Travel Tanzania: How I spent 2.5 million on a 6-day trip to Tanzania

Hello Journey Rockstars, today on the blog, we will be talking budget travel matters. A lot of people kept asking me how I spent 2.5million on a 6 day trip to Tanzania. It is not like I am a spend thrift so I thought to do a post which shows the trip breakdown and all associated costs. Let’s go!

Flight Ticket & Visa

My airline choice for my trip from Abuja to Dar es Salaam (which was my first point of entry) was Ethiopian Airlines. I booked my ticket about 8 weeks in advance so I was able to get a good deal. The price of the ticket was 253,000 naira for a return ticket.

The visa cost for Tanzania was 15,000 naira. This is a single entry visa that is valid for 90 days from the date of issue. You can apply from the Tanzania Embassy in Abuja or get one on arrival in Dar es Salaam (I did the former).

Total for flight & visa: 268,000 naira.

Local Travel & Accommodation

Our travel itinerary in Tanzania included 3 cities (Dar es Salaam, Arusha & Moshi) and 1 island (Zanzibar). The breakdown below shows the prices in Tanzanian shillings (6.23tsh = 1naira) and the naira equivalent:

• Airport pick-up from Dar es Salaam to Bus park (Uber): 18,000tsh (2,900naira)
• Dar es Salaam to Arusha (12 hours by Coaster Bus): 32,800Tsh (5,000naira).
• One night hotel stay in Arusha: 65,000tsh (10,000naira).
• Arusha to Tarangire Park (4 hours by bus): 2,000tsh (320naira).
• Tarangire Park to Moshi (6 hours by bus): 4,000tsh (650naira)
• One night hotel stay in Moshi: 25,000tsh (4,000naira)
• Moshi to Dar es Salaam (10 hours by Coaster Bus): 29,000tsh (4,650naira)
•  One night hotel stay in Dar es Salaam: 30,000tsh (4,800naira)
• Boat ride from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar (Return ticket): 158,000tsh (25,500naira)
• Two nights stay in Zanzibar (Airbnb home): 152,000tsh (24,250naira)

Total for local travel & accommodation: 515,000tsh (82,100naira)

Feeding and Tours

We went on a Safari Tour at the Tarangire Park and this was the only tour we paid for. The cost for the tour was 126,000tsh per person (20,000naira). We got a 50% discount which I spoke about here but that is the standard price. 

For feeding, I would estimate we spent about 13,000tsh per day and we spent a total of 6 days so that is 78,000tsh (12,500naira).

There were other little miscellaneous expenses like when we had to take motorbikes or small buses to very short locations and tips. We didn’t do a lot of shopping but we got a few cool souvenirs from the market and that cost about 20,000tsh (3,200naira)

Total for feeding & tours + small shopping: 224,000tsh (35,700naira)

Final Costing Breakdown:

• Flight & visa:1,669,640tsh (268,000naira)
• Local travel & accommodation: 511,483tsh (82,100naira)
• Feeding & tours: 222,411tsh (35,700naira)

Total:  2,403,534tsh (385,800 naira)….Approx: 2,492,000tsh (400,000naira)

Ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. That is how I spent 2,492,000 Tanzanian Shillings on a 6-day trip which is equivalent to 400,000 naira…hehehe

P.S: Bear in mind that this was a very budget trip and we went for cheap thrills and all. Also, I travelled with a friend so we split the accommodation bills evenly which helped the total trip cost too. This trip breakdown should not be taken as an absolute but it is just a guide to help when planning a trip to Tanzania. 

Cheers to more travel adventures!