Christmas cards with a Tanzanian twist

Christmas is hugely popular holiday in Tanzania, but the wintry imagery that often illustrates festive cards and decorations can seem a little out of place in a country in which you’d have to scale Mount Kilimanjaro to find any trace of snow and Rudolph the Reindeer’s troublesome nose is likely to be the result of forgetting the sunblock again.

But now you can get your Claus (sorry!) on some Tanzanianthemed Christmas cards thanks to an artist who works under the name Trailing Sprout. As he explains it, there is now “no need to send a ‘not very Tanzanian’ pine forest and snowman themed Christmas card this year. Rather go for Santa’s sleigh being pulled by a giraffe, a Kilimanjaro draped in Christmas lights or Rudolph being snagged by a crocodile while crossing the Mara river”.

The artist, who resides in Dar es Salaam, was asked to design the cards after a series of similarly Tanzanian-centric post cards he created proved a huge hit, selling more than 1,000 copies in Dar alone.

The Christmas cards are available to buy from outlets A Novel Idea, Make It Matter and TPH Bookshop in Dar, A Novel Idea in Arusha, and Kumi Gifts and Treats and East Africa Merchants Co. in Stone Town and Green Market in Paje on Zanzibar Island. To check out more of Trailing Sprout’s work, visit his Instagram page @trailing.sprout