Travel Budget: Kenya and Tanzania

Budgeting is one of the less fun aspects of traveling. It is however a necessary part of the process. I’ll tell you what I spend in 5 weeks in Kenya and Tanzania so you know what to expect. One might think that Africa is pretty cheap. Or at least they would if they’ve never looked at safari’s. Once you see the prices of just a few days in the bush all hope of going often quickly fades. The good news is that even a safari can be done on a budget! It’s never cheap, but at least achievable even with a student travel budget.

Flights- €600/$624

Multistop Flight:Brussel to Nairobi and Dar es Salaam to Amsterdam- €600

Pre-trip costs- €110/$114

Vaccinations: I needed Hepetitus A and yellow Fever. Both were covered by my insurance.
Insurance with Allianz Global €20
Anti-Malarials: €104, but my insurance covered this as well.
Visa’s: Kenya: €50, Tanzania €40

Accommodation €672,-/$699

Accommodation is generally pretty cheap in Africa. We stayed in a few dorms, but also had a shared room sometimes. If we shared room we of course split the cost. I’ll only write what I paid. I also wrote about my favorite places to stay in Kenya in and Tanzania.

Wildebeest Eco Camp in Nairobi 2 nights for €26
Several camps during safari, included in Safari price.
Wildebeest Eco Camp again. 1 night for €13
Fishermans camp In Naivasha. 4 nights for €24
Pili Pili House in Arusha. 4 nights for €52
Unknown Guesthouse near Lake Ayasi – €60 (price includes transport to the area)
Kijiji Beach Resort in Dar es Salaam. 2 nights for €57,50
Hondo Hondo Forest camp in Udzungwa. 4 nights for €200 (price includes breakfast and 3 course dinners)
Hong Kong Hotel in Dar es Salaam. 1 night for €16,50
Warere Town House in Stone Town, Zanzibar. 2 nights for €57,50
Summer Dream Lodge in Paje, Zanzibar. 2 nights for €46
Kajibange bar and guesthouse in Nungwi. 5 nights for €119,50

Safari-€600/$624

We booked our budget safari in Kenya with Karibu Safari’s. We had 6 days in total and visited Masai Mara, Nakuru and Amboseli. Transport, Accommodation, food and the guide were included in the cost. All budget company’s just assign you with a guide from the tour guide association. Our guide happened to be wonderful and we bonded with him over the week. He has started his own company so he can support his family and I can highly recommend going with him. If you’re on a budget, this is the best safari in Kenya. You can find more details here.

Activities €171/$179

These are all the activities we did besides the safari. I loved all of the things we did, but certain things stood out! There are some things you must do in Kenya and Tanzania.

Giraffe Center in Nairobi $7
Hiking mt. Longonot $26
Cycling and Hiking through Hell’s Gate $26
Boat Safari $20
Kikuletwa Hot springs $20
Visiting the Datoga Tribe (this was free, because we went with a local friend)
Stone Town Tour $10
Spice tour $10
Snorkling Mnemba Island day trip $60

Food-€250/$260

Food is cheap in most places in Kenya and Tanzania. We splurged a little bit on dinner at the Rock, but most days we didn’t spend much at all. On days that we didn’t have food included in safari or accommodation costs we probably spend €10 a day on average.

Transport-€202/$210

There were a few big journeys and a few shorter taxi rides. Funny enough a local bus costs next to nothing for a 2 hour journey and a taxi cost us a lot more.

Matatu (local bus) from Nairobi to Naivasha €5
Bus from Nairobi to Arusha €20
Bus Arusha to Dar es Salaam €20 (I would highly recommend flying! This journey was excruciatingly long.)
Transfer from bus stop in Dar es Salaam to our hotel €10
Bus from Dar es Salaam to Hondo Hondo Forest Camp €10
Bus from Hondo Hondo back to Dar es Salaam €10
Taxi to the Ferry terminal €5
Ferry Dar es Salaam-Zanzibar return ticket $70
Taxi from Stone town to Paje €20 (usually we would take local transport, but I was ill at the time so we splurged on a taxi)
Taxi From Paje to Nungwi €15
Taxi from Nungwi to the Ferry €10
Taxi from the Ferry to the airport €10