Are there ATM machines on Zanzibar? We are flying from the Serengeti to Zanzibar and will need to access some cash for spending on the island. We don't really want to carry an excess amount of cash on safari but will need some for meals and such on the island....or should we just bring travellers cheques? Also does anyone know how many shillings the atm will dispurse at one time?

There's an atm near Foordhani Gardens that we got a fair bit of cash from.I would not bother with T.C as the exchange rate is brutal.

In October, 2006, when I was on Zanzibar, I used the NBC ATM machine at its office on Forodhani Street in Stone Town (near the gardens on the waterfront and the Omani fort). I have receipts for the withdrawal of 100,000 TSH, which, as I recall, was the maximum for a single transaction. But, I did two transactions the first time I was there, in succession, and got a total of 200,000 TSH. It was wonderfully convenient. ZZ

i tried to use the same NBC ATM in stonetown. We had a problem because they only accepted Visa+. Our ATM card are Cirrus network and wouldn't work. Also, right next to Serena hotel there's a small shop where you can get a cash advance from your credit card. we didn't do it because we didn't have copies of passports with us and didn't want to bother. at the ATM, we coudln't get money from our Visa CC because I coudln't remember my PIN. at the Serena, you don't need PIN (since they do it by checking your ID and contact Visa directly). For us, getting cash became a problem. Also, we expected to pay for hotels with credit card, but they were raping us on the exchange rate (15%) or requiring a "surcharge" of 10% to charge in local currency. We didn't do it out of principal. which is why we were short on cash. this ws in 2005 - maybe it's better now?

There are at least 3 ATMs now. Best is still Barclays. Max is 400,000tsh.

Sometimes there are long lines at the ATMS closest to the tourist areas in Stone Town so I prefer Barclays.