Documents for Car Rental on Zanzibar
As a foreigner you will need to present passport, possess national driving license, international license is not obligatory. Those who have documentation in cyrilic should probably also get international driving license. For driving on Zanzibar additional temporary driver’s license from Zanzibar is required that costs 10 USD. Upon booking you can send a photo of national driving license to Zanzibar car hire supplier and they arrange it for you.
Once you pick up the car, its all sorted out. Also carry in the car the contract and all documentation received upon rental. If you plan to have more drivers, each driver must be on the contract, and same rules apply for Zanzibar permit, documentation. Without it, no one except the driver should drive a car.
Driving on Zanzibar With Car Rental
The minimum age to rent a car on Zanzibar is 18 and upper age limit is 75 years.
Driving on Zanzibar is on the left side of the road, steering wheel is on the right side of car.
You must use seat belts. (Although majority of locals is carelessly driving without).
Speed limit is 80 km/h on country roads.
Speed limit in Stone Town and village roads 40 or 50 km/ hour.
If you have a traffic coming opposite to you it is mandatory in the island (day and night) to put the right turn blinking light on to show the cars behind you that they cannot overtake you because there is a risk of collision if they do so.
Don’t park under palm trees in order to avoid falling coconuts damaging the vehicle.
In the event of accident call the police and call our company immediately. Do not sign anything until you have a person you can trust with you and is fluent in English and Swahili.
Petrol Stations on Zanzibar
Petrol stations on Zanzibar are frequent, if you start renting a car on Zanzibar airport, you can fill the tank there. Also stone Town has abundance of gas stations. Gas stations accept cash Tanzanian shillings, Euros and US Dollars. With foreign currency you will be at loss on account of exchange rate, therefore its best to pay in Tanzanian currency. Credit cards are not accepted. To fill the tank, the custom on Zanzibar is, you remain seated in the car and petrol station attendant will do the service for you. The price of fuel is roughly 1 USD or around 2500 TSH per liter.
You just prepare the money amount you would like to fill and the rest is done by service stuff. Along with Stone Town airport and Stone town there are towns on Zanzibar coast with petrol stations. At the time of writing currently available gas stations out of the city are in Bwejuu, Paje, Makunduchi, Kizimkazi, Nungwi, Matemwe, Chwaka, Mbweni. No gas stations in Kendwa, Kiwengwa and Jambiani.
What Happens if Corrupted Cup Stops You on Zanzibar
Officially, corruption is illegal on Zanzibar. Unofficially corruption still happens. As a tourist behind the wheel you will most definitely be stopped at least once on Zanzibar. Normal police officer that is strictly doing their job will check the plates, car rental documentation and drivers license and perhaps passport. The rotten apples will start looking for small things on the car, maybe complicating with papers, or try to scare you into thinking you did something wrong. Do not give any money to the police officer. Stay calm, keep your temper down no matter how annoying the situation might be. If the corrupted cop remains persistent, call our emergency number to handle the situation for you.
Additional Costs
If you decide to book a car hire Zanzibar while already in resort somewhere out of Stone Town, We will gladly deliver the vehicle for additional fee - 20 USD. Be punctual when returning the car at agreed time. We may charge a certain amount for each hour passing delivery time in the contract between 5 and 15 USD for each late hour. Driver Allowance 20 USD per day (if required). Drivers allowance & fuel is not included in these rates. Drivers working hours are from 07:00 to 18.00 hrs. There is overtime charge of 3 USD per hour after 18.00 hrs.
Upon pick up of rented car. We suggest you take photos of the car for your reference, specially if there are some existing dents or scratches and during the pick up, make sure all is transparently marked in pick up report. This way you avoid paying for previous damage on car.
