Tanzania: Airports

There are over 40 different Airports located in Tanzania. Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR), the airport serving Dar es Salaam, is about 8 miles from the city, the journey being about 30 minutes. Taxi services are available and the larger hotels organize shuttle services. A car hire, post office, banking /currency exchange facilities, and restaurants are all available at this Airport.

Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport is the 2nd airport in Tanzania and in spite of its small size, the airport can accommodate planes as large as the Boeing 747. The airport is located about 30 minutes from Arusha, and about 45 min from Moshi. KLM airlines and British Airways are the only two companies that fly directly to Kilimanjaro. Included are all the modern amenities that larger airports have: restaurants, money/exchange banks, shopping areas, business class lounges as well as VIP.

As with every trip you take it is best to plan in advance. Depending on where you are going and what you have planned here is a list of all the airports in Tanzania.

Tanzania: Stuart's Holiday

We were there for a week and the time flew by. Personally I wasn't that excited about going to Tanzania as I'm not overly interested in big cats etc, or should I say I wasn't, but the holiday was so much better than I had ever anticipated it would be. It was so strange seeing the wildlife up close to start with, but by the end of the week it seemed to be the norm seeing either elephants or a herd of zebras right outside of the bedroom window in the lodge!

Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro airport (after a connection at Nairobi), we transferred to Arusha for an overnight stay. We then drove on to Lake Manyara for a one night stay. Following this we went to the Serengeti for two nights. We then finished off with a further two nights stay at Ngorongoro crater, which was about 2,000 meters above sea level, and it was a little strange at first adjusting to the altitude.

 

 

During our visit we were lucky enough to see all of the 'Big 5' animals, being lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and rhino (although the rhino was soo far away, it just looked like a mound of earth! However, our guide, Seleman said it was a rhino so who was I to argue!)

The main currency that was used within Tanzania tended to be US dollars, although they do have their own currency which is the Tanzanian shilling. However, you can only exchange this whilst in the country, and no shillings can be taken out of the country. Therefore, personally I would advise just to take US dollars.

During our stay we were advised not to go outside of the boundaries of the Lodges we stayed in unless occumpanied by a member of staff, due to both the local people and animals which you may come across. This was especially the case in Arusha, which is a large city in Tanzania, and tourists would stand out. However, the people we came across at the lodges were most helpful and friendly (providing you gave them a tip!) and upon arrival we were assigned to a guide who stayed with us for the duration. They would drive us around the national parks we visited, and our driver had a reputation of driving rather quickly!

A Special thanks goes out to Stuart Jones of Trefonen, England for sharing with us his Tanzanian experience. If you have more questions for Stu about his trip feel free to post them in the comments section.