Zainab Ansell and the 40 years of Zara Adventures – Part One

This year, Zara Adventures, one of Tanzania’s leading tour firms, is marking its 40^th Anniversary.

Zara, a company which has now become synonymous with Mount Kilimanjaro, was one of the very few companies that braved out against all odds to wade into local tourism in the eighties, at the time when the industry was just teething out.

Plus, the economy of Tanzania was still suffering the consequences of the 1978-79 war with Uganda, the sudden collapse of the maiden East African Community and the global effects of the cold war.

But amidst it all, Zainab Ansell, then still a young lady, set out to establish the company which later helped to shape the current tourism industry not only in Tanzania but across East Africa.

The year was 1986, Tanzania had just entered the second phase of governance, Ali Hassan Mwinyi had replaced Mwalimu Julius Nyerere as the new President, after the latter officially retired in November 1985.

But 1985 was also the year when Zainab Ansell left her job at the national carrier, Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC) where she had been working as ticket reservation agent since 1980.

It was quite a bold move on her side, considering that few tourists were visiting Tanzania then.

Road less travelled

When the country gained independence in 1961, the then Tanganyika received 7,350 tourists and a year later in 1962, some 9,260 visitors flew to Tanzania.

Figures from the Research Gate indicate that the number of tourists who visited Tanzania in 1985 was only 81,821, this was the year when Zainab was quitting Air Tanzania, and Nyerere was leaving the state house.

The number jumped to 103,361 in 1986 at the time when Zara Adventures was being initiated. This is the year when the industry yielded USD 20 million.

Not something to write home about.

But investors like Mama Zara banked on their own faith and waded into the industry all the same.

Plus, it was during the time when communication with the outside world was almost non-existent; no mobile phones and even landlines were few and extremely difficult to acquire one.

The vehicles that could transport clients were few, expensive and difficult to acquire. These included Volkswagen Combis, and mostly Landrovers.

Picture this, starting a tour company with no internet, no online bookings, no connections with international clients … no way!

Fast forward 40 years later and Zainab, now known as Mama Zara, is the doyenne of the Tourism Industry in Tanzania.

Zara Adventures? Well, the company takes over 200 trekkers to climb Mount Kilimanjaro every year. Yes, more than two-hundred visitors for a single destination.

The Kilimanjaro climbs, organized by Zara usually attract some of the distinguished personalities including global leaders, international starts including big names in film, pop music and sports as well as members of armed forces.

But when considering other attractions like the Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and the Tarangire Elephants, Zara is handling thousands of visitors, possibly more than those that toured the entire country in 1986.

In sync with Zara Adventures, Tanzania tourism has grown a lot within the last four decades, the country now receives 5.3 million tourists in a year.

Coming of age

Boasting 21 National Parks, 46 game-controlled areas, 28 game reserves, one conservation area and over 48 million hectares of tourist-ready forest reserves, the country tops the nature-based travel industry in East Africa.

Leading the pack, Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Tarangire each get an average of 500,000 visitors in a year.

Zara adventures have to work through all these attractions and destinations, handling the millions of visitors who just can’t get enough of Tanzania.

The tour company employs more than 100 experienced safari guides and climbing specialists with good command of English, French, German and Spanish, and most talented with evacuation and rescue skills.

Having previously worked with Air Tanzania, Zainab seems to have invested heavily on the airline’s tagline, ‘The Wings of Kilimanjaro!’

“Zara, while serving all destinations in the country, focuses on promoting Mount Kilimanjaro, which is Africa’s highest peak, as the epicenter of the company’s tourism activities.

And sure enough, Zara Adventures operates from Moshi in Kilimanjaro their base is located but of course, in addition to the award-winning tour company, they also operate high-class hotels spread in National Parks.

“At the time when I was working with Air Tanzania, the first thought which occurred to me was that the country needed a reliable, effective one-stop, booking, reservation and tourism center and this is what Zara is accomplishing,” explained Ms Ansell.

Kilimanjaro is the one-stop hub from which visitors can connect to other destinations such as Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, Tarangire and as far as Zanzibar Island, not to mention the Southern Circuit which is also emerging as a popular tourists’ zone.

To be Continued …