Saturday, January 23, 2021

Day 21, 22 and 23


Day 21

Robert wanted to make a prompt start this morning so we were in breakfast at 6.45. The hotel advertised breakfast from 6.30 but clearly they don’t expect many people to come before 7 as nothing was really ready. However after about 10 minutes they produced some fruit juice and a plate of fruit and we were able to make ourselves some toast. 

Robert and Shabani picked us up about 7.30. It normally takes about an hour to get to the ferry port but this morning we must have been stopped at least 4 times by the police so it took a little longer. Just to explain, the traffic police are everywhere in Tanzania and routinely stop drivers without any specific reason. They usually ask to see the driver’s licence, and walk around the car looking for anything that is wrong that would mean they could issue a fine. However it seems that the presence of either Peter or I in the front passenger seat, means that these stops are often pretty quick and we are often waved on after a short exchange of greetings. Robert says he needs us to stay longer, just for this reason alone.

As we approach the port we see a stream of traffic coming from the other direction, signalling that a ferry has just docked. When we drive into the port area we are pleased to see there are hardly any other cars or buses waiting to board so are confident we will get on this ferry.  We leave Shabani in the car as only the driver can stay with the car, we go and buy our foot passenger tickets and enter the waiting area. It seems that even the buses that are here must have been quite empty as I would say there were less than 100 people here. We wait about 15 minutes and are then allowed to board and it was then probably another 15 minutes until we departed.

As we set off we see the other ferry, which is identical to ours, waiting to dock.



The crossing takes about 30 minutes and on the way we get some good views of the construction work for the new road bridge. This is being carried out by a Chinese construction company.




Shabani is the first car to disembark and we are quickly on our way to Mwanza. Again this normally takes about 1 hour but heavy traffic on the outskirts of the town and another police check meant it probably took an hour and a half.

Mwanza is known locally as “Rock City” and it is easy to see why. The rocks make for an interesting and often picturesque landscape. If you look carefully at the photos below you can see that people just build their houses around or in between the rocks.


At one point I notice one very large rock and Shabani says that originally there was another rock balanced on the top but it fell off, sadly crushing a house below, killing 2 people.

We arrive at Ryan’s Bay Hotel around 11.30. We have decided to spend the rest of the day here as we have plenty of sorting out to do as well as washing and also catching up on a bit of sleep. We enjoy a swim in the pool and a spot of bird watching. For anyone interested we have made an attempt to identify the birds.

Common Bulbul

Red Chested Sunbird

Great Egret

Ring Necked Dove

We also see this Woodland Kingfisher from our balcony but the picture isn’t great as it was taken on my phone

In the evening we had a good evening meal in the restaurant and a chat with Sonia the restaurant manager.


Day 22

So today has been a day of sunshine and showers.

We had a leisurely start to the day as we had no real plans so I did some washing first thing and hung it on my travel washing line on the balcony to dry. After this we went down to breakfast which was good. It was nice to have a decent selection of fruit again and some freshly cooked banana pancakes.

After breakfast we walked down to the bank to get some cash. On the way back we decided to extend our walk past the office for Saanane Island National Park to the Tilapia Hotel. We stopped here for a drink and sat in their very nice bar area overlooking the lake with good views of the island.



There was lots of bird activity by the waters edge and in the trees so we said next time we would bring our camera and binoculars. Whilst there we rang Robert and arranged to meet him for lunch.

We walked back to the hotel and then on to the ACTT offices. We did a bit of planning with Robert for the next part of our trip. While we were talking we could hear it was pouring with rain outside - Oh well the washing would be wet again! 

From the ACTT offices we walked about 10 minutes into town to the Hasfu Food Empire. We ordered BBQ chicken and bananas and it was very good.




While eating it rained again so we decided to stay for a coffee and wait for it to stop, which it did after about another 15 minutes. Robert then went back to the office and we walked back to our hotel. 

I managed a quick swim in the pool before the heavens opened again!! Luckily this wasn’t too prolonged and we spent the rest of the afternoon on our balcony. Our washing had now been soaked 3 times but with the sun now out we hope it will dry before it gets dark.

We had about a third of a bottle of wine left after dinner yesterday which was now in the fridge in our room, so we finished it off whilst doing a spot of bird watching sat on our balcony.

Speckled Pigeon

Some sort of Weaver?

Plantain Eater 


We also saw a large lizard, possibly a Monitor Lizard, on one of the paths in the gardens.

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant which was very good, as always. Whilst waiting for our food we thought the sky was quite attractive.



Day 23

There had been heavy rain over night but this morning we woke up to sunshine and clear views.



This morning was spent doing computer “stuff” sat on our balcony.


I was updating all our records for the School Loan Project which started in 2017 and then adding these to our record of schools supported prior to this. We do this for ourselves but also because Robert likes to have all this information available to him when he is talking to District and Ward Education officers as well as other Government officials and also other potential sponsors/ supporters and the schools themselves.


Pete spent some time preparing a map of our travels and annotating it. We will then update this as the trip goes on.

Below is a map of Tanzania which shows our flight from Kilimanjaro to Mwanza as well as the road trip. The second more detailed map shows our road trip so far starting and ending in Mwanza.



So far we have travelled 1405 Km (878 miles) by road since arriving in Mwanza including all our detours to schools.

Today we were meeting Diana, Robert’s daughter, for lunch. We have known Diana since she was about 12 years old and even back then we could tell she was a bright girl. She is now at university in Mwanza studying to be a radiographer.

Robert said he would pick us up about at about noon but he was  a bit late so we did a bit more bird watching sat outside reception. The birds here are so lovely and varied it’s hard not to be entertained by them.

Namaqua Dove

Speckled Mousebird

African Firefinch

Diana wanted to have a look at Malaika Hotel as it has nice views over Lake Victoria so we went there first. However when we got there they were a bit funny about us taking photos and we weren’t allowed up into the gardens from where you get the really good views ....but here is a photo we took inside!!


Afterwards we went to Tunza Restaurant which was nearby, for lunch.....no problems taking photos here!!  It was great to catch up with Diana but I have to say the lunch was not good, both the food and service were poor.The place clearly relies on its views and location to get people in.




We dropped Diana back at the university at about 5pm and then Robert dropped us back at Ryan’s Bay. It was still really hot so we sat on our balcony for a while before going down to the bar for a drink. We had a good chat with Sonia and later we got some complementary colourful popadoms, very nice. Our meal  this evening was very good as always. 




 



3 comments:

  1. Haven't been on the TA site for a while, and just popped in. I was glad to see you are traveling and sharing your blog. You certainly did get out of the UK just in time. I am very curious/surprised that there is no mask wearing at all there, and people are gathered so close together. Is COVID not a problem there??? I believe it is, from all I have been reading. Can you share how they are feeling about it there?

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  2. I read your answer to this on TA, responding maybe to someone else, but thanks for the info! Stay well. Enjoy your trip!!!

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  3. Ooh! Nostalgia! I cant wait to return.

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