Visas and Vaccinations

We are sure that many of you have already planned this, but just in case....

Vaccinations

Unfortunatley Tanzania has all the tropical bugs, but with the right precautions you will be fine, you GP will advise you and/or check out this website

http://www.nathnac.org/ds/c_pages/country_page_tz.htm#vpr_add

just as a quick guide you will need to protect yourselves against the following:

1. Malaria (It is the rainy season, so whilst these can be expensive they are a must!): Prophalaxis (need to be taken before, during and after and lots of bug spray (I recommend the boots stuff!), you should also ensure you sleep under mosquito nets. If you do get Malaria all the drugs are available here and for very reasonable prices. When you return home if you feel any flu like symptoms you should tell your GP you travelled to a Malaria zone.

2. Typhoid

3. Meningitis

4. Hepatitis A and B

5. Yellow fever (you need to have a certificate to get into Tanzania)

6. Tetnus - check you are up to date!

The final thing, again probably obvious is take care what you eat and drink, would recommend only eating food from where you either trust the source or you have seen it been fried to a shrivle!! Oh and the antibactierial handwash is always good.

Visa

You will need a visa to get into Tanzania, these cost only 38 pounds. You can get these in the UK in advance or in the country when you arrive. Either is fine. It may be easier to take dollars ($50) for the visa although I am sure they take pounds, its just I have never used them.

Check out http://www.tanzania-online.gov.uk/ for details

Thats a wrap!!!

So we think we are done... let us know if you want anymore information.

Once again feel free to comment on any of the above..

lots of love and can't wait to see you all in April

xxx

Some great key Swahili phrases to make you feel like the cool kid in town!

The National Language of Tanzania is Swahili, English is spoken but not by all and a few friendly greetings always go down well. We have put a few here if you fancy having a go….

Greetings and farewells
Good morning - Habari za asubuhi?

Good afternoon (daytime) - Habari za mchana?

Good evening (Generally used between 4-7pm) - Habari za jioni?

Good night (Generally used after 7pm) -Habari za usiku?

Sleep well -Lala salama

Goodbye (For many people say Kwa herini) -Kwa heri

Hello/hi -Habari

There is a different greeting for anyone older than you and/or well respected = ”shikamoo” the reponse would be… “marahaba”

Nice to meet you -Nafurahi kukutana na wewe

See you -Tutatonana

What’s up? (Used to great age mates) -Vipi? or Mambo vipi?

Response to “what’s up” -Poa or Safi

See you later -Baadaye

How are you? -Hujambo?

You may also hear “jambo” used as a greeting, this is not true Swahili and used to greet tourists. You should still respond with “sijambo”

I am fine thanks -Sijambo

Pleasantries
Thank you/thanks -Asante

Thank you very much -Asante sana

No -Hapana

Yes -Ndiyo

Okay -Sawa

Sorry (Also used to say “excuse me”) -Samahani

You will also often hear people say “pole”, this doesn’t have a direct English translation but is commonly used as a display of sympathy

Please -Tafadhali

Yes please -Ndiyo tafadhali

No thanks -Hapana asante

Don’t mention it -Sio kitu

Could you please…? -Tafadhali, unaweza…?

Miscellaneous
I see/I understand -Naelewa

I don’t understand -Sielewi

Do you speak English? -Je unaongea Kiingereza?

I don’t know Swahili -Sijui Kiswahili

Could you repeat that? -Unaweza kusema tena?

Could you speak more slowly? -Sema pole pole zaidi

What is that? -Hiyo ni nini?

I’d like… -Ninaomba…

Can you….? -Unaweza…?

How much is it…? (Used for currency) -Ni bei gani?, Ni kiasi gani? (Used for quantity) -

Is it far? - Ni mbali?

Where is it…? -Iko wapi?

Where is he/she…? (Swahili does not distinguish between male or female!) -Yuko wapi?

Can I have….? -Naweza kupata..?

I can’t…. -Siwezi

White person/people--You will here this a lot, generally it is not stated as an insult, although it may begin to tire, especially when people know your name!
Mzungu/wazungu

Toilet -Msalani
To ask where is the toilet you would say “Msalani iko wapi?”

This is the more polite form sometimes you may hear choo.

Well thats certainly enough to be going on with... let us know if you are done and would like more!!!!

Things to do in Tanzania...

Within Tanzania there are number of breathtaking destinations, check out http://www.saidiavolunteer.org/home_files/tanzania.htm for our favourite locations

Alongside all the wonders within Tanzania, we can very very much recommend going to Rwanda. We visited there with the folks in April this year and had a fantastic time. There is so much to see, to experience, to learn and also to be shocked at...

We went with a Rwandan company who sorted out everything for us, for more info contact:
Isabelle Kayirangwa,
Zebra Courty Tours,
UTC Building,
Phone number: Rwanda country code then 250 08468152
email:isabelle@zebracoutntry.rw
http://www.zebracountry.rw/

In addition to Rwanda, for the adventurous, we very very very much recommend a sky dive... you can sky dive over kili, its amazing, Joey and I did it in May and well Joey is hooked.... check out:

http://www.skydive-kilimanjaro.com/

There are many more things (e.g. travel to Uganda and Kenya etc) but we have tried to choose a few, so as to help in decisions.

Weather guesses and clothes advice

Weather
Unfortunately or fortunately! April time is around the “rainy season”, for those that haven’t experienced the African rains before, these are normally true tropical down pours and last a reasonably short time and generally followed by clear blue skies. As a result of the rains the temperature is cooler approximately (in the 20’s degrees Celcius). However having said all of this, as with the rest of the world the weather has been extremely unpredictable, so be prepared for all! And generally the weather forecast is the same everyday in Tanzania "mostly sunny with some scattered showers!"

To wear or not to wear....?

Though Tanzania is a rather tolerant country, people tend to dress rather conservatively and it is a sign of respect that you dress the same. Women should never dress in what the local people might interpret as a provocative fashion. Skirts or shorts below the knees or long pants should be worn at all times. Spaghetti strap tops, halter tops, or tank tops are not worn by local women very often, but are definitely seen more now than they used to be. Tight fitting or revealing clothing can draw unwanted attention. Although generally on the beach most things go, although off the beach we would advise to cover up a bit more...

Men can wear shorts or trousers, although you will find the local men rarely wear shorts. It is also advisable that men avoid wearing sleeveless shirts.

It can be cooler (although not by UK standards) at this time of year, so I would recommend some kind of light jumper.

It is also a good idea to bring a thin rain jacket, we have no idea if it will still be raining.

Joey and Jenny's price guide...

Life in Tanzania can be very reasonable, this obviously depends on what you are going for and whether it is used locally or is just for tourists. In order to get the best prices you so have to bargain/barter, in most places this is a very normal activity and all part of the fun. There are some fixed price venues (restaurants, bars and boutique type shops).

We thought we could help to give you a little flavour of what you could expect:

What you would expect to pay for a…

• local night out: 20,000/= (£10) for local food (meat and carbs) and many drinks!


• Western food: pizza – 7,000/= (£3.50).


• Soft Drinks (a.k.a. Coca-Cola) 300- 500/= (15-25p)


• Bottled Water: 300/= (15p) and large: 600/= (30p)


• Cold beer: 1,200/= (60p)


• Warm beer: (same as above!!!)


• Taxi: this is dependant on… where you are going, where you are, how much Swahili you can speak, the price of fuel (notably this goes up “everyday!”), what you are wearing, the weather, who you are with, whether or not its lunch time and so on…!!! (we will put together a list of useful numbers and distribute them to all who need!)

An Introduction

So we decided to off set our carbon footprint by posting more information on-line concerning our big day.

We hope this is not too new age, precocious or annoying!!

Our plan on here is to keep it short... we want to give you some more details if you want them.

By now you would have received information about the day(s) (we are assuming that is how you know we are here!) So what is left?

Here we intend to give you some top tips on...

1. Things to do in Tanzania
2. Joey and Jenny's rough cost guide!!
3. Weather guesses and clothes ideas!
4. Some great key Swahili phrases to make you feel like a local
   

On this you can also post us some information, talk to others to see if you can join up in holiday plans or just completely ignore it!!!

Good luck with the navigation of it..

and Karibuni sana (you're very welcome)