National Park Fees & Best Times to Visit

Tanzania's collection of parks and reserves include 15 national parks, 14 wildlife reserves, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, 2 marine parks and several marine reserves.

The parks are managed by Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) and the Wildlife Reserves are administered by the Wildlife Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. Selous and Mkomazi are the only reserves with tourist infrastructure. Marine parks and reserves fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism's Marine Parks and Reserves Unit, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is administered by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA).

In the past tourism has focused on the northern parks, Serengeti, Lake Manyara, Tarangire, Arusha NP, Kilimanjaro NP and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. All of these places are easily reached, by road or air.

Recently the southern parks, Ruaha, Selous, Mikumi and the Udzungwa Mountains, are receiving more attention. These areas are not as easily accessible as the northern parks.

The most remote parks are situated in the west – Mahale Mountains, Gombe Stream and Katavi. Visitors are attracted to Mahale and Gombe for the chimpanzees, and to Katavi for the pristine wilderness.

Entry fees are to be paid when entering the parks and reserves. TANAPA has introduced a 'smart card' system, where money is loaded onto a card, which is then presented at the park gates. The prepaid cards are available at CRDB Bank in US dollars or Tanzania Shillings. Any individual or tour operator can purchase and use TANAPA-CRDB Cards from branches in Arusha, Iringa, Kilombero, Musoma, Mapato, USA River, Moshi and Meru. A CRDB Bank account is not required for application of the card.  Private tourists with either local or international VISA/Mastercard Cards can use their cards for payments of park fees, using Point of Sale machines already deployed at respective entry points.