Mwanza to Bukoba

MV Victoria docked in Mwanza

The MV Victoria sails to Bukoba on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Embarkation begins at 7.30pm for a 9pm departure. Current prices are 1st class/2nd class (sleeper)/2nd class (seat)/3rd class Tsh30,600/Tsh20,600/ Tsh17,100/Tsh15600 for the approximate nine hour crossing.

Having splashed the cash for a first class ticket, i share a cabin with the jovial and enormously fat Malekela, a young accountant/civil servant. He completely fills the cabin and it's somewhat embarrassing to walk past him.

The steamer leaves on time and i enjoy a quality dinner of samosas soon after.


Arriving rather bleary eyed at around 5.20am, Malekela insists on taking me in his taxi to the New Upendo Lodge a couple of kilometres from the dock and just outside the town centre.

Mwanza

In the far north east corner of Tanzania sitting just below the Equator on another African Great lake - Lake Victoria, lies the capital town of the Lake Victoria region, Mwanza. Despite the efforts of town planners with roundabouts aplenty, rubbish bins (a rarity in Africa) and a few very new sparkling glass buildings, it’s still a rather dirty dump in the town centre. Maribou storks have urbanized, and scavenge and feast in droves at overflowing dumpsters by the dock-side. The surrounding area looks quite pretty however, with buildings scattered amoungst green hillsides.

decorative roundabout sculpture

I’m staying at the centrally located Lake Hotel on Station Road, i’m paying Tsh10,000 for a basic attached room with net, but as so often through Africa, no hot water. Breakfast is included.

It's kinda weird but on the wall is a photograph of Ko Nuang Yuan, one of my favourite places in Thailand which i take for a lucky omen.

Fortunately there are a few good restaurants to check out whilst i await the departure of the MV Victoria.

The best of the bunch is probably The Diner situated close to the Clock Tower on Nyerere Road offers a choice of Indian and Chinese cuisine. Mains start at about Tsh8,000. Service can be slow.

small park by the dock with interesting rock formations

The Coffee-shop in the New Mwanza Hotel offers similar prices for their mains but also has a mix of snacks including hamburgers and fish fingers. Despite the name, they only provide instant coffee. They also have the Seabreeze restauant upstairs.

The Yun Long Chinese restaurant along the waterfront is a prime location with prime prices to match. I am tempted by the Beijing duck, but at Tsh42,000 i don't have too much difficulty in resisting. Mains start at around Tsh8,000.

The Kuleana Pizzaria on Post Street has a range of pizzas starting at around Tsh7,000 and fresh fruit juices from Tsh1500. It has a more informal atmosphere. It is worth bringing mosquito repellant along.

An Eye and a Lens - colourful lizards of Mwanza

Walk around the dockside near the rocks and the chances are you'll come across Mwanza's colourful lizards. About 14 inches in size from tip of nose to the tips of their tails, the markings are truly exquisite.

From Arusha to Mwanza

Fancy spending an eleven hour drive through land adjacent to the Serengeti National Park? I know i do.

It might not be the quickest journey from Arusha to Mwanza; it's quicker to travel via Nairobi in Kenya than travel through Tanzania.

Nonetheless

1) i don't want to pay for a transit Kenyan visa
2) nor have to double back (i am due to hit Kenya's crime-filled capital next month) to try to obtain onward visas both for Sudan (i've been warned this can take a month!)and Ethiopia (where i have been told there has been new curbs on both UK and German visitors).
3) i want a cheap safari through the Serengeti

I book a window seat ticket with Bedui Luxury Coaches for Tsh35,000 for what is reputed to be an eleven hour haul. How luxurious or time efficient it is remains to be seen.

Aub's Addition Okay - it did sound to good to be true. The journey normally takes 13 hours but we have a breakdown for almost three hours, and having left the hotel at 5.30am we arrive into Mwaza at 11pm - never the safest or conveniant time to arrive into a new city. As for seeing the Serengeti, this is also a myth. About 5 hours of the journey passes on farming and pastoral land adjacent to the Serengeti. All i see are cows and goats as our driver going heavy-footed on the accellerator on an unsealed track.

After cussing my misfortune of sitting to one of the very few obese locals i have seen on my journey, he takes me under his wing. Jonathon kindly negotiates a taxi for over 20 minutes whilst he waits patiently for my bag to be unloaded. He then finds me a cheap hotel in the town centre, refuses to accept money for the taxi, and then invites me to lunch the following day.