Mwanza city

View from the Capri Peninsula. 

I had always wanted to visit Mwanza, Tanzania's second largest city located on the shores of Lake Victoria. People refer to it as "rock city" due to the massive granite boulders strewn throughout the city. I wasn't really sure what to expect though I think I imagined a bit more char from the lake side city.

We arrived driving from the west, which meant we had to cross the Mwanza channel via ferry. There are two crossings, one in the north that has a patch of rough road but goes directly downtown, and another along paved road to the south. Locals from Bukoba all had different takes on which one was better and at last we opted with the rough road/direct to city route as a result of many people speaking about delays at the southern ferry crossing. 

The ferry across was uneventful though quite chaotic. Buses and cars jockeyed to get onto the ferry, which left every half hour. Cars and buses had to reverse on the ferry with a chaotic mix of young men shouting instructions to helpeless drivers. Some of them were likely employed loosely with the ferry, others just wanted to get in on the action. They never closed the entry/exit point of the vessels and often had cars dangling off the side. 

It was nice to be on the water and we got some nice views of the city with its characteristic granite boulders. When we pulled into the port we immediately searched for a hotel and realized the size of the city created too much traffic and business for our liking. We recharged and drove around the city a bit in an effort to get something to drink before dinner. Mwanza seemed to have a claustrophobic downtown, a high-class peninsula with huge houses, and then makeshift developments surrounding the rest of the city. We found ourselves driving up through the ritzy neighborhood and finding a high point with stunning views of the city. We then eventually found somewhere to have drink on the ocean. 

One of the things I thought I'd do in Mwanza is eat a lot of fish. Mwanza is known for having a huge fishing industry and I imagined eating roast fish day and night. We had eaten quite a bit of fish on the trip, especially in Bukoba. I was extremely disappointed when we went to three different street vendor barbecues, all without fish! I asked people why there wasn't any roast fish available and they said that people preferred to eat red meat and that we'd have to go to one of the nice restaurants or fancy hotels. I was in absolute shock as we'd even seen literal boats of Nile Perch and Tilapia on the ferry ride over. 

I didn't find anything especially charming about Mwanza though I'm not much of a medium sized city person anyway. The access to the lake must be great so living there I imagine I'd develop the hobby of fishing so I could guarantee myself a steady supply!

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From "Capri Point".