As of November 2019:
Entry into Tanzania
- Road Access fee: USD 25 for the first month, subsequent months are USD20 and can be renewed in major cities. This is payable in Tanzanian shillings. There are two banks at the border with ATM’s but both were either offline or didn’t accept visa card when we crossed so we had to use a money changer.You will also need photocopies of vehicle registration document, passport & driver’s license.
- In theory you can buy 3rdparty insurance and Comesa at the border but once in Nairobi we discovered that what they sold us was worthless. Wasted USD90 for theoretically 4 months Comesa!
Comesa Insurance
3rdparty insurance is a legal requirement in East Africa, Comesa Insurance provides this for Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda. When we left South Africa there was no means of buying it in advance or online that we could find, we believe the AA now offers such a service. We tried to buy in Malawi but they would not do this for foreign vehicles so all we could get was the local 3rdparty. In Tanzania the agency at the border claimed to provide Comesa but neglected to inform us that you need a “local” (for one of the above countries) policy valid for your entire Comesa stay to make Comesa work. Effectively Comesa just extends the risk coverage of your “local” policy. We are now attempting to purchase Kenyan 3rdparty insurance for the remainder of our trip and add Comesa to this while in Nairobi, if successful we will update this page.
Visa and length of stay
For South Africans there is no visa and it is possible to get 90 day stay permit at the border.
Speed Limits
The speed limits in villages is 50km/h and 80km/h on the main roads. The traffic officers are very active in or near villages and enforce the limit right at the point of the sign. They also appear to apply sneaky tactics, for instance we got stopped once after we had exited a village where there was limit cancellation sign but a sign on the opposite side reducing speed from 80 to 50. A few km later after driving in a clearly rural area and thinking the 50km/h can definitely not apply anymore we sped up and then got caught and stopped a further 5km down the road making it difficult to challenge where the actual zone was…
National Parks and other protected areas
Visiting any form of nature reserve or national park is an expensive exercise for a self-drive foreign tourist. There is usually an entrance fee for the vehicle, then a “per 24 hour” fee for each person entering and another for camping per person. In a minor park such as Sadaani, a visit with 1 nights camping would cost USD140 for 2 people in your own car.
In a major park like Ngorongoro or Serengeti, it would cost USD280 per 24 hours and then if you wish to descend into the crater the fee is a further USD295 per vehicle. That is to endure what are apparently car breaking roads and overpopulated and dirty public campsites.