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Published: January 24th 2010
Short facts of Tanzania
Food
You can find all kind of delicious dishes with chicken (kuku), beef (ng'ombe), fish (samaki) or various vegetables accompanied by wali (rice), ugali (maize flour porridge), fried banana, fried cassava or fried potatoes. Meals are preferrably eaten by hand (left or right!) which you will ensure are clean before, during and after meal. Of course, cutlery is available for the sceptical but trust me: Nothing beats the mixed flavour of your fingers and the food. Just be careful to not eat your fingers when the food is too good.
While Ugali is the most popular dish among locals my own favourites were Mbuzi Choma (literally burned goat meat) and Mishkaki (BBQ meat on skewers).
Price level
Normal dishes range between 1000-7000 TShilling (appox. 0,5-3 euro) and drinks from 300 (water) to 1500 (beer) TShilling. Of course, if you want to pay more for the same thing or Western food there are options but then you are probably missing out on a great local food experience.
Weather
Perfect temperature around 25-30 degrees during our visit! Rain season is between March and May cooling things off.
Transport
'Dara dara' is a mini-bus and the local (intimate) way of
getting around in a city/village costing 200-1500TSh depending on distance. Make sure you know which line to take and keep an outlook for your stop so you don't miss it. Also take care of belongings because you are a relatively extremely rich foreigner in a poor country where people sometimes have to struggle for their daily bread.
Bigger buses are available between towns and villages and the standards vary from the crappiest that still make 200 km/h to the luxury sort that are not far from Western standards (Dar Express, Scandinavia and Kilimanjaro Express are recommended). Once in town,
local taxis are a bit more expensive (3000-10000TSh) but recommended after dark once you have negotiated the price with a driver that seems reliable.
In general, if you ever feel hesitance about your transport or driver, it's always better to be patient and look for the next ride!
Accomodation
Most recommended way is
Couchsurfing if you are/become a dedicated member who open your own heart, culture and home to other visitors.
Local guest houses can be found in every city and village costing 2500-10 000 TShilling for simple bed to fully functional rooms.
Hotels are also available in bigger cities if
you are dependent on hot showers and other luxuries and prepared to spend a fortune in comparison to what people earn (usually from $15-$40 to thousands depending on location and taste).
Accomodation on a safari tour is either camping, permanently tented lodge or full lodge with all amenities you can ask for.
Main attractions
Tanzania is the most spectacular country I've been to so far because of the combination of options available for travellers. It is truly a country that exceeds any expectation of both novice (me) and recurrent African travellers. Here is just a small list of things to do in this undiscovered land:
- Cultural and educational encounter with the peaceful people with 127 different tribal backgrounds like the Chaga, Maasai or Hadza to mention a few.
- Safari to excellent national parks boasting with wildlife.
- Trekking Kilimanjaro or attempting to reach Uhuru Peak, Africa's highest point.
- Watching dolphins or swimming on paradise like beaches on Zanzibar.
And much more...
Tanzania has all that, topped with an exceptional untouched wildlife and one of the world's highest peaks. Once you set your feet here you are a captive of Swahili time and culture.
I could start by telling you about the challenges of poverty, water, health, education and inequality of income distribution that millions of Tanzanian face every day. But Tanzania is such an undiscovered diamond
that not even such (temporary) rough conditions can hide its true beauty. Once you set your feet here you are a captive of Swahili time and culture.
Usually I mention Thailand (that I've visited 4 times) as one of the greatest destinations in the world because of its nice blend of nature, culture, food, prices and weather. Tanzania has all that, topped with an exceptional untouched landscape, amazing wildlife, Africa's highest peak (5895m) and world class beaches at Zanzibar. Still it remains unspoilt as Thailand was perhaps 20-30 years ago. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if Tanzania is part of the next hype among back-packers within three years helping the country to improve its economy. I met some pioneers who combined TZ with Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya - a great back-packer tour that I hereby baptise to the 'African TURK' (TURK being abbreviation for
Tanzania,
Uganda,
Rwanda and
Kenya) - and they were all mesmerised by their beautiful encounters with people and nature. Tanzanians are peaceful, respectful and hospitable. At eye contact you are greeted ('Jambo'='Hello') politely, followed by 'Karibu' (Swahili for Welcome) inviting you to the home, activity or food. If you accept the invitation, you can be
African TURK
Probably the most popular travelling route in the coming years! Remember where you heard it first!sure of an intimate and uncensored local experience.
Kibaha - Day 1-4
Short after my arrival to Dar-es-Salam airport, I was picked up by Simon Kimweli who had kindly agreed to host me through Couchsurfing.org. I was so moved and humbled when I found out that he had travelled more than an hour and half, in two different Dara Daras, just to meet me and make sure I wasn't scammed by the regular transport hustlers (you find them in any country) that smell fresh meat from the reflection of your pale skin. We liked each other immediately and I felt comfortable to bombard him with all my questions about my constantly new impressions. How do you say that? How does that work? What is that? How much does that cost? Where should I go for that? Where can I find this? Where can I find that? Who is who? and so on and on... Fortunately, he's a volunteer teacher at a primary school and used to the curiosity of 7-year-olds so he answered my questions patiently until I fell asleep on the mini-bus. Halfway at
Ubungo bus station we picked up two other couchsurfers who
Metaphors
Here is an idea for you: If the wall is the world, the green area represents rich countries, grey for poor countries then I leave the rest to you to interpret! would share the house with me for one night.
The four of us arrived at Sangani village in the Kibaha region and had our first meal at a mid-age lady's house where an exterior area had been set up as a restaurant with one table and two benches. Despite the first time Africa visitor's fear of all kind of stomach diseases, my first encounter with Wali ng'ombe was just as delightful and successful as the others to come.
After dinner we took a taxi to the luxurious house that would be my home for the next 3 days. It was huge compared to the other shackles and small houses I've seen on the way with several rooms and nice comfortable beds. There was no electricity in the area and water was stored in tanks as the pipes only worked 2-3 times a week. As I found out, our house was the last point of water pipes so villagers who lived further away, some very far away, needed to come to us to fill their water tanks and carry them back on their head or push bike. Realities of hard life unveiled and I was grateful to get an insightful introduction
from first row, on my first day.
Pole sana! Pole sana!
The next day involved strolling around the fruit gardens, visiting friends of Simon and the school where they teach (foreign volunteers gladly accepted, contact me!) and almost scaring a child to death who seemed to have never seen a white person before. That day I learned one of my first words in Swahili:
It turned out that one of the colleague teachers had virus problems on her computer at home and I offered to help. So I met her and her beautiful children and after our first mambo & jambo greets (=hello), and some laughs, we went in to the room to find out the problem. Me, Simon and the kids were occupied by the task when suddenly a sound of despair and cry was heard. Unfortunately, the nice lady had just lost her father and I picked up on Simon saying 'Pole sana! Pole sana!' expressing our condolences. The virus had won this battle!
They had to abandon their scheme and pointed out a direction for us - empty handed.
That evening I rented a motorbike from a local and planned to pick up my cousin who'd arrive at 5.20am! at Dar airport. I had to wake up early around 4.30am thinking I had enough time
to make it. Of course, being asleep half the way, I had misjudged the actual distance from our village back to the airport. Still - uncertain of directions; with a half-empty tank that needed refilling; and early morning bugs that occasionally mistook my face for head lights - I experienced my first African sunrise swooping on the road like a renegade going to rescue
kassra. Just as Simon had rescued me. After some 50km I was just late enough to see my cousin with his own personal guide waiting to be tipped. I don't know what kind of service he had managed to receive, from the Arrivals hall to the ATM-machine 10 metres away, but he tipped the man generously 😊 One bag on his back and the smaller on my front, we set directions to Dar-es-Salaam which I still hadn't visited. We put the bags in the lobby of a hotel that seemed reliable and drove around aimlessly. When you are in your own country everything is familiar. You understand the text on signs, you know what the shops you look at sell and the buildings no longer have any interesting to tell you after you've passed them hundreds
of times. I love the great feeling of unfamiliarity when you are in a new country experiencing. It can be the text and graphics on signs and ad-boards, the inventory of a shop, the architecture of a building, the logic of the road system and traffic light, a smell you cannot identify, a face with an exciting combination of features or simply a moment, filled with all things mentioned, that would never occur back home. We ended up in the harbour area and eventually in what looked like a scattered city center. My best tip during travel is to find a local market for a nice meal and a good overview of what food and items are offered in the country. Since you are more likely to get mzungo price on most things, a good trick I found out is to observe local buyers and try to see how much money they give, and receive back in change. Even if it's ok to pay a bit more than the locals, at least you'd know what you'd have to pay. We were a bit lost and couldn't find the market. Just as I was turning the bike back, I made eye
contact with two police officers who I sensed wanted to stop us for some milking. My suspicion was confirmed as soon as we stopped and one of the officers moved behind the bike to 'check' the registration plate. To avoid bribery, I quickly tried to turn the tables by making gestures of food while asking for market. Yes, market. FOOD. MARKET. HUNGRY (pointing at belly). Not even corrupted cops can deny happy, dusty travellers in search of local food. They had to abandon their scheme and pointed out a direction for us - empty handed. I'd support local people any time, but not corrupted cops!
if you're a person with knowledge in conservation and sustainable livinghood, go there and share your knowledge
Simon and Baraja impressed me alot. They are well educated and dedicated to help their local community. While Baraja teaches teens, Simon has managed to build his own primary school offering education for free. Parents only need to provide the compulsory school uniform, exercise book and pencils. Still, they don't stop there. They are also in the start-up phase of a NGO project with the aim of educating the local community in conservation and environment. One of the problems is the use of fire wood or charcoal for cooking. Every day, charcoal makers
Just arrived
at the airport to pick up Kassra. and villagers must go further and further away from the village to gather/cut the wood needed. The result is of course extinction of biodiversity,
deforestation and
desertification. Some day soon, they will meet the villagers from the other side of what used to be the forest. So
their idea is to get educated by volunteer experts that visit and hold work-shops for their group of volunteers. In turn, they can pass the valuable knowledge on to their own local community. So if you're a person with knowledge in conservation and sustainable livinghood, go there and share your knowledge. I'm sure you will never regret it. I knew Simon was involved in teaching before arriving so me and Kassra discussed and brought some stuff with us for the kids. After some help from
Svanströms and
Stadium I managed to get more than 1200 color pens and paid very little money for 5 footballs. Digging in our own drawers and sending a short email to our friends resulted in 5 mobile phones, 2 laptops, 1 mp3-player, a digital camera, water purification bags and load of relief for temporary stomach ache (which occurs alot among people because of bad water and diet). Mobile phones
Sweat
It was very hot riding a bike with back pack and helmet and so on,,, that meal was worth it ;) have a much greater second hand value in Africa so the idea was to sell the phones and the mp3 in order to get cash for the development of the school. As for now, the MP3 is sold and has resulted in bences for the kids to write on. The pens and footballs will be evenly distributed over time by Simon and Baraja while the camera and laptops will be used to familiarize the village kids in IT and digital photography. Since internet connection is expensive, and the nearest internet station was in the next village some 10km away, I suggested that the laptops were used during day by children and during afternoon they could be setup as a internet café paying for the internet fee ensuring continuity. The idea was welcomed and I look forward to the (photographed) results 😱
Special thanks to Niclas Olofson and Mehrdad Motavvas for their contributions. few follow the AB in the ABC-rule of thumb
Our last night with Simon turned into an exploration of different Tanzanian beer. We had a great time, in a local pub, underneath the African star heaven, with topics of conservation that crossed borders, cultures and time. We learned about
'nyumba ndogo' literaly meaning 'small house'. This
is the term for a concubine, or informal wife (usually younger), that is supported and hidden from the official wife - by those who can afford it. Of course, this is also a very easy way of spreading the HIV-virus if one party is infected. It seemed like few follow the AB in the ABC-rule of thumb (A=abscence of sex, B=be faithful, C=condom) and obviously many still ignore the C which contributes to 1.4 million Tanzanians
infected with HIV. We went back home a bit tipsy, stuffed with new knowledge and good food knowing that our days in Kibaha had been something out of the ordinary.
Arusha & Safari - Day 5-13
I LOVE LOVE!
All we had was the phone number to Dani, fellow student of Baraja at
IAA and I called him from our bus an hour before arrival. Despite the tight schedule of an ambitious student, he picked us up and brought us to a nice house some 8km outside of Arusha - the Mecca of Safaris. It was now early evening so we left our stuff and went to meet Jacob (younger brother), William (older brother) and a Nsubis (ever-naked flatmate) for dinner. We went for
a great mishkaki and had memorable conversations about relationships and love. A highlight was when I was asked about what I think of 'love' and the answer was very simple and spontaneous: "I LOVE LOVE" - I announced in a loud exclamation that was followed by everyone's laugh.
If you never heard of the Great Migration of wilderbeest and zebra's you need to Google.
The next 2 days were spent for finding a safari company that could cater our needs - 6 nights and 7 days visiting Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngoro Ngoro Crater and Lake Manyara National parks. Some $1300 p.p later we were on the way to the experience of our lives. Tarangire had a magical landscape filled with Baobab trees and herds of elephants. The Boabab's are very majestic overlooking anything on the savannah. Some trees can get as old as 2000 years, YES! 2000 TWOTHOUSAND years. If you never heard of the Great Migration of the wildebeest and zebra's you need to Google. We were so fortunate to be in Serengeti at the time when over 2 million animals are following the rain and the fresh grass that roots in the volcanic and nutritious soil. The migration is a continuous quest for food and is also referred to as the circle of life.
Of course, the lions don't complain as the meal passes their territories in a reversed 'drive thru' manner. Perhaps that explains why the lion that visited our camp the first night was just happy with leaving foot prints and shitted tourist pants. Serengeti was amazing and for three days we were game driving around and catching the action. Our guide was Bryceson and he was a source of information for us not only regarding the animals but also indigenous culture. One of the most interesting findings was the Maasai culture of sharing wives. As Bryceson explained, it is normal for Maasai to have sexual interaction with the wife of a fellow villager. However, when doing so you must stick to the same age group as your own wife meaning prohibiting you from taking advantage of youths. In practise, if a Maasai man is away and returns to find a spear planted outside his Boma (=traditional Maasai hut) he should not enter. The
Maasai spear indicates that private activities are taking place so it's better to go to another Boma meanwhile. As surprising and interesting as this phenomena may seem, it contains huge implications of gender inequality and spread of sexual
diseases like HIV among the community. Some Maasai won't even use condoms (it is believed that sperms should not be wasted) and other practise female genital mutilation. Still, the Maasai culture is one of the most successful in Africa thanks to it's ability to adapt to different rules and conditions. This fact brings hope that what is believed to be 'tradition' today is abandoned for adaptation to new living conditions - both social, biological, legal and human.
Last day, at Maasai kopje, was the absolut highlight as we climbed amazing rock formations to find a panoramic view of the Migration herds. After that, we were finished with Serengeti and took off to reach Ngoro Ngoro in the afternoon. We setup our tents with the hesitant consent of buffalos and elephants with natural rights. Turns out the grass was very fresh and popular for the local buffalos so as soon as most people had gone to sleep in their tents, some came for grazing. Although, they moved a bit too close to some tents which again resulted in shitty pants again.
Ngoro Ngoro crater is an animals haven on earth. Imagine a huge pot filled with all the animals of the
savannah, grazing peacefully. The lake in the middle was covered pink by flamingos and our 'Big Five' (lion, elephant, leopard, cheetah, rhino) expeditions was fulfilled with the sight of a black rhino. Our last stop was Lake Manyara NP, where we just relaxed after having seen it all the days before. Overall, this safari was more than I had imagined and I truely realised the potential of Tanzania as a travellers' destination.
Now it's time to let the pictures continue the first part of my Tanzanian tale. In the next part I'll write about the hardest thing I've done, modern slavery and some paradise islands.
Dedicated to :Kassra, Simon, Baraja, Dani, Jacob, William, Nsubis, Bryceson, Sasja, Iben, Tanya, Anna, Ron, Walter, Asha, Pendo, Gladys, Mussa, Ayoub, Moe, Noelle, Vegard, Jacob, Marissa, Iddy, Chedy, Bakhtim, Damian.
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anonymous
non-member comment
illuminating
ben, great post! gave me a good insight about tanzania. your pictures and stories made for good winter reading in chilly chicago.cheers! garret