Tanzania
– July and September 2007
Route
In total we spent 30 days in Tanzania, effectively going up the east coast
and down the west. We entered over the Rovuma River car ferry in the south,
driving up to Arusha via Dar and Zanzibar and into Kenya and Uganda. We
then re-entered through the north-western border at Mutukula and travelled
down the edge of Lake Tanganyika to Malawi.
Border
formalities
The Rovuma River* border-post at Mwambo was quiet and easy. Customs were
friendly and had good English but failed to inform us that we needed to
pay $20 for road tax and $5 for fuel tax (payable in US dollars and valid
for one month). We found out about this when we tried to leave the country
and had to find the money in order to get our carnet stamped.#
The
border at Mutukula was also easy to navigate. On the Tanzanian side, we
paid another $20 for road tax and $5 for fuel tax. You have to register
at the police station after Immigration and Customs.
Visas
(UK citizens) - $50 for an automatic 90 days multi-entry, obtained on
the border.
Third-party
insurance is compulsory but there is nowhere on the Mwambo border to buy
this. We got ours from a Reliance Insurance representative in Mtwara for
25,000TSH (about £10) for 3 months.
*Note:
see the Mozambique entry for details of the Rovuma River crossing.
Impressions
Tanzanians on the whole appear business-like and progressive.
The Swahili language and culture is to the fore and it’s good to
see billboards and adverts in a non-European language. English is still
the business language and you will find it spoken in most of the larger
towns.
General
driving conditions
Speed limits are 60 and 120 km/hr (with other signs). We saw no police
cars outside Dar es Salaam but there are police road blocks in most small
towns. These slow you down rather than cause any problems. Road conditions
varied from good tar to rocky riverbeds.
After
Mozambique, there seemed to be a lot more vehicles on the road (especially
Landys!). Most of the vehicles along the western side were UN and aid
agency cars, driven by aggressive young men quite prepared to sacrifice
child pedestrians and other motorists for the greater cause.
N.B.
Tanzanian drivers indicate to inform you of the oncoming traffic hazards
rather than to indicate their intentions (indicating right means ‘Do
not overtake’ rather then ‘I am turning right’).
Specific
driving conditions
Main arteries are generally very good but roads away from these can be
terrible. Most trade in the west is done on Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria
so the roads are badly neglected. Out of the 30 days we spent 12 driving.
-
Mwambo to Mtwara – bumpy dust road (1 hr)
-
Mtwara to Masasi – good tar with numerous roadblocks (2 ½
hours)
-
Lindi to Selous Game Reserve – temporary dust roads on the B2
road works (Lindi to Somanga) followed by terrible pot holed, dirt road
to Ikwiriri where there is a new bridge and a turning to the park not
marked on our map. Patchy 4x4 track to park gate. Too much to do in
1 day (10 hours)
-
Ikwiriri to Dar es Salaam – road building programme, beautiful
where complete. A comfortable days drive from Dar to Selous.
-
Dar to Arusha – good (dirt) minor roads to Msata on the A14, via
Bagamoyo (2 days drive).
Returning
to Tanzania from Uganda, we took four days to drive down the western side
from Mutukula to Mbeya, with a side-trip to Kigoma. We chose to visit
the lake at Kigoma because we thought it would be the most accessible
point, however the road into Kigoma is very bad so maybe investigate other
options. Our 4 days driving was broken up as follows:
- Masaka
(Uganda) to Biharamulo – good tar to Muleba, then graded dirt
road to Biharamulo, both the B8 (6½ hours)
-
Biharamulo to Kigoma – good surface continued on the B8 to Kasulu.
Be warned, there are terrible corrugations to Kigoma (8½ hours)
-
Kigoma to Mpanda – the B8 is good to Uvinza, after which the road
through the forest reserve is a very rocky, unmade road (8½ hours)
-
Mpanda to Sumbawanga – dust roads of varying standards. Very bad
in Katavi Park (7½ hours)
- Sumbawanga
to Mbeya – the B8 has bad corrugations until Tunduma. The Tanzam
Highway is good tar apart from a small section before Mbeya (6½
hours)
-
Mbeya to Chitimba Beach (Malawi) – good tar roads all the way
(4½ hours). It’s an easy days drive from Mbeya/Tukuyu to
Chitimba/Livingstonia.
Dar
es Salaam city and traffic is frenetic and a little crazy but no more
than other African cities. There are some confusing one-way systems in
the very centre of town and we hit roadworks on the way in from the south.
Accommodation
We stayed in Tanzania for a total of 30 days, 15 camping and 15 in guesthouses
and hotels. All rooms came with a bread-and-instant-coffee type breakfast.
Some particular notes:
-
Mtwara – the cheaper accommodation was run down and not good value
for money. Couldn’t find a campsite. We treated ourselves to a
lovely sea-view room in the Southern Cross Hotel!
-
Masasi – a natural staging post on this road so the local guesthouses
are numerous and good value
-
Selous Game Reserve – as an alternative to the pricey lodges inside
the reserve there are many cheaper riverside camps (20,000 – 25,000TSH)
springing up outside Mtemere gate
-
Dar es Salaam – in town, we stayed at the Econo Lodge, which is
good value and has OK supervised parking. There are lots of seaside
campsites north of the city and south via the Kigamboni ferry, which
you can catch at the end of Ocean Road
-
Arusha – excellent campsite with good facilities at Masai camp,
3kms east of town.
On
the western side of Tanzania we found hardly any campsites and stayed
in local guesthouses and church run institutions, which is an experience
in itself.
- Kigoma
- the town was very busy with aid workers and Congolese businessmen
and finding a room was hard. The one campsite was the beautiful Jacobson’s
Beach Resort. It’s difficult to find (take the road towards the
point and look out for a sign) but worth it for its lakeside position
and bilharzia-free swimming. Go during the week and you’ll probably
have it to yourselves
- Katavi
Park. It’s not really set up for independent tourists has very
wild campsites that we didn’t stay at but wished we had. It’s
not really set up for independent tourists - speak to the park wardens
before going in
-
Mbeya guesthouses are all at overpriced, Tanzam highway rates. The camping
at Mbeya Green Inn is acceptable. Instead, try Bongo Camping, 70kms
down the road towards Malawi at Tukuyu. Bongo is a local NGO project
to promote AIDS awareness, also running English and Adult Education
classes. New facilities, great food and good place to find local guides
for the mountains and surrounding highlands.
Going
to Zanzibar
Kipepeo Beach Resort, south of the Kigamboni ferry, offers camping at
9,600TSH per site and charges 2,400 (£1) per day to park your vehicle
whilst in Zanzibar. You can then take a dala-dala back to the Kigamboni
ferry and walk from the other side to the port. Zanzibar is fantastic.
Allow enough days on the island and bear in mind it takes pretty much
a full day to travel from Dar to the island even if you think you’ve
booked a fast ferry! For ferry tickets go direct to the choice of ticket
booths at the harbour, ignoring the aggressive and unhelpful touts…
Mechanics
and other practicalities
Dar has hundreds of garages and parts shops and it is quick and easy to
get a drive-in grease-up or express service in any petrol station.
In
the west, Mbeya is a practical town and good for getting chores done.
Obviously the internet is still painfully slow (and no WiFi) and the mechanics
should be regarded with caution (terrible welding job at Highland Motors
and a small radiator hose, replaced at MVTC, was split again and spurting
coolant within two weeks). MVTC did fix our gearbox though – they
are in Mbalizi, west of the town.
Food
and water
It’s easy to buy fruit and veg on roadside stalls everywhere (citrus
fruit on the coast, cashew nuts in Mtwara). The east coast was all Swahili
food, influenced by the Indian Ocean with chapattis and trade wind spices.
There
are loads of good places to eat in Dar but we liked Chef’s Pride
– really good local pile-up food. Also recommended are Annas homemade
meals at Bongo Camping in Tukuyu and, nationwide, chips mayai (chip omelette)
for around for 10,000TSH from roadside stalls.
Water supplies became dirtier and less frequent away from towns.
Costs
We spent around £50 a day (two people). This is probably higher
than most countries simply because of the expense of Zanzibar and the
fact we were travelling quite quickly. We didn’t visit any of the
major parks as the prices were very high for foreign-registered vehicle
(e.g. $US200 just for the car at Ngorogoro).
Diesel
prices were generally 1,400 to 1,550TSH (about 60p/litre).
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