Essential

15 December 2018 0 By inmybagpack

After 4 weeks spen in Tanzania and 1 week in Zanzibar, it’s time to sum up some practical aspects about Tanzanian lifestyle.

| BEEING A TOURIST I’M TANZANIA

Our experience in Arusha confirms what we have seen in all African countries so far. When you talk with someone by the street side or simply ask for your way, the person you are talking with will most probably ask you for some “contribution”. For a lot of Tanzanian (who have a thought life) the mzongo (wich means white person) is a potential source of money… You should always be aware about any type of scams.

This negativ part put aside, most of the people we met were very kind and helpful. It’s always difficult to establish a conversation with a non-English speaker. If you speak some basic Swahili it will help you a lot to get accepted by local population. Overall, you shouldn’t worry too much, in touristic places you’ll always find someone who speaks English. For the rest of the time, they will be always someone around who will help you out.

When we were living in Arusha, we got used to get some greatings (mzongo!) from children at every street corner. Whereas in Zanzibar locals are used to see tourists. Nobody was paying attention to us.
The only moment we felt people lokking at us was when we took the daladala (local bus) from Stone town to Nungwi. People were very nice and made some space to give us a good seat.

| SOME USEFUL WORDS

Below you can find few Swahili words that will help you to start a conversation or understand what’s happening around you.

Hello: Mambo where you should answer Powa

Hello to a old person: Shikamo he will answerMaharba

Welcome: Karibu

Thank you: Asenté

Thanks a lot: Assante sana

A little bit: Kidogo

Cold: Baridi

How much: Sengapi

No: Apana

I don’t want: Sitaki

Ok : Sawa

It’s ok : ni sawa

No problem: Akuna Matata

Friend: Rafiki

1 : Modja

2 : Mbili

3 : Tatu

4 : Née

5 : Tano

| FOOD

During this few weeks we could taste many local dishes. For every lunch we got Ugali (Cassava based dish) served with some spinach or cabbage. This dish is very cheap and is eaten by every Tanzanian inhabitant for lunch. For dinner we got rice with beans, sometimes with chicken, fish or pasta… All day long you’ll be able to find chips mayaye which is a dish composed with french fries mixed in an omlette with salad on top. You can ask to add mishkake which is skewered beef. This last dish was Jan’s favorite and saved him from a culinary depression. At breakfast we loved Nitumba or mangasies: a rice cake, find the recipe here, and also Ciapati: sort of Indian pancake, find the recipe here.

Rice and cassava are the 2 major ingredients for Tanzanian cooking. You’ll be also able to find very tasty fruits, vegetables or samoussa. Those are very cheap compared to western prices.

At Zanzibar we could taste the delicious Zanzibar pizza, find the recipe here. We could also find lot of fresh fish and seafood. Jan enjoyed some local soup and some Tangawizi chaï (street sold traditional ginger tea). Like in Tanzania you can find a lot of fruits, vegetables and samoussa.

| HOW TO MOVE AROUND

Their are many transportation possibilities: airplane, train, bus, daladala (small shared bus), Bajaj (tuk tuk), taxi or bodaboda (motorbike lift).
At main bus stations it’s usually quite difficult to find out which bus is yours. Often it’s good to ask to ask the helper ( person in charge of stopping the car and collect the money) which one you have to take.
For the taxi, try to ask some locals for an average price. Make shure you agreed on a price before you step in.
Buses are fast and confortable, private companies offer AC and are very suitable for long distances.
Bodaboda is very quick and quiet cheap. Be careful and don’t hesitate to ask the driver to slow down because it’s quite dangerous. You don’t want to have an accident in this country.