How to check a Tanzanian operator before you pay them

Anyone can build a website. Licensing in Tanzania is public and verifiable, and ten minutes of checking removes most of the risk from a large deposit.

TALA

A Tour Operator Licence, commonly called TALA, is issued by the Tanzania Tourist Board and is required to operate tours in Tanzania. It carries a number and a category, and it must be renewed annually.

Ask any operator for their TALA number and the category. A licensed company will send it without hesitation. A company that sends you a logo instead of a number is not licensed, or is operating under someone else’s licence, which is common and leaves you with no recourse.

The categories matter

TALA licences are issued by category, and the category determines what a company may legally do — mountain climbing, game viewing, or both. An operator licensed only for one and selling the other is subcontracting, which is not automatically bad but should be disclosed.

Ask for the number and the category. Both, in writing, before the deposit.

Association membership

Membership of the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators and of the mountain-crew welfare organisations is voluntary, and therefore tells you something. These bodies have codes of conduct and a complaints mechanism. Check membership on the association’s own site, not on the operator’s.

Insurance

Ask two questions. Does the company hold public liability insurance, and does it hold evacuation cover for clients on the mountain? These are separate things. Ask for the insurer’s name and the policy period.

Separately, your own travel policy must cover trekking to 6,000 metres. Many do not.

The deposit

Reasonable practice is a deposit of twenty to thirty per cent to confirm, with the balance due before arrival. Be cautious about a company asking for the full amount months ahead, and more cautious about payment to a personal account rather than a company one.

Check that the account name matches the company name on the licence. If it does not, ask why before you send anything.

Questions that reveal more than reviews

• What is your TALA number and category?
• Who is my lead guide, and how long have they worked with you?
• What do you pay porters per day?
• Do you carry oxygen and a pulse oximeter, and how often are readings taken?
• What is your cancellation policy in writing?
• Is the safari subcontracted, and to whom?

Reviews

Read the three-star reviews, not the five-star or one-star ones. The middle of the distribution is where the honest detail is. And check whether the company answers criticism publicly, and how.

Our details

Our TALA number and category, our insurer, and our payment terms are on the licence and insurance page. They are there so you can check them rather than take our word for it.