With the lucrative international tourism market hit hard by travel restrictions in the new covid age, recent initiatives such as ‘No Place Like Home’ have sought to encourage Tanzanians to explore and enjoy the attractions their country has to offer. The wealth of options have been unforgettably showcased by Dar es Salaam photographer Juzer Vajihee, whose work appears inside Twiga 7. You’ll also find beautiful images of our cover star and the country’s fastest feline – the cheetah – as well as more striking wildlife images across East Africa. We’ve also got plenty of ideas for domestic adventure whether you’re a culture vulture in Dar, a coffee lover in search of the perfect brew or visiting historic Kigoma for the first time. With Air Tanzania now reintroducing its international schedule, foreign tourism should bounce back, but as Tanzanians we should never forget the wonders on our doorstep. markedwards@landmarine.com
Flying beyond our borders once again
It is my pleasure to welcome you onboard this flight with Air Tanzania.
These are extraordinary times, but you, our valued passengers, have shown us that people have not lost their desire to travel, to visit family and friends and meet in person to do business. We have been able to keep connecting you across our country and now as international flight bans are being lifted, we are ready once again to fly you beyond our borders.
This is a crucial step in restarting the tourism industry in Tanzania, which is home to some of the world’s most sought-after holiday destinations such as the Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. The industry has long been the backbone of our economy and the loss of international visitors has hit hard.
Already, we have resumed flights to Comoros, while October sees us return to Lusaka, in Zambia, Harare in Zimbabwe, and Entebbe, in Uganda, with our Boeing 787 Dreamliners back in action to fly from Dar to Mumbai in December. The resumption of flights to Guangzhou, in China, will soon follow.
That we are in a position to return to something approaching normal services in this Covid-19 age is testament to the tireless efforts of our Air Tanzania staff on the ground and in the air to ensure a safe environment for passengers while in our care.
The personal health and safety of our passengers, crew and staff remains our top priority. That we have the trust and continued custom of our valued passengers during this difficult time is a source of great pride to me.
Along with the returning international flights, customers will find we have made booking flight tickets online even easier and have increased the frequency of many of our domestic flights.
All these developments are happening amid unparalleled disruption and change, yet Air Tanzania and its customers stay strong. We face this struggle as one and together we are opening up the world once again. Thank you for flying Air Tanzania. I wish you a pleasant journey.
Eng. Ladislaus Matindi
Managing Director and Chief Executive Air Tanzania
Passenger flights return to Comoros
We are back to Comoros with two flights each week from Dar to Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport.
Flights were suspended in March due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but ATCL kept up support for its Comoros family with repatriation flights and crucial air cargo charter services. Now we are delighted to be able to reintroduce passenger services.
All passengers expecting to travel to Comoros are required to have a special certificate that confirms they have made COVID-19 tests and register at the Comoros Embassy before they buy tickets.
Visit www.airtanzania.co.tz to book your trip or call for free on 0800 110 045 for more information.
BACK TO BOLLYWOOD
Air Tanzania is resuming flights to India’s largest city, Mumbai, with services set to begin from December.
Our Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner will fly four times a week – on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays – to Mumbai, the home to Bollywood and an abundance of historical and cultural sites. The flights are scheduled to begin on December 12.
To book flights, call 0800 110 045 or visit www.airtanzania.co.tz
FATHER AND SON FLYING FOR US
We like to think of Air Tanzania as one big family and now we are very fortunate and proud to have a father and son team flying for us. It’s the first time in our history to have such a pair.
Captain Arif Jinnah has been an active
pilot for 33 years, now flying our Airbus A220s, while his son, First Officer Amour Arif, has just joined as a first officer on the Bombardier Q400, making him, at age 21, Air Tanzania’s youngest-ever pilot.
SWIMMING SKILLS TO SAVE LIVES
in Zanzibar
The people of the Zanzibar archipelago live, work and play around water, yet the majority of them don’t know how to swim. NGO The Panje Project has now taught 10,000 islanders this vital skill and changed the islands’ attitude to swimming. However, as Mark Edwards finds out, the project’s life-saving work is now also at risk.
Wherever you are on the Zanzibar archipelago you’ll see a sea of white sails as dhows carry fishermen, goods or passengers between the islands. Closer into shore there are the seaweed farmers tending to their underwater crop and children laughing and playing on the beaches. Here, water brings life. But it can also take it away.
Juwairia, a young Zanzibari woman, is well aware of the potential danger. She was recently enjoying a day out at Kendwa Beach, a 3kmlong stretch of sand near the tip of Zanzibar Island, when she noticed a young boy who had got out of his depth and was struggling to stay
afloat. He could not swim and nor could his friends – who had stuck to the shallows – so they could not save him. The boy was drowning. Juwairia knew what she had to do. She swam out to the sinking child, pulled him back to the surface and while supporting him on his back, brought him back to shore. The boy was shocked and scared, but he was OK. Juwairia had saved his life.
Swimming courses
That Juwairia could swim and knew how to safely perform a rescue in the water was owed to her attending a swimming course in nearby Nungwi run by local non-profit group The Panje Project (TPP). She
proved such a capable student she is now one of the project’s swimming instructors.
That the boy and his friends could not swim is common in Zanzibar. According to the latest figures from
Students of the Panje Project swim while their tutor looks on
market research specialists Ipsos Tanzania 68 per cent of children and 71 per cent of women in the archipelago do not even have the most fundamental of swimming skills and cannot rescue themselves in deep water.
Helping thousands
These figures are deeply concerning when you consider islanders live, work and play on and around the water. The Panje Project has done much to change the narrative. Since it was set up in 2013 it has taught swimming skills, aquatic safety and drowning prevention techniques to more than 10,000 inhabitants of Unguja and Pemba – the archipelago’s biggest and most populous islands. In that time the project’s operations have swollen from one class of 20 students in a community hall in Nungwi to a cluster of teaching hubs in Stone Town, Matemwe and Paje in Unguja and Chakechake and Micheweni district in Pemba working in tandem with the Zanzibar Scout Association and Tanzanian Red Cross.
The lessons, led by self-funded international volunteers and a growing number of former TPP students like Juwairia, are safe and fun – who wouldn’t want to learn to swim in the bath-warm, crystal clear waters of the Indian Ocean? Students practise in a buoyed-off shallow
area to build their confidence and hold on to empty gallon cooking oil containers as flotation aids. TPP grant manager Muhammad Said tells me: “By the time the training ends, a person has the ability to swim at least 25 metres as well being able to roll from their front to their back and back to front. They will also be able to stay afloat for more than 60 seconds. We believe this gives them the means to survive around water. These skills can be further developed after the training by any person who is interested”
The project is also spreading out of the water. In collaboration with the Zanzibar Ministry of Education & Vocational Training, it is training teachers at government schools to deliver lessons on staying stay safe in and around the water. So far, more than 1,000 teachers have undergone the training with around 400 schools involved.
Survival swimming
With the safety message being spread wide and students becoming the next cycle of teachers, the project appears sustainable, but TPP’s future is not assured. This year will mark the end of the contract the project has with the UK’s Royal
National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), which has given financial support to TPP from the start. Said believes there is much still to be done and is hopeful the work of the project, which has always kept its running costs low, can continue “if we can acquire funding from well-wishers and the community”.
Certainly, TPP – which began with overseas volunteers making up the majority of its teaching staff – has spent years gaining the trust and the approval of coastal communities on the island. As well as spreading its survival swimming message with film and drama presentations at local madrassas (Islamic schools), the project has run art classes and even donated a rescue vessel to the Nungwi sea search and rescue team. Such integration has been key to the success of its work as many of the barriers to learning to swim on the islands are cultural. Most men – even fishermen – struggle to see the point of dedicating hours to a skill that seems to have no economic reward. For women on an archipelago where 98 per cent of the population is Muslim there are cultural boundaries around swimming.
Said says: “There are cultural and social norms here associating women with household work and less with outside sports and activities. Many of the women do not feel comfortable going to the beaches where men are present and swimming costumes are considered inappropriate dress for women.”
Such barriers mean many women don’t learn to swim – research on drowning risk by Ipsos revealed 67 per cent of Zanzibari women were considered vulnerable – yet seaweed farming, which is almost entirely carried out by women, is becoming one of the archipelago’s most profitable enterprises. It’s a risky job for non-swimmers with tidal changes here often marked and rapid and better growing results to be had in deeper waters.
TPP worked closely with these communities to convince them of
the importance of girls learning to swim and presented solutions sensitive to the religious concerns such as full-body swimming gear –including a head scarf – as well as girls-only classes taught by a woman instructor.
Said says: “We spoke with local and religious leaders and were able to get them to educate the communities and encourage girls to participate in the training.”
Children are the most vulnerable group according to the Ipsos figures – 81 per cent are a drowning risk – and they can also be a challenge to reach. Setting aside time for swimming lessons amid their busy schedule was crucial.
“Children here have school in the morning, Quran classes in the afternoons and then play time for just two hours,” says Said. “In the evenings they may either be home studying or attending lectures at the mosque.”
Again, TPP has managed to convince communities and schools of the life-saving importance of learning to swim and lessons have found a place in madrassa and state schools. The lessons are fun and there are regular swimming competitions which spur the children to improve.
There are still many more islanders to reach – Ipsos figures even suggest that more than a third of the archipelago’s fishermen can’t swim – and there is the worry that lives will be put at risk if TPP’s work is hit by funding issues once the RNLI contract ends.
Children are the most vulnerable group according to the Ipsos figures – 81 per cent are a drowning risk – and they can also be a challenge to reach
The hope is that if TPP continues swimming will become the norm here, not just to save lives, but to make the most of them. After all, being able to swim reveals the magical underwater world Zanzibar offers just offshore with coral reefs teeming with marine life and dolphins playing in the shallows at dawn.
Training tutors
“The training also opens up opportunities for employment for the locals and for the students it gives them a chance to take part in competitive swimming and other water sports,” says Said. “But the most important is to be safe around the water and ability to rescue yourself and others.” Juwairia knows how good that feels.
A tutor with a student using an improvised flotation aid
Girls wear full-body swimming gear, including a head scarf
TANZANIAN BEAUTY PRODUCTS
Zanzibaris have been making use of the archipelago’s rich natural resources in their skincare for centuries. Now these tried and tested methods are being embraced by a wider cosmetics market seeking beauty products as kind to the environment as they are to your skin. There are now a number of homegrown businesses handcrafting soaps, creams and oils that are safe, sustainable, support local livelihoods and smell amazing! Here’s our pick.
African Black Soap Nuya’s Essence
Ingredients: Black soap, Zanzibar Honey, 100% pure coldpress coconut oil, essential oil blend.
Uses: Face, Body, Shampoo.
Price: Tsh 25,000 200 g
About: Nuya’s Essence creates 100 per cent natural bath and body care products from carefully selected botanical oils, butters and herbs from its small factory on Unguja, Zanzibar. It was founded by former model Hellen Dausen. She says: “African black soap works at rejuvenating your skin, gently exfoliating to remove dead skin cells. It helps brighten the skin naturally and enhances its glow and radiance. Doubles as a great shampoo too.” Visit nuyasessence.com
Lemongrass body butter
Mwani Zanzibar
Ingredients: Virgin coconut oil, seaweed and natural lemongrass essential oil
Uses: Seaweed is packed with essential amino acids and moisturising phytonutrients, coconut oil improves skin texture, tone and suppleness while lemongrass essential oil is an age-old treasured skin tonic used to strengthen the epidermis, cleanse and minimise pores.
About: Mwani Zanzibar produces macroalgae and plant-based skincare made by the ocean, in nutrient-rich micro-batches by a group of Zanzibar women. Visit mwanizanzibar.com
Moringa oil Africraft
This oil can be used as a moisturiser for skin and hair. It is also excellent for cooking with and is filled with antioxidants.
Tsh 35,000 350ml Africraft was set up to support and promote the development of sustainable handicrafts in Tanzania. Visit africraft.co.tz
Lime nourishing soap, coconut and sea salt body polish, virgin coconut oil, geranium, rose and sweet orange nourishing oils
Make It Matter
Uses: A range of body and spa products all made in Zanzibar to ensure smooth and fragrant skin.
About: Make It Matter is a premium marketplace for artisans across Tanzania to sell their products. Its flagship store is located in Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam, but there are moves to open another outlet on Mafia Island. For more information, visit makeitmatter.org
Clove and orange soap
Dada Zanzibar
Uses: Gentle exfoliant and smells wonderful!
About: Dada Zanzibar is a cooperative of Zanzibari women making natural soaps along with a wide range of beauty and health food products sold to hotels and shops on the archipelago. Outlets include the Dada/Moto shop in Stone Town, the Zanzibar Retreat Hotel in Matemwe and Kwetu Kwenu in Fumba. For more details, visit dadazanzibar.wordpress.com
ALBANY JAMES
Serial entrepreneur Albany James is a leading light in Tanzania’s start-up ecosystem. He was the founder of digital agency Big Foot Africa, head of marketing at online shopping outlet Jumia Tanzania and part of the team behind Sahara Sparks, the country’s biggest ICT event. His latest project is Foodsasa, a food, drinks and groceries ordering and delivery service that connects Tanzanian restaurants and customers through its app.
Q: If you were using Foodsasa, what would be your takeaway dish of choice?
A: I have always enjoyed a bite of fresh fish deep in coconut cream served with rice and some greens.
Q: Foodsasa is one of the few businesses that has thrived in the Covid-19 social distancing age. What do you say to other businesses that are struggling?
A: I would like to say ‘pole sana’ and ask them to always have more than one channel to reach their customers. Creativity is key and they should avoid high dependency on single-service delivery channels. In this technological era, possibilities are literally limitless if we take time to explore how we can improve our customers’ experiences every time. Always have the customer in mind.
Q: What are the most important lessons you can pass on to other budding entrepreneurs on how to start their businesses?
A: Start now! Focus on what you want to do and commit to it. When challenges hit, remember why you started. Build a great company culture, because culture eats strategy for breakfast. The strategy is the vehicle that will move the company from one place to another, but culture is the fuel.
Q: What do you like to do outside of work?
A: I love to travel and can’t say no to opportunities for great conversations with friends over a glass (or two) of wine.
Q: When and how did you come up with the idea for Foodsasa?
A: One Sunday when we were playing PlayStation. We felt hungry and all food delivery platforms were focusing on the high end, which we couldn’t afford. We said: “Let us do this.” We spotted a huge gap in the online food ordering and delivery industry of Tanzania. We filled the gap by launching Foodsasa.
Q: Who are your Tanzanian heroes?
A: My father, the late Mafuruki, and (Foodsasa co-founder) Susanne Mbise. My father has been my biggest source of inspiration and makes me crack my head every time he says stuff to me, like: “Always focus on the unsaid stuff, forget what people say.”
Q: If you were having a Foodsasa dinner party, which three people would you invite to share the food?
A: My business partner, my mentor, and a market leader like (Tanzanian billionaire businessman) Mohamed Dewji.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: As the Foodsasa guy – that one guy that made getting food whenever and wherever convenient, easy, and affordable.
Q: Do you have a special place in Tanzania where you go to escape and relax?
A: I love Arusha, the weather and environment is cool for me to reset. I like cold places and the tourist activities there make a perfect excuse to switch off my phone for once.
Q: What was the best kiss of your life?
A: A kiss on my hand from my grandfather a
few days before he passed, He told me very tough and meaningful words and shared his last views about my life. He was a great man and may he rest in peace.
Q: If you could be any animal in the world, which one would you be and why?
A: A honeybadger! I dig for facts and innovate with thriftiness in all I do and am not scared when I want what I want.
Q: What were you like in high school?
A: My school mates may say something different, but I was very humble, down to earth but very loud. I used to be a rapper too, in fact. A good one.
Q: What’s the last thing you watched on TV and why did you choose to watch it?
A: The last show I watched on TV was (US crime thriller series) Blacklist. I enjoyed the strategies (main character) Raymond used to get whatever he wanted. It taught me that, some we lose some we win but confidence is key!
Q: To whom would you like to say ‘sorry’?
A: My mother, I wasn’t there as often as she needed me. Sometimes she just wanted to hang, but I was just too busy. With everything that is on my plate right now, I am really doing my best to make enough time for her.
Q: What keeps you awake at night?
A: All kinds of stuff but mostly business. How will I be able to build a legacy. What if it fails? What if it grows to be too big for me?
Q: Where would you pick for the ideal location for the first date in Tanzania?
A: Moshi. I love the green and the environment is fresh.
Q: What has been your biggest challenge in life?
A: Making friends. I trust easily but I end up getting disappointed most of the time. It has not really been easy for me to know who is real and who is not.
Q: What music do you listen to at home?
A: I listen to a lot of deep house music from South Africa, artists such as Liquid Deep and Micasa. I also listen to typical Swahili songs from Tanzania like ‘Mama Sophia’ and ‘Wema’ by Remi Ongala.
RACING TO SAVE THE CHEETAH
A cheetah in full flight is one of the most spectacular safari sights. In just a couple of long, fluid strides, the large cat can top 70 km/h and reach a top speed of 112 km/h seconds later. However, the speed at which the population of cheetahs is falling is also alarmingly rapid. In the 20th century, cheetah numbers in Africa plummeted by more than 90 per cent as farmers and herdsmen crowded the cats out of their habitat, hunters shot them for sport and poachers captured cubs for the lucrative trade in exotic pets. In all, fewer than 7,100 cheetahs survive worldwide today.
The vulnerable animal is documented in new photobook, Remembering Cheetahs, which is full of spellbinding images captured by some of the world’s best wildlife photographers. The beauty of each image also reminds us of just what we are in danger of losing. Wildlife photographer Margot Raggett, who created the Remembering Wildlife books (other threatened animals covered in the series include elephants and lions), says: “We must act now. Their plight is incredibly severe.” So far, the books have already donated US$ 800,000 to 40 projects, including the lion-related Ruaha Carnivore Project and African People and Wildlife in Tanzania.
Tanzania remains the country with the largest population of East African cheetahs and protected areas such as the Serengeti are still among the best places in the world to see the cats in the wild as evidenced by the high number of Tanzanian scenes in Remembering Cheetahs (we’ve included a few of them here).
Still, it is thought the number of cheetahs in the country has dropped below 300 and conservation projects here to ensure the long-term survival of these beautiful cats will be grateful of any help the book can bring.
Cover jacket image by Donal Boyd / Remembering Cheetahs
Top left: Dale Morris / Remembering Cheetahs
Top right: Fred Vogt / Remembering Cheetahs
Middle: Sue Morris / Remembering Cheetahs
Bottom left: Paul Joynson-Hicks / Remembering Cheetahs
Bottom right: Michael Lorentz / Remembering Cheetahs
FAST FACTS ON THE CHEETAH
5 Nearly all wild cheetahs can be found in sub-Saharan Africa, where they roam open, grassy savannah plains and open forests. A small population lives in Iran, although only a few dozen remain here.
5 Cheetahs hunt in the early morning when the weather is cool for their lung-busting sprints and there are no lions around to steal their prey.
5 The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world, able to reach 112km/h in just three seconds – that’s faster than a sports car accelerates! Its body has evolved for speed, with long legs, an elongated spine, adapted claws to grip the ground and a long tail for balance.
5 Many consider the cheetah a big cat, but it can’t roar. Lions, leopards and tigers have a special two-piece hyoid bone in the throat that enables them to roar. The cheetah does not and instead communicates with a lessthan-threatening bird-like cheep.
5 Cheetahs have between 2,000 and 3,000 spots, which help them to camouflage themselves.
‘My
photos showcase the beauty of our country
’
With international tourist numbers hit hard by pandemic travel restrictions, movement No Place Like Home looks to encourage Tanzanians to explore their own country. The campaign has brought together photographers, cinematographers, tour operators, travel companies and lodges to showcase the beauty and diversity of our country. Budding photographer Juzer Vajihee – who at age 24 has already built up an impressive portfolio – is the youngest photographer to join the campaign. We caught up with him in his home city, Dar es Salaam.
Q: When did you first show interest in photography?
A: My love for photography really evolved from my father’s background in the photo industry and my love for nature and the outdoors. Since childhood, I have been lucky enough to travel around Tanzania and witness its beauty. Sharing these trips with people around me inspired me to start taking photos, which then turned into a serious prospect a couple of years ago.
Q: When did you get your first camera? How old were you?
A: My very first camera was a Kodak analog camera gifted to my brother and me by my father. I was around 10 years old at the time. That upgraded into a point-andshoot digital camera, and I finally got my hands on my father’s DSLR – a Nikon D90 – a few years ago and that’s where this journey really kicked off.
Q: Where did you learn your photography skills?
A: I have never received formal training for photography. There are numerous resources online that I viewed to learn the basics of photography and mastering the camera. In the end, the best way to learn is to take as many photographs as you can, be self-critical and continue learning through experience.
Photographer Juzer Vajihee – “the best way to learn is to take as many photographs as you can”
Q: What do your family think about you taking photographs?
A: They are incredibly supportive. My father grew up taking photographs and subsequently started a photo printing business, so he is pleased that the legacy has lived on. Actually, several of my trips around the country have been with my family.
Q: A lot of your photos are of landscapes and animals. Is this your area of interest?
A: Absolutely. My love for wildlife, nature and travel has infused that interest within me. I have been lucky to travel around our beautiful country and compile a beautiful collection of its rich wildlife and stunning landscapes.
Q: You are studying to be an architect. Do you think you can combine the two or will photography only be a passion or hobby?
A: I loved to draw as a child so architecture, just like photography, has been a passion since childhood. I believe there is an interesting link between the two I’d like to tap into. A career in architecture will give me the opportunity to further hone my photography skills, market my work and build a good network to take my photography to a professional level.
Q: What do you look for in a photograph?
A: Originality. When taking a photo, I think about how to make this photo stand out or sometimes I ask myself: “Would I frame this photo up on my wall?”
I try to find a unique angle, or maybe an interesting editing approach to make my photo pop. Not all photos will fall into the unique category, of course, but this approach multiplies my chances of getting many stand-out shots.
Q: Which photographers inspire you?
A: I am inspired by the works of David Yarrow, David Lloyd, Mike Sutherland, Donald Yip and Jord Hammond among many others.
Q: What aspirations do you have for your photographs?
A: My dream is to utilize my photos in showcasing the beauty of our country, promoting domestic tourism and encouraging more people to come to Tanzania. Tourism is vital to protecting and conserving wildlife. Without tourists, it’s harder to protect areas from poaching and other threats.
Q: Do you think photography is something a lot of people appreciate in Tanzania?
A: I’d like to talk specifically about wildlife photography. I feel that we have to work together towards creating awareness for domestic
A roaring lion in the Serengeti
A hippopotamus in Katavi National Park
tourism in the country. I think that appreciating photography and local art has a relationship with tourism. Once the local population starts visiting and witnessing the beauty of our country, the appreciation for nature and wildlife photography will also increase. I commend the government of Tanzania for their work in promoting local tourism.
Q: How important do you think the “No place like Home” campaign is right now given tourism worldwide has been impacted from the global pandemic?
A: Photographs have the power to tell stories. They have the power to influence decisions. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the tourism industry in Tanzania drastically and I believe No Place Like Home plays an integral role in promoting domestic and international tourism and showcasing the beauty of Tanzania to the world.
BUY JUZER’S PRINTS AND SUPPORT NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Prints and framed photographs from Juzer’s collection for No Place Like Home are available at artisans’ retail store Make it Matter in Dar es Salaam. Instagram: Makeitmatter_tz Facebook: make. it.matter.tz Mobile: +255 (0) 782 646 464
3G ARE SINGELI’S NEW GENERATION
With a sound that fuses singeli rap with live drums and keyboards, new Dar trio 3G are one of the most exhilarating acts on the city’s music scene with a live show so unforgettable audiences wants to see them and no band wants to follow them. Mark Edwards meets the mentors shaping the band for success.
As usual, the next Wikiendi
Live – a wonderful monthly live music and performance art event held at Dar es Salaam creative hub Nafasi Arts – will feature an eclectic line-up of some of best and biggest bands in East Africa, but its headliners, 3G – who combine singeli rap with traditional instruments in electrifying fashion – have barely been together for six months and the show will only be the trio’s third in front of a live audience and by far their biggest.
Still there was only ever one band that was going to finish off the night. The decision has been made as much in consideration of the other acts on the line-up as for the hundreds of hard partying music fans that will make up the Wikiendi crowd. Nobody wants to go on after 3G.
“They are just too good,” Nafasi performing arts manager Kwame Mchauru tells me. “You can’t put them on first or the vibe they create will ruin the show for the other
acts. Mosome [the group’s MC] has something that can scare even established acts.”
There’s no denying that. There can’t be many frontmen who announce their presence on stage by performing five backflips – Mosome is also a member of Nafasi-based dance troupe Muda Africa – then belt out mile-a-minute raps while bouncing around the stage and whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
“He has this incredible energy,” says Mchauru, “and a voice that can go from high pitch to way down low all while he is jumping up and down on stage. Even after a one-hour show, he is telling me ‘I can do more, I can do more’.”
Following a vision
It was this non-stop drive and desire to push things forward that earned the 19-year-old Muhammad Jura his stage name – Mosome is a portmanteau of ‘more’ and ‘some’. Growing up in Mtoni Kjichi, one of Dar’s
poorer neighbourhoods, and with limited work opportunities, Mosome has found a welcome creative outlet in Nafasi. “He is doing something he loves and that can make an impact,” says Mchauru, who has become a mentor of sorts and in looking for a project to channel Mosome’s raw talent, he set up some rehearsal sessions at Nafasi’s music studio.
Mchauru had a definite vision in mind for these sessions. He wanted, he tells me, to create “traditional music done for the club crowd”. A singeli DJ plugging in his laptop at a club and setting off a set-list of pre-recorded 180 BPM bangers for his MC to rap over is hugely exciting and has become a Dar phenomenon, but Mchauru thought it could be taken to another level with musicians creating the pummelling rhythmic assault live.
Street sounds
Though he has only been in the Nafasi role for a couple of years, Mchauru, himself a musician, has had a pivotal role on the Dar music scene for more than a decade. He runs his own label, Maisha Music, and was the co-manager for Dar es Salaam ‘afro punks’ Jagwa, who found major success with live shows across Europe.
Jagwa are the leading exponents of mchiriku, a frenetic street music driven by drums and with melodies tapped out on a Casio keyboard that emanated from Dar’s more impoverished suburbs at the end of the 20th century. Mchauru wanted to distil some of the mchiruku energy into 3G, even employing one of Jagwa’s drummers – the band have six – and their keyboard player for those early sessions with Mosome.
Among those sitting in on the sessions was Pete Buckenham, owner of UK independent record label On The Corner, who had forged a friendship with Mchauru during time spent in Tanzania as part of a three-year labour of love putting together the debut album of Zanzibar singer Siti Muraham, the great granddaughter of taarab legend Siti Binti Said.
With taarab among the melting pot of traditional styles subsumed in singeli, Buckenham was drawn to Dar’s street sounds. “I’ve got a thing about singeli,” he tells me form On The Corner’s London HQ. “There are bits of taarab in there and it injects a real street spirit into the music. The raucousness is amazing.”
Impressed by the work done by Nafasi to build local careers in the arts, Buckenham was keen to do what he could to help. He funded the studio time for the sessions and brought in a young UK producer friend of his, Tom Blip, to do some recording. Buckenham even came up with the name 3G, reflecting the gap in generation between the teenage Mosome and the more seasoned Jagwa duo.
“Mosome and Tom found they could immediately work together,” Buckenham says. “I feel very lucky to have been there for that session to see the band work each other out. By the second day they were jamming.”
The sessions produced 3G’s first recorded release, Moja, which Buckenham says sounds like “a singeli take on UK jungle [an urban dance music genre with rapid break beats]”. It can be bought individually or as part of a 15-track On The Corner compilation released through Bandcamp on May 1 to raise money for the artists during lockdown.
Finding the right fit
Despite plenty of positives to be taken from the sessions, Mchauru felt there was still something missing. “I felt this was not for me. I was looking for a semi-live version of singeli with a lot of energy,” he says. “We needed people who could fit.”
With singeli full of the fire of youth, Mchauru tried out young drummer Emmanuel Daudi, who performs under the stage name Zarau – which reflects his Zaramo ethnicity. He is something of a prodigy. His father was a drummer and the young Zarau was able to play seven drums at once by the age of 10. Now 23, he has performed live with Jagwa and “is an energetic drummer capable
3G rapper and MC Mosome during rehearsals at Nafasi Arts Space
Mosome sings about street crime, love, his, mother, about death – you can feel the emotion in his songs
of adapting his music to the vibe,” says Mchauru. The final piece of the puzzle was 24-year-old Selemeni Khalid, who plays live keyboards and provides electronic beats and samples. Known as DJ Nyaggi, he learnt his production skills as a teen from his two older brothers who are hugely popular DJs in Dar, providing dance-‘til-you-drop vanga music (another ingredient to the singeli stew) as soundtrack to weddings and parties in the city.
Buckenham continued to finance the three-times-week studio rehearsals and with nothing to break their energy circuit, the new-look 3G began to put together a set-list of songs to perform live. Late last year they made their stage debut at Nafasi fundraiser Is This the End? when the natural showmanship of Mosome was first revealed.
“Around 200 people turned up to watch them,” says Mchauru. “Many of them were girls from Mosome’s old school. There was plenty of twerking and dancing. Mosome was super excited. He
began giving commands to the audience, telling them to run on the spot or move from left to right. He had them in complete control. There was a wave of people moving as he told them to.”
3G stole the show, much to the enjoyment of the crowd and annoyance of headliners Jagwa. It was made clear to Mchauru after the show that Jagwa would not be following 3G onto the stage again.
The band followed this up by headlining, of course, at Tukutane Nafasi – a series of events introduced by Mchauru that showcase the breadth of work, from art to music to film screenings, at Nafasi. Among the established acts on the bill warning up the crowd for 3G were Afrofusion guitarist Shabo Makota – who is set to perform at Sauti za Busara in the new year.
Largest live show
Excitement is building then for 3G’s Wikiendi Live debut, with the event promising to be one of the biggest in Nafasi’s history. Mchauru hopes the band will become a staple of the Dar live music scene and that with their drums, keyboard and a microphone simple set up they will also be able to turn up and play at the smaller club venues on the singeli circuit.
Buckenham is following their progress closely. He is trying to put together a live festival event on the scale of Sauti za Busara which will bring 3G to a larger audience and he and Mchauru are looking at the possibilities of Nafasi setting up their own record label to release music by its artists. “He’s given us a lot of support,” says Mchauru. “He has given us the drive to make sure this world work.”
The band as family
Now the focus is on rehearsals. The band have seven original songs for their live shows and Mosome is proving an interesting lyricist.
“He can switch from dark to light,” says Mchauru. “Some of his songs are still what we call rap katuni (cartoon rap) with funny lines to make people
laugh and sing along, but others are deeper. He sings about street crime, love, his, mother, about death – you can feel the emotion in his songs. He shares the reality of the area he grew up in.
That Mosome feels comfortable to open up in his lyrics may be due to the sense of security and support he gets at Nafasi. Mchauru appears to have an almost paternal bond with his young charges, Mosome especially.
“I am not like a manager to them,” he says. “I want us to be a family. They share a lot with me. Mosome shares personal issues. I speak with his mother. There is so much trust. We listen to one another. I remember once he told me: ‘Without music I don’t know where I would be.’
Some of his friends are in jail, one has been killed.”
There is also a nurturing element to Buckenham’s relationship with the band. “I’ve been looking at how I could bring more as a label. Not just take a record and release it, but add something to the music ecosystem.
“I can see 3G have plenty of raw talent. With that little bit of support, it’s amazing what can happen and the belief that can grow.”
Mchauru also sees a bright future ahead. “3G have the potential for something special,” he says.
Music fans would be well advised to seek out one of the most exciting additions to the Dar live music scene in some time.
As to what the future holds, as any bands who have had the misfortune to take to the stage after 3G know, it’s sure to be headline news.
For more information on Wikiendi Live and more events at Nafasi Arts Space, visit its Facebook site.
To buy or stream Moja by 3G, visit On The Corner’s Bandcamp page. You can also stream and buy Siti of Unguja, the debut album by Siti Muhuram here.
Rising stars – 3G’s Mosome, Zarau and DJ Nyaggi
The best COFFEE HOUSES in Tanzania
When you’re on the move and after a quick pick-me-up there is plenty to be said for just grabbing some kahawa and kashata from a cycling street vendor. However, such traditional treats now have to compete with a modern coffee culture brewing in Tanzania. Cosy cafés are cropping up offering a choice of cappuccinos, machiatos, lattes and mochas and have become places to work, hang out with friends or just enjoy some ‘me’ time. Here’s Twiga’s best of the bunch.
Zanzibar Coffee House
Zanzibar
The Utengule Coffee Estate at the foot of the Mbeya range in southern Tanzania has been producing world-leading coffee for more than a century. The brand’s franchise has expanded into hospitality with the acquisition of the Zanzibar Coffee House Hotel, an authentic Arabic house in the Spice Island’s historic Stone Town. The hotel’s eight rooms sit atop a bustling café, which, of course, serves a range of delicious coffee, harvested from sister farm Utengule, roasted on site, and expertly brewed.
If there was ever a group of people in need of a caffeine hit it has to be hikers about to take on Mount Kilimanjaro. Luckily, Moshi, the gateway to such altitudinal adventures has the Union Café. This stylish and vibrant place in the heart of town is a great place to swap stories while sipping on coffee grown on the slopes of Africa’s highest mountain by smallholder farmers and roasted on-site.
The farmers collectively sell their coffee through the Kilimanjaro Native Co-operative Union and if you enjoy your cuppa you can buy a bag of its 100 per cent Arabica beans to make some more at home.
Where: Corner of Old Arusha Road and Selous Avenue, Moshi
When: Daily 7am to 8.30 pm
Information: visit the café’s Facebook site @unioncoffeemoshi
The Ridge Café Mbeya
Mbeya is surrounded by high plateaus peppered with coffee bean farms and the Ridge Café is ideally placed to oversee the whole process from crop to cup. It has its pick of single-source 100 per cent Arabica beans grown by smallholders in the southern highlands then has them roasted to its own chosen profile in Mbeya. Its baristas are trained to world class standards with two Ridge Café representatives taking first and second place for latte art at last year’s African Fine Coffees Association, in Zanzibar, and there are plans to enter them into the upcoming East Africa Barista Championships. This all results in an amazing cup of coffee, however you like it, and such has been the Ridge Café’s success in Mbeya it has recently extended operations, opening a branch in Dar.
Where:
Mbeya – 5 Lupa Way, Mbeya, Tanzania
Dar – 34 Bibi Titi Mohammed St. Raha Towers, Dar es Salaam
When:
Mbeya – Monday to Friday 7.30am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 9pm, Sunday 9am to 2pm
Dar – Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm, Sunday 9am to 2pm
Atom Coffee
Dar es Salaam
This place, on the ground floor of Mikocheni’s Mayfair Plaza, takes coffee drinking to another level with a vibe that is part café, part science lab. When you choose your coffee you can also pick one of seven different brewing methods – all carried out by hand by its expert baristas – to ensure you get each subtle note from the top class beans from Kilimanjaro and around the world on offer here. It seems food is considered a distraction from appreciating the delicacy of your drink so none is available, but you can opt for an organic tea. There is also the chance to try out the café’s range of modern brewing gadgets and create your own brew from house beans or finesse your palate at weekend coffee cupping sessions.
Where: Mayfair Plaza, Mwai Kibaki, Dar es Salaam
When: Monday 7am to 8pm, Tuesday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 9pm
Information: visit atomcoffee.co.tz
Maua Café Mbeya
To call Maua Café a coffee house is rather underselling it. This brick homestead-turned café 1.5 km outside Mbeya town centre offers daily hearty breakfasts and lunches and bookings-only three-course dinners on Fridays and Saturdays, a recently revamped gift shop selling handicrafts from five women’s groups and a local orphanage, paintings from Mbeya artists, shelves full of books to browse and a menagerie of resident animals, including horses that can be saddled up for rides on the surrounding trails. Still, the coffee warrants a special mention. The beans are sourced from the nearby family-run Lunji Coffee Farm at the foot of the Mbeya mountains where they have been growing coffee since the late 19th century. You’ll find a range of speciality coffees, including “yellow honey”, where the beans undergo a drying process designed to give notes of caramel, cream, lemon and raisin.
Where: Mwambenja Rd, Plot 5, Mbeya, Tanzania
When: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5-30pm, Friday 8am to 9pm, Saturday 8am to 5.30pm.
Information: @maua_cafe on Instagram
Atom images: Osse Greca Sinare
School blending academics with adventure
The thrill of racing down rapids in a savage wilderness is not what springs to mind when thinking about school. However, for students at St Constantine’s International School, in Arusha, this is just one of the choices they have as part of the Round Square network of 200 likeminded schools in 50 countries on six continents. St Constantine’s is Tanzania’s sole representative in the network.
Round Square’s teaching is led by the principles of internationalism, democracy, environmentalism, adventure, leadership and service (which the network abbreviates as Ideals). The students connect and collaborate on world-class programmes and experiences, developing global competence, character and confidence.
Excitement and education go hand in hand at Constantine’s International School, in Arusha. The boarding school employs the innovative curriculum of the international Round Square network and its students have had excellent exam results as well as adventures such as white-water rafting and climbing Mt Kilimanjaro.
It seems to work. Despite the online demands of the coronavirus, and after the rigorous assessment from the British Cambridge International Assessment & Examination Board, the entire Year 13 at St Constantine’s passed their A-levels for the second year running.
“The Ideals are a set of six concepts that provide excellent coverage of the most important aspects of life in the 21st century,” says St Constantine’s headmaster, Tony Macfadyen. “Adventure plays a crucial role as it not only helps give students an appreciation of the amazing world around them, but it also places them in an unfamiliar environment that tests their character like no other.
“Whether they are walking in wild terrain, canoeing down a fast-flowing river or climbing a rock face, it tests
their tenacity and resilience, as well as prompting them to be inventive and inquisitive, which are important elements of Round Square character development, preparing our young people for the challenges of life that lie ahead of them.”
Choice of adventures
Tanzania has plenty of choices for adventurous pursuits. Macfadyen says: “If white-water rafting isn’t your thing, you can always climb Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, or journey to Ngorongoro Crater where students enjoy the varied wildlife near Lake Eyasi, learn from the Datoga and Hadzabe tribes and then go on safari in the crater itself.”
While neighbouring countries such as Kenya have been keeping schools closed due to Covid-19 concerns, St Constantine’s is back up and
Covid safety measures are in place at the school
running, albeit in carefully monitored conditions, believing the ability to have students in a secure, safe and hygienic boarding environment offers a much higher level of protection than those living in more open circumstances. The school, which caters for more than 500 students, over 80 of whom are boarders, is secular and non-denominational, welcoming pupils from every religion and culture.
“Parents are anxious that their children continue to receive the highest level of education, but in a safe and hygienic location,” Macfadyen says.
“We have put a dedicated team in place specifically for our boarders, under the leadership of Head of Boarding Emmanuel Ian Mulima.”
A secure option
In addition to the basic steps, Mulima and his team have instigated temperature checks, reporting in a staggered system rather than groups, 1.5 metre spaced seating arrangements for eating and study, regulated visitor contact, the school’s own designated driver to avoid the risk of unknown taxis and public transport in an emergency, and a qualified nursing matron living on campus.
Boarding school has always been a secure option for children with working or travelling parents, and now it has become a refuge for children wanting to advance their studies and unable to do so safely in their own country. Many find that they not only make lifelong friends in the boarding house, but secure higher academic and sporting results with the distractions of the outside removed.
Assistant Head of Upper Primary Frances Peacock personally tutors students after school in their study time.
She says: “The duty teachers and I are responsible for overseeing students completing their homework tasks in structured study by assisting them when they need help, answering questions on the spot, and hearing students read individually. Many parents are just too busy to be able to do this.”
She adds: “My main role is to ensure their well-being while supporting both their pastoral and academic needs, promoting high standards of behaviour and ensuring they make progress in their year group.”
Peacock pointed out the advantages for students from small families having the opportunity to socialise safely with children their own age as well as enjoying excellent facilities – such as an athletics track and swimming pool – and the opportunity to join and practice with sports teams.
She says: “They have a good balance of free time and study time and boarding boosts many skills that are required in life such as being able to communicate and cooperate with a diverse group of fellow students and staff.”
An
historic school
It is only fitting that St Constantine’s belongs to Round Square, as it was founded by His Majesty King Constantine of Greece in 1966 and the Tanzanian school was founded in 1952 by the Greek immigrant community that originally settled in East Africa in the 1920s and 1930s.
The 5,000-strong Greek community in East Africa settled and prospered in agriculture, mining and business, and sent their children to board at St. Constantine’s where the school’s original classrooms were next to the town’s only Greek Orthodox Church. The church itself still exists as part of the 35-acre campus, and children of the Greek community still number among the 20-plus nationalities represented
The school, which caters for more than 500 students, over 80 of whom are boarders, is secular and non-denominational, welcoming pupils from every religion and culture.
/
IDEALS
Internationalism - with the school adorned for Chinese New Year celebrations, dragon boat racing (top), lion dance, martial arts and fire-crackers.
Democracy - with students presenting a motion to the African Court (bottom left)
Environmentalism - with students gloved-up ready for World Cleanup Day (bottom middle)
Adventure - with white water rafting at Savage Wilderness (far left); Senior students climb the iconic Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak on the African continent (page 29); learning from the Hadzabe tribe to smoke bees out of the tree to collect fresh honeycomb (left)
Leadership - with older students helping the young ones in “buddy reading” (bottom)
Service – students make desks for a school in the local village (above)
Just an hour’s drive from Dar es Salaam, Pugu Hills is the perfect city escape with expanses of wildlife-rich woodland laced with trails for exploration on foot or by bike. Tanzanianrun tour company Kwazi Birding & Tours employs an expert team who are hugely knowledgeable and respectful of this ecologically valuable site. They are the guides for eco-friendly birdwatching, biking, hiking and camping tours in Pugu Hills as well as city tours of Dar. Twiga is delighted then that the company is offering a day’s hiking tour of Pugu Hills for one lucky winner and their guest. For more information on Kwazi Birding & Tours, visit kwazi.co.tz Last issue’s WINNER
Congratulations to James Suwi who wins two tickets to a Simba SC home game next season as well as two Simba SC jerseys. Well done and thanks for flying Air Tanzania.
WIN A GUIDED HIKE FOR TWO IN THE PUGU HILLS
JUST ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS
To be in with a chance of claiming this amazing prize, answer the questions below and email them along with a photo of yourself holding Twiga 7 on your Air Tanzania flight to competition@landmarine.org by December 10th Good luck! 1 What is the top speed of a cheetah? 2 What is the name of the tribe who use caves in Pugu Hills for their ceremonies? 3 What is the name of the delivery service co-founded by our ‘My Tanzania’ interviewee Albany James?
Eyup
ASHLER MIXING IT IN THE WORLD OF COCKTAILS
Zim mixologist Ashler Zvipozvamambo brings her signature cocktails to pop-up events around the country and shares her skills at her cocktail masterclasses. Kuda Phiri meets her.
American writer David Sedaris once said, in his collection of essays, Naked, “In terms of emotional comfort, it was our belief that no amount of physical contact could match the healing powers of a well-made cocktail.”
The global pandemic meant ordinary things like hugging became fraught with danger and we are getting back to finding the healing powers of well-made cocktails with the aid of Ashler Zvipozvamambo, a 29-year-old Zimbabwean woman chasing her dreams and changing the world one cocktail at a time.
“I cannot say I have one particular cocktail I go to as I enjoy change and the challenges that
come with making something new. Every event is different and every season has its own menu,” says Zvipozvamambo.
“However, there has been one cocktail that is requested and loved more, which is the Passion Gin Fizz, a gin-based cocktail with fresh passion fruit.”
Discovering mixology
Zvipozvamambo studied hotel and hospitality management at The Swiss Hotel School in Johannesburg and this is where she first discovered mixology.
“I discovered I was into mixology while studying beverage science during my first year and I enrolled for Wine studies with the Cape Wine Academy,” she added.
Travelling and spending two years in Florida as the sommelier at a country club, she would occasionally find herself behind the bar and worked on improving her mixology skills while experimenting with different beverages and doing courses in her spare time.
Mixologist Asler Zvipozvamambo serving drinks at one of her pop-up events
“After I came back to Zimbabwe, I had a conversation with my sister, Freda, about my passion and how much I had learnt and she encouraged me to just start and work my way up. I attended my first event and with her support my journey as a full-time mixologist began.”
Creating new recipes
Zvipozvamambo says she has multiple styles and approaches to her work as different clients request different menus, some asking for the classic cocktails while others opting for colour and flavour.
With techniques constantly changing and new technologies and products being introduced on the market every day, her work and ideas are constantly evolving.
Her surroundings, new trends as well as the products currently available on the Zimbabwean market influence the creation of new recipes
“Some recipes have been created while on the job as at times my clients would have bought the wrong ingredients or forgotten some ingredients. Also, sometimes the drinks become a hit and we would quickly run out of ingredients, prompting me to put my thinking cap on and play around with the flavours and ingredients available to come up with something new.”
“One of my most-loved cocktail recipes was made this way.”
Mixology misunderstanding
She revealed that when she started out, many people found the idea funny and thought there was no way it would work in Zimbabwe. Zvipozvamambo attributed this to the lack of the real understanding of what mixology really is.
“A lot of people think mixology is about bartending, but it is not. It is about creating.”
Other misconceptions include the belief that mixologists get into
this industry because they like drinking, that the job is not suitable for a woman and that cocktails are expensive.
Zvipozvamambo says: “My journey has been about trying to show people that you can enjoy a good fun drink without spending a lot on expensive ingredients or having to go out of your way to get the right ingredients. There is always this misconception that you need to get ingredients outside Zimbabwe and that cocktail ingredients are hard to find which isn’t true.”
Despite the initial lack of appreciation of mixology, people are now opening up to the idea and she has recorded a lot of growth in the last two years with many events now serving cocktails and mocktails and restaurants introducing cocktail menus.
Growing business
“The growth has been good and I’m very excited to see the Zimbabwean beverage industry grow.”
Noting that there was still a lot of room to grow and appreciate beverages as well as the art and the science behind mixology, Zvipozvamambo introduced Mixology 101 classes to teach people the craft behind what she does.
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has put a lot of this work on hold for safety concerns paramount.
“As much as it seemed like a set back and a huge stress on the business, we knew we had to shut down in order to keep our clients and everyone else around us safe,” she says.
Still, Zvipozvamambo has lots of ideas and plans in place for The Mixologist as a brand and was not limiting herself to one area of mixology.
“Why don’t you follow my journey, see what we have planned for the future,” she says.
Zvipozvamambo shares her skills with others at her Mixology 101 classes
My journey has been about trying to show people that you can enjoy a good, fun drink without spending a lot or having to go out of your way to get the right ingredients
Zvipozvamambo likes to play around with flavours and ingredients
The pick of the PENINSULA
Fanned by ocean breeze and dotted with exclusive residences and hotels, the Msasani Peninsula is one of Dar es Salaam’s most desirable addresses. Even if you’re not fortunate enough to live or stay here, you can dip in and out of the thriving food, culture, art and nightlife scenes areas such as Masaki and Oyster Bay offer. Here’s our pick of the peninsula.
Food
Msasani Peninsula is ringed with quality restaurants, which make the most of their ocean-side locations with serene views over sweeping blue waters and menus loaded with the day’s fresh catch. The Karambezi Café, inside the five-star Sea Cliff Hotel, looks out from the edge of a cliff on the peninsula’s northern-most point and offers a sumptuous range of seafood dishes, salads, wraps, burgers and pizzas. Visit karambezicafe.com
Cape Town Fish Market is on the western coast of the peninsula, which means each evening diners get to see the sun setting into the calm waters of Msasani Bay. The views and food have proved so
popular in Dar that the chain will soon open a branch in Zanzibar. It features a sushi bar, a range of fantastic seafood platters ideal for sharing and regular live music to encourage dining to lead to dancing. Visit ctfm.tz.co
The restaurant scene on the peninsula continues to flourish with new eaterie Ahlan Restaurant TZ proving an instant hit. No ocean views this time – it joins the phalanx of restaurants and bars that line the ever-magnetic Haile Selassie Road linking the peninsula with the city centre – but its interior wall of pink and white artificial flowers is made for Instagram-worthy selfies. The US diner-style mix of burgers, shakes and salads is
just as attractive with the Burger Wheel, a revolving ferris wheel of mini-burgers and fries to share with friends especially popular. For details, visit the restaurant’s Instagram page @ahlan.tz
To enjoy one of Oyster Bay’s most laidback and longstanding food options, head to the stalls that line Coco Beach for some
Handwoven rugs from Handmade From Tanzania
mishkaki (grilled meat skewers) and muhogo (cassava) – a Tanzanian carb-packed classic.
If you want to choose from the best Tanzanian fresh produce for the ingredients to your own dishes head to the Swahili Farmers’ Market at Oyster Bay Shopping Centre. Held on the last Saturday of the month, the market has stalls selling locally sourced fruits, vegetables, eggs, honey, coffee, cheese, artisan chocolate and pastries. To find out more, email farmersmarketdsm@gmail.com
Art
Rare is the visitor to Tanzania who leaves without a Tingatinga painting secured in their suitcase. The bright, bold depictions of abstract animals and nature have become synonymous with the country and are a popular purchase across East Africa. The paintings are the work of the almost 100 artists that make up the Tingatinga Arts Cooperative Society, which has its headquarters in Oyster Bay, but they all emulate the style of one man: Edward Said Tingatinga. The self-taught artist began selling his work at the same spot in Oyster Bay more than 50 years ago. Though he did share his skills with a school of six other artists, he was never to see the incredible legacy his work would inspire as his life was cut short by a mistaken identity police shooting in 1972. The six artists passed on what he had taught them as the school grew into the cooperative, which today counts among its members Tingatinga’s daughter, Martina. Visitors to the Oyster Bay headquarters will
find hundreds of paintings for sale as well as the opportunity to see artists at work on their latest creations. Group visits can be catered for. To make a booking, visit tingatingaart.com
A far more recent addition to the Oyster Bay art scene is Make It Matter, a marketplace supporting artisans from across Tanzania. At its spacious store – set within The Drum creative community hub on Msasani Road – you’ll find a huge range of paintings, homeware, cosmetics, jewellery, furniture and more all made by local crafters with locally sourced materials. With much of the work produced within remote, often marginalised communities, by purchasing these beautiful objects you are helping turn talent into livelihoods. For more information, visit makeitmatter.org
The centuries-old craft of handlooming is being kept alive by social enterprise Handmade from Tanzania from its workshop in Oyster Bay. Here, on specially built wide looms, its team of local weavers use 100 per cent Tanzanian cotton (also dyed in the workshop) to create the fabric for the team of in-house machinists to turn into duvet covers, pillows, bed throws, made-to-measure curtains and ready-to-wear clothes for men, women and children. You can shop the elegant range of products online at handmadefromtanzania.org while visitors to the workshop are very welcome (no notice is required) and will get to see all stages of the production.
The striking floral interior design at Ahlan Restaurant and (inset) its burger wheel
Magdalena Paluchowska / Shutterstock.com
Oyster Bay is the birthplace of Tingatinga art
Nightlife
If you want to dance the night away in Dar the stretch of bars, restaurants and clubs that line Haile Selassie Road, in Masaki, has a host of great options.
Many of the restaurants here turn into bars and nightclubs once 10pm comes around. Among them is Samaki Samaki, which sells seafood so good they named it
twice. During the day and as the night draws in tuna gives way to tunes with karaoke, salsa dancing and resident DJs at the weekends.
Not far away you’ll find New Maisha Club, another venue that doubles up as a restaurant and nightclub. The Bongo Flava-friendly playlist attracts a predominantly young local crowd who throng the large central dancefloor at weekends. Things are cooler and quieter at the venue’s outside areas serviced by two bars.
A new addition to the Masaki party strip is Havoc nightclub. Located on the fourth floor of the Renaissance Plaza building, this luxurious venue with its floor-to-ceiling glazing and open-air balcony bar offers
fantastic coastal views. Also eye-catching is its amazing LEDlit dance floor, ideal for showing off your disco moves.
Live music
There are a number of peninsula restaurants and hotels that offer live music for the enjoyment of guests, among them The Waterfront Sunset Restaurant in the upscale shopping complex The Slipway and The Oyster Bay Hotel, moments from Coco Beach, but few champion Tanzanian talent like the Slow Leopard.
Every Thursday the laid-back Masaki bar and burger joint hosts live local music night Slow Sessions with recent acts including musician/actor/model Hilary Moretz and singer-songwriter Ashimba. Recently it has also added the monthly Marafiki night, showcasing the best in Tanzanian blues, jazz and fusion music, and a new stage area. To check on upcoming shows, visit the venue’s Instagram page @the_slow_leopard_bar
Weavers at Handmade From Tanzania Sunset over Msasani Bay Michael. M photography / Shutterstock.com
About the Author
Joseph Shaluwa
Joseph Shaluwa ni mtunzi, mwandishi wa habari, vitabu na mhariri. Anaishi Kwembe, Ubungo – jijini Dar es Salaam. Wino Mwekundu ni kitabu chake cha 13 cha riwaya. Baadhi ya vitabu vyake vilivyotangulia ni Chotara, Matone ya Machozi ya Damu, Sikujua Ungeutesa Moyo Wangu, Mkataba wa Siri na Moyo Wangu Unauma.
Amepata kuwa mhariri wa magazeti mbalimbali ya Kiswahili nchini Tanzania kama Ijumaa, Risasi Mchanganyiko na Mtanzania (Jarida la Swaggaz). Mfuatilie Instagram Joeshaluwa na Facebook facebook.com/joseph.shaluwa
Kupata kitabu hiki tumia namba 0788-362510, 0718-400146.
WINO Mwekundu ni riwaya iliyobuniwa na Joseph Shaluwa ambaye ni mtunzi na mwandishi wa habari na vitabu nchini Tanzania. Kwa mara ya kwanza riwaya hiyo ilitoka katika gazeti bora la michezo nchini Tanzania, Championi linalochapishwa na Global Publishers. Hapa tunakuletea dondoo za simulizi hiyo.
Wino Mwekundu is a novel by writer and journalist Joseph Shaluwa. The novel was first featured in Tanzania’s top sports magazine, Champion, and published by Global Publishers. Here we bring you excerpts from the story.
Msichana mrembo Davina, akiwa kwenye penzi motomoto na mchumba wake Chaka, huku ndoa yao ikiwa karibuni kufungwa, anapata pigo. Chaka anapata ajali mbaya ya gari akiwa safarini kikazi, kuelekea Dodoma na kufariki dunia.
Maisha ya Davina yanabadilika. Yanagubikwa na machozi. Baada ya Chaka kuzikwa, anakubaliana na kilichotokea na kuyaacha maisha yaendelee.
Akiwa bado ana kidonda cha kumpoteza mpenzi wake, anapokea barua zilizokuwa zikiandikwa kwa wino mwekundu na mtu aliyejitambulisha kwa jina la Chaka Shekoloa – mpenzi wake – ambaye ni marehemu!
Jambo hilo linamchanganya sana. Yaliyokuwa ndani ya barua hizo ndiyo yaliyomchanganya zaidi.
Chaka anamwambia kuwa, atamfuata duniani na kumchukua ampeleke alipo - kuzimu. Davina anashindwa kuelewa, inakuwaje marehemu aweze kuandika barua. Anachukua uamuzi wa kwenda kijijini kwao Baura, wilayani Kondoa, mkoani Dodoma. Alipowaeleza wazazi wake, wanaamua kufanya mtambiko wa kimila. Baadaye anarudi Dar es Salaam akiwa na matumaini mapya, lakini bado usumbufu wa barua za Chaka uliendelea.
Upande wa pili, aliyekuwa rafiki mpenzi wa Chaka, Gerald anajikuta kwenye jaribu zito baada ya kumpenda aliyekuwa mchumba wa rafiki yake Chaka, Davina.
Gerald na Chaka walikuwa wakifanya kazi pamoja. Ukiacha urafiki wao, Gerald alikuwa bosi wa Chaka, ambapo wote walifanya kazi katika kampuni ya baba yake na Gerald. Kabla ya Gerald kujaribu kutupa ndoano zake kwa Davina, naye anapokea barua za vitisho kutoka kwa marehemu Chaka! Anamwambia asijaribu kumchumbia mpenzi wake, akimweleza bado anampenda na siku si
nyingi angemchukua.
Gerald anapuuza. Anatumia kila mbinu ili kumpata Davina. Anamweleza hisia zake kwamba anampenda na alikuwa tayari kuziba nafasi ya rafiki yake Chaka.
Jambo hilo linaibua ugomvi mzito kwa wawili hao, ambapo Davina anakataa katakata kuanzisha uhusiano na shemeji yake huyo.
Baada ya kila mbinu kushindikana, Gerald anaamua kubadili gia, anamshawishi Davina akubali wawe marafiki wa kawaida. Davina anakubali. Urafiki ukakua kwa kasi.
Kwa Davina anatambua kuwa ulikuwa urafiki tu, lakini kwa Gerald ulikuwa zaidi ya urafiki. Yeye aliwaza mapenzi tu. Siku moja Gerald anajaribu tena kuanzisha mazungumzo ya uhusiano, Davina akakataa. Gerald anaamua kufanya jaribio la kujiua. Jaribio hilo ndilo linasababisha Davina akubali kuanzisha uhusiano naye. Mapenzi yakaanzishwa na kupamba moto.
Wazazi wa pande zote mbili wanajulishwa juu ya uhusiano huo na mara moja taratibu za kufunga ndoa na kufanya harusi zinafanyika.
Siku ya ndoa inafika. Umati wa watu unajumuika kanisani kuhudhuria ndoa hiyo ya kifahari.
Muda mfupi kabla ya mchungaji kufungisha ndoa hiyo, anauliza kama kuna mwenye pingamizi lolote kisheria. Kitu cha kushangaza kinatokea kanisani hapo!
Chaka akiwa amevalia suti nyeupe na viatu vyeupe, anaingia kanisani akipiga kelele kwamba ana pingamizi. Watu wote wanapigwa na butwaa.
Mchungaji anampa nafasi Chaka aeleze kuhusu pingamizi lake. Maelezo ya Chaka kanisani, yanazalisha kisa kingine cha kusisimua katika riwaya hii ya “Wino Mwekundu”.
Vitendo vya hila na dhuluma alivyomfanya Gerald dhidi ya rafiki yake Chaka vinagundulika hadharani!
Tech for learning
APPS FOR LEARNING
If all you have to show for your weeks/months in Covid-19 isolation is alarming body hair, a Netflix addiction and the tendency to talk to yourself, you need to up your lockdown game. Apps are ideal for at-home learning and here are five to help you gain knowledge or start a new skill.
Learn a language… Duolingo
There are more than 30 languages to choose from with this excellent app, which breaks down the learning of each one into short, simple exercises designed for daily practise. It holds you accountable for your learning with daily reminders for lessons and even an onscreen animated owl which hoots encouragement when you achieve a streak of right answers. A study has shown that 34 hours of Duolingo are equal to an entire university term of language teaching and it’s all free, unless you opt to subscribe to remove the ads and unlock more features.
Android/Apple Free + optional subscription
Read more books… Blinkist
Shakespeare apparently wrote King Lear while in lockdown – hiding at home during a wave of the bubonic plague –but most of us would probably struggle just to read it during our isolation. Blinkist takes away the need to devote hours to a book by condensing the best of new nonfiction into 15-minute audiobooks. A subscription opens up access to its full library and offline listening.
Android/Apple Free + optional subscription
Learn to code... Mimo
If lockdown has got you reappraising your working life, it might be interesting to learn that knowing how to computer code will up your earning potential. Mimo presents computer science lessons in fun, bite-size chunks that take just a few minutes to complete. It runs like a computer game itself with players rewarded with points and badges as they progress. Most of the popular programming languages are supported plus introductory programming courses for those who are new to coding altogether. There are two free-to-complete courses and then there is the option to subscribe for full access to all courses.
Android/Apple Free + optional subscription
Become more mindful… Calm
A global pandemic is enough to get most of us spiralling into anxiety so an app to help us get to grips with mindfulness and meditation is very welcome. Calm offers daily guided meditations, relaxing pieces of music and breathing exercises. It provides an opportunity to invite a moment of relaxation into your busy day, and soothe your way into sleep with a library of soporific stories narrated by film and TV stars for when you’re ready for bed.
Android/Apple - Free + optional subscription
Get fitter and more flexible… Daily Yoga
If you’re struggling with the discipline required to timeline a packed, productive day, putting yoga at the top of your list can be a big help. A morning yoga session can help you energise and focus for the tasks and just 15 minutes can burn up to 100 calories. Daily Yoga is one of the best apps for beginners, taking you through an initial two weeks of beginner-friendly yoga positions to more advanced classes. It tracks your progress so you can see what you have accomplished over time and its ‘smart coach’ presents you with a personalised routine each day.
Android/Apple Free + optional subscription
24 hours in… KIGOMA
Air Tanzania flights from Dar es Salaam into Kigoma, the capital of Western Tanzania, open up some of the country’s remotest wildlife adventures such as chimpanzee tracking in Gombe Stream and Mahale Mountains national parks. It is even possible to reach the biggest primates of all – the mountain gorillas of Rwanda – if you’re prepared for a long drive. If you need some downtime after these intrepid adventures, Kigoma Town, surrounded by rugged mountains and forests, has the necessary laidback charm with good restaurants, historic sites and plenty of beaches bordering Lake Tanganyika within easy reach. Here’s our guide to a perfect day.
MORNING
It’s worth making an early start and grabbing a dala dala to the nearby Katonga fishing village. By 8am this colourful place is quite a spectacle as 200-plus wooden fishing boats arrive at the village’s alcove beach after a night’s fishing by lantern light on Lake Tanganyika. The lake, the world’s longest, is home to more than 350 species of fish, but the one everyone in Tanzania knows about is the dagaa, a tiny sardine. Kigoma dagaa are considered a delicacy and in the fishing village there will be plenty of opportunities to have some pan-fried as a delicious protein-packed breakfast.
You can continue the market shopping back in Kigoma. The town has a fantastic market where you’ll find traditional crafts such as kitenge fabric as well as soap made from palm kernel oil, which is sourced not from forest-razing plantations but smallholder farms and is a growing local industry. In Kigoma the soap used to clean almost everything –from dishes to clothes to people –and is moisturising on skin.
Kigoma is a very walkable town so why not work up some appetite for lunch and explore some of its striking architecture – vestiges of German colonial rule. The most noticeable buildings are those built at the turn of the past century, including the railway station, the Regional Commissioner’s residence and the District Commissioner’s Office. The weather in Kigoma is reliably hot and sunny so might be wise to grab a drink as you explore and the Sonza Wileme shop opposite the train station offers excellent freshly prepared sugar cane juice.
AFTERNOON
For lunch head to restaurant Sun City on main thoroughfare Lumumba Road, not far from the train station. This arty, friendly establishment has been serving classic Tanzanian dishes for many years and its wali maharagwe (rice and beans) is the stuff of legend.
You like history, I presume, so it’s worth visiting Ujiji, one of Africa’s oldest market villages and the spot
where, in 1871, adventurer-journalist Henry Morton Stanley bumped into missing missionary Dr David Livingstone, who had not been heard of in Europe for years after embarking on an expedition to find the source of the Nile. There is a monument in the village known as the ‘Dr Livingstone Memorial’ to commemorate the meeting and a local teacher
Boat trips on the lake are a romantic option
Kigoma is on the northeastern shores of Lake Tanganyika, the world’s longest lake
has set up a small museum which is also worth a visit.
A stroll around the outskirts of the village will reveal Swahili-style homes, vestiges of Ujiji’s time as the last major outpost on the Arab trading route to the coast and next to the village market there is a former slave route, evidence of that trade’s most notorious commodity.
Time now for an afternoon beach break and Kigoma is blessed with a number of lovely lakeside options. For a real hideaway head to Mwamahunga or Jakobsen’s Beach, two cute sandy coves below a wooden hillside. Weekends can get busy, but during the week it’ll probably just be you and a few baboons, which roam freely here. Jakobsen’s Beach and Guesthouse offers food and drink as well as lakeside cottages and camping for a longer stay. The beaches are a 20-minute picturesque
Kigoma is blessed with a number of lovely lakeside beaches. For a real hideaway head to Mwamahunga Beach
walk from Katonga village.
Closer to Ujiji are Golden Beach and Paradise Beach, which have waterside bars offering light snacks and are a place to party at the weekends.
Liveliest of all is Bangwe Beach, which has a beach club with water sports, food and drink and even a nightclub is you want to carry the beach party on into the early hours.
EVENING
Dhow sailing trips as the sun slowly sinks into Lake Tanganyika are a romantic evening treat here. If you
prefer to take in the end of the day with a sundowner drink or two walk up Mjewema Hill in town where you’ll find two bars Green View and Coast View, which, as you’d expect offer excellent vistas across Kigoma’s picturesque landscape. Both also offer food with the curries and burgers especially good.
In the centre of town, an excellent dinner option is Sandra Bar and Restaurant, which serves good quality Tanzanian dishes. After 10pm the place becomes a nightclub so you can bring your day in Kigoma to a close on the dancefloor.
FLYING TO KIGOMA
Air Tanzania now flies from Dar to Kigoma five times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Visit airtanzania.co.tz or call free on 0800 1100045.
A chimpanzee in the Mahale Mountains
Yury Birukov / Shutterstock.com
Fly with Air Tanzania for EXCLUSIVE adventures
The tourism industry is a major driver of Tanzania’s economy, but it has been hit hard by travel restrictions introduced to curb the global pandemic. As our national carrier, Air Tanzania is playing its part in helping revive its fortunes by teaming up with specially selected hotels, lodges and camps in tourist hotspot the north of the country to offer a pair of exclusive package deals. Here we provide more details on what is included in the price as well as some of the country’s world-famous attractions that will be in easy reach during your stay.
Locations: Kilimanjaro National Park and Moshi City center
Salinero has two north Tanzania properties (a third, in the Serengeti, is coming soon) and either can be chosen as part of the deal. Kilimanjaro Hotel is tucked in the foothills of Africa’s highest mountain in a leafy suburb just three km outside of Moshi town centre. Millie Lodge is further up, a full 1,800 metres above sea level in Kilimanjaro and right next to the Machame Gate to Kilimanjaro National Park, staring point for the most scenic route to the summit.
What’s included in the deal
Two nights’ accommodation at either Kilimanjaro Hotel or Millie Lodge; return ATCL flight tickets from Dar to Kilimanjaro
Air Tanzania Partner: Salinero Hotels
international airports; VIP travel service from the airport to the hotels.
Price Starting at TZS 504,000 (inclusive of tax).
Accommodation features
Kilimanjaro Hotel has a verdant village feel with a series of cute standard and deluxe banda-style homes dotted around its extensive lush gardens. It’s a tranquil setting, but there is the opportunity to wind down even deeper at the onsite spa, which offers massages and a range of beauty treatments. Other facilities include a swimming pool, a restaurant offering buffet dining and an à la carte menu and a bar with views across that beautiful garden.
Millie Lodge is an impressive looking hotel with a grand Doric-columned frontage and set in picturesque forest-fringed grounds. The well-furnished rooms are available in single, double or triples and all en-suite with free wi-fi. The lodge has its own restaurant and bar, both with charming views of the grounds.
Nearby attractions
(All optional activities not included in the package price)
Machame Hike
At 1,800 metres above sea level, Millie Lodge is a great place for hikers to acclimatise ahead of an ascent of Mount
Kilimanjaro. It’s also just minutes away from the Machame Gate, the starting point for the most popular and picturesque path to the top. Bear in mind, most popular does not mean easiest and you’ll need at least six days for your guided ascent.
Kikukweta Hot Spring
The perfect spot to ease those aching muscles, if you have just conquered Kibo or relax after a safari, these hot springs are about a 90-minute drive from Moshi.
Materuni Waterfall
You can hike to the village of Materuni and its amazing waterfall in the foothills of Kilimanjaro from Moshi. The water cascades down 70 metres into swimmable pools. Time in the village is a chance to learn more about the customs of the Chagga people.
Coffee Tour Activities
The fertile soils of the Kilimanjaro region, mild climate and reliable rainfall are perfect conditions for growing coffee renowned worldwide for its quality. There are plenty of opportunities to book a tour of small coffee farms or shamba where the coffee is typically inter-cropped with bananas. A visit is a chance for a close-up look at the growing and harvesting process.
How to book
Call Salinero Hotels on 0677100020 or 0677100011.
Escarpment Luxury Lodge
Location: Great Rift Valley, overlooking Lake Manyara
Escarpment Luxury Lodge is perched high on the rim of the Great Rift Valley with incredible views of Lake Manyara below.
What’s included in the deal
Two nights’ accommodation at Escarpment Luxury Lodge; Air Tanzania return flight tickets from Dar to Kilimanjaro; VIP transportation service from airport to hotel.
Price Starting at TZS 734,200 (inclusive of tax).
Accommodation features
This award-winning lodge blends into the surrounding bush, giving the sense of complete immersion with nature. Each of the 16 luxury chalets – offering single, double, and triple occupancy –have their own private deck to take in the magnificent sight of Lake Manyara and wildlife passing through the lodge grounds. These amazing views continue from the beautiful swimming pool and surrounding decking as well as the main lodge with its very classy restaurant and bar.
Nearby attractions
(All optional activities not included in the package price)
Treetop walking Manyara
Tanzania’s first treetop walkway gives visitors a bird’s eye view of the beautiful forest of Lake Manyara from 370 metres off the ground.
Park fees to Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Manyara National Park Ngorongoro Conservation Area home to the vast, volcanic Ngorongoro Crater, Big Five wildlife, the great migration of wildebeests and zebras, Maasai cattle farmers and the very beginnings of human life at the Olduvai Gorge.
Lake Manyara National Park has its flamingo-filled lake, one of only two populations of tree-climbing lions to be found in the world and a large number of elephants and giraffes.
TanZip zipline (tanzaniazipline.com)
Located just outside of Mto wa Mbu village, at the base of the Great Rift Valley wall, this thrilling eco-adventure site has four zip-wires that get guests shooting through the baobab trees and taking in stunning views of the surrounding lakes, wetlands and the Maasai steppe. There are also hiking and biking trails to explore.
How to book
Contact Escarpment Luxury Lodge on 0767804856 to make your booking.
Air Tanzania Partner:
Taking the positive out of the pandemic
Faysal Alao is a vlogger and tour operator from Tanzania living in Arusha. He uploads regular videos about his experiences and everyday lifestyle on his YouTube channel, ‘Lifestyle of Faysal’. You can also keep up with him on Snapchat @faysal_alao and Instagram @callmefays
I remember March 16 well. It was a bright, sunny morning and white fluffy clouds were drifting across the sky. The first imported case of Covid-19 was announced in Tanzania and everybody started panicking. There were fears the country would start to shut down and businesses would grind to a halt but I still had hope and told myself: “This too shall pass.”
Remaining optimistic in the face of this pandemic was our biggest challenge. At the beginning of 2020, many people were looking forward to a lucrative year.
Tanzania, as one of the most visited countries in Africa, was projected to rake in millions of tourism dollars but when Covid-19 struck, the only concern that people had was their health.
The media that always keeps us informed has just added to the fear and normal life habits have been changing abruptly. Unprecedented global travel restrictions arrived and orders to stay at home disrupted our economy and brought us all new ways of life.
I learnt to adapt. I started working digitally, practiced workout routines and meditation and explored my talents to retain my mental health and deal with the new pressures.
Yes, social distancing and isolation can make us all feel lonely at times, but it has also positively reshaped our lives. It has made us appreciate life and how important it is to keep a healthy lifestyle. It has also opened our thinking and made us discover multiple alternative sources of income instead of being dependent on one. Lastly, it has brought us even closer to the people who are most important to us and made us appreciate healthcare workers.
Sound and vision
Mark Edwards rounds up the latest releases to stream, screen and read
MUSIC REVIEWS
STORY OF THE AFRICAN MOB /
Navy Kenzo
Label: Industry Studios
Nearly a decade into their career, Navy Kenzo – made up of real-life couple Aika and Nahreel – are back with a new album that celebrates African culture while taking a few shots at outsiders who appropriate the continent’s riches in music, arts and fashion. The pan-African message is there in collaborations with Ghanaian acts King Promise, Mugeez and MzVee while UK-based Tanzanian Tiggs Da Author adds to the dancehall good-time vibes of single ‘Pon Mi’. Nahreel has lent his production skills to some of the biggest songs of contemporary Tanzanian pop music and here he creates a distinctive tapestry of beats across the 12 tracks with co-producers Mantra, JuwonMix, Buskillaz, KillBeatz, Pablo Lannoche, Breezy Beats and Chizan Brain.
FILM REVIEWS
THE
NEW MUTANTS / Director: Josh Boone
The X-Men movie franchise has undergone a slight mutation with its latest instalment. Gone are the ageing superhero collective of Wolverine and co, replaced by five teenagers locked up in a shadowy medical facility. Though all five have super powers, the film (for the most part) steers clear of showing them off in big action set pieces in favour of some low-key horror thrills as the motives of the institution that holds them become more malevolent. The young cast are very watchable, although Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays a Russian who whispers to a hand puppet she has since she was a child, employs an accent as ridiculous as her character’s name – Illya Rasputin.
REVIEWS
BOOK
FUMBO / By Maundu Mwingizi
Tabora-born Mwingizi writes in Swahili and is a member of Tanzanian authors collective Uwaridi. His new novel is, as its title suggests, a mystery and one which needs to be solved quickly or there will be dire consequences for its protagonist, Ikunji Almasi. A food delivery driver, he is given a job to bring a restaurant meal to a guest in a hotel room. On arrival, he finds blood dripping down the hotel room door and led by fear and panic he makes some life-changing decisions. His worries are compounded by a text message indicating he should be having doubts about his wife’s fidelity. Something very strange is going on and Almasi has unwittingly got involved. What follows is a race against time to get to the truth. Fumbo is available to download from Dar bookshop A Novel Idea. Call +255 (0) 655 428085.
Arts column
REBIRTH / Grace Matata
Label: Stargaze
Last year Grace Matata branded a series of live dates ‘The Final Chapter’ and if that wasn’t clear indication enough that the Dar-based singer and musician was set for a change in direction, she called her first recorded release to follow ‘Rebirth’. Still, there are welcome familiarities in the four songs on this EP from Matata’s honeyed vocals to influences that draw on jazz, folk and soul. What is new is an assuredness in the writing and production in this effortlessly sensual and confident quartet of tracks. ‘You and Me’ is a disco-flecked invitation to a lover that flits between English, Swahili and even a touch of French in the lyrics while ‘Body on Me’ generates an irresistible groove from just spare guitar lines and the clack of castanets and adds in a rap from Weusi’s Joh Makini. Best of all is the empowering ballad ‘Fine’, where cellos join the soaring refrain before a chorus of Matatas combine in joyous effect.
NO TIME TO DIE / Director:
Cary Fukunaga
British secret service agent James Bond may have come out of retirement after five years for this latest adventure, but even he couldn’t avoid being furloughed during the Covid-19 lockdown with the film’s release put back from April to November. The delay only builds on the huge anticipation for what is to be the final outing for Daniel Craig in the title role. He has embodied a grittier, more flawed Bond from the start of his 16-year tenure, but No Time to Die sees the agent in a dark place, doubting some of his closest allies, confronting past betrayals and taking on a mysterious tech baron played by Rami Malek – last seen in his Oscar-winning portrayal of Queen singer Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
THIS
MOURNABLE BODY / By Tsitsi
Dangarembga
Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Dangarembga has made the six-strong shortlist for this year’s Booker Prize – which nets the winner US$ 65,000 on top of considerable international renown – with this magnificent novel. It traces the efforts of the educated but unemployed Tambu – who has waited until she is in her 30s to leave a hostel for young women – to find professional and emotional fulfilment in 1990s Harare, the capital of a fledgling country similarly trying to find it feet. Many readers will be familiar with a much younger Tambu from Dangarembga’s classic 1988 novel ‘Nervous Conditions’. However, while as a child Tambu was defiant and sure of herself, she has grown into an introspective adult and seems now to resent the optimism of youth – indelibly revealed in a brutal physical attack on a student while she is a teacher at a girls’ high school. All the while, Dangarembga expertly crafts a backdrop of Zimbabwe’s own troubles.
Artists capture covid uncertainty in new work on show at Nafasi
Rebecca Corey is the Director of Nafasi Arts Space in Dar es Salaam and Twiga’s arts columnist. You can visit Nafasi Art Apace online at www.nafasiartspace.org and instagram @nafasiartspace.
Would you rather be able to become invisible or to fly? Would you rather have the power to see into the future or to change the past? Would you rather be extremely tall or incredibly small? In their wildly hypothetical manner, these ‘would you rather’ questions help us to understand what we value – being powerful or being free? Being strong or being safe? What would you choose when faced with questions like these?
In 2020, artists found themselves grappling with unprecedented ‘would you rather’ moments, just like everyone around them. Do we stay inside or go out? Do we continue with work or pause to process everything happening around us? Artists turned to art to help them answer these questions and at Nafasi Arts Space we have collected many of these works in our latest exhibition, Altered States.
Professor Elias Jengo has made a work entitled Global Queen, which symbolised the global spread of coronavirus and the potential for treatment using traditional medicines. Valerie Amani has created digital photo collages that humorously reflected the many moods and emotions she experienced during the stressful months of isolation. Tuki Onana has made a series of abstract monochromatic digital works that seem to explore on a quantum level the fluctuations and multiple expressions of reality.
When faced with unprecedented uncertainty, these artists all turned to creative expression to reflect on the events unfolding around us. They demonstrated how art gives people the chance to connect with others by expressing shared feelings and experiences in unexpected but recognizable and relatable ways.
Perhaps this is one of the most important roles of the contemporary artist: they capture history as it happens and reflect back at us our own hopes, fears, and dreams. They remind us that even in the midst of great challenges, we are not alone.
Altered States features work by Elias Jengo, Raza Mohamed, Masoud Kibwana, Valerie Amani and many others and can be seen at Nafasi Art Space in Mikocheni, Dar es Salaam.
ECO ADVENTURES IN THE PUGU HILLS
Just an hour’s drive from Dar es Salaam, the forests of the Pugu Hills are the green lungs of the city and paramount in regulating its climate and providing a pure water source. The forest reserves of Pugu, Pande and Vikindu help protect this ecologically crucial region and latticed with hiking and biking trails and with a large variety of wildlife they also provide amazing adventures for nature lovers. Here are some environmentally friendly ideas to enjoy and help preserve one of the last remaining stretches of lowland coastal forest in Tanzania.
A bird-watchers’ paradise
The Pugu Forest Reserve is home to more than 80 species of bird and has been identified as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by global partnership Birdlife International. The forest is the most southerly spot to find endemic East African coastal bird the Sokoke pipit and other notable potential sightings include speckled mousebird, brownhooded kingfisher, crowned hornbill, yellow-rumped tinkerbird, cardinal woodpecker and a range of raptors.
Hike the trails
There are several hiking trails to choose from, leading to the reserve’s biggest attractions such as its caves, lakes and villages. If you choose the trail that takes you to the 300-metre summit of the hills you will be rewarded with magical views out over the entire city of Dar es Salaam and the Indian Ocean beyond. One of the most recent trails to be traced was named after primatologist Jane Goodall –already synonymous with Tanzania
through her work with the chimpanzees of Gombe – who has visited Pugu Hills many times. Hiking is also possible in the hills outside the reserve.
Mountain biking
For a real adventure bring your mountain bike or join a biking tour of the Fugu Hills. With a terrain that rises up to 300 metres and with streams and winding forest trails to navigate, this is a real adrenaline-fuelled adventure. The
Take a tour of the trails by mountain bike
trails get busier on Saturdays and Sundays when weekend warriors take on the trails.
Rich wildlife
The reserve is home to a range of wildlife big and small from elephants to their miniature namesake the elephant shrew. Sightings of Masai giraffe, warthogs, cheetahs, hyenas, vervet monkey, lake-dwelling hippopotamuses and the tree-hugging flap-necked chameleon. Lions used to live in the reserve, but perhaps just as well for hikers, none have been reported in recent times.
Butterflies
If you are looking for lepidoptera, Pugu is the place for you. Many of Tanzania’s 124 species of butterfly can be seen in the reserve, including the strikingly beautiful African Joker with its white teardrop markings on amber wings.
Plant life
The closed canopy forest of Pugu contains 14 endemic plant species. In fact, Pugu forest reserve is named after the ‘pugu pugu’ plant that is not found anywhere else in the world.
Caves
When Tanzania was part of German East Africa in the late nineteenth century, the colonial administration
Pugu forest reserve is named after the ‘pugu pugu’ plant that is not found anywhere else in the world
mined the Pugu Hills extensively for kaolin, a soft white clay that is essential in the manufacture of china and porcelain, and which is the forest reserve has more of than anywhere else in the world.
Those mines remain but now one of them is used by coastal tribe the Wazaramo, the largest ethnic group in and around Dar, for their traditional ceremonies and rituals. Other cave entrances are now home to colonies of bats – especially fascinating at sunset when the bats return in their thousands.
Entrance fees
The Pugu Hills, Pande and Vikindu forest reserves are under the control of Tanzania Forest Service, part of the Ministry of Natural Resources & Tourism. The fees for the reserves are around US$ 2 dollars for Tanzanian citizens and US$ 30 dollars for foreigners (National Entrance Rate). Permits can be obtained at the Ministry of Natural Resources or the Forestry office in Kisarawe town.
Butterflies are a beautiful sight in the Pugu Hills
Leave no trace
How to explore Pugu Hills Forest Reserve and keep its pristine beauty intact.
1 Keep to the trail
Mountain vegetation is unique and fragile. By staying on the designated trails, you protect years of natural development.
2 Don’t litter
Even those biodegradables are a no-no. Orange peel, apple cores and pistachio shells stick around for a long time.
3 Don’t pick the wildflowers
Leave them for others to enjoy. Some will not reproduce if picked. They look better in nature anyway.
4 When nature calls…
If you’ve overdone it on the hydration and need to relieve yourself, make sure you are at least 60 metres from one of the reserve’s lakes or rivers. We need to protect the wild water.
5 Keep the noise down
You will see more mammals and birds in their natural habitats with lowered voices.
TOURS
Tanzanian-run, ecologically minded tour company Kwazi Birding & Tours organises guided hikes, birdwatching and butterflying tours and mountain biking adventures in Fugu Hills Forest Reserve. For more information, visit kwazi.co.tz
The science behind in-flight meals
Twiga’s food columnist and award-winning chef Fred Uisso turns his attention to in-flight meals and reveals the science behind the flavouring and why tomato juice tastes better at 30,000 ft.
Many people want to live and maintain a healthy lifestyle as far as food is concerned, but they don’t know how to do it. Some people believe that eating vegetables only is the best way to stay healthy, some believe you should stick to white meat and avoid red meat, sugary foods and cooking oils. This is totally wrong. Every food is good and bad. It all depends on your basic health profile. A medical exam will reveal what your body needs. In my series of healthy eating masterclasses, I will coach you on how to use food as a way to reach your health goals. In this first article I will talk about in-flight meals.
Foods suitable for in-flight meals
Who prepares inflight meals? Be assured in-flight meals are prepared by chefs from authorized catering companies with strict industry guidelines on safety. The only way for those companies to distinguish themselves is through the taste of the food. There are people opting to travel by a certain airline just because of the tasty food served during the flight.
Food tastes different in the air
You can’t taste sweetness or saltiness nearly as well on an airplane due to altitude,
pressure and lack of humidity. Salt is perceived to be between 20 and 30 percent less intense and sugar 15 to 20 percent less intense. So how do airlines deal with that seriously suppressed sense of taste? You guessed it, they add a lot more salt, and a lot more sugar — up to 30 percent more to be exact. Even certain seasonings and herbs are used with a heavier hand than if you were eating on the ground. Food really does taste different in the air.
Have you ever felt like your taste buds aren’t functioning quite right at 30,000 feet level? It’s not your imagination.
Even in the comfort of the aircraft’s pressurized cabin, your taste buds become suppressed, which can make food seem bland. The air conditioning can dry out your nasal cavities. Your sense of smell is tied to your sense of taste. Even the noise and vibration can affect your ability to taste, as it stimulates a nerve in your middle ear that lessens the intensity of certain flavours.
How to create your taste buds… salt Salt is the number one flavour enhancer in all main and side dishes. You can use many spices in the dish, but salt brings the most robust flavour.
Therefore, chefs preparing in-flight meals should use proper seasoning by using vibrant flavours and spices to ensure food tastes good in the air. Often, recipes are modified with additional salt or seasoning to account for the cabin dining atmosphere. There’s no need for passengers to add extra salt to their food.
The best drink to have on your flight
Have you ever wondered why almost all airlines have tomato juice on their drinks menu? There is science behind the reason. Tomato juice when drunk on the ground tastes earthy, however, sip it at 30,000 feet level and the drink shows its better side. It has more acidity, it has some mineral taste with it and it’s very refreshing. It just tastes better at higher altitudes.
Tomato juice is rich in umami, that fifth elusive flavour after sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. Umani is enhanced by being in the air, unlike sweet and salty which get suppressed.
In the next issue will talk about recipes of the main dishes as well as alcoholic beverages in-flight. Ciao for now!
Rib eye steak in peppercorn cream sauce
Here is an in-flight friendly main dish recipe which you don’t need to spice up. Saucy meals – such as curries, stews and creams – are better than dry ones. My favourite is a tenderloin steak (fillet, rib eye, sirloin, rump, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s tender) basted with creamy black pepper sauce with a side of steamed parsley potatoes topped with garlic butter sauce and boiled veggies.
Ingredients:
6 Steak 200g
6 1 teaspoon ground black pepper corns
6 1 tablespoon butter or soft margarine
6 100 ml full-cream milk
6 1 teaspoon vinegar
6 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
6 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
6 1 tablespoon olive oil or any refined cooking oil
6 Parsley leaves
6 A few sticks of French beans
6 1 large carrot
6 1 small onion
6 1 fresh lime or lemon
6 150g Irish potatoes
HEALTH BENEFITS
Peppercorn increases the absorption of essential nutrients. It has stimulant properties which promote gut health and offer pain relief.
Garlic butter contains a good amount of vitamins A, E and K. It also has healthy fatty acid which can destroy bad bacteria.
Method:
Steak
Season the steak with soy sauce, vinegar and cooking oil. Warm the pan and place the steak. Keep on turning the steak. Medium rare steak is suitable because it is so juicy and just the yummiest!
Potatoes
Peel and dice Irish potatoes. Parboil and add salt to taste. There you are!!!
Peppercorn creamy sauce
Warm the pan and melt the butter or margarine, add finely chopped onions stir until they become soft. Add garlic and stir until it becomes soft. Add about two tablespoons of water and keep on stirring for about a minute. Pour the milk and stir for about two minutes. Add black or white crushed pepper corns. Add salt to taste. Stir and give yourself a clap!
Steaks contain protein; zinc, iron and other potential minerals which helps improve muscle mass and is suitable for diabetics
Boiled Irish potatoes contain no fat, sodium or cholesterol. They are loaded with vitamin C and are starch resistant. Bon Appetit!
Garlic butter sauce
Warm the pan and put butter or margarine. Add a teaspoon of crushed garlic. Add a tablespoon of water. Add a squeezed lime or lemon juice to taste, add finely chopped parsley leaves and salt to taste. You’re the perfect chef. Boiled vegetables
Cut potatoes and boil them into perfection. Add salt to taste. Waaw! Easy, isn’t it? Cut veggies of your choice and boil them with salt to taste or… Cut veggies of your choice to make a vinaigrette salad (Just salt and vinegar). Unbelievable!
Plating
Place your steak on a warmed plate and pour on the creamy peppercorn sauce. Place the boiled potatoes at the side of steak and pour on the garlic butter sauce. The boiled veggies can go by the side of the steak. Accompany with a small bowl of salad and tomato juice on the tray.
INFORMATION
Learn more about my recipes by downloading the Chef Uisso app from Google Play Store. To experience my tasty recipes live, visit my restaurant Club Afrikando in Kinondoni, Dar es Salaam. Follow Chef Fred Uisso on Facebook @chefuisso and Instagram @clubafrikando and @freduisso
Photography Wild 2020
The latest photo competition by free-to-use app Agora took a walk on the wild side. Close to 10,000 professional and amateur photographers from across the world submitted work under the theme Wild 2020. Among the images that made the shortlist of 50 finalists were some captured in the wildlife-filled landscapes across Air Tanzania’s network of destinations.
For more information on Agora and to learn how to submit your own photographs, visit agoraimages.com
Mum and baby monkey in Jaipur, India, taken by @beyond_imagina, from India
Leopard in a tree in Kabini Forest, India chilling by @joeshelly, from the UK
Battle-scarred lion taken in Kenya by @wmr.valdez, from Spain
Lion in Serengeti National Park by @mohamedtazi from Morocco.
Wildlife in the Imire Rhino Conservation, Zimbabwe, taken by @_kennyc_, from the UK
Travel information Before take-off
Taking your first flight is certainly exciting, but can also become a source of stress for those who are unfamiliar with the rules, procedures and customs of flying. To prepare yourself for your first flight, it is therefore important to get information on everything you need to do before and during your journey. Here is a useful pre-departure checklist.
1 Before departing, it is important to check the airline’s website for its hand luggage rules: weight, sizes and types of objects you can take on board. For example, as regards liquids, you are advised to carry these in your hand luggage, only in transparent, reseal able, plastic containers, not exceeding 100 ml. In this section, you will find information regarding the hand luggage permitted on your flights; if you have connection flights, we advise that you also check the websites of other airlines.
2 Arriving at the airport in advance (at least two hours for domestic flights and three hours for international flights) will enable you to check in and board your flight calmly, without anxiety and without unexpected last-minute issues.
3 Check in online, if possible. If travelling with hand luggage alone, you can check in online and print or download your boarding pass which you must take with you directly to security checks. This will enable you to save precious time once at the airport and to go to the gate calmly. For further information, please visit the dedicated page.
4 Set your mobile to flight mode, as well as other devices connected to the internet that you are taking on board.
AIR TANZANIA FLEET
Cabin crew will remind you of this step before take-off. With flight mode set, you can still take photos of your unforgettable journey and you can also enjoy the in-flight entertainment system! To find out more, please visit the dedicated section.
5 If you suffer from motion sickness… you will only find out about it during your first flight! To prevent sickness from ruining your first flight on a plane, we advise you to take natural remedies, such as, for example, ginger tablets or gum to chew. Ginger is believed to have a anti-nausea properties. Otherwise, ask your doctor to prescribe you antihistamines with a sedative effect.
6 Enjoy the view! By choosing a seat near the window, you will see breath-taking landscapes and you can take photos of the exquisite white clouds you will be flying above.
7 Try to take a nap. Sleeping on the plane will make time pass faster and you will arrive at your destination calm and rested.
8 Lastly, especially during take-off and landing, the change in pressure inside the cabin may cause discomfort in your ears. To prevent this discomfort, you are advised to stay awake during these manoeuvres and to chew gum or wear earplugs.
National carrier Air Tanzania is justifiably proud of its revamped six-strong fleet. Here we take a close-up look at our aircraft with technical data and specifications.
BOMBARDIER DASH 8-Q400
Number of aircraft available:
4 Bombardier
Seat capacity: (3 Bombardier) Business Class 6, Economy 70
(1 Bombardier) Business class 10, Economy 68
Number of flight-deck crew: 2
Range: 2,063 km (1,362 Nm)
Typical cruising speed: up to 360 knots (414 mph or 667 km/hr)
Wingspan: 93 ft 3 in (28.4 m)
Length: 107 ft 9 in (32.8 m)
AIRBUS 220-300 (CS300)
Number of aircraft available: 2
Seat capacity: Business Class 12 and 120 Economy Class
Number of flight-deck crew: 2
Range: 6,112 km (3,300 Nm)
Typical cruising speed: 470 knots
(541 mph or 871 km/hr)
Thrust per engine at sea level: 23,300 lbf / 103.6 kN
Wingspan: 115 ft 1 in (35.1 m)
Length: 127 ft (38.7 m)
Interior cabin width: 129 inches (3.28 m)
BOEING 787-8 DREAMLINER
Number of aircraft available: 2
Seat capacity: Business Class 22 and 240 Economy Class
Number of flight-deck crew: 2
Range: 13,621 km (7,355 Nm)
Typical cruising speed: 488 knots (561 mph or 903 km/hr)
Thrust per engine at sea level: 64,000 lbf / 280 kN
Wingspan: 197 ft 3 in (60.12 m)
Length: 186 ft 1 in (56.72 m)
Interior cabin width: 18 ft 0 inch (5.49 m)
FREE BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE
Air Tanzania has a free allowance for passengers’ baggage across economy and business class. For full details and rates please see our website www.airtanzania.co.tz or contact booking enquiries 0800 110045
Passports and visas
A valid passport or travel document that is valid for at least six months is required to enter the United Republic of Tanzania.
Visitors will also require a valid visa upon arrival. There are a range of visas available depending on the nature and frequency of your visits, but a single entry visa can be obtained on arrival in Tanzania subject to the fulfilment of all immigration requirements. There is a US$ 50 charge for the visa.
For a full list of visas available and for countries for which special terms exist, visit the Air Tanzania website.
Check-in
Check in online, if possible. If travelling with hand luggage alone, you can check in online and print or download your boarding pass, which you must take with you directly to security checks. You should check in two
hours ahead of your flight time for domestic flights and three hours for international flights.
Family travel
Fares for infants and children
As a general rule, children up to two years old are not required to have their own seat and are allowed to travel on parents’ lap. An infant tickets costs 10 per cent of the regular fare. Depending on the destination, taxes and fees may apply. Please note that only 1 baby per adult is accepted. You can choose to buy a seat for your baby at the reduced rates for children if any children’s rate is applicable.
If your child is older than two years or turns two while you are travelling, you will have to book a separate seat for him or her and book the children fare for the entire journey. If a child travels with an accompanying adult in the same class of cabin, the child should be seated in the same seat row as the accompanying adult. Where this is not possible, the child should be seated no more than one seat row or aisle away. Reduced rates apply for children aged two to 11 on most routes, depending on the travel class. Children turning 12 years en route need to be booked as adults for the entire journey.
Expectant
mothers
Our priority is always your safety and that of your unborn child.
To avoid unnecessary risks to you and your baby, we recommend
ECONOMY
BUSINESS
that all expectant mothers consult a doctor before booking their ticket and inquire about their fitness to fly the length of the trip they intend to take.
Depending on the stage and circumstances of your pregnancy, you may be required to present certain medical forms before flying. For your own safety and the well-being of your child, Air Tanzania will not accept expectant mothers who are pregnant from their 36th week or beyond.
UMNR (children travelling alone) If you’re planning for your child to travel alone, we’re here to make sure they enjoy their trip and that they are well taken care of throughout their journey.
When you book our unaccompanied minor service, your child will be received at the originating airport, taken care of during transit and while on board the aircraft. He or she will be handed over to the person designated by the parents/ guardians upon arrival at the final destination.
Cost
To avail the unaccompanied minor service, an adult fare needs to be purchased for the child. Please contact us to book the flight and the service.
Infant fare checked baggage allowance
Infants travelling on an infant fare are allowed 10 kg as baggage allowance.
Child fare baggage allowance
Children and infants travelling on a child fare are eligible for the same baggage allowance as adults.
Wheelchairs
If you need wheelchair assistance at the airport, you must advise Air Tanzania of this at the time of booking. You can request wheelchair assistance through our Call Centre or at Air Tanzania Sales offices.
Inflight Wi-Fi
On board Wi-Fi
Enable Wi-Fi on your laptop, tablet or smartphone, and select AirTanzaniaWifi
You will need to launch your web browser, which will display the log-in web portal. From the portal, simply select your preferred price plan.
Portable electronic devices (PEDs) You can use your e-readers, tablets and smartphones from gate to gate – including taxiing, take-off and landing – without a risk to safety.
Note that on-board Wi-Fi is only available on certain aircraft. Please follow cabin crew instructions at all times.
For Booking & Enquiries: 0800 110045
www.airtanzania.co.tz
DISCOVER
Regional and international routes
TANZ ANIA
Active routes
Upcoming routes
Dar es Salaam
Zanzibar
Mwanza Geita
Arusha
Kilimanjaro
Mbeya
Kigoma
Dodoma
Bukoba
Tabora
Musoma
WHERE TO CONTACT US
CONTACT CENTRE
Location: ATC House, Ohio Street.
Email: contactcentre@airtanzania.co.tz
0800 110045 Toll Free (Tanzania only)
Tel: +255 022 212 5221
AIR TANZANIA CONTACTS
DAR ES SALAAM (HQ)
Location: ATC House, Ohio Street P.O Box 543
Office (JNIA) Tel: +255 222 117 500
Email: darairport.station@airtanzania.co.tz
ARUSHA
Location: Old Moshi Road, NSSF Mafao House
Email: arusha.station@airtanzania.co.tz
Tel: + 255 272 520 177/ +255 739 787 500
MBEYA
Location: Mbeya Mjini
Email: godfrey.Samanyi@airtanzania.co.tz
Mob: 0714 800 080 / 0737 800 090
COMOROS
Location: Immeuble MATELEC Moroni, Grande Comores
Email: com’airgsaatc@gmail.com
Tel: +269 3312570 / +269 3322058
BUKOBA
Location: Kawawa Rd. Block 1
Email: bukoba.station@airtanzania.co.tz
KILIMANJARO
Location: KIA
Email: arusha.station@airtanzania.co.tz
DODOMA
Location: Hatibu Road, Tofiki Street, CDTF Building
