Nafisa from Mwanza

Well, I already spent quite some time in Tanzania. According to Lonely Planet guide book, the road from the border with Rwanda towards Kahama was in very bad shape. Actually, it was a lot better than the guide meant. Well, things like these happen, when traveling with a 3 years old guide book. In the late afternoon I arrived in Kahama, the coach to Mwanza coming from somewhere else was delayed and it was not foreseeable, when this one would arrive. So I decided to spend the night in Kahama. I had a very charming coach driver who drove me by big bus to the hotel (a private transfer in the gigantic coach). Presumably I was in Kahama the only Mzungu, so in the hotel the receptionist and the guests were astonished about the new entry. Then the coach driver drove off again to organize my bus ticket for the next day, saying, the bus station is no place for an unaccompanied woman… Tanzania seems to be a very pleasant country, at least for single women…

Then a young man walked me to the Internet cafe, which was at least 30 minutes of a walk – once there, I found out, that he did not have anything to do there himself. Well, it was already dark, so this poor fellow even waited for me and brought me back to the hotel an hour later. The next morning he took me very early to the bus station, as this is no place for a single woman… Well, in any case, a great start for Tanzania!
On the next day I went by a very slow but safe bus to Mwanza. Mwanza is situated south of Lake Victoria and is the biggest town in this area. Here I visited Nafisa, a sister of Yusuf from Mombasa. She is married in Mwanza and lives here with husband Murtaza and granddaughter Khadija. In spite of the restrictions at the moment of the holy month of Ramadan they decided, that I should stay with them in their house. This must have been rather difficult time for them, as religious Muslims do not eat or drink at Ramadan during daytime. Besides, there are many restrictions on travelling and there are many set times for prayers in the mosque. Usually, there is dinner in the mosque and at 4.00 o'clock in the morning people get up for having breakfast to make it through the day. After that, most people go to bed again and follow, nevertheless, during the day their normal business. Nafisa insisted on preparing breakfast and lunch for me. I can imagine, it is not really funny to cook for other people great Indian dishes, if you are not allowed to eat yourself…
As the granddaughter Khadija is only 3 years old, she is also not feasting for sure, but it is somewhat different, whether one does some food for the granddaughter, or for a guest. Anyway, I felt like at home with the three of them and would like to thank her over again for the hospitality, their help and their friendship towards me!

In Mwanza I also met Jose again on the street. I got to know Jose about 2 months ago in Nairobi in the hostel I was staying. He comes from South America and is travelling in East Africa for 3 months. For the next day we agreed to visit an island. As it turned out, that this would cost us 52 dollars per person, we changed our plans and went by normal ferry to the next town and spent some time and then went back again. Thus we also got to journey on the lake for about a dollar for going and coming back…