We arrived in the late afternoon in Tanzania’s second-largest city, Mwanza, known as ‘the City of Rock’. It is the economic heart of the lake region, situated on the shore of Lake Victoria, surrounded by hills strewn with enormous boulders. Afternoon traffic was terrible, so we drove straight to the Yacht Club, a real oasis on the shores of Lake Victoria. It was a great parking location with all the sights within walking distance. There were two restaurants, but our favorite was the one next door, at the Tilapia Hotel, which served excellent food on the terrace overlooking a lovely swimming pool on one side and the majestic Lake Victoria on the other. It is the resting place of SS Buganda, a steamer serving the Uganda Railway till 1980. Built for the Imperial British East Africa Company by Bow, McLachlan & Co. in 1925, it has now been converted into a hotel suite.
Mwanza is notable for its strong Indian influences, as well as for being a major industrial centre and a busy port. Yet despite its rapidly rising skyline, Mwanza manages to retain a casual feel. For us, it was a refreshing stop on the way back to Kenya. The next day, we walked to Mwanza’s icon, Bismarck Rock, a precariously balanced boulder atop the lovely jumble of rocks in the lake next to the Kamanga ferry pier. From there, we strolled down Temple Street through the market to a statuesque fig tree clambering out of an immense rock outcrop. We almost certainly became aware of the sound of hammering, as if miners were chiselling at the granite boulders. We climbed the steps and found ourselves in a clattering jumble of metal workshops. This little quarter, known as Makaroboi St, is where thousands of cooking pots, tin chests, and kerosene lamps are hammered out.
After that, we visited the old German mansion, a Mwanza landmark with great views of the city and lake. It was a controversial clinic founded by Robert Koch, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1905 for his research on tuberculosis. But these days, he is considered a controversial figure for the research facilities that he described as ‘concentration camps’. It was nicely renovated, and nowadays, it is an artists’ centre led by Victor and Eduard.
Then we walked around two large Hindu temples, Sree Sanatan and spectacular Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, which face each other across the lane. We continued through the market and around the old train station back to the Yacht Club.
Parking location – Mwanza: 2.529006S 32.894690E (🚻,🚿,💦,🅿️10 USD/pax)