COS Trip: Mwanza

I was up early since it was so hot in that tiny room. I stumbled out for an early breakfast and a quest to find a new place to stay. I will not stay at Lake Hotel again! I found a nice looking hotel on the main street in the city center and booked a single room for the night. I moved my stuff in and headed out to find some internet and activities. Mwanza definitely is a hole I would not recommend to anyone. It’s the second largest city in Tanzania and the hub for Lake Victoria’s industry. People are not so friendly, they don’t speak English, and no one seems to be able/willing to help me. I guess Mwanza was a mistake. The streets are chaotic and traffic is horrible; motorcycles and cars and trucks and bicycles and people. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It was way worse than it was in Dar. I first checked out the safari tour booking place and found exorbitant priced safaris in the Serengeti that would end me in Arusha (the tourist hub of Tanzania) and then made my way to the bus ticket office and found a bus ticket out on Friday morning. Buses don’t run every day. Then I searched out the market and wandered around a bit. A man started following me and eventually tried to be my city tour guide. I let him show me around the market, but regretted it later as he wanted me to pay him for a city tour. Um…no! I found a local pizzeria that was recommended in Lonely Planet that had wonderful sandwiches and headed back to the hotel. I went to a little park on Lake Victoria to watch the sunset and it was lovely. Then, not knowing how safe I really was in this city I stumbled into, I booked it back to the hotel for the night. In the morning, I think I’ll head back out to the market and find a few things I’ve been wanting to get for a while.