Arusha, Tanzania City Travel Information
Giving a proper farewell to the worst city I have ever been to, Arusha, Tanzania.
City Description:
Arusha is a starting point for trips into Tanzania's famous game parks such as the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
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City Highlights:
Leaving Arusha is the highlight of any journey there.
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City Lowlights:
The street touts in Arusha are on another level. They are the worst street touts I have come across ever. Almost every second spent outside your hotel you can expect to have some overly aggressive tout trying to sell you something with everything from safaris to hotel rooms. They don't take 'no' for an answer and will follow you for multiple city blocks even waiting for you outside of any stores you may go inside. They greatly degrade the overall tourist experience for travelers to Arusha and hopefully sometime soon the government does something about them. I even had one threaten to shoot me after I repeatedly told him that I wasn't going to buy any of his crap. If you do have to deal with them, completely ignore them. Don't even say "hi" otherwise they will follow you for some time trying to scam you out of your money.
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Restaurants:
There is a Chinese restaurant right outside of town, but don't bother going there because they let the street touts walk on their grounds.
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Nightlife:
Arusha isn't safe at night so don't go out unless you want to risk your personal safety.
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Public Transport:
Like other cities in Tanzania, there is the choice between super crowded "Dalla Dallas" and taxis. I would opt for the taxi and make sure to agree on a price before you get in.
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The People:
Everyone I met from Arusha wasn't friendly unless they were trying to sell me something, and after I told them no they would get extremely rude.
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Sights:
The sights worth seeing outside of town are the national parks of Tanzania, namely the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
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My Thoughts on this City:
I hated Arusha. It has to date been the worst city I have visited on my travels. The people are not friendly, if you even set foot outside of your hotel you are guaranteed to be hassled by street touts, and all the prices are overinflated for tourist. If you ever have to go there, make sure to have everything pre-planned so you don't have to spend any time walking around the city booking safaris. For being such a tourist hotspot, I would think that the government would spend some money on Tourist police (like they do in Egypt) to keep the tourist from having to deal with all the annoying (and sometimes violent) street touts, however currently, if you leave your hotel in Arusha you're on your own.
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