Of how I crossed Tanzania

I managed to got from Chwele, in Kenya, to Nakonde, in Zambia, after literally crossing Tanzania within a week. During those exactly 7 day I drove more the 4.000 km using more than 17 different vehicles, including buses, matatus, tuk-tuk and bodaboda (Kiswahili for motorbike taxi).

    Boiled eggs seller in the bus station of Iringa, Tanzania. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

That was a trip full of surprises, a huge lesson about how to travel in East Africa and, obviously, an opportunity to get to know more about the the differences and relations between the different countries and the opinion of their citizens about each other.

             

                   The long way across Tanzania. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

               Tuk-tuk station near Mwanza, Tanzania. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

          Green nyanya (Kiswahili for tomatoes) in Mwanza. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

          Leaving Mwanza, in Tanzania early in the morning. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

In order to get my tourist visa renewed I head to leave and reenter the East Arfican region, which is composed by Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Since the borders to Somalia and DRC Congo are not recommend to cross, for obvious reasons, and I need an visa issued in home country to be able to enter Ethiopia, there wasn't any other choice but to go Zambia all through Tanzania.

And you know what?! I just loved the idea!!

            Another bus station, Singida, Tanzania. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

From Chwele I headed down south with matatus, drove past Kisumu at the Victoria lake and crossed the border to Tanzania at Sirari. Heading further south on the way to Mwanza, I drove past the Seregenti National Park, crossing the flat land of the Masaai and entering a stony landscape before reaching my destination. Mwanza is one of the largest cities in Tanzania and economically very significant for being at the Victoria Lake.

          Another bus station, Singida, Tanzania. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

After spending a day in Mwanza I drove to Iringa, passing by Shynianga, Singida and Dodoma in the central region of the country and was surprised by the level of development of a few cities when compared to other areas in Kenya and Uganda.

          View from Mwanza, Tanzania. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

That was almost a whole day on the road. I confess that at a certain point my arse started hurting, specially when the bus drive wasn't much careful about the bumps, but I had the beauty outside the window to compensate the pain.

       On of the many villages along the road in Tanzania. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

I drove past wonderful scenarios, sometimes hilly stony areas sometimes endless green flatlands. Uncountable small sunflower plantations scatered all over and the sunflower oil sellers in their wooden stand along the roads. Apparently the main source of income in the central and southern areas. I could also realize tree trunks pieces hanging on other trees along the road what was explained to me later as being the local way of keeping bees (yes! I tasted the Tanzania honey).

      An impression of the stony landscape of part of Tanzania. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

                    Life along the road. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

          The typical sellers at the bus stops. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

I was even more amazed by the first sight of the majestic baobab trees, impressive!! I could stop photographing them emerging out of the ground, here and there, in the middle of the savannah. I could observe dwellings build around them, their shade being used as parking areas for bodaboda drivers or as playground by children.

           Baobab...

          ...baobab,...

          ...and more baobabs. PICTURES:PRIVATE.

After spending a night in Iringa, where I had that delicious "uji" (Kiswahili for millet porridge) at 6am before entering hitting the road, I drove past Mbeya and crossed the border to Zambia between Tunduma (Tanzanian side) and Nakonde (Zambian side).

                Snacks seller. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

In Nakonde an unfortunate happening spoiled my humor for a few hours, but just for a few hour. My computer, camera and some money were stolen from the my lodge while I was having breakfast, meaning I had to spend all the in the police station for them to investigate the case. The way it is, we move past bad things and leave them where they belong, in the past!! Now I had to prepare to head back home along all the way through Tanzania.

 Chai (delicious lemon grass and ginger tea) na keki (Kiswahili for cake). PICTURE:PRIVATE.

The next day I crossed back the border, got my renewed visa to re-enter East Africa, and later on Kenya, prepared to enjoy the other side of the road and to have those feeling, which are worthy living for. :)

          Small market at one of many bus stops. PICTURE:PRIVATE.

Cheers everyone and lot of Love,

Mácio Simyiu.

                                          ***DONT FORGET TO LEAVE A CLICK***

<Give your support to this blog by clicking on the advertisements you see on the side and below this post. With each CLICK the blog will receive some fund. It will be much appreciated.>

I got "uji"

Finished the day yesterday with a great surprise!

I was taken, literally, to a friends house and got those log promised, delicious cups of "uji" (kiswahili for millet porridge) accompanied by some "mandazi", the local homemade bread.

You must try it. Made my day! :)

Cheers peeps!

                                  ***DONT FORGET TO LEAVE A CLICK***

<Give your support to this blog by clicking on the advertisements you see on the side and below this post. With each CLICK the blog will receive some fund. It will be much appreciated.>

The beauty of the Kenyan ethnic diversity

I come originally from Brazil, a country where people celebrate their ethnic diversity. We Brazilian are born of a mixture of many races coming from different corners of the planet: the primordial inhabitants of that ground, the indigenous, the Europeans, mainly the Portuguese colonizers, and the Africans, brought to the American continent as slaves. Centuries later, another immigration waves coming from countries like Italy, Germany, Japan, Poland, even from Lebanon and Armenia gave the country the face it has today. It sounds really like a big "soup of races", as we use to call ourselves, but nothing compared to what one can experience in some African countries. Living in Kenya has given me the chance to grow into these diversity and to learn about its people.

Bukusu  lady in the Chwele market. PICTURE: PRIVATE

So, what did I get to learn about the Kenyan people so far?

The population of Kenya is composed by three main groups or folks, the Bantu people, speakers of the Bantu languages and originally from the central western part of the continent, the Nilot, or Nilotic people, mainly inhabitants of Central and East Africa, and the valleys of the Nile river, and the Cushitis, originals from the "horn of Africa", region composed today by countries like Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. This a group of minor significance in number of inhabitants in the country.

A Masaai grandma. PICTURE: PRIVATE

These three folks are divided in a number of smaller ethnic groups or tribes, sub-tribes and smaller groups, the clans, dispersed all over the country. According to recent statistics the population of Kenyan is formed by 42 tribes. Till now I got to know people from a few of them, like the Luhya, Kalenjin, Kikuyu, Kamba, Luo and Masaai.

My friend Nicole Achieng, a Luhya girl with a Luo name. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

In Chwele, Western region of Kenya, where I'm living the predominant tribe is the Luhya. The Luhya belong to the Bantu people and can be subdivided in another 18 sub-tribes, each of them speaking a different dialect or variation of the Luhya language. 

The Bukusu, the people I have the pleasure to live with, is one of these sub-tribes and they speak the language with the same name, kiBukusu. Now it gets more interesting! These sub-tribes are composed by even smaller groups, the clans, which also have specific internal rules and traditions. Omutukhwika, omulako, omukimweyi, omurefu, etc. are examples of clans of the Bukusu tribe. Now consider such a hierarchy in each one of the 42 tribes. That's what I mean with fascinating!

Mrs. Matimbai, my host and friend. From the
Luhya tribe, Bukusu sub-tribe. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

There are a few tribes among those 42 I'm sure you must have heard about, e. g. the Masaai, the Kalenjin and the Kikuyu. The Masaai are those slender tall guys wrapped in red, frequently also blue, "blankets" (in Kiswahili shuka) one can see in movies and advertisements "jumping" in the savannah. They typically wear colorful beaded earrings and necklaces and are known to be a tribe of warriors. These guys belong to the Nilot people.

A Sabaot boy. The Sabaot is a sub-tribe from the Kalenjin. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

The Kalenjin, on the other hand, got a lot of reputation through sports. Some of the best marathon runners in the world are Kenyans, and almost all of them come from this tribe. Like the Masaai, the Kalenjin are also Nilotic people.

Recently I went on a excursion to the Mount Elgon, an extinct volcano on the surroundings of Chwele and up on the mountain I got to know some of the locals, the Sabaots, a sub tribe of the Kalenjin. These guys are used to the life in high and hilly areas and to lower temperatures. This one of the few tribes that used to practice female circumcision.

Ms. Cheptarus Sang, my Kalenjin friend. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

What to say about the Kikuyu tribe? 
This tribe is original from the central part of the country, which includes the capital, Nairobi, and is the largest tribe in population. Approximately 20% of the Kenya population is Kikuyu. These guys are known for being merchants and business people. It's maybe also important to mention that the actual Kenyan president is a Kikuyu.

Yvone Wanjala also a Luhya and Bukusu. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

The complexity resulting of the many tribes, sub-tribes and clans in Kenya is just enormous. As a reflex of that, you can imagine how culturally rich is this country.

All the different traditions, typical meals, the seasonal names and number of  languages. A child growing up in a three languages environment is a very common thing around here. Contrary to what one may think the Kenyans live in peace with each other regardless of all their ethnic particularities.

Rose's fruits stand. Rose is also a Bukusu. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

To learn about  the Kenyan people and get entangled in their traditions has been an amazing and incredibly rewarding experience.

Cheers everyone,

Mácio Simiyu (my Bukusu name :)).

Elizabeth Gilbert about traveling

“traveling is the great true love of my life... I am loyal and constant in my love of travel. I feel about travel the way a happy new mother feels about her impossible, colicky, restless newborn baby - I just don't care what it puts me through. Because I adore it. Because it's mine. Because it looks exactly like me.” 
― Elizabeth Gilbert