Mwanza

MWANZA!

As I'm starting to get more settled here, life is getting easier and more enjoyable. In spite of still living in our little hotel room!
I mean, how could I start getting impatient now- We've been without a place of our own since we left Thailand last August. That's getting close to a year of not having our own place! We've waited this long, we can wait longer. Plus the hotel has most things we need. Cold air conditioning, good electricity, occasionally hot water in the shower, a restaurant.

So I want to tell you a little bit about my new city. First of all, it's in the north part of Tanzania, along the coast of the gigantic Lake Victoria. (And you can see-- very close to the "endless plains" of the Serengeti Wildlife Reserve.)

This means that the views of the lake are so beautiful! And almost from everywhere in the city!

There's something about this lake that is so beautiful. I have yet to really capture it in photos, it's so grand and so beautiful. It makes me feel so peaceful when I can sit and stare. The sunsets are consistently incredible. 

But in addition, there are also hills everywhere you can see, and people have built their houses on every available space. So at night the hills are lit up with twinkling lights. The nights are very cool and breezy, so if the moon is out, it's cool and fresh and beautiful. 

Food:

Everyone is asking me how the food is. I won't try to lie- it's not my favorite. But there are many things that are good to eat. I particularly like the "samaki" which is fresh lake fish. Mostly tilapia. I have yet to taste fish that isn't delicious. 

This is classic Tanzanian food. Fish, rice (in this case pilau), cooked bananas, beans and greens. YUM!

I can also find pretty decent Hamburgers in many different restaurants! This one is a "bacon guacamole" burger. There's also pizza and french fries everywhere.

And no mention of Tanzanian food would be complete without mentioning the snack time staple "Chips Mayai" which is a French Fry Omelette!! So crazy right? But so delicious, fast and available everywhere. Normally eaten with meat on a skewer.

My main issue with the food here (sorry locals) is the meat is pretty chewy and not to my liking. The chicken (kuku) is so tough I usually pass. (Though I have found a few places to eat chicken.) The other meat is similar, with all sorts of bones-large and small. And there's not so many fresh vegetables that I've found so far. I think once I get settled and learn how to shop that I will quickly remedy this problem. 

Here's some fresh fruit on the street!

Wildlife:

So since we've been here I haven't ventured out into the Serengeti or any other animal and wildlife areas. But that doesn't mean that a city so close to the Serengeti is without interesting and unique wildlife. My favorite is the birds. They are so different than any I've seen before! My favorite is the wonderfully huge and evil looking Marabou Stork. They're like almost as tall as me (they get up to 5 ft), and the wingspan is up to 13 ft. They like to hang out in groups around garbage sites, and in trees. I get so excited every time I see them!! 

Marabou Storks the "Undertaker Birds"

Everywhere literally everywhere in Mwanza you can hear birds. I think its because of the lake front situation. 

But also, the neighborhood where we're staying now and will be living soon enough-- I've seen Monkeys. Several times. If you know me I don't trust monkeys, but still how exciting to see them on the street you live on! Crazy! I'll try to take pix next time I see them. They're in other parts of the city as well, but crazy that I can see them where I live. In addition- every day I hear mooing (the people who own cows just take them on walks throughout the town), and baa-ing? Whatever goats do. Same with the goats. That's enough of that for now, I'll leave you with a few more pix around town. 

There's not only a high population of Muslims in Tanzania, there's also a large population of Arab people who have lived in Tanzania for generations.

One of the Mosques at night. Wow!

Without fail, every night there's a beautiful new sunset to see. 

Mwanza is nicknamed "Rock City". These sorts of boulders are everywhere.

 

Mwanza street life

And finally I leave with one more brag. The weather is AMAZING. It barely gets into the mid 80s F at the hottest, and the nights get down into the 70s F. Right now I'm sitting outside and there's a perfect cool breeze and it's 2PM! Also it's hot season here too. It's so nice to live in a place where I'm not constantly sweating. 

Thanks for making it all the way through. xoxo