ISSUE 57: Tanzania 2018 Closing Statement

Tanzania started off rough, but closed out in the most wonderful way.

We definitely hit some speed bumps along the way, but the biggest of them all were at the start of the trip. I gained much wisdom on this journey, and I can state with confidence that the best way you can guarantee and effortless trip would be to hire a guide.

There’s just one key aspect of hiring a guide in Tanzania that can’t be overlooked and that is the cost. Despite spending about a cool G on two separate occasions on two separate lodges, Brad and I spent thousands and thousands on our time in TZ. One things I picked up on while planning is that booking a tour guide/driver would have cost us nearly double. Hence, our choice to do a full blown self-drive tour through one of the most popular parts of Tanzania.

Driving ourselves around opened us up to more possibilities of police stops and allowed for more issues with our hotel bookings which were two very frustrating aspects of our trip. However, driving ourselves, also, allowed us the ultimate freedom. We were able to come and go as we pleased, tweak our schedule as necessary and be ourselves 100% of the time without the pressure of being around a third party or another group.

It’s safe to say that as long as you are okay with facing challenges and handling them 100% on your own, a self-drive trip through Tanzania is doable. If you want a full-fledged luxury vacation where you don’t have to think and prefer to be shuffled from point A to point B, then I’d suggest a driver. Just know, it will cost you!

If you do plan a self-drive, I’d strongly suggest you make it easier on yourself by completely skipping Lake Chala, and instead head straight west toward Ngorongoro & the Serengeti. In the more touristy areas there were limited police officers to hinder the drive which was sweet relief. Also, reach out to your lodges in advance to get exact addresses or coordinates if necessary.

…and remember. CASH. CASH. CASH. We barely swiped our credit cards, but instead had to make several stops to pick up US dollars and Tanzanian schillings at different banks and ATMs.

Despite some of the chaos we endured, we had a great time in Tanzania encountering wildlife and wandering through the wilderness. We learned some great lessons along the way, and our Africa travels will never be the same again.