Tanzania

Advice for Travellers to all Destinations

The Vaccinations, Injections and Medications that are needed for travel vary from person-to-person. Everyone should have a personal risk assessment with a travel health professional to take into account a range of factors such as itinerary, medical condition, occupational and lifestyle risk factors and previous vaccination history.

General Travel Health Risks for Tanzania

Altitude Sickness
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is becoming increasingly popular and some travellers may find Altitude Sickness is a problem. You can obtain altitude sickness medication and practice appropriate acclimatisation and gradual ascents to counter altitude sickness. Don’t forget, its not just your climbing altitude but your sleeping altitude as well that must be considered. If you are climbing/trekking into high altitude, practice safe measures. Our travel nurse will be able to advise you on the precautions you need to take.

Heat and Humidity
Tanzania has two rainy seasons and a dry season. In some parts it can get quite hot and humid whereas in others, it can be cooler and drier. Please check the weather for the period you are travelling, as you will need to pack adequately and take reasonable precautions.

Water Safe
Tap water is not considered safe to drink so drink bottled water and always check the water that food has been washed in. Bottled water is widely available.

Food and Drink
Food is of high quality in Tanzania and you should be able to find what you are looking for if you are in the bigger cities. Tanzania has some great coffee plantation and the South Asian influence on some of its food and Tanzanian Ugali is something worth trying.

Animals and Insects
Lots of different infections can be spread through insect bites, including Malaria and Dengue Fever which is spread by mosquitoes. Symptoms can include fever, headache and severe joint, bone and muscular pain. Advice for these are listed above.

Health Insurance
Make sure you have health insurance in place that will cover the full range of activities you plan to undertake while abroad

Personal Safety
The roads in Tanzania can be poor so if hiring a car, make sure its one that can travel on this terrain with ease. Also, get some driving practice in first before heading out in your new vehicle. In Tanzania please be aware of your surroundings even in tourist areas as there have been violent incidents against foreigners in the past. Also minimise your risks by not going out alone at night and only taking taxi’s with a driver you know.