Travel info
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See also this site and also the Tanzania High Commission Office site for official info and visa info.
Safety in Zanzibar : in general znz Town is a safe place even at night. But always pay attention to your pockets and bags since the only way to visit znz Town is by walking.
Currency : T-shilling, or Tanzanian shilling. Last year 1 US dollar was worth about 550 T-Sh. Must be more now.
Driving licence : A European driving licence is enough. Not required to ride bikes. When driving just take your passport and driving licence.
Visa-Passport : You need a valid passport and visa for the duration of your stay. To get a visa go to the nearest Tanzanian (as Znz is part of Tanzania) embassy and ask for a tourism visa. It takes at least 10 days for a visa and cost 1000 in Belgium.
Vaccines-diseases : you must be vaccinated against yellow fever, otherwise you won't be allowed to enter the country. Vaccinations for typhoid, tetanus, meningitis and hepatitis A are recommended. Cholera vaccine is not required if you pay attention to what you eat.
Malaria and moquitoes : They are everywhere! Mosquitoes are carrying the malaria disease. So there are a few simple things to do in order to avoid mosquitoes and thus malaria. 1° Take some prophylactics (Lariam, Nivaquine or whatever. Ask your GP). 2° Buy some mosquito-repellent stuff for the body: creams, sprays,... There are some good ones in znz town. 3° Mosquitoes awake at sun set and go to bed at dawn. So in the evening, wear long clothes. 4° At night always sleep with a mosquito net around your bed (otherwise you will not sleep). 5° Moquitoes are attracted by sweet-smelling blood. The more sugar you eat, the more they will like you. You can also eat vitamins B (or beer yeast), they do not like the smell of it.
What clothes? Day temperature :28°C. Night temperature: 27°. Rain temperature: 26. So do not bring your thick and heavy black winter jackets with you. Coo for the day. Long and slightly dressed up for the evening. A hat. A T-shirt to swim with to avoid sun-burning. It is raining about 30 min everyday. A good pair of walking shoes, and sandals for the beach. A torch/flashlight since power cuts are frequent in town.
Islam : Most of Zanzibaris are moslem. So you need to know a few things before going there. Zanzibaris are very friendly. But unlike Europeans, religions is for very important for them. It is thus not a subject for derision or humour. Women tend to wear with long dresses and men djelabas that cover all the body. However they do not require foreigners to dress like them, it is up to us to pay attention to what we wear and not to hurt their culture.
In town, shorts and T-shirts are perfect when not too short. It should cover partly the body, to the knees and elbows, especially for women. They will not openly criticise you if you wear sexi things. But please respect their culture and pay attention. In the evening, people and especially expatriates tend to dress up a bit (still remain cool: no tie or taxido).
On the beach, just wear a normal swimsuit. No problem. Some women (often Italian) walk around top less but it is not very common over there.
In town you can find all kind of sun blockers, medicines, photo films, ...
Post/telephones : it works! Well hum, normally. Telephone lines are a bit old and you need a lot of patience to have an international connection. The only way to do is go to the post office and ask at the till. Letters take about 10 days to get anywhere in the world. Otherwise there are some e-mail "kiosks".
There is a local cell-phones network over there. But I still have to check whether you can use your European cell phone there.
