4.5/5 on Tripadvisor, 17 reviewsWe reply within 4 working hoursLicensed Tanzanian tour operator
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About Tima

Tanzania is home, not a destination

We are a boutique tour operator based in Stone Town. We plan Zanzibar beach holidays, Tanzania wildlife safaris and Kilimanjaro climbs, and more often than anything all of them in one trip.

Being on the island matters. We know which beach swims at low tide, which lodge on the crater rim is worth the money and which isn't, and which flight lands in Seronera in time for an afternoon game drive. We listen first, then design the holiday around what you actually said, not the other way round.

Tima was founded in Stone Town in 1997 by Salum, who still runs it, with a team of ten to twenty consultants and driver-guides and our own vehicles for every transfer and tour on the island.

Salum, founder of Tima Tours, shaking hands with a guest in the tiled hall of a Stone Town hotel

  • Licensed in Tanzania

    Registered with the national tour operator association, the national parks and both tourist boards. A Tanzanian operator, not a reseller abroad.

    Licensed in Tanzania

    Five Tanzanian tourism bodies license or register us, and their marks are on this site. You book directly with the company that runs the trip, so there is no agent abroad between you and the people who meet you at the airport.

    See the licences

  • 4.5/5 from guests

    Rated on Tripadvisor and SafariBookings, with the guides named.

    4.5/5 from guests

    13 of the 17 reviews on Tripadvisor give five stars, and most of them name the guide who drove the trip. Read a few before you write to us; they say more than we can.

    Read the reviews

  • Based in Stone Town

    We live where you are going. Bush and beach planned as one trip by people on the island.

    Based in Stone Town

    Our office is in Stone Town. The beach half of your trip is planned by people who swim here, and the safari half by people who fly that route every month. Ask us anything about either.

    Meet the team

  • We reply within 4 working hours

    A named person answers on WhatsApp before, during and after the trip. Never an autoresponder.

    We reply within 4 working hours

    Salum or one of the team replies on WhatsApp within four working hours. The phones are answered around the clock for guests who are already travelling, so help is one message away at any hour.

    Chat on WhatsApp
Our name and our story

Tima means goodness

In Arabic, Tima means goodness and all that is lovely. It also names the date palm, the tree that told travellers crossing the desert that shade, water and sweet dates were near.

Our story began in 1997, in the narrow coral stone lanes of Stone Town, where carved wooden doors open onto the scent of cloves and the breath of the sea. Dhows have ridden the monsoon winds to this island for centuries, and here Tima Tours & Safaris was born with one simple wish: to share the wonder of Tanzania, from its wild heart to its shining shore, with travellers from every corner of the world.

Our name is our promise. Goodness in every welcome and abundance in every journey: honest advice, careful planning and the warmth of Zanzibari hospitality, carried into every safari and every beach escape.

What our logo says

  • The elephant

    Gentle giant of the savannah, it stands for the safari and for goodness itself: quiet strength, loyalty and care for its family. Its trunk is raised to the coast in greeting, a timeless sign of good fortune.

  • The palm

    The date palm of our name and the coconut palms that sway along every Zanzibar shore. It stands between the two worlds of our trips and brings prosperity and new life.

  • The umbrella and the chair

    Slow, sunlit days on white sand beside a turquoise sea, where the dust of the safari trail melts into the hush of the tide.

All three rest on one unbroken horizon, because with Tima it is one journey: from the bush to the beaches of the Indian Ocean.

The team

The people guests write about

Reviews name them, so we should too. The founder, and the two names you will hear most, from a team of consultants and driver-guides who are all Tanzanian and all licensed. Full bios are coming.

SalumFounder & ownerFounded Tima in Stone Town and still runs it.
JumaDriver-guideNamed in reviews for knowledge, punctuality and warmth.
Our own photographs

On tour with Tima

From a Stone Town tour with our guests: the welcome, the old town, the shops, the fish market and the boat out to Prison Island. No stock photos here.

Salum, our founder, welcoming guests in Stone Town.
Salum (left) and our guides, with Zanzibari coffee from the brass pot.
Stone Town, walked with a guide who grew up in it.
Salum on the seafront, where the island trips begin.
Boarding for Prison Island, straight off the Stone Town beach.
The old slave market memorial, told carefully and honestly.
Salum at the fish market with the morning's squid.
Twenty minutes across the water to Prison Island.
Time in the spice and craft shops, with a guide who knows fair prices.
One of the carved doors the old town is known for.
The fish market harbour, where the morning catch comes in.
Prints, baskets and kangas off the main street.
The pigeons of Stone Town know the morning feed.
Salum beside a white Tima Tours minibus with its door open on a Stone Town street
Our own vehicles: every transfer and tour on the island is in a Tima car with a Tima driver.
Salum and two Tima Tours guides in uniform standing with a coffee seller in a yellow kanzu in a Stone Town hotel hall
Salum with two of our guides, and the coffee seller who welcomes every guest.
Salum
Talk it through first

A free call with Salum, who lives here

Founder & owner. Honest advice on seasons, parks, lodges and what a budget really buys, before you commit to anything. Founded Tima in Stone Town and still runs it.

Book a WhatsApp callOr send an enquiry
We reply within 4 working hours. Calls in English or Swahili, on WhatsApp or the phone.
4.5/5 on Tripadvisor, 17 reviews

What guests say

Quoted from public reviews you can read in full on Tripadvisor, SafariBookings.

★★★★★
Guest, transfers and excursions, Zanzibar
“Transparent pricing and no pressure.”
Verified public reviewTripadvisor
★★★★★
Guest, 20 days across Dar, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro
“Felt like saying goodbye to family.”
Verified public reviewTripadvisor
★★★★★
Guest, Kilimanjaro trek
“Responsive, kind and caring, with exceptional communication.”
Verified public reviewSafariBookings

Want to hear it from us rather than a review? Ask anything.

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Talk to us before you decide anything

We reply within 4 working hours. No pressure. Guests say so.

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