The Rough Guide to Tanzania 2

I recently visited Kenya and Tanzania and purchased Rough Guides for each country. The Rough Guide to Tanzania had a good list of hotels and provided enough information for us to choose where to stay and make our reservations from the United States. It also gave useful tips about safety precautions, and the maps which we used (Karatu, Moshi and Stone Town) turned out to be quite accurate. There was also a considerable list of restaurants for these cities which made our trip much easier. The book also contains plenty of information about the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. One topic where I found the Rough Guide to be lacking is the description of Kilimanjaro routes. It had some information about the Marangu and Machame routes, but almost nothing about the others. It would have also been useful for them to mention that credit cards are rarely accepted and that we get horrible rates for Travelers' checks - the best rates are obtained only for US Dollars in cash. Overall though, I was quite glad I purchased the Rough Guide, and our trip was made considerably easier and more interesting due to this book.

I just spent three weeks in Tanzania on vacation, and visited Dar Es Salaam, Arusha and the northern Safari circuit, and Zanzibar with the Rough Guide as my primary guide. I also hiked Kilimanjaro on a prearranged trip, without using the guidebook. The major strength of the book is that it is written from the viewpoint on traveling that I share, that when traveling you should try to experience the country from as much of a local perspective as possible and avoid the tourist traps that isolate you from the actual country. In this respect it served very well, covering methods to tour the country (such as by daladala and local dhows) that were only occasionally used by tourists. Its recommendations were generally pretty good, although I didn't see too much difference between the highly recommended special picks and the standard listings for hotels and restaurants. His general suggestions for areas to go to and things to do I thought were very good, however. The main issue with the book is that it was sometimes very out of date. Even though it was just published in 2006 I ran across some places that we were counting on from the book that had closed (DDC in Kariakoo (Dar Es Salaam) and the cultural tourism in Gezaloule). Also the inflation from the prices in the book was between 0 and 75%, so it was difficult to know for sure when you were being ripped off and when the prices had just increased. Another issue with the book is that sometimes the author made it sound easier than it was to get around without knowing some kiswahili (the local language). Until we had a rudimentary grasp of the language it was sometimes tough to follow the directions. Generally a good book that I would recommend to anyone that really wants to see the country, but verify your plans with locals when you're there.

I got this book as a gift and hardly opened it before getting on the plane to Tanzania. Once there, however, we used it many times a day and found it to be accurate, comprehensive, and engaging. A great guidebook.

That says it all. We attracted lots of attention by being the first to show up in Tanzania toting the new edition. The locals all agreed it was the most comprehensive & accurate guide available, & were really impressed by some of the things we knew from reading it. We had several offers to buy it when we left but wanted to keep it as a souvenir. Be aware that the author included information on a FEW things that were planned but never opened. Nonetheless, it's an outstanding guide with good maps & lovely photos.

I travelled to Tanzania with this guidebook in hand (as well as others), and it was by far the best when compared to similar guidebooks on the area. I agree with the other reviewer that there may be some inaccuracies, but that is inherent in guidebooks. I personally found all of the restaurants, hotels, and shops that I visited based on information I found in the book to be accurate (Dar, Zanzibar, and Pemba). I cannot attest to the accuracy of the Swahili phrases, as I tended to learn more from people I met than I actually used from the book. If you are debating between guidebooks, I would recommend this one over the others (especially if you are travelling to Zanzibar and Pemba).