Tanzania

Money & costs

Costs

Travelling in Tanzania is relatively expensive, especially for organised tours, safaris and treks. At the budget level, plan on US$20 to US$30 per day for a basic room, local food and public transport, but excluding safaris.

Midrange travellers seeking some comforts and Western-style meals should plan on US$40 to US$150 per day, excluding safaris. Top-end luxury lodge travel costs from US$150 to US$500 or more per person per day, with prices at the upper end of this spectrum usually for all-inclusive safari packages.

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Tipping

Tipping is generally not practised in small, local establishments, especially in rural areas. However, in major towns and in places frequented by tourists, tips are expected. Some top-end places include a service charge in the bill. Otherwise, depending on the situation, either rounding out the bill, or adding about 10% is standard practice, assuming that the service warrants it.

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Tipping

Assuming service has been satisfactory, tipping is an important part of the safari experience (especially to the driver/guides, cooks and others whose livelihoods depend on tips), and this will always be in addition to the price quoted by the operator. Many operators have tipping guidelines; in general expect to tip about US$10 to US$15 per group per day to the driver and/or guide, and about US$8 to US$10 per group per day to the cook – more for top-end safaris groups with more people or if an especially good job has been done. It’s never a mistake to err on the side of generosity while tipping those who have worked to make your safari experience memorable. Whenever possible, give your tips directly to the staff you want to thank.

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Tipping

Tipping guidelines for guides and porters on Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru are covered separately in the Trekking Mt Kilimanjaro and Trekking Mt Meru sections. In other areas, and assuming service has been satisfactory, guides will expect a modest but fair tip for their services. In the case of national parks (such as Udzungwa Mountains National Park), daily rates are pre-determined by the park, and noted in the relevant sections of this book. Elsewhere, check with the local Cultural Tourism Program to get an idea of the going rates - which are generally well below those on Mts Kilimanjaro and Meru.

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Economy

Agriculture, the mainstay of Tanzania’s economy, employs about two-thirds of working-age Tanzanians – most of whom are subsistence farmers – and accounts for almost half of the country’s gross domestic product. However, tourism is playing an increasingly important role. Over 600, 000 visitors arrived in Tanzania in 2006, bringing with them revenues of over US$800 million. The government is hoping to continue this progress by promoting new investment and improving tourism marketing, especially in the south. Mining is also an important sector; Tanzania is now Africa’s fourth largest gold producer, behind South Africa, Ghana and Mali.

With annual economic growth at about 7% and inflation steady on the mainland at just under 5% in recent years, most observers are fairly optimistic about the country’s midterm economic prospects.

Yet, daily life for many Tanzanians remains a struggle. In addition to wide income variations between rural and urban areas, there is a growing gap between the poor and the more well-off. Unemployment averages about 15% and underemployment is widespread. In 2006, Tanzania was ranked 162 out of 177 countries on the UNDP Human Development Index.

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Money

Tanzania’s currency is the Tanzanian shilling (Tsh). There are bills of Tsh10, 000, 5000, 1000 and 500, and coins of Tsh200, 100, 50, 20, 10, five and one shilling (s).

Prices can be high in Tanzania, but credit cards are frequently not accepted, even at many upmarket hotels. Where they are accepted, it’s often only with steep commissions, which means that you will need to rely here more heavily on cash, ATMs and (in major centres) travellers cheques.

The best currency to bring is US dollars in a mixture of large and small denominations, plus some travellers cheques as an emergency standby and a Visa card for withdrawing money from ATMs. Euros are also easily changed.

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ATMs

ATMs are widespread in major towns, although they are out of service with enough frequency that you should always have some sort of back-up funds. Standard Chartered (with branches in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Moshi and Mwanza), Barclays (Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Zanzibar), National Bank of Commerce (NBC; major towns countrywide), Stanbic (Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mbeya, major towns) and TanPay/SpeedCash (Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Zanzibar) all have ATMs that allow you to withdraw shillings with a Visa or MasterCard to a maximum of Tsh300, 000 to Tsh400, 000 per transaction. (Formerly the limit was per day, but now most machines seem to have no daily limits, other than what your own bank might place.) Visa is by far the most useful card for ATM cash withdrawals (and still the only one possible in many towns – NBC and CRDB machines take only Visa). However, Barclays and Stanbic ATMs also accept MasterCard and cards tied in with the Cirrus/Maestro network, and there are a few machines that only work with MasterCard. All ATMs are open 24 hours, although it’s not uncommon to find them temporarily out of service or out of cash. In Arusha especially, lines at ATM machines on Friday afternoons are notoriously long so take care of your banking before then. Also, throughout the country if your withdrawal request is rejected (no matter what reason the machine gives), it could be for something as simple as requesting above the allowed transaction amount for that particular machine, so it’s always worth trying again.

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Cash

US dollars, followed by euros, are the most convenient foreign currencies and get the best rates, although other major currencies are readily accepted in major centres. Note that US$50 and US$100 note bills get better rates of exchange than smaller denominations. Old-style US bills are not accepted anywhere.

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Credit cards

Several top-end hotels and tour operators, and some midrange establishments accept credit cards – generally with a commission averaging from 5% to 10%. However many don’t, including at the upper end of the price spectrum, so always verify in advance that you can pay with a card or carry back-up cash or travellers cheques. Otherwise, credit cards (primarily Visa) are useful for withdrawing money at ATMs.

With the proliferation of ATMs, most banks no longer give cash advances against credit cards.

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Exchanging money

Cash can be changed with a minimum of hassle at banks or foreign exchange (forex) bureaus in major towns and cities; rates and commissions vary, so shop around. Forex ­bureaus are usually quicker, less bureaucratic and offer higher rates, although most smaller towns don’t have them. The most useful bank for foreign exchange is NBC, with branches throughout the country. Countrywide, banks and forex bureaus are closed from noon on Saturday until Monday morning.

In order to reconvert Tanzanian shillings to hard currency, it’s a good idea to save at least some of your exchange receipts, although they are seldom checked. The easiest places to reconvert currency are at the airports in Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro. Otherwise, try at forex shops or banks in major towns.

In theory, it’s required for foreigners to pay for accommodation, park fees, organised tours, upscale hotels and the Zanzibar ferries in US dollars, though shillings are accepted almost everywhere at the going rate

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Taxes

Tanzania has a 20% value-added tax (VAT) that’s usually included in quoted prices.

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Travellers cheques

Travellers cheques can be reasonably easily cashed in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Zanzibar and Mwanza, but not at all or only with difficulty elsewhere. Exchange rates are slightly lower than for cash, and most hotels and safari operators won’t accept them as direct payment. Almost all banks and forex bureaus that accept travellers cheques require you to show the original purchase receipt before exchanging the cheques. Most banks (but not forex bureaus) charge commissions ranging from 0.5% of the transaction amount (at NBC) to more than US$40 per transaction (Standard Chartered) for exchanging travellers cheques.

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