Traveling Tanzania
What we loved…
Safari – What’s not to love about seeing exotic animals roaming around in their natural habitat? We saw the great wildebeest migration, leopards, lions, baby elephants, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, monkeys, all kinds of antelope, baboons, cape buffalo, etc. Safari is perhaps the reason most tourists are traveling Tanzania, but I had no idea how awesome it could be until I experienced it for myself. Each and every day on Safari is indescribably magical!
Dar Nightlife – Who knew that Dar Es Salaam has such an awesome nightlife? There’s outdoor garden dance clubs, posh rooftop nightclubs, and laid back bars playing an awesome mix of retro hip hop, afro-pop, and dance. Locals, expat aid workers, and travelers are all dancing until the sun comes up. And as an added bonus, the bouncers are stick wielding Masai guys wearing their red blankets and white sandals – it’s a total trip.
Zanzibar – Doesn’t Zanzibar just sound exotic? It’s a little muslim island off the coast of Tanzania with delicious food, awesome architecture, vibrant markets, and spectacular beaches. And if you’re missing the animals from Safari, you can go play with dolphins or go find the red colobus monkeys. A trip to Zanzibar is the perfect end to traveling Tanzania.
What we didn’t love…
Getting around – Traffic is just the beginning of the enormous problem of getting around in Tanzania. The roads are terrible, and the traffic is insane. The buses are stuffed full like clown cars. And your only other option is to hop on the back of a piki-piki (some random dude’s motorcycle) or in a bajaji (a motorcycle with a side carriage).
Power outages (This is Africa!) – I’m not talking about an occasional power outage. I’m talking power outages every single day – sometimes for a couple minutes, but often times for hours on end. Our Tanzanian friend would just laugh, and tells us “This is Africa!”. It takes some getting used to, but you’ll figure out how to manage.
Not feeling safe at night – It’s so sad that Tanzania is a country where you really shouldn’t walk anywhere or even hop in cabs past sundown. I hate feeling like I’m not safe in my own surroundings. Nothing bad ever happened to us, but we also never put ourselves in unsafe situations. We had a bajaji driver that we knew and trusted. We would call him whenever we had to go anywhere after dark.
