Tanga - Activities, Attractions & Shopping
Just outside Tanga lies an ancient limestone fault, where the Amboni caves are worth a visit. Beside the caves runs a small river where crocodiles can sometimes be seen, a family of Colobus monkeys live there, and for bird enthusiasts, the great Verreaux eagle owls may be seen roosting in the trees, along with many other varieties of bird life.
Tanga is the nearest coastal town to Arusha; regular bus services run to Dar Es Salaam, Moshi and Arusha, passing the mighty Kilimanjaro mountain on the way. Arusha is the gateway to the Northern Wild Life Parks, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, Tarangire, each a unique experience.
Pangani
Situated about 50km south of Tanga on the mouth of River Pangani that flows from the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. Pangani is a very old town, it is believed to be established before the 6th Century BC and played an important role during the slave trade era. It was a trading port dealing mainly with slaves and ivory. Several historical sites in and around the town serve as reminders of the strong Arabic influence and the later German, British colonial era in Tanganyika. The name Pangani owes to the river that runs through the northern part of this Historical Town.
Amboni Caves
These are natural limestone underground caves formed during the Jurassic age around 150 million years ago. There are 10 caves, with fascinating chambers, the longest is about 900m long. One of the caves is used for guided tours, some are up to 13 meters high. They form the most extensive cave system in East Africa. The caves have religious significance to the local people who pray and make offerings in one of the shrines.
Amani Botanical Gardens
Amani Forest Nature Reserve is one of the latest Nature Reserves established by the government to protect flora and fauna of East Usambara. It harbours some of the animals only seen in Usambara such as the Nduk eagle owl. It was first established in 1902 as an agriculture research station by the Germans and was turned into a nature reserve in 1997. Amani Botanical gardens, the second largest botanical garden in the world lies in this reserve. Today the area continues to play a significant part in medical research hosting the Amani Medical Research Centre. The Nature Reserve has now been turned into an eco-tourism attraction with a greater emphasis on walking and hiking. The area has wonderful birds, butterflies, animals and plants, some of them found only in this area.
Lushoto
A small town set in a valley at about 1200m at the centre of the western Usambara mountains. An excellent base for hikes in the surrounding hills.
Safaris
Resist the temptation to book your viewing in the bigger centers of Dar es Salaam and Tanga, as sharp operators will rip you off despite their assurances. Past experience has shown the best way is to travel to Arusha by bus and book/arrange with operators on site, as this cuts out all the middlemen. Accommodation in Arusha should be arranged well in advance.
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Port Navigation
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Tanga is a great place to leave the boat and head inland for Safari or to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. The yacht club is friendly with tasty Indian food and pizza on offer and has a pool table and free wifi. It’s 40,000 per week for the boat (100,000 per month) and some more for the crew. You can pay by credit card, m-pesa & cash. The anchorage has decent holding in mud and there is a swimming club so always people swimming in the bay. There are a couple of supermarkets in town and fresh fruit and veg markets as well. People are friendly and welcoming and it was a pleasure to look around the markets without being pressured to buy like you are in Arusha or Stone Town.
Forgot to mention, Health and Immigration came out to meet us but we had already checked in so they wanted to check our passport and the health person still wanted to do a health check and charge 10,000TSH which is a bit silly as we’d already been in country for 3 weeks at this point. So if you have already checked in, don’t radio ahead just arrive and anchor up. Head to the port to do your transire and thats all you need to do. The customs TRA office is through the port gates and the first building on the right (you see the back of the building as you walk towards the gates). Go through the entrance and its the first office on your left.
Reported by Jack Hunt of by Barbara Ann:
Tanga yacht club has a weekly club fee of 40,000 TSH, which is a little less than 20$.
The bar does not accept cash but coupons valued at 10,000 TSH can be purchased to buy drinks, which are reasonably priced, a beer costing 1,500 TSH, a little less than 1$.
There is a bus stop about 500m from the yacht club where shuttle buses into town (2-3km) can be caught for 200 TSH. The better option when returning from town is to take a bejaji (tuk-tuk) costing 2,000 TSH.
What is the rate for a day membership to TYC?
Hi Vince, the yacht club has a sliding scale – boat and skipper is approx TZS 20,000 (~$8) a day, 40,000 (~$18) a week and TZS 100,000 (~$40) a month … plus a bit for extra crew. More details on their website – https://tanga-yacht-club.or.tz/about-old/. Do send us feedback when you visit please.