☰Bukoba

The most atmospheric spot in town is the Lake Hotel beer garden, which sits on the shore of Lake Victoria with views that are hard to beat anywhere in Tanzania. On Friday evenings it fills with expats, NGO workers, and Bukoba's professional class. Beer is cold, service is slow, and nobody seems to mind.

Around the corner from the Lake Hotel, the Bukoba Club is the kind of old colonial institution that somehow survives. You get mshikaki, chips, and cold beers, and can follow up with a game of snooker or darts. It feels agreeably worn-in and local — less of an expat scene than the Lake Hotel, more a neighbourhood bar for people who actually live here. The NBC Club, owned by employees of the National Bank of Commerce and located near the NBC bank, runs on similar lines: mshikaki, chicken, drinks, and a television in the corner showing whatever football is on.

For daytime caffeine and a bite, the Space Bar (near the Red Cross) pulls in a mixed crowd for chicken, chipsi mayai, and a variety of drinks. The Rose Café is the volunteer and NGO crowd's default meeting point — run by Zully and Moshi, both English speakers — and works well for fruit juice and a cheap meal through the afternoon.

Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham — The definitive narrative history of European colonisation in Africa, covering the German occupation of what is now mainland Tanzania (then German East Africa) in compelling detail. The chapter on the East African campaigns of the First World War puts Bukoba's history — including the 1915 British raid — in full context. If you want to understand why the town looks the way it does, start here.

The Zanzibar Chest by Aidan Hartley — A foreign correspondent's memoir partly set in East Africa, written with unusual honesty about the contradictions of reporting from a continent in crisis. It covers Tanzania, Kenya, and the Great Lakes region during the turbulent 1990s and reads nothing like standard war journalism.

Weep Not, Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o — Kenya's most celebrated novelist writes about East African colonial experience in a way that resonates across the region. Set during the Mau Mau uprising but rooted in the everyday texture of life under foreign rule that Bukoba and the Lake Victoria shore shared. This is the place to start with Ngũgĩ; A Grain of Wheat is the masterpiece but harder going.

Lake Victoria by Hannelore Bublitz — A detailed account of the ecology and human geography of Lake Victoria, covering all three shoreline countries. Combines natural history with the social and economic realities of the communities that depend on the lake — fishing villages, water hyacinth, Nile perch, and the people caught between them.

Afternoons

Rose Café — Next to Cosmopolitan. Pilau, matoke, beans, sambusas, kababu, andazi, mchicha, fruit juices. A meeting and message place for volunteers. Run by Zully and Moshi who both speak good English.

Pizzeria — Near the market. Pizza (chicken, veg, meat), sausages and chips. Only open in the mornings.

Kashozi Snacks — Inexpensive fish, rice, matoke and pilau.

Kolping Café — Across from the Kahawa Guest House near the cathedral. Inexpensive fish, meat, rice and matoke. TV.

Dollar's Café — Across from the market. Inexpensive fish, meat, rice and matoke.

Ujirani Mwema Restaurant — Next to the ELCT bookstore in town. Inexpensive meat, fish, rice, matoke, beans, mchicha. Breakfast includes eggs, chapati, cake, omelet, tea and juice.

Bona Bana Café — Between the Red Cross and Nyumba ya Vijana. Inexpensive fish, beef, matoke, rice, ugali. TV (CNN news is often shown at 1 pm).

Space Bar — Around the corner from the Red Cross. Chicken, mshikaki, chipsi mayai, many drinks, TV.

Immigration Café — In the Immigration Office on the road to the port. Inexpensive fish, beef, rice, matoke, beans, sodas, passion juice.

Evenings

Lake Hotel — Superb view of the lake, good variety of food and drink (though a bit expensive and slow service), TV, music, indoor restaurant and outdoor beer garden. Popular expat hangout in the evenings, particularly Friday nights.

Edan Hotel — Near the Red Cross. Good variety of food (though a bit expensive and slow service). Clean, new and popular. Friendly proprietor. TV, pool table.

Bukoba Club — Near the Lake Hotel. Mshikaki, chips, chipsi mayai, beer and sodas. Tennis, table tennis, snooker, darts.

West End Restaurant — Near the bus stand. Good variety of food, some expensive, sometimes slow service. TV, music.

Spice Beach Hotel — OK food, expensive beer, nice location on the lake, conveniently near the port. Service extremely slow.

NBC Club — Near the NBC bank (owned by NBC employees). Mshikaki, chicken, chips, drinks, TV, music.

**Minibus (daladala)

**Daladalas run at least daily between smaller towns (e.g. Muleba 2000/=, Nshamba 2000/=, Rubya 2500/=, Karagwe 3000/=). They leave when full, which can often involve a very long wait, and are very crowded.

**Taxi

**Taxis can be found at the market, near the bus stand and at the port. Journeys are at least 1000/= and the same price regardless of the number of passengers.

**Bicycle

**Bicycle taxis can be found around the market. They are technically illegal (and therefore uncomfortable since the rack above the rear wheel may not be padded for passengers) and somehow unsafe but widely used for short journeys, which are as cheap as 100/=. Women normally ride side-saddle, which appears modest but particularly unsafe.

Air — The airport is on Aerodrome Road along the lake. Precision Air, Eagle Air and Air Tanzania run services to Mwanza daily (about 40,000/=), where you can get a connection to Dar, Kampala, Nairobi, etc. A return ticket to Dar costs about 230,000/=.

Boat — Unless you can afford a flight, the best way to Mwanza is by boat. The ferry MV Victoria leaves Bukoba on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at about 9–10 pm and arrives in Mwanza the next morning around 8 am. It leaves Mwanza on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at about 9 pm and arrives in Bukoba around 8 am. First class is 13,000/= (two per cabin), second class 10,700/= (six per cabin) or 8,100/= sitting, third class 7,600/= (very crowded, not recommended). Book tickets in advance at the port.

Train — Trains do not come to Bukoba, but there are trains from Mwanza to Dar es Salaam (about two days) or Kigoma via Tabora. First or second class is recommended; book well in advance.

Bus — The bus stand is in the centre of town. Falcon Coach runs to Kampala on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, returning to Bukoba on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays (5–7 hours, 10,000/=). Book tickets in advance at the nearby Falcon/Tawfiq office. Other buses go to Kigoma, Kasulu and Kibondo. Trips to Bujumbura and Kigali are each about 12 hours.

Market

Soko Kuu (Main Market) — Fairly large and in the centre of town. Sections for fruits, vegetables, matoke, grains, spices, beef, fish, chickens, clothing, sewing machines, shoe shines, and assorted items in hundreds of stalls both in and around the covered market area. Most food items are sold by the kilogram. Prices are negotiable — you may get a discount if you ask in Kiswahili, buy large quantities, or visit the same vendor frequently.

Supermarkets

Fido Dido Supermarket — Near the market. Many packaged and some refrigerated western goods, including bread, biscuits and soft drinks. Self-service like a western supermarket. Prices are on the expensive side as most items are imported from Uganda and Kenya. Open daily until 8:30 pm weekdays, 7 pm weekends; closed for lunch 1–2:30 pm.

Cosmopolitan Provision Store ("Mama Cosmo") — Between the Rose Café and the NBC bank. Western goods including two types of cheese, beer by the case and wine. Similar to Fido Dido but slightly cheaper; not open as late and you must ask for each item.

The Blue Shop is across Jamhuri Road from the market on a side street; others are between Fido Dido and the Net Pharmacy, and on Kashozi Road near the Cyber Centre.

Office Supplies

Benny Bazaar — Many office supplies and services including photocopies (50/= each), stationery, electronics and computer supplies.

Kagera General Traders — Photocopies, stationery, art supplies and diskettes. On the main street across from the market.

Photocopy House — On Mosque Street near Precision Air. Many office supplies and services. Friendly owner.

Migini Secretarial Services — One office across from the market, another near the Lake Hotel. Basic office supplies and services.

Miscellaneous

Film and Photo Processing — Next to Benny Bazaar: Kagera Photo Studio and Shelui. On the same road next to Danico: Ponny Express.

Passport Photos — On Mosque Street near Precision Air.

Music — Perhaps the best selection is in a shop on Mosque Street near Precision Air. Music from Kagera, Tanzania, East, Central and Southern Africa, reggae, R&B, etc. Cassettes are 1,000/= each.

Gulam Jaffer — Between the Cyber Centre and Benny Bazaar. Housewares and electrical goods.

Linas Shopping Centre — On the corner of Jamhuri Road and Biashara Street between the market and the Cyber Centre. Mountain bicycles, office chairs, stereos, electronics and other goods.

V. J. Mistry & Co. Ltd. — Between the market and NBC Club.

Bukoba is not a major tourist destination but rewards time spent exploring at the lake's edge. The Kagera Museum near the lakeshore has a wildlife photography exhibition and traditional artefacts from the region. Musira Island is accessible by boat and has a small fishing village. The German colonial buildings near the Lake Hotel are a reminder of early 20th-century history. Nyamukazi fishing village is a 20-minute walk from the centre past the airport. The Bukoba Club has tennis, snooker, and other sports facilities open to visitors.