Day 11and 12

 Day 11

This morning we woke up to cloudy skies but the temperature was definitely higher than yesterday. 

Breakfast in the hotel was quiet with just a few Tanzanian business men and a couple of tourists around. Breakfast is now cooked to order rather than being a buffet, as it was last year, which is better anyway.

After breakfast Shabani arrived with our bags. We just put them in our room and then went back with him to the ACTT office. All the staff were there this morning so it was good to see them all. We spent a little time with Robert contacting schools to finalise our visits on Wednesday. We were going to visit some tomorrow but apparently all schools will be shut as it’s national holiday.

After this we walked into town to the Vodacom shop in order to buy a data package for my phone. Interestingly the shop insisted on everyone using hand sanitiser before entering and there was also plenty around inside as well. It was good they were doing this as we did see multiple people handling phones whilst they sorted out any issues people had. They also had signs to keep 2m apart although, as in the U.K, this was less strictly adhered too. Sorting out a data package is never as straightforward as one feels it should be, perhaps because Robert always tries to get us the best deal. However after about 30 minutes it was all sorted. Surprisingly the woman dealing with us recognised us from last year......this really makes me think they haven’t had many tourists in the intervening 12 months.

Once the phone was sorted we went and had lunch at a small restaurant just by the ACTT offices. Pete and I both had rice and lentils, some meat stew and some greens and beans....all very tasty. Robert had mshstaki and chips. The total cost for our 3 meals was TSH 12,000, ie just under £4!!

After lunch Pete and I walked back to the hotel, leaving Robert to go back to the office. I took a few photos on the way.

This afternoon we had a swim in the pool and then spent quite a while unpacking and then repacking our bags ready to go to Geita on Wednesday. We are going to leave a fair bit of our stuff here at the hotel so that there is more room in the car for all the computer equipment.

Later we did a zoom call with Simon, our son. The connection was really good and we chatted with very little time delay and no interruption to the video. Later we had dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Day 12

Today was spent seeing some of the area surrounding Mwanza. 

We met up with Robert and Shabani mid morning and headed up into the hills above Mwanza. Here are a few photos from the drive. If you look closely you will see the monkey in the 4th photo.

We stopped at a hotel that is owned by a friend of Robert’s where normally we would have had good views down over Lake Victoria. However today was pretty dull with some rain so the views weren’t great. 

We had planned on doing a short walk form there but instead we stayed at the hotel and had coffee and a chat with Robert’s friend.

Once the rain had stopped we left the hotel and drove along some pretty rough roads towards the “Big Rock”. This was again up in the hills.

When we got near “the rock” we got out and walked. I must admit I was not prepared for the sight that greeted us. The rock was massive and literally covered in small fish. Apparently local fishermen come and spread out their catch on the rock to dry. We walked across the rock trying hard not to step on any of the fish. Meanwhile of course birds are circling overhead in the hopes of grabbing their dinner!! And of course here again there would normally have been good views but not today. At least it didn’t rain while we were walking around.

Our final visit was to a monument that remembers the worst ferry disaster on Lake Victoria. Apparently in 1996 the MV Bukoba sank 56 km off the coast of Mwanza killing over 1000 people. The ferry was only licensed to carry 430 people but over double that number were onboard. The monument lists some of the names of those who died.

By now it was early afternoon and raining heavily so we stopped  at a local bar for some lunch. This was not the best meal - the chicken was extremely rubbery and the worst we have had this trip!!

After lunch we returned to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We did some emails and blog, had a chat with our daughter and her fiancé via zoom and got ready for our trip to Geita tomorrow as we will be leaving first thing in the morning.