Hate exercising but always up for an adventure? Then we’ll tell you a secret on how to keep fit and healthy whilst travelling in Tanzania.
It’s those extra ten vacation pounds that make you cringe. Back home, you exercise. You head to the gym a few times a week and jog with your colleagues on Tuesdays after work.
But you know what’s going to happen once you travel—it happens every time. Every time you go on vacation, your workout regimen and any semblance of a healthy diet, all go straight out the window.
Say goodbye to fresh foods. Say goodbye to your cross-training plan. Say hello to indulgence and beach lounging and softening waistlines.
But this time? This time you’re traveling to Tanzania. You’re heading out on a wild safari, scaling volcanoes, and cycling through Zanzibar’s spice plantations.
This time, your Easy Travel accommodations will offer fresh, locally sourced fruits and vegetables to keep you on track and feeling vital. Here, you no longer have to forfeit a healthy lifestyle while traveling.
In fact, this time your international ventures will be complementing your physical well-being. You will return home more fit, more vital, and more alive than ever. How’s that for a two-for-one deal?
Why Tanzania will keep you fit
This mindset is precisely why we think Tanzania is the perfect destination for those who don’t want to sacrifice their physical fitness during vacation.
For this blog, we cover the importance of staying fit and active while on vacation, then review some of Tanzania’s most active pursuits, and end with the best resources and suggestions for staying fit on the road, plus the best safari workout we can offer, something we call: the Five-Minute Wanderlust Workout.
Travel and fitness: It matters
What happens when you stop moving your body at home? What happens when you choose only fatty, greasy foods over lighter, healthier fare? You become cloudy-minded. It’s proven that lazy lifestyle choices adversely affect your focus, energy, and proactivity. Therefore, when traveling, why would you temporarily ditch your active life?
Easy Travel is an award-winning tour operator because we craft exquisite trips of a lifetime, and yet if our visitors aren’t feeling awake and alive during their safaris, then this ultimately affects their experience.
Luckily, a visit to Tanzania offers active pursuit at every turn. Here are a few of our favorites.
Four Tanzanian experiences for the active traveler
1 – Climb a volcano
This is a no-brainer, but we had to include Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru. For the ultimate Stairmaster analog workout, why not hike up the highest freestanding mountain on the planet? At 19,341 feet, Mount Kilimanjaro offers a truly athletic effort, while also offering lessons in natural history and geology. From 6-9 day experiences, reaching this mountaintop is a nontechnical hike and requires no previous climbing experience—just strong legs and strong will. For a short but no less demanding ascent, Mount Meru National Park rests outside of Arusha and is a breathtaking (literally) mountain to hike. Learn more
2 – Choose a walking safari
At sunrise you head out on foot through the African savannah to hunt fowl with the Hadzabe tribal youth. While learning their foraging techniques, the day is long and you will cover several miles at a good clip. Walking safaris are some of the most impactful experiences you can have in Tanzania, as much of big-game safari is enjoyed from the safety of vehicles. Easy Travel offers several options for walking safaris. Here’s what happens on an Easy Travel Walking Safari
3 – Paddle a canoe
One way to engage your upper body—your back, core, and arms—is to grab a paddle. Outside of Arusha and in several national parks, there are several options to paddle waterways and rivers. This is both a great way to remain active while also remaining unobtrusive when viewing wildlife. Learn more with our day tours.
4 – Bicycle through clove clouds
On the island paradise of Zanzibar, it’s easy to spend days, if not weeks, beached like a whale, reading and eating every hour of the day. Sure, this sounds ideal, but we advise guests to also spend some time moving through this diverse place. Cycling is a great way to visit the historic spice farms. You’ll get to sample fresh cloves and cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. Plus, after a long bike ride, a jump in the Indian Ocean will feel that much better afterwards, right? Check out Zanzibar packages.
The ultimate 5-minute wanderlust workout you can do anywhere
It’s important that we have easy-to-access exercises on the road, simple movements we can perform in any space, any place, any time. Major cities like Arusha and select Zanzibar resorts will offer gyms and fitness centers, but don’t count on it.
After researching and testing the best in body movement exercises, here’s one failsafe plan to keep tight and taut during your Tanzanian safari:
- Planks (1-minute)
- Body-Weight Squats (20 repetitions)
- Push-ups (10-20 repetitions)
- Lunges (20 repetitions)
- Side Crunch (15 each side)
Additional resources
Here are the most helpful resources we found for staying fit while traveling:
- Travel and Leisure’s 17 Tips for Staying Healthy on the Road
- Outside Magazine’s 15-minute Bodyweight Workout
- Safari Junkie “How to Stay Healthy While Traveling in Africa.“
- TravelHackr “Travel Workout Tanzania.“
- One Fit Nomad: “Stay Fit While Traveling“.
Bottom line?
Getting you there?
Easy Travel staff can customize your visit to Tanzania to be as active (or inactive, no judgment!) as you’d like. You tell us what your dreams, your health goals and dietary restrictions, and we’ll cater everything to meet your needs. Remember: saying yes to safari doesn’t mean saying no to staying fit and strong. Contact us today.
