Volunteer in Tanzania

Arusha programs start from $574 for one week, deposit included — one price covering your bed at the volunteer house, three meals a day, airport pickup, orientation, placement and 24-hour support. Zanzibar and the Mtwara marine program cost more per week, and the 2-week special includes a two-day safari. Longer stays cost less per week and each program page shows the full week-by-week total. Flights, visa and work permit fees, insurance, local transport and personal spending are extra.

Yes. Most nationalities can obtain a tourist visa on arrival or apply online before travel (US citizens require the multiple-entry visa). Volunteers also need a volunteer work permit, which our local team helps you obtain once you arrive at the project; the permit fee is payable in country. Passports need six months' validity and two blank pages — check current rules with the Tanzania Immigration Department before you fly.

Yes, with normal precautions. Our Arusha house has a security guard, CCTV and staff on site, host families in Zanzibar are in safe residential areas, and coordinators are reachable 24 hours a day. Avoid walking alone after dark, use recommended taxis, keep valuables out of sight in town and on minibuses, and dress modestly, particularly in Zanzibar. Most of our Tanzania volunteers are solo travelers.

17 on the Arusha childcare, teaching and women's empowerment programs, the 2-week special and the Mtwara marine program (with parental consent for under-18s), and 18 for special needs care and Zanzibar teaching. Families are welcome on the Arusha childcare program and the 2-week special. The medical program is for registered healthcare professionals only.

From one week to 24 weeks in Arusha (childcare and teaching), one to twelve weeks on the other Arusha programs and in Zanzibar, and two to twelve weeks on the marine program; the 2-week special is fixed at two weeks. All programs start on Sundays throughout the year and the next available start is 27 Sep 2026.

In Arusha, at our volunteer house 25 minutes' walk from the town center — shared rooms (private upgrades available), cooks, Wi-Fi, a games room, CCTV and a security guard, with capacity for over 50 volunteers. In Zanzibar, with a host family in Mbweni or Chukwani near Stone Town, or in shared volunteer housing in busy months. On the marine program, in a private guesthouse room in Mikindani.

Yes — three meals a day at the Arusha house (breakfast and dinner at the house, lunch usually packed for the project) and three a day with your Zanzibar host family, mixing Tanzanian staples such as rice, ugali, beans and stews with Western dishes. The Mtwara marine program includes breakfast and dinner, with lunch your own. Vegetarians are catered for with notice.

Yes. Arusha volunteers are met at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), at the Arusha bus station if they take the shuttle from Nairobi, or at Arusha's domestic airport. Zanzibar volunteers are collected at the airport or the ferry terminal. Marine volunteers are picked up at Mtwara airport or the Mikindani bus station after their onward journey from Dar es Salaam. Return transfers can be arranged at extra cost.

Malaria prophylaxis is strongly advised, along with repellent and a mosquito net. A yellow fever certificate is required if you arrive from a yellow-fever country — including some transits via Nairobi — so check before booking flights. Hepatitis A, typhoid and routine vaccinations are commonly recommended. See a travel clinic six to eight weeks before departure and check NHS Fit for Travel or the CDC.

The dry seasons — late June to October and late December to February — are the most comfortable and the best for weekend safaris, with June to October the peak of the Great Migration. The long rains (March–May) are wet but green and quiet. Programs run all year round.

Yes. The 2-week special includes a two-day camping safari to Tarangire National Park and Lake Manyara with game drives, meals and park fees. On every other Arusha program the coordinators help you book weekend safaris to Tarangire, Manyara or the Ngorongoro Crater, and longer trips to the Serengeti or Kilimanjaro at your own cost.

Modest, comfortable clothes (long trousers and covered shoulders for schools, mosques and Zanzibar streets), a warm layer for cool Arusha evenings, closed shoes, a rain jacket in the wet seasons, strong mosquito repellent and a net, sunscreen, a headlamp, a small zipped bag for valuables, your own towel, a first-aid kit and any regular medication plus malaria tablets. Marine volunteers need swimwear, reef-safe sunscreen and their dive certification if they have one; teaching volunteers can bring stationery and books.