Now on Lake Tanganyika at Lake Shore Lodge

So I am now at Lake Tanganyika. I have crossed Tanzania in three weeks. It’s been interesting. It was cool in Moshi and Arusha. I stayed with a lovely Finnish couple in Morogoro. I visited a rock garden, which resembles a beach party place, very strange. Then I visited Iringa. I camped for the first time on this trip. At Rivervalley Camp, just 10 km outside Iringa. It’s a camp for people who wish to learn Swahili. Many Americans! I visited the town and tried to walk and climb Gangilonga, Talking Stone. The Hehe tribe believe it talks. Unfortunately, there are many locals who sit on the rock and attack unsuspecting tourists as they climb it. My guide even said it would be too dangerous. So we returned. I next visited Neema Craft Centre. This is a café/craft centre run by deaf people. You can also get a massage. Unfortunately, it was a holiday, so I couldn’t tour the craft shop. I did buy a couple of handmade crafts: they use recycled materials. For instance, they use coke and sprite bottle tops as part of ear rings!

After Iringa, I began hitting the buses for real. First six hours to Mbeya for one night at a Moravian Christian hostel. Then it was seven hours to Sumbawanga, a nice town with sandy dusty streets in the far southwest. One night there and it was an interesting, bumpy, rattle-shaking twisting rolling ride to Katangolo, where I was collected in a 4 by 4 to come to Lake Shore Lodge. The journey was supposed to take five hours, it took over eight! The bus broke down at least three times. I was by the window that wouldn’t open with a young African lady on my left shoulder and her baby on my left knee! At one point during the trip she breast feed her child! So now I am here on the lake. The lodge is delightful. Last night, 18th October, I had roasted meat and vegetables under a full moon with the lake lapping at my feet.

Next I head to Kigoma, in the north, and home of many of Tanzania’s best singers and musicians. Then I go to Burundi. Tony