Blogs from Kigoma, West, Tanzania, Africa - page 2

Yesterday (becasue the internet was down all day so I couldn’t send this!) marks one year exactly since I arrived in Tanzania, weary but excited at 6am in the morning! Wow. I marked my 1 year anniversary in style. I got a top made out of the local fabric called ‘kitenge’ and was wearing it for the first time yesterday (this was actually more coincidence, but still fitting I feel!). Furthermore I received my Tanzanian Driving License and finally Thangale my boss took me out to lunch at a local ‘nyama choma’ bar where in true Tanzanian style we drank soda and ate chips and barbecued meat. Perhaps it would be fitting to reflect on how this past year has been a life changing experience for me. About how seeing the lives some people lead here ... read more

My trip began luckily, just before buying a bus ticket I learned of a friend traveling to Mpika (about 3/4 of the way to Mpulungu) on Monday morning. She, kindly, agreed to give me a ride and so for the first time I traveled without waking at some horrible hour of morning, no legs pressed against my legs, no shoulders invading my shoulders' territory, no babies being changed on my lap (actually happened the last time I went to Mpika) and instead rode in a spacious leather seat with air-conditioning comfortably (and free!) to the North. As we drove the season appeared to reverse itself into a North-American fall with the Miambo Woodland trees producing blood-stained pomegranate colored leaves which, with the progression of spring, turn slowly yellow and then green. In Mpika I booked a ... read more

We had a few hours to kill in Kigoma because it was too early for dinner and few people wanted to go to Ujiji to see where Stanley met Livingstone. We therefore went to the central market. I was expecting something similar to Mwanza. After all, Kigoma's 30,000 people are as strategically placfed as Mwanza's 500,000. Just joking, but I thought Kigoma would have a smaller version of Mwanza's market. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Kigoma's market, in my opinon, is a real stereotypical "African" market. Kigoma Central Market is a cramped space, less than a quarter of an American city block, surrounded on the outside by real stores with entrances on the street. One enters through a small alley between two stores and passes through an interesting room with long tables. I could ... read more

Das Bismarck-Haus ist eigentlich gar nicht das Bismarck-Haus, sondern wurde ebenfalls dem Kaiser Wilhelm als Residenz zugedacht. Da haette er sich sicherlich gefreut, da es wirklich schoen anzusehen ist. ...von aussen, rein kommt man nicht. wens interessiert, schaut unter google, kaiser wilhelm, Kigoma, bilder. da das Internet so langsam ist, koennen wir euch leider keine Bilder hochladen. Um der Berichtigung noch das i-Tuepfelchen aufzusetzen, moechten wir erwaehnen, das der Lake Tanganyika nach dem "y" mit "i" geschrieben wird. ... read more

An dieser Stelle moechten wir ausdruecklich der Fa Korsing Schweisstechnik/Coellnpark danken fuer den freundlichen Support von Kinderspielzeug. Ueber Jahre wurden von hier Kleinigkeiten zusammengetragen, die Tobi an Kinder in Tansania verteilen sollte/konnte/durfte. Dies oeffnete uns in sekundenschnelle tausend Kinderherzen. Zumeist handelte es sich dabei um Ueberraschungseifiguerchen, Plastikdoeschen und Aufkleber. Diese Kleinigkeiten finden gr. Beachtung unter den Kindern und loesen eine vielfach groessere Freude aus als dergleichen bei uns. Danke nochmal an alle Sammler! Korsing Schweisstechnik ist der bekannte Grosshandel fuer Schweisstechnik und Arbeitsschutz im Norden Koelns. Auch hier in Afrika begleiten mich (Tobi) tagtaeglich die strapazierfaehigen Arbeitsschutzschuhe und ermoeglichen mir einen bequemen, stabilen, trockenen und sicheren Gang auf unterschiedlichen Untergruend... read more