5 Tourist Scams in Arusha

You find a safari company online offering a 3-day Serengeti safari for $800 —

a steal when legit operators charge $1,500-2,500. You wire a $400 deposit via Western Union. On arrival day, the company doesn't answer calls. The website was copied from a legitimate operator, with a different bank account. Fake safari companies are the biggest scam in Tanzania's tourism industry, and they proliferate online.

You arrive in Arusha and are immediately approached by 'safari agents' who claim to have last-minute deals.

They show you brochures from real companies but pocket your money as a middleman — adding 30-50% commission. Or they book you with the cheapest, least safe operator and claim it's the premium company. Some abandon groups mid-safari when the money runs out.

An unofficial guide offers a spice tour for $10 instead of the typical $20-30.

The 'tour' visits one actual spice farm for 10 minutes, then proceeds to 3 souvenir shops selling overpriced spice bags at 20,000 TZS ($8) when they cost 5,000 TZS ($2) locally. The guide earns commission at each stop.

You arrive in Arusha and a man near the Clock Tower roundabout offers to exchange your US dollars ...

You arrive in Arusha and a man near the Clock Tower roundabout offers to exchange your US dollars at a rate 15 percent better than the banks. He counts out the Tanzanian shillings in front of you, but during the hand-off he palms several large-denomination notes. You walk away with 30 to 40 percent less than the quoted rate. In a second variation, the notes look correct but include old-series bills that are no longer accepted by shops and hotels. Travel forums and safari booking guides consistently flag Arusha's street money changers as one of the top scams in the city, particularly around the central market area.

You arrive in Tanzania planning to visit both Arusha for safari and Zanzibar for beaches.

At the airport or from your tour operator, you are told about a 'mandatory tourist insurance' requirement and offered to purchase it on the spot for 50-100 USD. Since October 2024, Zanzibar does require mandatory tourist insurance (ZanCover), but the actual cost is 44 USD for adults per visit when purchased through the official government portal. Reddit users on r/tanzania criticize this requirement as controversial, but the real scam comes from intermediaries who charge double or triple the official price, or who sell fake insurance certificates that will not be accepted at Zanzibar entry points. Some tour operators in Arusha bundle the insurance into their package at inflated rates without disclosing the actual government price. Travelers who already have comprehensive travel insurance may not need ZanCover at all if their policy meets the minimum requirements.