Mpanda

Mpanda is a a "frontier town" of more than 204,000 people (2022) in Northwest Tanzania.

Understand

Mpanda is an important centre in the rural economy, especially for the marketing and transshipment of rice and maize. The Katavi region is increasingly of interest to mineral prospectors, especially for gold.

Get in

Mpanda is roughly 500 km north of Mbeya and 380 km south-west of Tabora.

By plane

Mpanda has a small domestic airport with flights from a few other cities in Tanzania.

• 1 Mpanda Airport. (updated May 2023)

By train

There are two trains a week Thursday/Sunday 13:00 from Mpanda to Tabora, operated by TRC. Journey times are 14 hours. the distance from Mpanda to Tabora by rail is 380 km.

• 2 Mpanda railway station. (updated May 2023)

By bus

There are buses between Mpanda and Sumbawanga, which is 6-7 hours to the south. From Mpanda to Sumbawanga is 239 km.

There are also buses between Mpanda and Tabora but the sleeper train is a better way to travel.

There are also buses going between Mpanda and Kigoma.

See

• 1 Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The main Roman Catholic cathedral in the city, built during colonial times in 1957. (updated May 2023)

Do

• 1 Katavi National Park. Mpanda is a staging point for visiting this beautiful park. It has a good cross-section of East African wildlife but is perhaps best known for its populations of hippopotamus. Its headquarters are 35 km to the south at Sitalike. (updated Sep 2023)

Buy

NBC bank has a Visa card ATM.

CRDB (15,000 Tsh fee) and NMB banks have Mastercard/Vvisa card ATMs.

Sleep

• Good Morning Lodge. air conditioned room with free breakfast and fee wifi. 30,000 Tsh. (updated Aug 2023)
• Two In One Guest house. big room with hot water. 10,000 Tsh. (updated Aug 2023)
• South Lodge. clean room with water from bucket. 10,000 Tsh. (updated Aug 2023)

Go next

Sumbawanga, Tobora, Tunduma.