In August, some of our bestest buddies in Moshi, Dragline and his wife Sparkles moved to Mwanza, the southern port city of Lake Victoria (No, these are not fake names, why do you ask?) They did this for a change of scene but also to ‘rough it’ a little bit more. We’ve missed them (and their dog!) quite a bit. So we were happy to be able to find a long weekend that suited all of us for a flying visit to Mwanza.
Despite Mwanza being the second largest city in Tanzania, there are far less wazungu there. Mwanza feels a lot more ‘African’-if that makes sense- than Moshi. The dominant tribe there is the Sukoma (as opposed to the Chagga and Maasai in the Moshi/Arusha region).
On a practical level the above means a lot more staring and comments in Swahili from locals and a few more safety issues. You can’t just wander around Mwanza the way you might wander around Moshi. There is a lot of poverty in Mwanza. And gangs of street kids clustered in certain places. They will tap on your car windows to ask for money or perhaps do worse if you are wandering around on foot. If anyone has seen the depressing 2004 documentary “Darwin’s Nightmare”, well, some of that seemed accurate to us, if a little exaggerated. The town is a bit more gangsta. Anyway.
Another reason for wanting to go to Mwanza was the mystique of seeing the second largest fresh water lake in the world- and source of the White Nile- the ‘Eye of the Rhino’ AKA Lake Victoria. The Lake supports the biggest inland fishery in Africa (yes, I did look at Wikipedia). It’s teeming with fish, including the voracious introduced (but tasty) pest species, the Nile Perch.
The Lake Victoria Basin is one of the most densely populated rural areas in the world. Ergo, the Lake is quite heavily polluted. Not just with sewage and factory by-products, but also with bacteria and nasty parasites. So no swimming for my sensitive intestines in that water.
Friday morning, we took a shuttle to Kilimanjaro airport. I was carrying liquor in my backpack as I know Dragline and I like our sun downers. But when Kilimanjaro Airport security asked if I was carrying any liquids, I thought I’d play it cool and say ‘no’. I said to the wife as our bags went through the X Ray machine ‘the perfect crime’. Or so I thought, until a bottle of sugar cane derived alcohol smashed in my bag and I started spraying liquor all over the floor (‘Ummm, dude…DUDE!’ said mke) to the horror of my wife and the airport staff. As I picked broken glass out of a sodden bag that smelt like a heavily drunk wet cat, and as staff members gave me cold furious stares and going for mops, I reflected on what I was going to be reincarnated as in my next life for all my hijinks in this one. At least I was in a fairly relaxed African airport and not LAX for example.
One empty, alcohol reeking carry bag and fuming wife later and our plane was flying north towards Mwanza, a journey of an hour or so. As we landed we taxied past a line of MIG 21 fighter jets at the end of the runway...wonder if they still fly? No sign of the big Russian cargo planes that export the Nile Perch out to Europe (and bring weapons in, if you believe ‘Darwin’s Nightmare’). Perhaps they land their dodgy cargo at night. Mwanza airport is certainly...quaint. Basically a corridor, a baggage claim area and a toilet. Wandered through in 5 seconds and met Dragline outside. Cue much emotion and male re-bonding. We headed into town.
Um, first impressions as we drove. Well, while Mwanza’s population dwarfs little Moshi, it definitely seemed less developed. A lot less evidence of urban planning shall we say? Very green compared to the browns of Moshi/Arusha. And rocky with lots of outcroppings and boulders (hence its nickname ‘the Rock City’). Plus there is the Lake. It’s a monster stretching out to the horizon and beyond. It is staggering to think it is all fresh water. I don’t think I could run around it (Mke says 'Really, you were pretty confident that you could when you were bragging to Dragline and Sparkles').
We grabbed a bite to eat at a local place then took in the lakeside views assisted by Konyagi & Fanta.
Our friends have been doing well and are nicely settled in. Weird to see so much water without the smell of sea air. We went and picked up Sparkles and drove home past areas where barricades and rioting had been due to election related violence. Mwanza had had a rough time of it but it was all settled down when we were there.
Dragline and Sparkle’s house had some altitude and thus a nice view of the surrounds. The view actually looked like some weird tropical alternate reality view from the Botanical Gardens looking towards Wellington harbour back home.
Franatee was ecstatic to hang out with the dog we used to dog-sit again. The dog enjoyed her company but shunned me as a person who does not declare liquids at the airport. We watched the sun go down over the lake then I took in some 'Savannah Dry' cider (‘girls drink’ Dragline sneered at me...I grew up on Hawkes Bay scrumpy, yo) at a bar that seemed to have all of Mwanza’s wazungu population in one place, then after some Indian food we rolled home for a whole lotta sleep. Holiday officially underway!
To be continued...
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