Village: Usangi

My trip to Kindoroko Forest was a huge success but equally as awesome was the village of Usangi. Having lived 4+ years in villages in developing countries, it was a welcome feeling to be back in the rhythm of a rural life.

Usangi has about 4,000 people, though when in a sprawled out farming community the amount of people feels much smaller. Usangi is pretty much a one street affair with small shops and stalls lining the main road. The main thoroughfare takes about 10 minutes to walk from one end of town to the other and any road off the main road seemingly heads straight up into the mountains. Most of the roads lead to peoples small scale farms though some led to even smaller villages.

Shop on the side of the road in Usangi. 

My favorite part about Usangi was the friendliness of the people. When we were walking on the road most people were hesitant to greet us, most likely due to the fact that very few people spoke any English. Knowing this (and knowing Tanzanian etiquette) we greeted everyone we saw and people were very happy to greet us, though there weren't any crowds of gawkers or children begging for money. People were welcoming and polite and I thought they had the perfect mix of being interested in us, yet we weren't quite a novelty.

After our long hike in Kindoroko Forest we went for a stroll in town. It was evening so the boys were playing football at the local school. We found a nice spot in the shade and watched as the sun went down. It really brought me back to my days living in villages as football was one of the few recreational activities I participated in. Most of the young guys playing and watching were far too shy to muster up anything more than a basic greeting and I enjoyed cheering and jeering along with the onlookers.

Football in the afternoon. 

The next morning we went to look for something to eat for breakfast. We ended up settling for some fruit, which was extremely cheap compared to Moshi. We then found one of three or four "restaurants" and joined some people taking tea. The owner was a very jovial man and he was very excited at our presence. After we ordered tea he offered us a sample of some coffee he had made and it was delicious! We asked if we could buy dry coffee and he said we should come back next week, which was disappointing since we weren't sure when we would be back again. He explained which herbs the tea was made of (showed us some samples as well) and talked about the local crops. When we were done the total for our two teas was TZS 400 ($0.25) but we only had 300 in coins or a 5,000 note. He told us 300 was fine and we shouldn't worry; perhaps next time we'll pay it back.

Enjoying a tea and coffee. 

We also saw some pretty interesting village activities, the most notable was what I can best describe as a cage holding a few newspapers. All the newspapers were in Swahili and some of the older men were visibly struggling to read the headlines. I'm not sure if the papers were for sale or if they were for public display but it was curious to say the least. I took a picture when people had cleared out as I didn't want to draw attention.

This cage had about 6 different newspapers in for people to read.

There was also the classic village activity of a shop showing a movie and a crowd of 20 people crowding around a single screen. My biggest regret was not snapping a picture of a car with no windows or doors. When I first saw it I thought for sure I could take a picture later when there weren't so many people out, but I was surprised to see it had moved when I came back out to the road later that evening.

Being only two or so hours from Moshi makes Usangi a feasible weekend getaway. The nearby forest provides a daytime activity and the slowness of the place provides a welcome break from the relatively busy life in the city. I was struck by how happy I was to be back in a village with people hauling compost to banana plants, kids playing football, motorcycle taxi guys bantering on the corner up to no good...I realized how much I missed being in a village. Hopefully it won't be too long before I find myself back there!