With the media attention on the spread of the Ebola virus; is this having an affect on Tanzanian tourism?
Safari planning expert, Julian
Carter-Manning, of Yellow Zebra Safaris shares his point of view.
Question: What is it that makes a Tanzania safari so special?
We operate safaris in all the major
safari destinations but it is the quality of safari on offer in Tanzania,
coupled with the diversity of its parks and safari experiences that make
Tanzania such a popular destination.
The sheer quality of Tanzania's safari
is undeniable. Home to the major safari parks of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro
Crater, as well as Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar,Tanzania has four of Africa's most
iconic sites.
The Serengeti is the mother of all
safari parks, and where else can you go on a Big Five Safari in an extinct
volcano the same day that you start to climb up Africa's highest mountain? The
Great wildebeest Migration in itself is a huge attraction, and so are the
chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, and the crystal clear waters and pure
white sand beaches of Zanzibar!
Tanzania's safari is then the most
diverse of any destinations we operate trips. If you take Botswana or South
Africa for example then the vast majority of travellers will only go to one
specific safari region within that country. For South Africa that area will be
the Kruger National Park where as for Botswana it would be the parks centered in
and around the Okavango Delta.
However if you are considering a trip
to Tanzania then you have the famous reserves in the north of the country, the
quieter slower paced southern circuit and also the 'wild' western circuit. In
summary, in Tanzania you have three safari 'circuits' to choose from where as
in many other destinations you often only have one! What's even more
interesting about Tanzania is that these three areas cater for different styles
of traveler. Northern Tanzania for example, works well for a first timer to
Africa where as Southern Tanzania caters for the safari connoisseur, or the
adventurous first timer who is looking for something different.
Each of these three safari circuits can
then easily be linked with a high quality beach stay, which is another of
Tanzania's main attractions. In our opinion it is the continent’s finest
destination for safari and beach trips.
The final point to mention is that if
you choose your lodges carefully, then Tanzania can be an incredibly good value
safari destination when you compare it to the other leading safari
destinations.
Q
- Is the Ebola epidemic in West Africa a risk to Tanzania?
The first thing to say here is that as
far as we are aware there have never been any instances of Ebola in
Tanzania. I
would like to stress that I am no doctor, and so the views I express here are
simply my own personal opinions from an interest in Ebola itself, and my company’s
responsibility to our clients.
Over the last few months it is true to
say that we have noticed an increase in the number of clients concerned by the
Ebola virus spread in West Africa, however at present we have no concerns
regarding our clients traveling to Tanzania.
It is very important to put this into
some perspective. During this current outbreak there have been no reports of
Ebola in the whole of East Africa, let alone Tanzania. The suspected cases in Kenya turned out to be negative and strict travel screening has been placed for people traveling from ebola affected areas.
There have been a number of posts and
forums online stating that the epicenter of this virus is well over 5,500km
from Tanzania. The argument is that London, at approximately 4,900 km away is
closer, Brazil, at approximately 3,000km is closer, Spain is closer, France is
closer etc. It is an 'argument', however whether that really helps travelers
gain more confidence is debatable, especially considering most travelers
simply look at the fact that airlines fly across Africa daily.
With the ease of air
travel across the entire planet, Ebola is a potential threat anywhere. But you
then have to consider the fact that Ebola is not an air born disease. That
is not to say that there is no threat of Ebola being moved cross country
through aviation - as the cases in Nigeria underline - but it is to stress that
Ebola can only be transferred through human-to-human transmission. Infection results
from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood,
secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact
with environments contaminated with such fluids (source WHO), so the concern of travelers catching Ebola on a plane is
really very small indeed.
To put this in
perspective you could well be on a plane or even walk though the epicenter of
the epidemic itself right now, and not catch Ebola. The BBC recently released
an hour long documentary about the current outbreak. The Horizon program, 'The
Search for a Cure', stated that every single case could be traced back to the
first case. In summary, it is a contact disease, in a sense similar to the
spread of HIV if you were looking for a comparison....i.e. through bodily
fluids.
The
reality is that
Ebola primarily spreads overland. Then, the distances of Tanzania from the
affected areas becomes much more relevant. Couple this with the fact that it is
far from easy to travel by land from West to East Africa, the chance of
Ebola spreading to Tanzania is in my opinion a small one. This fact is backed
up by the fact that outbreaks in Uganda over the last 20 years, albeit
significantly smaller than the current West African outbreak, never reached
Tanzania. Uganda is significantly closer to Tanzania than any of the current
infected areas!
We have been advising our clients to
carry on as normal and are carefully monitoring the situation. We simply don't
believe that at present there is any risk to our clients traveling to
Tanzania. We obviously take the 'threat' very seriously but with clients traveling across Tanzania right now, we are carrying on our safari operations
as normal.
We are members of the African Travel
and Tourism Association and receive daily updates on Africa as a whole. It is
important to stay on top of any news and any changes in the current situation
in West Africa. Ultimately the key is to stay well informed. Websites like
the World Health Organisation and Doctors Without Borders offer updates and
great sources of current, high quality information.
We would advise any travelers to
Tanzania to contact their travel company and ask them for their own opinion. It
then goes without saying that we also always encourage clients to take out good
quality travel insurance.
About the
author
Julian Carter-Manning is the Co-founder
and Director of Yellow Zebra Safaris. He is the lead designer of ‘on the
ground’ operations for safaris in Tanzania and across the African continent for
Yellow Zebra Safaris. You can contact him via the company website at http://yellowzebrasafaris.com.
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