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Travel and Tourism in Tanzania
Travel alerts, currency, climate, transit, health, and safety information for visitors to Tanzania.
Practical Information
Travel alert status, currency, climate, and transit details.
- Travel Alert Status
- Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
- Time Difference
- UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
- Currency
- Tanzanian shilling (TZS)
- Climate
- The coastal strip is tropical with high humidity; temperatures range from 80°F–95°F. The country’s annual rainfall averages 65 inches. The central plateau (altitude 3,000–4,000 feet; rainfall 2–30 inches), which covers much of the country, is hot and dry. The semi-temperate highlands (up to 6,000 feet; rainfall 40–100 inches) are fertile and cool. The islands of Zanzibar (rainfall 60-75 inches), 25 miles off the coast, are tropical and humid. Tanzania has two rainy and two dry seasons. During the long rains, from March through May, heavy downpours can occur daily (though it is not unusual to have as many as 2-3 days of sunny, pleasant weather between showers). The short rains come in November and December. Temperatures and humidity are high from November to April, and surface winds are moderate. June through September is pleasant and generally mild. Another weather phenomenon are the monsoon winds, or tradewinds, which blow in different directions during the year. From April to November, the winds can be quite cool.
- Ethnic Groups
- mainland - native African 99% (of which 95% are Bantu consisting of more than 130 tribes), other 1% (consisting of Asian, European, and Arab); Zanzibar - Arab, native African, mixed Arab and native African
- National Holiday
- Union Day (Tanganyika and Zanzibar), 26 April (1964)
- Geographic Coordinates
- 6 00 S, 35 00 E
- Location
- Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Kenya and Mozambique
- Airports
- 123
Destinations
Regions and cities, top sights, national parks, UNESCO sites, and festivals for visitors.
Serengeti National Park: The Most Famous Wildlife Park in Africa
The Serengeti National Park is one of the oldest and most celebrated protected areas in Africa, and its name has become synonymous in the global imagination with the idea of wild Africa itself. Established as a game reserve in 1929 and as a national park in 1951, the Serengeti was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 in recognition of its outstanding universal natural value. The park covers approximately 14,750 square kilometers and forms the core of a much larger protected ecosystem that includes the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the southeast, the Maswa Game Reserve to the southwest, the Grumeti and Ikorongo Game Reserves to the west, and the Loliondo Game Control Area to the northeast — together creating one of the largest and most intact wildlife ecosystems remaining on earth.
The park takes its name from the Maasai word Siringet, meaning endless plain, and the open grassland plains of the southern Serengeti do indeed seem to stretch to infinity in every direction during the rainy season.
Health and Safety
Medical facilities, vaccinations, disease risk, and sanitation conditions.
Medical facilities are limited and medicines are sometimes unavailable, even in Dar es Salaam. There are hospitals and clinics on Zanzibar capable of treating minor ailments. Serious ailments require returning to Dar es Salaam or travel to Nairobi or South Africa for treatment. If you are climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Tanzanian capacity for emergency medical response is extremely limited and you may need to descend the mountain on your own to get help.