We almost made it to the Rwandan border by crossing Tanzania overland. We caught three ferries, five inter-town dalla dallas, eleven buses, a taxi and a pick-up. We tried to catch a fourth ferry and some trains but services were suspended. We travelled on the worst roads I have ever come across. I lost count […]

There are lots of reasons why people choose to have kids, but for many women in Tanzania, the word ‘choice’ may not be the most appropriate one. No one is arguing that the birthrate here isn’t high. The Daily News, one of Tanzania’s newspapers, recently listed the country as having one of the 10 youngest […]

I’ve always known that reading about an exotic location while you’re actually in that location heightens your experience of any given book. If I hadn’t figured it out on my own, I’m sure the section at the front of each Lonely Planet guide would have tipped me off. Among others, I’ve been lucky enough to […]

We’ve been staying on a farm in the Usumbara Mountains above Lushoto for a few nights. For the past seven years, it’s been run by a Swede and a South African from the German Lutheran church. Over dinner last night, the inevitable question arose: Why doesn’t Tanzania work? It’s certainly something that this couple has […]

I’ve caught a handful of dalla dallas in the last few weeks (the cheap, local minibuses that buzz around n between the towns of Tanzania). They’re crowded. Very crowded. And I’m quite sure they’re not safe. I’m not sure what it is about them that makes me leap to such a conclusion. In Australia, everything […]

On the ferry between Pemba Island and mainland Tanzania there was a video playing in the lounge area. It was, as a man I met on the trip described, ‘preaching to pictures’. I met Abdul in a cheap guesthouse the night before the weekly ferry was due to leave for mainland. He is one of […]

As we’re getting back to normal life after our election, Tanzania is gearing up for theirs. Amid a continent of countries suffering the effects of famine and civil war, Tanzania is considered to be one of the success stories, with widespread religious tolerance, and moderate and balanced politics. Five years since the last election, the […]