Zanzibar

If you want to avoid having the Yellow Fever use Oman Air to fly directly to Zanzibar avoiding DAR. As you are then coming from a non-endemic area there is no need for it. Know someone who did this recently. Worth a bit more exploration

Definitely get the visa before. On one occasion it took 2 hours to get visa in Dar, and the chaos can be overwhelming if you are not used to it. Once in ZNZ need up to north. We did the Spice Tour and it was very interesting. Stone Town is great. The Tanzanian people are very friendly.

@Busybee, my first two trips to West Africa, I took Malarone. DH lived there for 2 years and was taking Malarone the entire duration. Malarone gave us interesting dreams but no side effects. The third time I went, I took Mephaquin, because I couldn't find Malarone in time for the trip, and DH took, well, nothing, because he thought his liver needed a break. Merry Christmas, Santa brought him Malaria. Each time he has gone in since that awful holiday, he has taken Mephaquin and it's been effective.

Yes, thanks for correcting me, busybee--got the dosage wrong. Been a while since I was in Africa. FYI never had any side effects with Mephaquin (as it is spelled on the box). My DH and I both had strange dreams from Malarone, though neither of us has ever had any side effects that were nasty by definition. It has also kept us Malaria free :) Well, except the time my DH wanted to give his liver a break. He didn't like the idea of being on it for 2 years straight, but he likes the idea of being Malaria stricken a lot less. but did you take malarone? thought that you were taking mephaquin which is mefloquine which is also know as larim. doxy and marlarone are used as an antibiotic as well as a malaria pill so they can be used for quite a few different things.

Another bit of advice - try and get TZS before you come as rates will probably be better - at the moment the $ - TZS rate is about 1572. Bring cash in $s, credit cards are only used in a few hotels and shops here. There are a few ATMs in Stone Town but you won't find much elsewhere.

Ok I'll admit I have been lurking on here for a while and kept meaning to sign up but you know how it is. Seeing this post I thought it was about time. I'm currently living in Tanzania - moving to Dxb in December so know Zanzibar pretty well. Zanzibar is lovely - Stone Town is a great place for wandering around and getting lost in the back streets and the beaches on the West/North are lovely. So a few things - think you've got enough info on visas - Brits pay $50 on arrival though am not sure of Americans. Connection times - a more tricky one. A lot depends on who you are flying with - as mentioned earlier Oman Air fly into Zanzibar - as do Ethiopian. Otherwise there are 2 choices when transferring from Dar to Zanz - Precision which flies from the International Terminal or one of the smaller airlines - Coastal, ZanAir, Tropical that fly from the domestic terminal. If its a smaller airline then as advised you should allow a bit more time as the terminal is a 10 minute drive (think there is a shuttle provided) but by the time you've actually got off, sorted out the visa and collected your luggage.......I'd allow at least a 3 hours. Remember that the smaller planes also have a smaller baggage allowance - think its about 15kg and they are small - 12(ish) seaters, can be bumpy but have great views. Precision - have a larger allowance as they are 'normal' international flights - though still not massive. As far as meds go - the yellow fever rules keep changing - as you're coming from a non-infected country you may get away with it but............better to be on the safe side - also not soemthing you want to pick up as a souvenir. One good thing - it lasts for quite a few years so handy if you decide to go off somewhere else where YFcert is needed. Last time I came over on holiday (Sept 2010) I was coming over from Kuwait and the YF jab was very cheap (at least compared with UK) As far as malaria meds go, that really is personal choice. The first and second time I came over I took Doxy - though admittedly not as often as I should have done. Since living here (Feb 2011) I haven't taken anything. Malaria is very common here both on the mainland and in Zanz - I've just been lucky. Hope this helps - just a couple more things and I'll be done.........there's a great coffee shop at the domestic terminal (though not much else), the airport in Zanzibar is small - and expensive - things you buy are at least double the price of the things you'll buy outside. If you're up for an adventure you could always get the boat over. Depending on the time of your flight to Dar you could either get a late afternoon one or have a night in Dar and get a morning ferry - though only book on Azam as the others are way to dodgy. Takes about 2 hours (+an hour plus) from the airport. Let me know if there's anything else you need info on and have a great time.

We're going very soon and the government website says no yellow fever vaccination certificate is required. What does that mean? Does it mean you dont need the jab or just that you dont have to prove that you've had it. My understanding is that if you are flying in from a non-endemic area ie UAE to an endemic area ie Tanzania, you are not required to have proof of YF vaccine. So in this scenario, it is a personal choice on whether you are willing to take a chance.

Yes, thanks for correcting me, busybee--got the dosage wrong. Been a while since I was in Africa. FYI never had any side effects with Mephaquin (as it is spelled on the box). My DH and I both had strange dreams from Malarone, though neither of us has ever had any side effects that were nasty by definition. It has also kept us Malaria free :) Well, except the time my DH wanted to give his liver a break. He didn't like the idea of being on it for 2 years straight, but he likes the idea of being Malaria stricken a lot less.

look here you know the internet is your friend..... http://www.doctorfox.co.uk/anti-malaria-tablets/

thanks so much everyone... Saharagypsyrose... where are you staying? do you know how hard it is to get a visa on arival and what all we would need to have with us? i guess it would be easier to just do it before hand... we are thinking of flying out on the 26th which means we would need to go get the shots on tuesday. did you get any other shots other than the YF? do you know how much your RX was for the malaria if we just get it from another pharmacy, i dont want to really have to pay for 2 dr. visits. we actually had a whole load of malaria tablets my husbands company gave him when he went to afghanistan (that he never took) i wonder if we could just take those, if they are strong enough, or if they will make us sick, or if they expire etc...... OR if i can even still find them. lol they do expire, most of them do not have a long life, and if you look up websites it will tell you which medicine to take, some are resistant so there is no point in taking them.

Be a little bit careful with Meflaquin?? Spelling it is also known as Larium and has some very unpleasant side effects. yep wouldnt take them hence why i went to the big trouble of getting malarone!!

My DH gets his malaria medication for about 35 dhs a box, and just goes to the chemist and asks for it. It is a 1-a-week pill just like Malarone. It's called Mephaquin. If that helps. And bless, would love to go to Zanzibar!!! thats another name for mefolquine. yes its 1 a week, its not like malarone as that is 1 a day, there is a difference. doxicycoline (1 a day) and lariam (mefolquine) are 1 a week. malarone is 1 a day, and is used as an emergency medicine too, if you were going very off the beaten track, with no medical facilities close by you take malarone as a preventive and also if you catch malaria too. hence why they have a different price, lariam is given by the hospital in abu dhabi free of charge, but it has horrible side affects. if yellow fever is required to visit a country you should have it, but usually they require certification etc. any vaccine for any country you should have just in case. most of them if you complete the dose will cover you for 10 years. you do not want to catch any of these diseases...... but hey its up to you. <em>edited by busybee2 on 15/10/2012</em>

We're going very soon and the government website says no yellow fever vaccination certificate is required. What does that mean? Does it mean you dont need the jab or just that you dont have to prove that you've had it. Oman Air - fantastic connections/direct flights to Zanzibar but its only the current schedule on the website just now, but after the 27th October it will change.

Be a little bit careful with Meflaquin?? Spelling it is also known as Larium and has some very unpleasant side effects.

My DH gets his malaria medication for about 35 dhs a box, and just goes to the chemist and asks for it. It is a 1-a-week pill just like Malarone. It's called Mephaquin. If that helps. And bless, would love to go to Zanzibar!!!

Went to Tanzania/Zanzibar in the summer. 1.5 hours is not long enough especially if you need to obtain your visa on arrival. It really is chaos on arrival. If you have not booked flights yet check out Oman Air, they fly directly from Muscat to Zanzibar so a change in Muscat could be a better than a change in Dar. Malerone is also available at Emirates hospital but they quoted me 35dhm per tab. Yellow fever only at Al Mankhool. Try not to use credit cards at all, maybe pre-pay your hotels through a secure site and use cash, take US $ <em>edited by DM on 15/10/2012</em>

All of the below is very good advice. Also check out how you are going to pay for your stay and what currency to take. We had problems in a well known luxury beach resort when paying our final bill by C.C on check out. The transaction was declined by our Dubai bank as Zanzibar wasn't a secure source!! We actually called our local Dubai bank to confirm we were in Z. and we were trying to pay our final bill to check out and board a plane back to Dubai, it made no difference! We have an excellent credit rating and have been with the bank for many years and still it made no difference. We scraped together the bill by using all our spare cash in different currencies. A lesson learned!!

ok well i def dont want to be seeing things and feeling bad while on vacation, or in general. lol im also starting to think this may be to difficult to plan on such short notice and i should start looking at other destinations that i dont need visas and shots for.... our insurances is great and pays 100 percent and we go to american hospital for ped. gyno. ent. etc... so i wonder if our insurance would pay for a gp and the meds... i have heard some insurance do pay. if you are needing anti malaria then you should try and go for malarone, you dont need to take it for long, the others you need to start them like 4 weeks before so if its short notice then you will have no choice. otherwise you will need other jabs too.

if you know people coming from uk you can get malarone for half the price here. i researched this for my son who went to vietnam last year, nowhere in abu dhabi does malarone, the only place that has it would be the american hospital and at 500 dhs for the doctors apt to write the script and 30 dhs per tablet, as mentioned you need 1 a day starting 2 days before and 7 days afterwards would have cost well over 1,000 dhs. i got them from the uk in the end. i did a lot of research and the other two lariam (very bad my doctor here said stay away) the other one is doxcyclone but again has side effects, probs with sun allergy/rental probs. therefore as my son would not be allowed to take either of these due to medical issues we had no choice but to use malarone, he had no probs at all.

Watch out for the sand fleas on the beaches...they itch terribly!

We will be staying at Maru Maru in Stone Town for a couple of days, and then The Zanzibari after. There are hotels from 1 star to 5 stars so you get to choose which one suits your budget and taste. I don't think it's hard to get visa on arrival, just a matter of patience, unless you have a short transit time. If you are transiting from DAR to ZNZ, it's best to get your visa ahead of time because the 1.5 hr may not be enough, all you need is your first segment flight arrive late, and your second segment leaves early, and that will just ruin your entire plan. Malarone is only available at American Hospital in the whole of Dubai that I know of. The gov't pharmacies carry other brands. LOL..find the tablets first, then you will have all your answers. :D If you go to the gov't clinic, just be sure the doctor writes you the brand that you can get from the gov't clinic or hospital pharmacies. We got a total of 12 jabs each, as we are spending a whole month in East Africa so it's better to be safe and got everything under the sky.

I got yellow fever and typhoid shots from a government hospital. They also gave me anti-malaria tablets (free). You just tell them where you're traveling and for how long and they will arrange everything. I think the anti-malaria tablets cost about 20-30 dirhams from the pharmacy. You can either take Doxycycline (which is also an acne med) or Mefloquine. I took Mefloquin which I hated, it's a series of 6 tablets. The side effects are very strong (hallucinations) and I really felt uncomfortable but unfortunately, there are only those 2 options in UAE. You can get other anti-malaria meds elsewhere but the options here are limited.

Hi Shannon, I just finished planning our trip to Tanzania. This is what I know from my research and experience. does anyone know if americans need a visa to enter zanzibar (lay over in tanzania) if so what is the process? Yes, US passport holders require visas. does anyone know the cost for a visa whether it be on arrival or before? Visa is $100, most other countries is $50. Yes, visa on arrival is possible. If it is not too much trouble for you to get the visa ahead of time, the Tanzania Consulate is on Umm Al Sheif Road and the visa can be done within 48 hrs in most cases. also does anyone know if it is REQUIRED to have certain vaccines before going there from dubai, and or is it required to have certain vaccines to re enter dubai... Yes, Yellow Fever vaccine is a must. The rest is up to you. Zanzibar is a malaria risk area, so it is recommended you have the meds for it. if so... how far in advance do you have to have these before traveling and how easy is it to get them, and what is their cost? Yellow fever vaccine is effective 10 days after administration for a period of 10 years. Yes, only Gov't clinic administer Yellow Fever vaccines. The clinic we went to was Al Mankhool Health Center. If you require other vaccines, this is probably a good place to get as the cost is very reasonable. YF vaccine costs 200dhs. The anti Malaria tablets Malarone which we prefer (supposedly most effective with the least side effects) can only be purchased from American Hospital which the pharmacy will only accept a prescription from AH. The cost of the tablet is 30Dhs each, you will need to start two days before travel, a pill each day during your travel and 7 days after you finish your travel. We just spent 2520Dhs today on them :( thanks so much for any help, we just had the last minute idea to go somewhere over eid and i have always wanted to go there, i hope there is enough time to get everything sorted out :) If you can get flights there, the rest is easy. There is some promotions happening at some hotels I believe. The high season is at end of December where prices can double in some. Have a great time! <em>edited by Saharagypsyrose on 14/10/2012</em>

I agree with abaa, need your yellow fever shot - which I believe can only be given at a govt clinic here. Last time I was there, Aussies and Danes got visa's on arrival....I am sure Americans would too. A good travel agent should be able to tell you....or of course the Tanzanian consulate if there is one here. Hubby came down with malaria there last time we went......fabulous place though :)

hi Shannon, I'm not sure about the visa thing. but i do know you will need to take the yellow fever shot.. and don't forget your malaria pills, they have ones you can start taking a few days before the trip, and others a few weeks. <em>edited by abaa on 14/10/2012</em>

does anyone know if americans need a visa to enter zanzibar (lay over in tanzania) if so what is the process? does anyone know the cost for a visa whether it be on arrival or before? also does anyone know if it is REQUIRED to have certain vaccines before going there from dubai, and or is it required to have certain vaccines to re enter dubai... if so... how far in advance do you have to have these before traveling and how easy is it to get them, and what is their cost? thanks so much for any help, we just had the last minute idea to go somewhere over eid and i have always wanted to go there, i hope there is enough time to get everything sorted out :) I would ring the US embassy who should be able to advise or go onto their web page