Iringa and Onward

Iringa seems to be a prosperous town.  Of course, that impression was probably reinforced by the fact that we stayed in an area near some middle- and upper-class homes.  But, still, it is cleaner than most cities in Tanzania, and we ran into far fewer beggars and hustlers even in the market.

We stayed at the Neema Umaki Guest House, part of the Neema Crafts center, where disabled people can learn a trade and find employment.  There is a workshop and the products made therein are sold at the gift shop.  A restaurant, with food designed to appeal to Western travelers, has deaf waiters.  (Customers write what they want on a piece of paper and hand them the order).  And the workers in the guest house have disabilities of various kinds.  This is very unusual in Tanzania, where those with physical challenges have very few opportunities for training or employment.

The Neema guest house hosted guests from several different countries while we were there, but it was at a local pub where we met 3 people who are in Tanzania as part of Korea's version of the Peace Corps.  Two of them are teaching in secondary schools (biology and computers) but the third is teaching Tae Kwon Do to police officers in Dar es Salaam.  We thought that was fascinating.

We did some sight-seeing while we were in the Iringa area.  First, walking distance from our hotel, was Gangilonga Rock, which means "the talking rock" in the tribal language of Hehe.  In the late 1800s, Chief Mkwawa, who led insurrections against the occupying German rule, used the rock as a place of meditation.  It was there that he learned that the Germans were coming to try to capture him.     

The second place we went, somewhat outside of town, is a spot where prehistoric rock paintings were discovered in 2010.  (Discovered, that is, by a Western scholar.  The local villagers have known about them all along.)  Although there are many more, and more elaborate, rock paintings a couple of hundred miles north of this location, these were fun to look at, with their identifiable zebras, giraffes, and even, perhaps, an elephant.

The road from Iringa to Dodoma is still under construction.   Only about half of it is paved, but it is graded, and reported to be much better than in the past, when it was very rough.  It winds through low mountains, and there are many hairpin curves--with no barriers on the side of the road.  Along the way we must have seen hundreds of baobab trees, with their massive trunks to hold moisture in the dry season, and high, small branches out of the reach of herbivores.

Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, is a planned city with wide boulevards.  We treated ourselves to lunch at the New Dodoma Hotel (a very snazzy place indeed!)  There, we met an Italian pediatrician who has lived in this country for 30 years.  Turns out he knows a couple of our Peace Corps colleagues, and was eager to talk about the area.  He ended up taking us in his car to see the University of Dodoma, which is brand-new, modern, and enormous.  His particular interest was in the almost-finished diagnostic hospital that is going up on campus.  We were impressed by the building, but all three of us wondered where the funds will come from to run it on a daily basis.

While walking around the city, looking at impressive churches, mosques, and government buildings, we saw a small guest house.  The sign proclaiming it the "Chinese Safari Lodge" included a painting of the Statue of Liberty.  Even in the booming capital city, Tanzanian quirkiness abounds.

Leaving Dodoma was an adventure.  We bought bus tickets for a trip leaving at 8:15 a.m. the next morning.  We arrived at the bus station before 8:00, only to find that the bus had already pulled out.  Helpful young men at the station (there are always "helpful" young men at bus stations)  beckoned us to a taxi and told the driver about the situation.  We confirmed the price (5000 shillings, or just over $3) and jumped into the cab, which went racing through the streets.  We caught up to the bus, which pulled over at a bus stop.  Leapt out of the taxi and ran to the bus before it could leave.  Climbed aboard only to find two men sitting in our assigned seats.  The bus company had sold our already-reserved spots!  Luckily, there were a couple of extra on the bus, so everyone ended up sitting, not standing, for the trip.

We arrived in Singida about mid-day.  Checking into the guest house, we met 4 South Africans who were touring East Africa on their BMW motorcycles.  Now, BMWs are huge, sturdy machines with comfortable rides, but still...  Buses and trucks give no room to smaller vehicles of any type here, and regularly force them off the road.  Ironically, the South Africans thought we were brave for taking buses around the country.     

The next day, after our experience in Dodoma, we arrived at the bus stand 30 minutes before our bus was due to leave....and sat there for the next hour and a half until it pulled out.  You just never can tell.  Guess that's why the Peace Corps training emphasizes that we must be flexible and patient.      

That was the last leg of our trip, and we arrived back at our Tanzanian home tired, but happy that we had seen so much more of the country.