Loving the Lake Zone - Kagera Region, Tanzania

With Mwanza, Geita-Chato and Bukoba airports among Air Tanzania’s network of domestic destinations, no other carrier can match the access we give our passengers to the country’s Lake Zone. This most north-western corner of Tanzania has rarely registered on the tourism radar, but our flights are revealing what everyone has been missing. To highlight some of the hidden treasures of the Kagera region Twiga has called upon award-winning Bukoba-based travel company Kiroyera Tours, which has been organising amazing community-based tourism experiences there for the past 20 years. Mary Kaikawe – the company’s director and one of five sisters behind the family-run operation – reveals the breath-taking mountains, wildlife-packed national parks, rich culture and beautiful beaches that await you.

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Intriguing islands

The Lake Zone offers the chance to travel off the beaten track and discover legendary lake islands with fascinating stories to tell. Among them is Ukerewe, the largest island in Lake Victoria and the largest inland island in Africa. It is approximately 530 km² and is surrounded by over 10 smaller islands. It has an intriguing European history, but today it is best known for providing a safe haven for Tanzanians living with albinism and for its indigenous Kerewe people, whose arresting culture includes the carving of large wooden figures, about 90 cm high, in tribute to former chiefs. The island’s simple rural life is based on community values and sustainable living, including highly successful farming techniques in which every patch of land and tree is individually cared for and owned. A visit here brings a chance to experience a part of Africa few have seen.

Fantastic food

The Bahaya people that live in the Kagera region on the western side of Lake Victoria are well known for their food and hospitality. It’s a fertile part of the country with the lush landscape dominated by farmland and fresh produce is a key part of the Bahaya cuisine. Traditional favourites include cooked green bananas, yams, local fruits, staple green vegetables and, of course, plenty of fresh fish from Lake Victoria. Mary says: “The food is traditionally served on an aromatic banana leaf laid on a bed of grass and you eat by hand while sitting on mats on the floor.” There are also plenty of opportunities to take a tour of the vanilla, banana or coffee farms that pepper the region, where you’ll get a chance to sample the produce.

Wonderful waterways

The Kagera River carries water from the source of the Nile and flows into Lake Victoria, along the. way forming a natural border between Tanzania and its triptych of neighbours – Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi – in the north west. In this way, a trip along the river gives true insight into this remote corner of Tanzania and beyond. The river’s eastern bank meets Ibanda Kyerwa Park, one of Tanzania’s newest national parks, and provides nourishment for its rich resources. Mary says: “Besides Kagera River and Lake Victoria other significant water bodies are River Ngono, which has scenic valley views from rising escarpments. There is also Lake Ikimba and Lake Burigi.”

Beautiful birds

The Lake Zone has a range of habitats to support a biodiverse bird population. It is home to more than 400 species of birds and visitors can view a wide variety of birds on any one day, including Malabou storks, kites, kingfishers, bee-eaters, weavers and swallows. Few know more about bird life in the region than Kiroyera Tours guide Mugashe, who is Bukoba born and has been leading tours across the Lake Zone for more than 40 years. He started out as a tour guide in the Lake Manyara National Park, introducing the wildlife of the area to visitors that included a then young US senator named Barack Obama. Both were bound for bigger things with Mugashe soon selected to work in the world-famous Serengeti National Park, helping to spread understanding of the work done there. Now back in Bukoba, he works as a school teacher, but any free time is spent on the shores of Lake Victoria bird watching. It’s a passion he is only too happy to share and he is available to lead tours on foot or by boat on Lake Victoria.

Best beaches

Tanzania’s white sand beaches along its Indian Ocean coastline may grab the headlines, but it also has some excellent freshwater beaches around Lake Victoria. Malaika Beach Resort, in Mwanza, is an exclusive option with its private beach and infinity pool while Chato Beach Resort is ideally placed for trips to Rubondo Island National Park. Kiroyera has its own campsite and base for its tours at Maruku Paradise Beach, which was given the name by colonial visitors who frequented the spot when Bukoba was part of German East Africa in the late 19th century and were struck by its pristine sands. The beach lies 25 km south of the city and the drive from town passes the Kyamunene waterfall, which Maria stays is well worth stopping off at.

Bustling Bukoba

Bukoba can trace its roots back to 1890 when German troops built a boma here to guard against the British, who were ruling Uganda, invading what was then German East Africa. Now, the bustling city is the capital of the Kagera region and is Tanzania’s second largest port on Lake Victoria. Its setting is breathtakingly picturesque, occupying the western shores of the lake and with the Kamachumu escarpment looming above it. Kiroyera showcases the natural beauty of Bukoba with hiking tours among these rocky uprisings, which afford incredible views over the city and of the Ngono River as it meanders into the lake. At the trail’s highest point is the Bugonzi waterfall while the descent offers the chance to visit a traditional Haya house, called a mushonge, which Kiroyera has turned into a museum full of artefacts that reveal how the early inhabitants of this land lived. Visitors are assured of a warm welcome in Bukoba. The city – along with the rest of the Kagera region – is renowned for its diversity, tolerance and understanding. The African Roman Catholic Cardinal, Laurian Rugambwa, was born in the city and today it houses the strikingly space age Bukoba Cathedral, but there are also impressive cathedrals, mosques and jamats here. All faiths are made welcome.

Creative culture

For five centuries the Kagera region was split into nine fiercely patriarchal kingdoms that were often at war with each other. Their kings lived in elaborate palaces, one of which, Kanazi Palace – once home to King Kanazi – still stands in Bukoba and, Mary says, is a popular breakfast stop-off on Kiroyera city tours. European colonisation and the spread of Christianity ate away at the influence of the kingdoms before Tanzanian independence and President Nyerere’s drive for national unity brought about their end. The Haya people were some of the earliest inhabitants of the area and they have been linked to one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time – the invention of steel, which it is believed they started forging 2,500 years ago, long before equivalent techniques were known in Europe. Mary says the Bukoba tour includes a visit to Katuruka historical site, which preserves the oldest-known iron-smelting furnace in east, central and southern Africa.

New national parks

The Kagera region is home to two of Tanzania’s newest national parks. The Burigi Chato National Park is surrounded by the Kagera River and Lake Burigi, which nourish the grassland landscape and attract good numbers of elephant, giraffe, lion, leopard and buffalo. You can extend your safari adventure by also taking in the Ibanda-Kyerwa National Park, which attracts animals like herds of buffalo, zebra, topi, eland, impala, waterbuck, reedbuck and giraffe as well as leopard to its open savannah grasslands.

Jambo for development

The innovative Haya people of the Kagera region are well known for valuing formal education. However, there is still a high number of vulnerable children living in the region’s rural areas that need help to fulfil their potential and dreams of a better life.

This is where non-profit organisation Jambo For Development – which has its headquarters in the region’s capital and was formerly known as Jambo Bukoba – comes in. Since 2010 it has been fostering a conducive learning environment in local schools, running training sessions for teachers so they can pass on valuable life skills such as communication, teamwork and problem solving to pupils and equip them for adult life.

These skills are put to the test at regular school sports competitions in the region called Bonanzas. The winners are rewarded with a host of enhancements for their schools, such as new classrooms and toilets, rain harvesting water tanks, drilling water wells and sanitary pads distribution to increase attendance and performance for girls.

So far the organisation, with the help of the local government and communities, has helped transform 63 schools in the region and reach more than 50,000 pupils with its work.

While the Bonanzas are competitive, the emphasis is on fun and inclusivity with girls and differently abled pupils encouraged to take part.

For more details on Jambo For Development, its projects and how you can involved as a donor or volunteer, visit jambofordevelopment.org

KIROYERA TOURS

Kiroyera, which translates as “turn the dark day bright” is a family-run tour company that offers excursions and experiences across Tanzania, but which has had a transformative effect on the Kagera region where the Bukoba-based business began. Here it has involved the community in its efforts to showcase this remote but rewarding part of the country to tourists. As well as setting up a museum and beach-side leisure facility in Bukoba it aims to get the next generation interested in the region’s Haya heritage and culture with a Saturday Tourism School, mountain climbing classes and a beach kids’ club. For more information on its work and tours, visit kiroyeratours.com, email info@kiroyeratours.com or call +22 759 424 933.