WHY US

ZARA TANZANIA ADVENTURES – CLIMBING MOUNT KILIMANJARO IS A
once-in-a-lifetime experience. When you reach the top, you will experience a sense of total exhilaration. It is not only a great achievement (and the spot for great photos!), but also perfectly communicates “total freedom – being higher than the clouds – overlooking the whole continent of Africa”. With Zara Tanzania Adventures, your safety and comfort are foremost as we bring your dreams to life! After climbing Kilimanjaro, choose a Safari Adventure. Our individual safari in Tanzania can include any parks and areas of Northern Tanzania. We primarily visit northern areas such as Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, Serengeti, Arusha National Park and Lake Manyara. Individual itineraries in the north range from 1-9 days and commonly visit the above spots, plus Tanangire, Oldoinyo Lingai, Usambara Mountains and Lake Victoria. Southern itineraries range from 5-day Selous safaris to 12-day trips that add Mikumi, Ruaha and the Udzungwa Mountains. Owned and managed by Zainab Ansell with her husband Roger Ansell , Zara Tours has over two decades experience leading guests on incredible adventures and now also houses them in two of its own hotels and four tented camps. We are very interested in partnering with foreign tourism companies interested in Tanzanian itineraries.

• Every trip you buy with Zara Tours, profits goes back to Local and Nature.       
• 100% of profits benefit community, boost local economy and protect nature.

• 70% Goes to Park fees,
• 15%  Goes to community and projects we support under Zara Charity,
• 15% Operational Cost,

Today, in terms of guest numbers, ZARA tours is Tanzania’s No.1 Kilimanjaro outfitter and one of Tanzania’s biggest safari operators, and to approval that earlier this year Zainab received an award for Business Entrepreneur of the year for running a succesfull Tour Operating Company, then Tanzania Tourist Board provide us with Sustainable Tourism Award for 2011, Zara Charity receive an Awarded for the Ngorongoro Marathon 2012, race against Malaria 2012, also winner of 2012 Tours Football Bonanza cup, and current Zara was award the Humanitarian Award at  World Travel Market (WTM) 2012.

ZARA tours has also entered the field of hospitality, we currently operate two hotels which is  Springlands hotel , its located on  home base for Kilimanjaro treks and Tanzanian safaris. It is located 3 km from the center of Moshi at 800 m/2,600 ft. The rooms have twin beds, mosquito netting, and bathrooms with hot showers.

The other hotel is Highview hotel is at high elevation above the town of Karatu and its surroundings. From the balustrade in front of the rooms, visitors can enjoy a spectacular view over the surrounding hills and the local agricultural countryside. The hotel, was opened in 2006, is modern, comfortable and offers all kinds of on temporary amenities.

When you go safari with Zara Tours, you will be guaranteed   first-hand experiences of the wildlife, the landscapes, the natural wonders, and the exciting atmospheres of the African continent. Your strength of mind will be in the middle of it, as other than hotel we as well hold wild camps like Serengeti Wild camp is located in the central part of the Serengeti National Park, the Seronera area. Coming from Ngorongoro, it is about 45 km from the Naabi Hill Gate, the Southern entrance of the park. The mobile camp is composed of 18 comfortable tents with capacity to accommodate 2 guests each, and a large dining tent.

Ikoma Wild camp is located between Grumeti and the Ikorongo Game Reserve, North-West of the Serengeti. The permanent camp lies between two kopjes – bizarrely shaped rocky inselbergs protruding from the underlying plains. There are 15 tents and 8 bomas (round traditional huts) with capacity to accommodate 2 guests each, and a thatched roof open restaurant

Zara tours have also cross the threshold  of  Sustainable Tourism where by ZARA’s founder and managing director, Zainab and her husband Roger  Ansell, a local from Moshi/Tanzania, has been active in her community for her entire life and is passionate about the future of Tanzania. In order to support those in need in a more holistic and sustainable way and in order to reach more people to get involved – Zainab decided to launch the ZARA Charity in 2009. For the ZARA Charity, Zainab has brought together a group of charitable NGOs (Non-government organizations) and CBOs (Community-based organizations) that provide valuable relief to suffering Tanzanian communities. Zara Charity plays a vital role to enhance community economic development especially by supporting vulnerable groups in the community, such as orphans, the Masai women group and poor people, such as porters who climb Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru through various community projects as follows:

1. Mount Kilimanjaro porters’ society,
2.  Kilimanjaro orphanage centre,
3.  Masai women group and
4.  Ngorongoro marathon project.

The Mount Kilimanjaro Porter Society started   with the goal to improve the working condition of all porters on Mount Kilimanjaro and other hiking areas in Tanzania. Today, most porters at Mount Kilimanjaro (and all porters of Zara) are members of the Society and can benefit from various resources such as language classes, classes in environmentally sustainable tourism, healthcare and first-aid classes, training in providing customer services, classes to know their rights, legal advice, assistance in micro-finances to improve their families living conditions and guarantee a proper education of their children, year-round employment possibilities, and access to an affordable equipment and clothing store.

 Zainab giving English language certificates to porters and Zainab providing first aid training to Kilimanjaro porters

Up to date the following improvements have been done; we are making sure, that every porter who is registered under the company receives 8,000 Tsh per day. We’re also seeing to it, that as registered porters, they have an identity card and a bank account, which can help us to distribute their amount of money on a regular basis. Load carried by the porters asapplying accordingly to the Tanzania National Parks Act, it is recommended, that every porter should carry a load limited to 25 kg. This weight includes the company cargo and the porters own gear. Also fair tip distribution this is the normal process the company is aware of, but in order to assure a fair tip distribution among the employees, the company under Zara Charity has decided to provide a tip sheet. Thereupon, we specified six important employees, such as guide, assistance guide, porter(s), cook, waiter and the toilet porter. Bearing the sheet in mind, the visitors can discuss about the amount of each category.Clothing and equipment ,We are conscious of the fact that the work which is done by the porters is hard and exhausting. At any rate, the following equipment is supposed to be provided to the porters and the guide before their departure, rain trousers and jackets, warm trousers and jackets, shoes, private bag, take away food, medical checkup, hiking sticks, gloves and caps.

Food and water for camping trips like climbing, we are providing two meals and we consider the porters’ advices to carry their own take away food, locally known as “Makomeo” to ensure sufficient provision in case of momentary starving.

Porters have wearing worm clothes, required kgs, fair tipping and   balanced hot diet

Kilimanjaro orphanage centre: This project is supported by Zara Charity and aims at supporting orphans within the local community so that they can obtain their basic needs such as food, shelter, clothes, as well as education so as to improve the living condition of those children in the center. Up to now the center have more than fifty kids, five dormitory rooms one store, tv room and computer library, also  one have complete form four, fours  are in secondary school, and others in  international English medium schools as well as kindergarten.

Children at our orphanage center receive all livelihood facilities

Masai Women Group Karatu:

This project aims at supporting Masai women so as to liberate them from their traditional belief, which is based on oppression, exploitation and elimination of women within their society.

In order to improve this situation and to help the Masai women in Karatu/Ngorongoro, ZARA Charity plans to build an educational training centre for them the cost for this is $555,000. It will be built in the Highlands of Karatu. Not only a class room, but also accommodations for students and teachers as well as washing and dining houses have to be built. We hope that the skills learned in the center will help those women to grant their family a better living by establishing their own business or by getting employed.

So as to afford a project like this, some of the Masai women have designed several dresses that have strong influences of the Masai colors and jewelry. The dresses are being sold at High view Hotel Karatu and Spring land Hotel Moshi, they can also be ordered online. The benefits from the sale will then help to establish the set-up of the educational training centre.

Dresses designed in cooperation with some young Masai women.

For more information about the Masai women training centre project proposal, please find it on our website at http://www.maasai-women.org, where you have also the information how you can help this marginalized group to equal rights of education and employment opportunities as well as equal access and control over resources in their community.

NGORONGORO MARATHON PROJECT

 

The Ngorongoro Marathon represents a lead up to the commemoration of the International Malaria Awareness Day on April 9 in the Arusha region. For the communities it is important to control this disease and therefore there is a great need to raise awareness about it. The Ngorongoro Rum tries to make a contribution to that in order to spread this education among the people of Karatu. Zara Tourshas been sponsor since the race inception in 2008 and in 2010 Zara became sole sponsor of the ‘Ngorongoro Kids Run’, which was arranged for the first time. More than 5,000 residents of Karatu district enjoyed the festivities and learned life saving information about malaria during the previous event. The pictures below show Zainab Ansell of ZARA Charity with Jolene of the Minnessota Health volunteers who arranged the run which has the aim to raise awareness for Malaria, and Zainab congratulating the fastest girl of the 2010 Ngorongoro Marathon. The Marathon’s finishing point and the location for the medal and prize awarding was Zara’s High view Hotel in Karatu/Ngorongoro. The last race took place on April, 14^th, 2012, held in Karatu, Arusha and was organized by the Zara Charity Organization, High View Hotel and Zara Tanzania Adventures.

Together with Tigo Communication Company ZARA Charity is sponsoring this run and is in search of further sponsors to make this event still possible in the future. You can go through our site http://www.ngorongoromarathon.com.