A Weekend in Tabora

 Today is Saturday and we are travelling to Tabora which is about 230 kilometres from Kahama. We have no other plans for the day so don’t need to make an early start. Robert and Aaron pick us up at about 10am.

Before we leave Kahama we need to find a shop that does mPesa so Aaron can send some money home for his family. mPesa is a system of sending money via your mobile phone. When at home Aaron drives a bajaji (tuk tuk) so brings money home every day but of course because he is away from home for 2 weeks with us his family need to be sent some money to buy food etc.

Once this is done we leave Kahama heading for Nzega.

The landscape is fairy flat and agricultural.

A bit later we pass under a new railway line that is being built from Dodoma to Mwanza. It is already operational between Dar es Salaam and Dodoma. We see the railway sleepers all piled up on the side ready to be used.

As we approach Nzega the landscape changes and we see more hills and rock formations. 

We also start to see lots of people selling mangoes by the side of the road.

We stop in Nzega at a truck stop that we have used before. We get some chai and mandazi to keep us going until we reach Tabora. Robert also buys pots of nuts to snack on in the car.

We arrive in Tabora at about 3.30pm and head to Nazareth Canteen where we know we can get a good meal. This place offers a decent selection of buffet food. Today I have chicken, rice, beans and greens.

Robert has some work to do so it’s a relaxed lunch. It’s only now that Aaron tells us he has never been to Tabora before. I am surprised as I thought he had been with us on previous trips but on checking back we have always had a different driver for this part of the trip.

Once we have all finished Aaron drops us at the JB Hotel where we have stayed before. It’s a good price TSH 80,000 (about £25) per night for the room and breakfast.

We have a relaxed evening listening to the rugby commentary for the Exeter vs Bristol Premiership Rugby match whilst having a glass of wine. Bristol just managed to a win so it’s a good evening.

The following day is Sunday and a free day for us. We have a bit of a lie in and a leisurely breakfast. The selection is quite good this morning - potatoes, sausages, lentils, greens, cassava and boiled eggs plus some mango juice and fresh fruit.

After breakfast we go down to the covered outside area and I write this blog and update my school records and Pete reads and catches up on the news. It’s very quiet apart from the occasional singing from the nearby church…..a very pleasant morning. Mid morning we ordered a fresh juice which the guy made up from a variety of fresh fruit as we watched, it was lovely.

About 1.30pm Robert picked us up and we went and got some lunch at a bar he remembered from a previous visit. It turned out to be a good choice as the food was good and we were able to sit upstairs where there was a decent breeze and a bit of a view. However this was the first place this trip where children approached us asking for money. Robert asked them to get their father which they did and he advised the guy that there are places you can go and get support for children, He did however then give them a few Shillings.

This afternoon after picking up Aaron and Frank (the ACTT agent in Tabora) we went to visit Livingstone House a few kilometres outside Tabora town. Named after David Livingstone who spent a year there in 1871/72 planning further trips into central Africa. This was only one small aspect of its history. It was constructed in traditional style several decades before by a wealthy Arab slave trader. Tabora was the main settlement for collecting together slaves from Uganda, Rwandan, Burundi and Congo regions and sending them, along with ivory, on the central caravan route to the slave markets of Zanzibar before being transported away around the Indian Ocean. The explorer John Speke who “discovered” Lake Victoria had stayed there in 1857. The Germans used it as headquarters in their colonisation of Tanganyika in the 1880’s before the town of Tabora was developed by them, and it was again occupied by British forces in 1916. 

The guide (who is the guy in the white football shirt) who showed us around did a great job and we learnt a lot. Below are a few photos from our visit.

After we finish our guided tour we drive back into town to a bar that Frank knows. We sit outside and order drinks and some food. However after about half an hour it starts to rain and it looks like it will be heavy so we move under cover.

As the rain gets heavier the electricity trips frequently trips out and then eventually goes completely. Luckily most of the food will be cooked on fires or BBQ’d but soon it is dark with the only light being from people’s mobile phones. There is now thunder and lightening and the noise from the rain is so loud it is hard to hear what anyone is saying.

They bring us some popcorn and nuts to go with our drinks which Pete suggests means we still have a while to wait for our food……he was right.

 Literally just as our food arrives (after about a 2 hour wait!!) the power comes back on and we can see to eat. Luckily the food is pretty good. However once we have finished eating I think we are all happy to leave and head back to our hotels. Even then it is still raining but not nearly as heavily as at its worst.