Bukoba

Bukoba is a good place to be. Situated on the western side of Lake Victoria, it has a bustling commercial centre. There is a huge market especially for their bananas ( plantains).You can buy mobile phones, Hifi equipment, surge protectors and other sophisticated equipment. However other things like string are scarce and we managed to hunt down the last tin opener in town!! It pours with rain most mornings and dries out in the afternoon.
We are staying with Valerie who has been here with VSO for 8 years. She is a wonderful person to stay with and full of stories. Her garden is a delight. She lives behid Bukoba centre and is greeted by all and sundry everyday walking down the road.





We have done the rounds of the Regional Medical Officer, Columbia University (ICAP) offices ( our donors), Regional Hospital and Catholic Diocese offices ( our employers). Everyone is very welcoming and we even met the Bishop who was very happy and friendly.
There are plenty of vegetables available on numerous stalls and the children love to have their photos taken.




There is also time for relaxation!





There is a campsite next to the shore with double beds in the traditional Haya huts. One can roll out of bed to watch the sun rise and occassionally a lone hippo is seen.

On the way to Kagera

We had a further week of Kiswahili after which we felt totally full with our new vocabulary. We were able to talk at a basic level --Tunatoka Uingereza, tunakaa Morogoro weeki mbili na tutakwenda Kagera. Mimi ni Daktari na mke wangu ni muuguzi. (Something like --We come from England, we are staying 2 weeks in Morogoro and we will go to Kagera. I am a doctor and my wife is a nurse. Annie is not here to correct me but I almost called her a mbuzi which means something else!!)
A few days in Dar where we met some very interesting people, not least Mary Ash of Posada. (if anyone wants to help something worthwhile-- see website).
We spent Sunday evening on Coco Beach -- the only white people among 2000 Tanzanians. Everyone was out to enjoy themselves and there was a very happy atmosphere.



Then on to the plane to Mwanza. A lunch stop of Tilapia and rice









then photo of signpost with many memories We were forced to retreat inside during a tropical downpour.

Then small plane over Lake Victoria, past the fishing village off Bukoba and onto the airstrip in the middle of Bukoba Town.

Safari

Fourteen of us travelled to the Mukumi National Park. The first thing we saw was a giraffe right by the main road with trucks thundering by!. Then quickly followed baboons, a huge herd of impala with many young and 3 elephants. And that was even before we had gone through the official entrance!!
We saw a surprising amount of game. A trio of lone male buffalo, a scattering of impala and zebra and then a group of elephants by the road studiously ignoring us. We than came to the waterhole with a small family of zebra anxiously waiting their turn.In the watering hole was an enormous crocodile and in the mud flats were 5 small ones keeping absolutely still. The baboons were having a very nervous time and the zebras were cautious too. At the other end of the pool were a collection of about a dozen hippos who did little except snort and belch. We stopped for a picnic and photo opportunity. After lunch the baboons made short work of the remnants in the waste bin.
We then saw many giraffe, such graceful and mildly curious animals. They looked at us quizzically for a while and then would gracefully move away without effort but covering great distances quickly. We then went off in search of Lions who had been seen earlier. Despite a short detour inadvertantly off road we eventually we found them , a large male and 2 females snoozing under a tree several hundred yards off. Good to see but the Giraffes were better!!

Tanzanian cooking

The last two days have been spent learning about, buying and then cooking Tanzanian food. We were given the recipe then the task of buying food and finding out prices. It was good fun with many laughs and confusions. However we completed the task arriving back with our spinach and potatoes. Others had different ingredients to get and we all compared prices later. Some hilarious stories of experiences in the market and also a few found they had overpaid, but generally folk were honest and friendly to us. Next day we joined together in peeling, chopping and cleaning the food. Juma (our Islamic teacher, hence he was the one who had to slaughter the animals) expertly dispatched 5 chickens and a Filipina volunteer Joy was great at gutting and cleaning them. Mama J. bustled around organising us. We tended the fire, kept things warm with charcoal and fried the chickens.The coconut rice was delicious, the mixed vegetable/spinach lovely and though the sauce of the kuku was great, I think I got the one that escaped and was chased around the grounds before reaching the pot. We had plenty to eat and much good humour. (Photos show Annie grating coconut, Sarah winnowing, Peter, Sandra, Kevin and Stephan preparing spinach, Rupert and Chris peeling.)
We walked back to the centre where we are staying past a brickworks: all bricks cut by hand from the earth then stacked in high piles (hollow) then covered with mud, awaiting fires to be lit inside to slowly burm and fire them.

Habari gani?

We are now into the fifth day of intensive Swahili course. After the easy bits of the greetings we have been extending our vocabulary to include names , food - masiwa (milk), mayai (eggs), mkati(bread), dawa na meno ( toothpaste), verbs -- nunua (to buy), kunywa ( to drink - not to be confused with kunya to poo!!) and of course lala salama ( sleep well). We are in groups of four and rotate round five different teachers. It is amazing how when you know the answer in your head something else comes out of your mouth. (As far as I know I have not yet asked for a poo when I need a beer!)
It is hard work but we are enjoying it and there is a good supply of Kilimanjaro/Safari beer to soothe the jagged nerves in the evening.
These photos are of our teachers and colleagues at work and play....

Morogoro and Kiswahili

A long(4hrs) , dusty, bumpy bus ride with dubious inboard local Video entertainment, brought us to Morogoro as it was getting dark.
We are staying in a lovely clean, new, friendly Hostel run by nuns. This is also where we are having instruction. Rooms are airy, cool, clean, with mosquito nets to each bed. There is even hot water! Food is good, plentiful and wholesome, but meat can be a bit chewy....probably beef! We also have a choice of beers in the communal room for evening socialising (usually Safari or Safari...).
We have a wonderful backdrop of mountains reaching 2,300m and on Sunday morning we went on a trek up a stream, past a full church, service just finishing, all in their Sunday best. We continued up the stream over a dryish river bed, over rocks reminiscent of Dartmoor. Rupert and Matthew, the 12yr old son of a couple of co-volunteers were the only ones able to leap from rock to rock with ease... the youngest and oldest! On the way back Sandra, from Holland showed some of the children (watoto) some movies she had taken. They were delighted to see themselves.
A trip to the town centre/market/etc in the evening. A dusty, higgldypiggledy but lovely town, thriving (by Tz standards) and busy. Market seemed to have everything in abundance: pineapples, pawpaws, oranges, coconuts, cucumbers, tomatos, dried fish, spices etc. We girls also sussed out the material shop with a tailor!
Today we started Swahili tuition in earnest .. mainly greeting, introductions and numbers. Karibu, habari gani, hujambo, salama.....
So kwaheri (Goodbye) for now to you all.

Last day in Dar

We finished our induction at VSO HQ office and had a free day today. Rupert chose to stay in Dar to buy a map, visit the museum and to pay a visit to the Aga Khan Hospital Primary Care Dept. to introduce himself to Prof. Azim's secretary with whom he had previously spoken. I will be missing Prof Azim by 4 days; he will have left by the time we return. R. also popped into the High Court, and although there were many photos of past judges, sadly that of Penny Tanner's grandfather (Judge Lloyd Blood! "The Little Judge") was not among them. (But it was all a bit chaotic....photos were from about 1947)
Annie decided to go to the beach. I joined a few of the others in our group, and we walked to the ferry port, took a short ferry ride on a ferry that is probably as old as I am, and a Daladala ride (overcrowded, minibus affairs that are communal taxis here) down the road. A short walk and we were on the most heavenly white sandy beach, soon swimming in the warm waves of the Indian Ocean, followed by a cool Tusker beer. (What else??) Then lunch. A great way to de stress after a busy week. (I am pretty sure this is the beach where my parents stayed in a beach house for a week for their honeymoon in 1945 and where we occasionally went as children with them. We have a painting of this beach at home).
Tomorrow we say goodbye to our cheerful Kenyan friends with whom we feel we have cemented a firm friendship and head off to Morogoro for Language Training in Kiswahili.

Arrived in Dar es Salaam

After an uneventul flight arrived in Dar ( a haven of peace!) in the early African dawn. It was a great relief for both of us to eventually get to Africa and we had a warm welcome by Jane and Maurice. There were 12 of us Volunteers on the flight , all from Britain except a Dutch girl. We were to be joined by 3 Kenyans, 4 Phillipinos and 1 Ugandans later in the day.
We were taken to Vso headquaters for introduction and then settled into a simple hotel, Econolodge in the Asian quarter. .
Annie and I then walked down to the harbour front, past the RC and Lutheran churches and then up Samora Avenue to the Museum. On the right was Annie's Primary School that she attended for a year in 1960. We then walked down the rest of Samora road and found Annie's old family house. It was still standing! It was being converted into an official building for the Ministry of Housing but fortunately they were retaining the exterior. Annie could identify her bedroom windows but part of the garden where she loved to play had been built over!
Further down the street was the building where her brothers were born, now a medical research establishment.
On the way home we paused in the Botanical gardens which has been encroached upon by the Holiday Inn. Fresh orange juice was lovely and we made our way home.
Next day we started four days of induction into Tanzania and the work of VSO. The staff of 4 expatriates and about 7 Tanzanians were smiling and helpful. We were guided round the eating places near the hotel by a ever cheerful Kenyan Maurice and a rather jaded Alan, both volunteers on Zanzibar. The street side barbequed goat and chapati was delicious washed down later by a couple of Kilis ( Kilimanjaro beer).


We are being made to work quite hard in typical VSO fashion, being reminded of the jargon that seems to go with Development but most of it is very interesting and we are enjoying getting to know our fellow volunteers pretty well.
We were treated by VSO to a meal at the beachside with all the staff last night: sunset in a warm breeze, rolling Indian Ocean waves, white soft sand to sink the feet in.....delicious buffet with Tanzanian food (spicy rice, beef, Kuku (chicken), spinach and ocra in coconut, banana, and of course fish...Yummy)
Today we found out a bit more about our placements. Good and bad... at least we have been promised a house, outside loo and kitchen. However, it will be another 3w before we see it as we have 2w in Morogoro at a language school to learn Kiswahili, then a week local induction into the job with another volunteer.
Sorry no photos yet, we keep forgetting the camera!