds traced and returned if they have not reached the intended recipient.
Any advice based on actual experience would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

What do you think of Mwalimu? How is his legacy panning out today?

I’m looking for recommendations for any shops or online services that rent out good quality -30c sleeping bags and jackets.

Ideally, I’m looking for somewhere that offers delivery and collection after the rental period, so I wouldn’t have to worry about going to the shop myself.

I’d really appreciate any recommendations or advice. If you could let me know name and contact info of reputable businesses that’d be great.
Thanks🙂

Can anyone recommend a shuttle or private transfer from Arusha to Diani? What was your experience crossing the border and roughly how much did it cost?

So, just to mention that this safari in the Serengeti/Ngorongoro wasn’t my first safari. I have experiences with other guides and companies.

Throughout the entire trip, there were issues with communication. We never received any communication beforehand. We always had to ask multiple questions, like “Where is my driver?”, “What is his name?”, “What is the car plate?”, “Where am I going to find this or that?”, and we always had to wait. The company was never proactive and never communicated anything to us.

Now, here comes the issue with our guide that met us in the Seronera. We spent four days in his company and ended up seeing the animals on our wishlist. The lodges were also nice, but we chose them ourselves, the safari company only booked them for us.

The rest of the things were just frustrating. The safari guide:
\-Didn’t tell us a single thing about the animals or the area unless we asked him to. When we asked him, the explanations were very dry.
\-He just kept talking on the phone all the time. Imagine a scene: we’re parked by a pride of lions enjoying their meals, we’re in total silence, and our driver is, in the meantime, talking on the phone. The same thing happened every day.
\-He never warned us when he decided to move abruptly from a spot. I tripped a couple of times because I would be standing up with my binoculars, and he would get started with no warning.
\-We booked a very nice hotel on our last day, with a view of the Ngorongoro Crater. We had our flight at 16:00 and had agreed with the tour company that we would be brought to Arusha Airport 2h before the flight. The night before, the driver started insisting that we had to wake up at 6:00, have breakfast at 6:30, and leave the hotel at 7:00. We argued that we wanted to enjoy the hotel longer and didn’t want to arrive at the airport with too much time to spare. We also don’t enjoy eating breakfast at 6:30, unless we really have to. Then the guy started telling us a bunch of things like, “You never know what happens on the roads, so it’s best if we leave 10 hours before,” and “Arusha Airport has three-hour waiting lines,” etc. The thing is, I’ve been to Arusha plenty of times before, and I know that the airport is sometimes busy, but to require four hours in advance for a domestic flight? Then we argued again, and the driver started offering us the Maasai experience for $50. We refused, as we find these things inauthentic, and we have also seen Maasai-related things before. Then the guide just texted us a message literally saying, “There’s no alternative. Please pack your bags, have your breakfast, and make sure you’re ready by 7:00.”

We were shocked. This has spoilt our last day of the trip, and we also ended up getting to the airport 4.5 hours before our flight. This, together with waking up at 5:45 that day, four hours on a bumpy road, and four hours of waiting, only to be followed by a 2h flight, made things extremely tiring.. Were we somehow in the wrong? Am I failing to see anything? Should we still tip them? Can they go after me for not tipping as this seems to be really expected of us?

And sorry for the many words!

UPD: the company is See Endless Adventures

My safari company has just cancelled our safari (due to El Niño) that was going to happen in the 2nd week of November 2026. They are cancelling all of their trips from mid October through the end of November. We had already known about El Niño but hadn’t been too worried based on everything we read and heard.

Has anyone else’s tour company also cancelled or is mine being overly cautious??

Would really like to hear about others plans for November as we now need to decide whether to rebook with a different company in Tanzania, or if we can do a last minute booking to a different country that may be less impacted by the rain.

I’ve been wondering why Tanzania doesn’t seem to have a widely available car rental system like many other countries.
For example, imagine arriving at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam and having several things to do around the city over the next few days. You might prefer to rent a car, pick it up at the airport, drive yourself around, and return it when you’re done.
Why isn’t this option more common or easily accessible in Tanzania? Is it because of insurance, road conditions, security concerns, business costs, or a lack of demand?
I’d love to hear from Tanzanians and people who have visited the country. Is self-drive car rental available and reliable in Dar es Salaam, or is hiring a car with a driver the main option?

I'm a Zambian and my family uses the word as a way to denote specific people groups and since learning the word has Tanzanian origins I was curious to know what it means. What does "shihiri" mean? Ps.

I'm a woman and would personally prefer answers from other women.

Edit : thank you to all the lovely girlies who answered, I love my Tanzanian girls 🤗.

I have been here for a week, and planning to stay for another two weeks. I'd like to meet people and visit new spots. What are the recommendations and perhaps things that are fun to do around? I would also love to meet new tourists, so anyone open to that kindly DM. Thank you.

Hei all!

I am traveling for the first time to Tanzania. I will stay in Dar es Salaam for 5 days or so. As a runner, I would love to explore the surroundings running. I come from a country where I feel safe doing so at whatever time of the day. What was your experience? I would love to see Mwenge and the woodcarvers market, Tanzanite Beach, check the Afrigahwa coffee roasters.. any tips?

nimekuwa inspired sana naona almost kila mtu ninayemjua anaenda Ulaya (I'm hating hard) so I'm asking kama una uzoefu niambie actually niwe na how much in order to afford the trip and actually enjoy it.

Mimi ni KE nina umri wa 31.Wakati Nina miaka 12 nilipata bahati ya kukutana na Reginald Mengi kwenye hafla na nilimwomba kazi ya kwenye kipindi Cha watoto baada ya kumfata alifurahi kuona Nina jiamini sana na kweli akanipa kile nilichomwomba, sasa Mimi baada ya miezi kadhaa baba akapata kazi UK kwahiyo tukahama. Kwahiyo mawasiliano na Mengi Tena sikuwa nayo. Sasa fikiria huyo baba amefariki sasa hivi lakini ningeendelea kujenga uhusiano nae pengine angenisaidia kutengeneza kampuni yangu mwenyewe mapema. Point ya Mimi ku share hii story ni kwamba bahati zipo kila mahala ila tu wewe kufikiria mwendelezo wake, kufikiria jinsi Gani unaweza kufanya hiyo bahati ika multiply. Nilivyofikisha miaka 21 nilifungua kampuni yangu UK ila sikufanikiwa kuendeleza. Sasa hivi nimerudi bongo na sijawa na kazi miaka Saba. Utasema nimelogwa. Mengi hayupo Tena kuniinua. Ni kama naanza upya. Kama wewe ni mzazi na unaona mtoto wako ana akili na nimjanja, msaidie ku maintain bahati zake na Fursa zake nyingine.

Hi folks! I have a question, we’re leaving for Kilimanjaro this Sunday 19/10/2026. We leave for the Serengeti on a Flightlink flight the following morning at 7 am. After that we’re flying from Arusha to Zanzibar on 25/10/26 We’re obviously following the strict (but probably very fair) luggage requirements given the super small planes. Our biggest problem is that we’re also visiting Paris and Monaco on the way back from Tanzania and therefore it’s almost impossible to fit everything for the Serengeti, Zanzibar, Paris and Monaco into one 70 cm x 35 cm x 20 cm soft sided bag with 20KG. We can pay for the extra weight which we’re fine with doing but he problem is just that we can’t fit everything into a bag of that size and just genuinely need another bag for space. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to get this bag with us to Zanzibar? We don’t mind taking it with us through the Serengeti, or just having it go straight from Arusha to our hotel (the Mora) in Zanzibar. Our tour company hasn’t been able to help us with this much, and our hotel in Arusha says we should talk to our tour operator. We’re kind of stuck, and coming up on our departure very soon. The other issue is that we land in Arusha at 8:30 pm and leave the next morning at 7 am so it leaves very little time to go and see if I can get the bag shipped or anything else given it’ll be late.

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

Thank you!

Hello,Has anyone applied for a Turkish e visa? I have about 20hours transit there and I thought why not explore Istanbul . I do have an onward ticket, But I see to qualify for this you have to have a US/ UK/Schengen visa/resident permit. Tanzania passport holder here.
#weakpassportstruggles

Hi all, hoping someone has been through this.

I'm a Pakistani passport holder, so I'm in the referral visa category. I applied through an agent on 29 Sep and the visa was approved on 10 Oct, but my agent fucked up the dates and put the start date as 10 Nov. My actual entry into Zanzibar is 29 Oct (coming from Nairobi), and I fly home from Zanzibar on 7 Nov. The visa clearly says I can't arrive before the start date, so it's useless for my trip.

I have emailed immigration asking them to change the start date, but I'm not sure whether they're usually sympathetic about this or whether I should just apply for a new visa straight away. I don't have many days left: I leave Pakistan on 23 Oct, and flights and bookings are all paid for.

What should I do? Any recent experience would really help. Thanks!