Tanzania

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Flag of Tanzania Tanzania
Information
Language: Swahili, English
Capital: Dar Es Salaam
Population: 43,750,000
Currency: Tanzanian shilling
Paved roads: 4,250 km (5%)
Hitchability: <rating country='tz' />
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<map height='350' lat='-6.68643125265198' lng='35.2001953125' zoom='5' view='0' float='right' />


Tanzania is a country in Eastern Africa.

Hitching on long routes is not common because of sufficient and cheap bus services. There are not a lot of private cars covering long distances but most of them will stop for white people as they consider them not dangerous. Only the major cities are connected by paved routes, the majority of the roadnetwork is unpaved. In more remote areas (or less visited) you must be exceptionally lucky to get a free lift as the only mean of transport is a shared taxi.

You do get very cheap buses travelling long distances, however be very aware of "swahili time" if you do end up booking a bus. Instead of midnight, the swahili time starts at sunrise (Western 6am) and ends at sunset (Western 6pm). Therefore 11 in the morning might mean 5am.

The thumbs is not used in Tanzania to stop the rides. Instead, wave your hand with your palm facing upwards. (Palm facing downwards means that you want to pay and is usually used to stop busses)

Food is amazingly cheap and most people very hospitable, especially if you're quite obviously a traveller from a different country. It's worth learning some Swahili as aside from the largest cities, you won't find very much English. You will also probably encounter a million greetings a day and it's lovely to be able to reply with the correct answer! In rural areas, most people's first language is their tribal language, and Swahili is the language which unites everyone.

Be careful of travelling by yourself as a woman. Normally you may just get chatted up for your exotic look, but keep your own safety in mind.

Tanzania outside of the big cities is quite conservative, and often old school Christian or Islamic. It makes sense to cover up reasonably, which is helpful anyway for the heat!

The paved roadnetwork includes: Nairobi-Arusha-Dar-es Salaam; Arusha- Mwanza; Mwanza-Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam- Dodoma, Dar-es Salaam-Mbeya-Sambia; Mbeya-Malawi;


Cities