Journey Impressions: Arusha

Arusha: approx. 0.27 m inhabitants (2009)
Tanzania: approx. 42.5 m inhabitants
Population growth (2008): 2.7%
People per km²: 45
Gross national income per person in 2008 PPP: 1,230 USD


13.11.2010 Arusha: Once we had arrived in Hotel Arusha, we phoned Peter Munene, the director of the DSW office in Tanzania. We arranged to meet the next morning at 8.30 a.m. We planned a one-day tour of various places where the DSW is active.

14.11.2010/Arusha: In the DSW office, we discussed a trip to the Faraja Vocational Training Center. This centre is primarily a refuge for young women who have been the victims of sexual or domestic violence. They got pregnant, were abandoned by husbands or friends and rejected by their own families. Now they are left to their own devices with their children and without any training. This training centre accommodated 24 young women, aged between 18 and 24, and about ten children. We found visiting this centre very moving because the women gave us a very friendly reception and did everything to make our visit a pleasurable one. They sang to us, showed us their children, their kitchen and above all the different responsibilities they have in the refuge. They learn how to sew, dye fabrics, draw and complete minor sewing tasks. As a result, they can make products that they can sell on the street or elsewhere. Therefore, they do have a small income at least. Staying in this refuge opens up new perspectives for young, pregnant girls. Without this support, they would have had a much more difficult future to face. We were impressed how confident they were. By the way, this training centre is funded by the European Union. Co-financing with the MUT Foundation was carried out so that EU funding was possible at all. The most important person in the Faraja Training Centre was the director, Mama Sira.

Afterwards we talked to a TV channel and the press about our activities. After the meal and a very friendly farewell, we visited a youth club called Tupendane which translated means 'Let's love each other'. This youth club is also run by the DSW. Only girls are members of this club. We had quite an amusing discussion. We were shown what kinds of handicrafts and other projects the girls had made. They sell them of course to in order to improve their income. We asked them why they were members in the club. And above all how the young men react when they hear that they learn about sexuality, health and family planning in this club. The responses were clear. All believed that they were now given more respect and were more attractive - to the young men too. This was a result welcomed by everybody and a tribute to the work of this youth club. It shows how this type of work can even influence young men. As a result, their regard for the young women translates into better family planning.

We ended the afternoon with a visit to the communal institute for training young people. In this case, the DSW also has a partnership to give young people information and knowledge about sexuality, health and family planning. In our presence, these young people conducted a very interesting discussion on their co-operation with local politicians and the local authorities. They also reported that through the work in the youth clubs they had gained more respect and esteem than was previously the case.
Both here and at the Faraja Vocational Training Centre, we did of course talk about our flight around Africa. Above all we confirmed that with all the impressions gained we now had a completely different concept of Africa. It is not the negative news that prevails, but the positive news from the countries we had visited till then.

We thought it was a very exciting and extremely interesting day with lots of contact to young people from Tanzania. Tomorrow morning, we will do an organised tour to the Serengeti, stay one night and then fly on to Lilongwe the following day.

15.11.2010 Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro Crater: The plan today was to head off for Tarangire National Park with a driver and a jeep. Basically we are talking about the Serengeti, just as Bernhard Grzimek described it at the time.

After about a three-hour drive through Arusha and a few other little towns, we reached the National Park. Here we did an in-depth tour with our driver Mohamed which took us through the whole of the Serengeti. The biggest number of elephants per km² live in Tarangire National Park. And we really did see a lot of them pass through the area. We also encountered herds of giraffes, gnus, zebras and a few African ostriches. We also spotted several leopards and last but not least antelopes, an important ingredient in a lion's diet. It's a fantastic experience driving a whole day through such a vast area and constantly experiencing a whole host of different animals in the wild.

After we had completed the round trip through the National Park, Mohamed took us to Ngorongoro Crater which is volcanic. It has a 30 km radius and covers more than 260 km². We were really looking forward to reaching this crater and observing wild animals there the next day.

We stayed the night at Hotel Serena on the edge of the crater. We were pleasantly surprised by this hotel. It is built solely from natural lava rocks. All the rooms have a view from the edge of the crater and into the crater. The hotel is located about 500 to 600 m above the floor of the crater. In total, the crater is approx 3,000 m high. As a result, it is a lot cooler here and only about 15° at night.

We spent the evening watching a Maasai dance group and enjoying the buffet.

16.11.2010 Ngorongoro Crater and Arusha: The next morning the crater was obscured by low-hanging cloud and it was raining. It looked as if it wasn't going to be a nice day. We got on our rainproof clothing and then drove further into the crater by jeep. Surprisingly the animals were out and about despite the poor weather. This time we primarily saw buffalo, but also large herds of zebra and antelope. We also encountered a pride of lions, several leopards, jackals and hyenas. In the afternoon we discovered some hippos. A highlight was the black rhino with its typically bulky shape, short legs and two famous horns. We saw it from the road. At the end of our tour in the afternoon, we saw several, very large forest elephants with pretty big tusks. These were bull elephants. Our tour drew to a close and had given us a marvellous overview of the whole volcano region.

When we reached Arusha in the evening, we asked our driver Mohamed to accompany us to Arusha's central market. This is where all kinds of vegetables, meat and clothing are on offer. There was quite a melee here. We weren't taken any more notice of than other visitors to the market who were jostling their way through - just like us. As it was starting to get dark, I took a couple more photos. Afterwards we returned to the hotel to prepare ourselves for the next day, the flight to Lilongwe.