Ecology Study Abroad Programs in Tanzania

We were able to experience so much throughout the semester through cultural immersion and wildlife observations that went far beyond my expectations. The staff and teachers were all so welcoming and helpful, and I learned so much while having an amazing and fun semester.

Studying Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management with SIT was the best decision I could have made when looking at abroad programs. This program cares about each and every one of its students and introduces you to the most exquisite places, people, and animals. Getting to stay with a homestay family was an amazing opportunity for language immersion and creating that close-knit family bond in your home away from home. This program has incredible staff, my cohort became our own little family by the end of the semester, and you'll never forget the beautiful places you visit while being here. I cannot recommend this program more; I would do it all again in a heartbeat. A piece of my heart will always be in Zanzibar!

Most beautiful place, people, language and vibes ever. 🥭🥭🥭 the SIT staff is so friendly and helpful. The community is tight knit and the program will take you to the most beautiful tropical locations of your life

SIT Zanzibar is the perfect study abroad program for students looking to experience a completely different culture and way of life, all while seeing the best nature of your life. Some of the highlights of my experience include swimming with dolphins, exploring the amazing creatures of intertidal zones across the island, being welcomed into a Swahili home, and conducting a month-long research project on Chumbe Island! Moreover, the academic director and staff of the program are wonderful and will go to any length to ensure students are safe, happy, and engaged. I would choose SIT Zanzibar again in a heartbeat.

I really cannot say enough amazing things about this program, it truly was a life-changing experience. From the moment I arrived in Tanzania, the teachers and staff made me feel immediately welcomed and at home. Their knowledge and expertise in the field were extremely impressive and helped create an engaging and supportive learning environment. One of the most impactful aspects of the program was the hands-on, immersive experience. We spent 30 nights camping and participated in daily game drives, where I saw more wildlife biodiversity than I ever imagined. These experiences brought the course material to life and deepened my understanding of wildlife conservation in a real-world context. The homestay is another unique immersive opportunity and was one of my favorite parts of the program! I felt my homestay family quickly became like my real family and I am still in touch with them today. It was also incredibly meaningful to engage with and learn from local Maasai communities. Through these interactions, I developed crucial skills for ethical social science data collection and gained a deeper appreciation for the importance of community perspectives in conservation work. The independent study project is another amazing opportunity to conduct research on a topic you are passionate about. I studied the impacts of climate change on the predominantly women-run seaweed farming industry. The program offered a great balance of independence to explore a topic of interest while also providing valuable on-the-ground connections and support from faculty.This program had a lasting impact on my academic and personal interests, and I am currently in the process of publishing my research through the Middlebury Journal of Global Affairs.

SIT was one of my favorite parts of my college experience, and probably my life. I met some of my best friends to this day on this program. You get to know your classmates and professors very well and they become a second family. From camping in the Serengeti and seeing the Great Migration pass by my very eyes, to living with a host family that takes care of you as their own, I had the study abroad experience of a lifetime.

I would recommend the SIT Tanzania program to anyone. It is a perfect mix of having interesting lectures, often with guest speakers, learning how to do your own research project, cultural immersion, and just having an amazing time with so many new friends!

This program has left me with amazing relationships and memories I will cherish forever. The program was incredibly impactful in my academic and personal life. After returning to my home country, the USA, I feel a profound connection to a country and set of people outside my original circle.

Traveling to Africa was always an experience I was looking forward to, however, I never thought that I would be able to immerse myself in the culture for a whole semester. I was able to learn a completely new language, live with a host family, see animals I have dreamed about since I was a little kid, and I made so many lasting connections. We were also pushed academically to complete and independent research project. Mine was on wildlife veterinarians so I was able to interview veterinarians and even got to shadow a sanctuary veterinarian. I would do it all over if I had the chance.

I seriously cannot recommend this program more. From this experience, you will be better equipped for the world, the job market, applying to grad school, or whatever else lies ahead more than anyone else who didn't do this program. This program is extremely intense, not only the time commitment but it is long hours during the hot tropical days. Some will appreciate the academic rigor in this program, but if you're looking for a vacation (despite it being in one of the most beautiful vacation spots in the world!) this program might not be for you. That being said, anyone doing this program will get the absolute most out of it. The academics were interactive, field based, usually based on doing hands on research that you're physically doing, then writing reports, having discussions, presenting, and doing analysis with the data. You learn through field trips, snorkeling, learning Swahili interactively, working with animals, people, doing interviews, and all the while you don't even know how much everything has built up piece by piece so that you can finally do a month long research project, speaking a language you didn't know when starting the program: A project that means something to the people of Zanzibar. And you can walk away knowing that you can ask better questions, you can know what its really like doing a field based research project and what's not included in every scientific methods section, how ingenuitive people in the developing world when managing resources with little economic means to do so can be, as well as doing it through an amazing cultural learning process in one of the most beautiful countries on Earth.

Mt. Kilimanjaro served as the backdrop for many of our field drives in Amboseli National Park. The timing of our trips, an early beginning to the wet season as it were, obscured many carnivores from being found. For those who are unaware, an unfenced park such as Amboseli may serve as a dry-season refuge for the wildlife. When the rains return, the animals migrate out and into the community areas. We were lucky to be in the park on the day of one of the most famous of these migrations: the elephant migration. Cars idling, the air hot and humid, and our breaths shallow we watched hundreds of elephants cross just meters ahead of us. Behind us, Kilimanjaro stood proudly, not a cloud for kilometers to block its view. We were literally living the moment shown in postcards (be wary though, if you see a postcard in Tanzania with Kilimanjaro and elephants, it was actually taken in Amboseli National Park, Kenya), and if for one day the beauty of the largest of land herbivores reigned dominant over all others. I chose it for the location, the immerse home-stay aspect, the language (Swahili) classes, and the research opportunity.

My most memorable experience is the 5 day camping expedition to Serengeti National Park. We spent a this time performing field research each day on all animals. We attended guest lectures with people that were working on special projects within the park as well. Also, playing soccer nearly everyday after classes with the local people with a view of the sunset of Ngorongoro Crater on one side of the field and a view of Moyo Hill on the other. I am a Biology major who was able to get 2 sciences courses in and completed my capstone (directed research) abroad. I also wanted to go abroad to a country where English was not the first language, I would be living simply, and I would be exposed to a new culture. We lived inside a field station in which each student lived in a room with 2 bunk beds for 2 students with a private bathroom for each. There was one classroom for all the classes located inside the camp.

My favorite experience of this program was the week-long camping trip done in Serengeti National Park near the end of my stay in Tanzania. During this trip, students were given the opportunity to continue wildlife research, hear prominent wildlife management speakers that work on programs in Serengeti and observe all the wildlife that the African savanna has to offer. I picked this program because I was looking for a study abroad experience outside of the "norm". I knew that I wanted to pick an intensive program in a unique destination that I probably wouldn't have the chance to travel to until later years of my life. This program also combined my love for environmentalism and international conservation issues at the core of many of our studies. When living in Karatu, we had our own fenced community that was protected by guards. Each student shared a living space with 3 other people - this included showers and bathroom spaces. We had communal eating and studying areas, in addition to a computer lab and library. The camp also had full Wifi access. Our accommodations in Tanzania by far exceeded my expectations and were pretty nice for life in rural Tanzania.

I attended the SFS Summer Session II in Karatu, Tanzania and would recommend this program to anyone. If you are looking for a unique study abroad program that allows you to gain real world experiences with African wildlife, Tanzanian culture and live in the bush then this is the program for you. This program really focused on environmental and conservation issues that relate to wildlife management in Tanzania. You will have the opportunity to travel and study in many famous Tanzania national parks during your study abroad program. It is an opportunity of a lifetime!

I got to experience a whole other culture that was neat to me, and SIT does a good job of merging social & environmental issues into the program. SIT is really good at coordinating big programs because they do a lot of these. And once you're there there's a specific program coordinator to help with things.