Tanzania Safety Tips: What to Know Before You Travel

Tanzania is not a dangerous country, but it is not a country where you can switch off entirely. Most visitors complete trips without any security incident, but the combination of significant wealth gaps, crowded urban transport hubs, and a tourism economy that can mark foreigners as targets for scams and petty theft means it pays to be alert and prepared. This guide covers the realistic risks, where they are concentrated, and what to do about them.

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Petty Crime: Where It Happens

Dar es Salaam City Centre and Kariakoo Market

Kariakoo is one of Africa’s most densely packed markets and also where the highest concentration of pickpocketing incidents against tourists occurs. Keep your phone in a front pocket or bag zipped shut. Avoid carrying your passport or more cash than you need. The worst hours are mid-morning to early afternoon when the market is most crowded.

The Kivukoni waterfront area at night has seen bag-snatching incidents, particularly around the ferry terminal. Avoid walking alone at night in the central city.

Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar Ferry Terminal

The terminal area and the surrounding streets are targets for opportunistic theft and hard-sell touts. Keep bags on your front, ignore persistent sellers, and book your ferry ticket through official AZAM Marine or Kilimanjaro Fast Ferry counters (not from street sellers). Unofficial ticket vendors sell fakes or heavily overpriced seats.

Arusha: Clock Tower Area and Bus Station

The area around Arusha’s main bus station has a high concentration of hustlers selling safari packages, taxis, and SIM cards, some of whom transition into scam territory quickly. The “friendly local” who insists on helping you find your hotel or a money changer and then charges for the service or misdirects you is a common pattern. Politely decline all unsolicited assistance near the bus station.

On the Clock Tower Road, bag snatching by motorbike (one rider, one snatcher on the back) has been reported in the evenings. Carry bags on your body side away from the road.

Zanzibar Stone Town

The labyrinthine narrow streets of Stone Town are a classic environment for pickpocketing and opportunistic theft. Keep smartphone screens facing inward, avoid using your phone in crowded alleys, and store valuables in your hotel’s safe. The tourist strip on the waterfront is generally safe in daylight; the same streets after midnight are best avoided alone.

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Safari Safety

Safari environments carry genuine wildlife risks that are different from urban safety concerns.

Animal encounters on foot

In national parks, you must stay in your vehicle at all times unless specifically directed by a ranger or at a designated walking area. Buffalo, elephant, hippopotamus, and lion are the species that cause the most human fatalities in East Africa. None of these are predictably safe to approach on foot.

• Hippos: Responsible for more human deaths in Africa than any other large mammal. Highly dangerous out of water, particularly on paths between water and pasture at dusk. Never walk between a hippo and water.
• Elephants: Generally avoidable in vehicles; much more dangerous on foot. Give very wide berth.
• Buffalo: Unpredictable and fast. Do not leave your vehicle near buffalo.
• Lion: Rarely attack vehicles but have attacked people who have stepped out. Always ask your guide before any vehicle exit.

Walking safaris are conducted with armed rangers. Follow all guide instructions immediately and without argument.

Campsite safety

If you camp in or near national parks, secure all food and scented items in hard cases. Hyenas can and will enter tents and eat food through nylon tent walls. Never sleep with food in your tent. Follow camp protocols on when to escort to bathroom facilities at night.

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Health Risks

Malaria

Malaria is the most significant health risk in Tanzania. It is present throughout the country year-round, including in Zanzibar, all safari parks, the coast, and the highlands (though risk is lower above 1,800m). The Anopheles mosquito is most active from dusk to dawn.

Prevention:

• Antimalarial medication: Consult a travel health clinic at least 4 to 6 weeks before departure. The main choices are atovaquone/proguanil (Malarone — taken daily from day before entry to 7 days after), doxycycline (daily, started 2 days before entry), or mefloquine (weekly, started 2 to 3 weeks before entry). All are effective; side effect profiles differ.
• DEET repellent: Apply 30–50% DEET formulations to exposed skin from dusk onwards. Brands available in Tanzania, but concentration is often lower than imported products — bring your own.
• Permethrin-treated clothing: Long sleeves and trousers from dusk, ideally permethrin-treated for additional protection.
• Bed nets: All quality lodges and camps provide treated nets. For budget guesthouses, check the net’s condition and tuck it in properly.

If you develop fever, chills, headache, or flu-like symptoms within three months of leaving Tanzania, seek immediate medical attention and inform the doctor you were in a malaria zone.

Stomach Illness

Drink bottled or filtered water only. Do not use tap water for brushing teeth. Ice in restaurants and hotels may be made from tap water — ask. Fresh salads washed in tap water are a risk at lower-end establishments. Cooked food served hot is generally safe; raw or room-temperature food from markets carries more risk.

Oral rehydration salts are available at pharmacies throughout Tanzania (TZS 500 to TZS 1,500 per sachet) and are the first line for traveller’s diarrhoea.

Altitude on Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro’s summit is at 5,895m. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) affects a significant proportion of climbers on the mountain. Symptoms include headache, nausea, fatigue, and dizziness. The cure for AMS is descent.

Never ascend if you have significant AMS symptoms. The standard six-day Marangu or Machame routes allow more acclimatisation time than shorter options. Diamox (acetazolamide) is prescribed by some travel doctors as a prophylactic — discuss with a physician before departure.

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Common Scams

The safari price drop

You agree a safari price with a tuk-tuk or street seller outside Arusha. The “operator” is actually a middleman who has sold you a package from a non-existent company or one with no vehicles. You pay a deposit, the operator disappears, and you arrive at the departure point to find nothing. Book safaris only through registered tour operators with a physical office and verifiable reviews.

The “I remember you” approach

A stranger claims to have met you previously (at the airport, hotel, or elsewhere) and strikes up a conversation that eventually leads to a request for money, a “business opportunity,” or a detour to a shop where they receive commission on your purchases. If you do not remember meeting someone, you have not.

Currency exchange scams

A person on the street offers a better exchange rate than the bureaux de change. The money counted out in front of you is correct, but the bills handed over include a bundle of lower-denomination notes hidden inside. Always exchange at a registered forex bureau.

The “park ranger” in civilian clothes

Outside Arusha, individuals occasionally approach travellers on foot claiming to be park rangers or tourism police and requesting to see documentation or pay a “fee.” Genuine park rangers operate inside parks and do not collect fees from tourists on the streets of Arusha. Walk away and report to your hotel.

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Road Safety

Road accidents are a significant cause of injury to tourists in Tanzania.

Intercity buses: The worst intercity bus operators drive at dangerous speeds, particularly at night. Use reputable operators: Scandinavian Express, Royal Coach, Dar Express, and Kilimanjaro Express are considered safer than no-name operators. Avoid night buses if possible — most serious accidents happen after dark.

Driving yourself: Left-hand traffic (Tanzania drives on the left). Road quality outside major highways deteriorates rapidly. Potholes and unmarked speed bumps are common. Wildlife crossing roads at night is a genuine hazard near parks. Four-wheel drive is strongly recommended outside Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Zanzibar main roads.

Boda-boda (motorbike taxi): The most dangerous form of transport per journey in Tanzania. Risk factors include no helmets in many areas, poor maintenance, and inexperienced riders. If you use them, ask for a helmet, go slowly, and only use for short urban rides in low-traffic areas.

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Emergency Numbers

Service	Number
Police emergency	112
Fire	115
Red Cross ambulance	114
Tanzania Tourist Police (Arusha)	+255 27 250 3840
Flying Doctors (AMREF) — emergency evacuation	+254 20 600 0090
Your country’s embassy	Look up before travel and save offline

AMREF Flying Doctors provides emergency medical evacuation from anywhere in East Africa. Safari travel insurance covering emergency evacuation is strongly recommended — standard health insurance typically does not cover remote medical evacuation costs, which can exceed USD 50,000.

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Solo Female Travel

Tanzania is manageable for solo female travellers with appropriate preparation.

Dress: Outside of beach resorts and Zanzibar (where swimwear is fine at the beach), modest dress is strongly advisable in towns and markets. Covering shoulders and knees reduces harassment significantly, particularly in Muslim-majority areas of the coast and Zanzibar. Carry a kanga (printed cotton wrap) for easy adaptation.

Urban navigation: Travel in groups or taxis after dark. Avoid isolated areas alone at any time. The main tourist areas of Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Zanzibar Stone Town are manageable in daylight; quieter back streets deserve more caution after dark.

Harassment: Verbal harassment of solo female travellers does occur, particularly from male touts at transport hubs. Firm, brief responses (“hapana, asante” — no, thank you) and continuing to walk are usually sufficient. Engaging in conversation prolongs the interaction.

Safari and trekking: Safari camp environments are generally very safe. Reputable tour operators have codes of conduct for guides, and Kilimanjaro and other trekking routes are used by mixed groups. Solo women on organised group tours report very few issues.

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Travel Insurance

Travel insurance covering medical evacuation is essential for Tanzania, particularly if you plan to:

• Safari in remote northern or southern parks
• Trek Kilimanjaro or Ol Doinyo Lengai
• Spend time on offshore islands (Mafia, Pemba)
• Undertake any activity away from major cities

Ensure your policy includes: emergency medical evacuation (minimum USD 500,000 cover), hospital costs in Tanzania (limited private medical facilities — Flying Doctors evacuation to Nairobi is common for serious cases), trip cancellation, and personal liability.

Booking with licensed, reputable operators also reduces risk on game drives and treks. Browse Tanzania tours and activities to find TANAPA-registered guides and vetted safari operators.