Tanzania Level 3 Advisory Raises Safari Risk

Published on Nov 26, 2025, 1:33 pm CST

8 min read

Key points

The United States raised its Tanzania travel advisory to Level 3 on October 31, 2025 adding an unrest indicator and warning about crime, terrorism, and targeting of gay and lesbian individuals
The United Kingdom now advises against all but essential travel to Tanzania while Canada urges citizens to avoid non essential travel because of civil unrest, curfews, movement limits, and disruptions to airports and communications
Post election protests have brought curfews, checkpoints, and heavy security in cities such as Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Mwanza with reports of internet restrictions and searches of phones that sometimes lead to detention
International flights to and from Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro International Airport, and Zanzibar have faced cancellations and limited operations with ferries and some rail services also suspended at times
Most safari parks and coastal resorts have remained calmer than major cities but access routes, internal flights, and pre or post safari city stays are more exposed to sudden restrictions and schedule changes
LGBTQ travelers face particular risk because authorities already criminalize same sex relations and advisories cite arrests, harassment, and invasive treatment of people suspected of same sex conduct

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect the highest disruption risk in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza, Stone Town, border areas, and on routes to major airports where curfews, checkpoints, and protests have been reported
Best Times To Travel: Daytime overland transfers and midday flight times are safer bets than late evening or night movements that could clash with curfews or snap security operations
Onward Travel And Changes: Build generous buffers for safari connections, be ready to route via alternative hubs, and assume that last mile links such as ferries or domestic hops can be cancelled at short notice
Health And Safety Factors: Plan for civil unrest alongside existing risks such as crime, terrorism in southern Mtwara, and circulating poliovirus, and review insurance, medical cover, and operator safety protocols before departure
What Travelers Should Do Now: Travelers should review October and November advisory changes, talk to operators about concrete rerouting and shelter in place plans, and consider postponing or switching destinations if they are risk averse or LGBTQ

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On October 31, 2025, the Tanzania Level 3 travel advisory from the United States signaled a higher risk environment for trips through Dar es Salaam and safari hubs across the country. The State Department raised its guidance from Level 2 to Level 3, Reconsider Travel, and added an unrest risk indicator, citing unrest, crime, terrorism, and targeting of gay and lesbian individuals. In the days that followed, the United Kingdom advised against all but essential travel and Canada urged citizens to avoid non essential travel, while post election protests triggered curfews, checkpoints, and intermittent internet shutdowns. For safari and beach travelers, the headline now is not that Tanzania is closed, but that trips rely on more fragile city links, airport access, and legal protections than they did a month ago.

In practical terms, the new Tanzania Level 3 travel advisory means that travelers are being asked to reconsider upcoming plans because of elevated security risks and more frequent disruption of routine movements around airports, city hotels, and some overland routes. Most national parks and resort areas remain calmer than the big cities, but getting in and out of them now carries more friction, from roadblocks on the way to Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR) to partial cancellations at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) and Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ) serving Zanzibar.

U.S. advisory language lays out the core problem. Demonstrations can be unpredictable, the government frequently surges security around protests, and travelers can encounter stationary checkpoints and roadblocks with very little warning. At the same time, officials point to common violent crime, a persistent terrorism threat that is most acute in the southern Mtwara region near the Mozambique border, and specific patterns of arrest, harassment, and invasive treatment of people suspected of same sex conduct. The advisory stresses that anyone who decides to go should have an exit plan that does not depend on government evacuation and should keep a low profile in public places.

The tightening of advice is directly tied to the post election protests that began after the October 29, 2025 vote. International monitoring and media reports describe demonstrations in Dar es Salaam that spread to other cities, a rapid deployment of police and military forces, and curfews that initially ran from early evening to early morning on the mainland. Opposition figures and human rights groups allege very high casualty numbers, while United Nations and other bodies have confirmed deaths and express concern about excessive force, internet shutdowns, and mass arrests.

For travelers, some of the most concrete effects show up in movement controls. Canadian guidance warns that authorities have strengthened security measures, that checkpoints and movement restrictions can appear with little notice, and that curfews, although lifted in most areas, can be reinstated quickly. That same advisory notes that police have legal authority to search phones and other electronic devices, and that possessing images or videos deemed sensitive can lead to detention. Reports from tour operators echo this picture, describing route changes, pauses in ferry operations between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, suspensions of some flights at Dar, Kilimanjaro, and Zanzibar, and a halt to standard gauge rail services during the most intense unrest.

Safari travelers need to understand how those urban and corridor risks intersect with their specific plans. International arrivals for the northern circuit usually route through Dar es Salaam or Kilimanjaro, then connect onward to Arusha, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, or Tarangire by road or small aircraft. Southern circuit trips often rely on connections through Dar to reach Nyerere National Park or Ruaha. If curfews return around Dar or Arusha, late evening transfers between the airport and city hotels can become difficult or even impossible, and if protests block access roads, travelers could miss domestic hops into the parks or outbound long haul flights.

Beach trips to Zanzibar sit in a similar position. Advisories describe protests and a heavy security presence in Stone Town and note that some flights and ferries between Dar es Salaam and the islands have been cancelled during recent unrest. While most resort areas remain physically unaffected, visitors who plan independent city days in Stone Town, or who rely on separate tickets for the ferry, are now more exposed to snap disruptions than cruisers or package guests moving in operator controlled groups.

LGBTQ travelers face an additional layer of risk that the Level 3 notice makes unusually explicit. U.S. guidance stresses that members of the gay and lesbian community have been arrested, targeted, and harassed, and warns that people detained under suspicion of same sex conduct may face invasive physical examinations. Canadian and British material also highlight conservative laws and social attitudes, and industry coverage notes that some tour operators are quietly steering LGBTQ clients toward other destinations while tensions remain high. In practice, this means that travelers who are out, or who plan to travel as a couple, need to weigh the combined risk of hostile legal frameworks, politicized policing, and the current protest environment more seriously than before.

Background: What Level 3 Advisories Mean For Trips

A Level 3 advisory does not ban travel and does not automatically ground flights or invalidate every policy, but it is the second highest warning in the four step scale. It tells citizens to reconsider travel because of serious safety or operational concerns, and it sets the backdrop for how airlines, tour operators, and insurers evaluate risk. Some suppliers will operate normally with added security checks and waivers, others may cancel departures or offer rebooking options, and some travel insurance policies will change coverage if travelers go against official guidance from their home country.

In Tanzania, the current advisory picture is unusually aligned across major source markets. The United Kingdom has moved from routine caution to a stance of avoiding non essential trips, and Canada now applies a national level avoid non essential travel label in addition to longer standing high risk warnings for the southern Mtwara region near Mozambique. The U.S. has not yet ordered a drawdown of citizens or embassy staff, but its Level 3 notice, combined with security alerts that reference curfews and intermittent airport disruption, puts Tanzania in a much higher risk bracket than neighboring safari destinations for the moment.

How It Works For Safari And Beach Itineraries

For guided safaris and packaged beach stays, the key variables are routing, timing, and operator contingency planning. Well established Tanzania specialists report that core game drives inside parks such as Serengeti and Ngorongoro have remained calm and that lodges continue to operate, but they are adjusting transfer times, using quieter border crossings, and in some cases staging passengers overnight in airports or private compounds rather than city center hotels. Independent travelers who rely on public ferries, local buses, or walk up taxis have fewer layers of protection when protests flare or curfews return.

Health and entry risk has not disappeared either. Beyond the political context, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list Tanzania, including Zanzibar, among the countries with circulating poliovirus and recommend that travelers ensure their vaccinations are fully up to date before departure. That is in addition to long standing advice around malaria prevention, routine immunizations, and region specific concerns such as cholera outbreaks or water quality, which operators and embassies will flag in their own channels.

Decision Making For Upcoming Trips

Travelers with near term departures in late 2025 or early 2026 should take a structured approach rather than react only to headlines. First, check the exact text and date of your own government's advisory and see whether it is Level 3, avoid non essential travel, or a more granular warning tied to specific regions. Second, ask your safari operator, cruise line, or tour company for a written summary of how they are handling curfews, checkpoints, and route changes, including details on airport access, overnight locations, and what happens if flights or ferries are cancelled.

Risk tolerant travelers who are booked on fully guided itineraries with strong local partners may decide to proceed, especially if their trips minimize time in large cities and avoid the southern border regions. More cautious travelers, people planning extensive city stays, and LGBTQ travelers in particular should think seriously about postponing or shifting to other safari destinations until there is a clear easing of unrest and a reset of advisories. In every case, build in generous transfer buffers, keep your documents and devices in order, and stay flexible on routing if airlines or ferry operators publish last minute changes.

Over the coming weeks, the main indicators to watch are whether curfews and checkpoints shrink or expand, whether airport and ferry operations stabilize, and whether advisories move back toward more routine caution language. Until then, Tanzania remains a world class safari and beach destination with a significantly more complicated risk profile and more fragile infrastructure for getting visitors in and out.