There is no Covid in Tanzania!

Tanzania's president has thanked a visiting Chinese minister for not wearing a mask, claiming it proves there's no coronavirus in the country.

From a BBC news article issued yesterday.

Yeah, okay.

So apparently it's going to be an interesting visit for us to Tanzania, one of the few countries in the world where life at this time goes on pretty much "normally". 

I've been following the stories of a few other travelers who are either in Tanzania or have been there over the past six months. 

And it seems that nobody in the general public wears masks, especially outside. But then I have always thought that wearing them outside when there is no chance of getting within six feet of someone else is a little overboard anyhow. And there is also no social distancing at all with the general public. But the tourism operators are aware of standards that must be kept to give the appearance of keeping the tourists safe. So it seems that most of the hotels and tourist places are keeping up standards even if the general public are not.

Photo courtesy of Ok Safaris.

There was an interesting news release put out in December by one of the tour operators in Tanzania. It was more of an advertisement, but it did make a valid point.

Flights are in and out of Tanzania regularly and many of them nearly empty, making the travel experience safe and comfortable. With less crowds, it makes for the ideal conditions to explore Tanzania.

But even though Tanzania's President states that there is no Covid in Tanzania, we still plan to maintain standards that we believe are necessary even if others don't. But one of our own rules that we are breaking is with regard to our accommodation.

When I was researching this trip, I quickly learned that Tanzania is not an easy country to visit without some local help. By that, I mean that many of the reasons to visit Tanzania (Kilimanjaro, Serengeti safaris etc) are difficult to organize on your own. And you can't save much money doing it on your own because most of the high expenses are because of high government tourism taxes and high National Park fees for non residents.

Photo courtesy of Ok Safaris.

While I was doing all of this research, we were contacted by the marketing department at www.oksafaris.com and it didn't take long to decide that they will be our tour operator of choice during our trip. So you'll be hearing a lot about them over the next couple of months. They will be organizing our Mount Meru hike, our Kilimanjaro hike, and several other outings. Hopefully we will also be able to do some volunteering and get to know some of the people in the community.

Also, their marketing manager has personally invited us to stay at his home in Arusha. We will be paying $15 USD ($20 CAD) per night which is pretty much the going rate for this type of accommodation. We think that the benefit of the experience of staying with a knowledgeable local will far outweigh the possible increased Covid risk. 

Ok Safaris does everything. Any type of tour that you want. That's why there are no prices mentioned on their website. They prefer to be able to have a discussion with you regarding what you are looking for so they can design the trip that you want, and give you a price accordingly. If you want to do a budget trip, like we normally do, they are there for you. If you want the best of the best... they can organize that for you as well.

"Ok Safaris Specializes in big and small group holidays to Tanzania and beyond, in East and Southern Africa. We believe in authentic travel, shared experiences and real adventure on either budget, mid-luxury and lodge Safaris. We are simply not here to sell you expensive trips you cannot afford. We are designed to help you plan and book the trip of your dreams on your budget”

Back in the winter of 2013-2014, we spent an incredible four months touring Namibia, South Africa, and Lesotho. We are looking forward to showing you another amazing part of Africa!

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