Kigoma na Kiziba kupitia Gombe

When people think of public transportation in the United States they usually think of buses, subways, the rail system, anything that can carry a large amount of people in bulk from one location to another. In Tanzania the idea of public transportation is “the transportation” method. Those that can afford a taxi or have their own vehicle are usually the upper class or NGO’s of the area, a small minority. Transportation for everyone else revolves around Dala-dala’s (minivan sized vehicles with a seating capacity of 15-18…but you can always find extra room), buses (not the typical US standard bus, but a mud caked, dust covered contraption that is a hybrid between a coach bus and a tractor capable of traveling roads that a US 4x4 pickup truck would balk at), and boat taxis (details to follow later). The cost of using these modes of public transportation range from 250 shillings – U.S. $0.17 – to about 30,000 shillings – U.S. $21.00, the increase in cost is dependent primarily on distance covered and not, as Sarah and I learned this past week, on creature comforts.

**unfortunately, we could not get a picture of the boat taxi... if you read our post about photography, you know why.

Sarah and I were able to tap into our most extensive use of the Tanzanian Public Transit System when we took the opportunity to visit our friends Gerald and Carol in Kiziba, five hours north on the coast of Lake Tanganika. Beginning at eight in the morning on a Saturday, we were able to take Lowell and Claudia’s boat to Gombe, which is part way to our end destination of Kiziba. Gombe National Park is site of Jane Goodall’s famous chimpanzee’s and some very mischievous baboons, so naturally we were interested in this small detour so we could experience the wonderful hiking – and crawling – of this national park. Gombe can best be described as “A Walk to Remember”; it has rolling hills, beautiful landscapes of mountainsides and lake views, a multitude of flora and fauna primarily in the forms of chimpanzees and baboons, and a large abundance strangling man-eating vines. Our guide thought it absolutely important that we track these chimpanzees and took us on a crawl through dense vegetation in order to make it possible.

Needless to say we saw eight of the remarkable chimps, most along an easy hiking path thirty minutes from our boat launch that we took on a whim in order to see a waterfall. In my own opinion the baboons of the park were much more interesting to watch; described as thieves, scoundrels, and scallywags, they are capable of opening doors, operating a lock and key, and breaking windows in order to attain their needs. The entire reason we had to lock up our baggage was because of the baboons.

After our endeavor into Gombe we departed on our first public transportation, the boat taxi. When it came into view from our perch along the shores it looked more like an overgrown row-boat with an inboard motor. Passengers lined the side facing inwards with baggage and small children in the middle. The boat looked full already, but the saying goes in Africa, ”there is always space”, and there was….somehow. At first look – or smell – we thought we had good seats, right near the back of the boat where there was more legroom and not as much rocking from the waves. However, this proved to be very wrong, we were sitting right along the most trafficked area by passengers getting on and off, and breathing in the nauseating fumes from the engine. Luckily the ride was less than two hours and we arrived safe and sound at Gerald and Carol’s in Kiziba.

Another major difference in the village compared to Kigoma is the lack of a semi-reliable electrical company; there is no power company in Kiziba. Power is generated primarily through solar panel hook-ups and gadgets or petrol generators if one is wealthy; most inhabitants have none of the above. Needless to say much of our dinner and post-dinner time was spent with a calming candlelight and kerosene lanterns to guide us to the restroom, bedroom, or just to sit around and talk.

Village life revolves almost exclusively around fishing, trading with the lake traffic, and small amounts of farming if one can find a patch of soil not consumed by rocks and boulders. It isn’t uncommon for a child on his way to school to strip of all of his -- exclusive boy privilege – clothes, jump in the lake for a quick bath, dress, and continue on his way (note: This doesn’t just apply to boys but to young and old males as well…just not as common. While women, if interested in taking a dip, are required to do so fully clothed). The market of the village operates on certain days and times, at first Sarah and I were confused by this occurrence, but upon seeing the market we understood, its puny. Having only a handful of consumable products and a few shops – Dukas – that contained virtually the exact same items as the previous, there was no large importance to stay open very long. However, the market is the only place where our friends could get a reliable source of tomatoes – which they had plenty of -- small anchovy like fish, corn, and bananas. They shipped in quite a bit of their food.

Church service was very similar to churches we had already attended, although the church here easily had the best few and breeze from any others. There was a great attendance of youth who participated enthusiastically in our Sunday School sermon, which revolved primarily around the play parachute that Sarah and I brought from the states.

The pastor of the church, Isaac, is an amazing man and deserves almost an entire blog to himself – however I’ll keep this short. Aside from operating a poor, small, isolated church 4 hours from the nearest reliable village, he takes the 4-5 hour boat taxi once a week both ways in order to attend meetings in Kigoma. If this weren’t enough, he is a father of a newborn who was suffering from a fever and stomach issues. On arrival with Sarah and I to Kiziba he took his newborn, Paul, to the nearest village with a doctor; the village is called Zasha and is a one hour walk in daylight, Isaac made it at night and somehow returned to lead service the next morning. The following day, we attended a birth celebration for Paul, which Isaac and his wife hosted. I was exhausted just hearing his story.

Left: Sarah with baby Paul

Below: Paul's birth celebration

Kiziba represented the quintessential peaceful, comfortable, and welcoming small-time village one may assign to a lakeside fishing village. In order to get there it required a journey along Lake Tanganika via Lowel’s boat and the boat taxi, and going back required awakening at 5:30AM for the trip on the taxi – we were able to secure “First Class” seats due to our early launch, this time in the middle of the boat facing away from the rising sun. We enjoyed a sunrise together on calm waters, broken only by the arrival back in Kigoma to return to work. Overall the trip was very enjoyable and worth the boat taxi, although virtually anything is worth ten dollars in total travel expenses, thanks to the Tanzanian Public Transit System.