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Published: November 10th 2012
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We decide to take Sunday off so that I could get a better look at the town of Bukoba. Chances are that I will not be back in the area so this was my chance to see Lake Victoria and the community around it.
Bukoba lies only 1 degree south of the Equator. It is Tanzania's second largest port. Dar es Salaam is the largest.
Bukoba has a population of 100,000 and the main industry here is fishing. Unlike Lake Tanganyika, I did not swim in Lake Victoria. It was highly recommended to me to stay out of the water. Apparently, it is not the cleanest of lakes.
Lake Victoria has a surface area of 68,800 square kilometres (26,600 sq mi). It is Africa’s largest lake by area, and it is the largest tropical lake in the world. Lake Victoria is the world's second largest freshwater lake. Lake Superior is #1.
It is a shallow lake... 276 ft. at its deepest point.The lake is divided among three countries: Kenya has 6% of the shoreline, Uganda owns 45%, and Tanzania has at the most shoreline at 49%.
The lake supports Africa's largest inland fishery.
The climate
in Bukoba is sunny & mild most of the year. It's temperatures are much more agreeable than those of Dar. It doesn't have the stifling humidity that we experience almost everyday. It can sometimes get cool in Bukoba especially in the evenings during the two rainy seasons. We were wearing a polar fleece jacket and jeans in the evenings. When we went to sleep we were pulling heavy blankets up to our chins with the windows wide open and cool air coming in the house. Usually in Dar, you just sleep on the sheet with no covers at all.
Our driver, Elias picked us up and drove for an hour to Bukoba from Ndolage. Once in Bukoba,he dropped us off on the hills above the city. Jane thought it would be a good chance for us to do a little hiking and finish down near the lake. The scenery was great. The hike was interesting because there are no real paths to follow. You start out and turn left and right as you see fit. You wander through the locals' yards. If they are outside, they greet you and you continue on. They seemed to be intrigued and happy
Only One Way In... And One Way Out
This dirt road through the valley is the only way in & out of Ndolage. This is the road we had to drive for one hour to get to Bukoba. to see two white people hiking through their properties.
We criss-crossed our way down the hill, creating our own paths and ended up in the local neighbourhoods. They were very rustic, but the locals were welcoming even though we definitely didn't fit in. We wandered through the area where the fishing terminal was and the smell of dead fish took over. There really is nothing like the smell of a good fish market on a hot Sunday afternoon!
From there we wandered along the waterfont until we came to the storks. These ghastly birds are well-known in this region of Tanzania. They stand anywhere from 4 to 5 feet in height and they are the nastiest looking things I have seen in a long time. The feathers on their heads are minimal due to the fact that they stick their heads into carcasses, etc. to get whatever they can to eat.
I first saw the storks about a year ago when I was on the road with Femina, doing a TV show. But on this day, we were able to get closer to them as they scavenged through the garbage.
It was a great afternoon. Having
never been here before, I am now able to cross Lake Victoria off my list.
When we got home, after another 60 minute car ride back into the hills, we were greeted by numerous monkeys in the yard of our temporary home. Apparently, the hospital is home to countless monkeys who live in the trees, wander the grounds, and steal the bananas from the local trees.
I am not a huge fan of monkeys. I won't lie. Like birds that ruffle their feathers, and cats that pounce without any warning, I don't like the unpredictable "action" of animals. Give me a slow moving dog anyday. Besides, my Travel Doctor told me before I came here, "
Stay away from the stray dogs and stay away from the monkeys."
No problem there.
Now that I think about it, hanging out with lemurs in the rainforests of Madagascar at Christmas might not be such a good idea for me afterall. Talk about unpredictable!
Oh well. It will make for some good stories and pictures.
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John Bradford
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Pix
Who was that older guy? The one in the baseball cap and also standing on his hind legs in the field?