Tanzania: How Visitors Enjoy a Day on Ukerewe Islands

opinion By Moses Matthew

Ukerewe islets are an ideal place to go if one wishes to get a feeling of the life of the lake people. The journey takes two hours by boat from Mwanza.

Usually, the boat leaves for the island twice a day, at 09 am and 02 pm. Large boats sail in the morning at 09:00 am from Mwanza's northern side of the port and in the afternoon from Mwaloni, Kirumba, or Mwanza Port dock. From Ukerewe, you may return in the morning or in the afternoon. Accommodation is available in a few small hotels in Nansio.

The list includes: Labima hotel, Kondeni hotel, Holiday Motel, Monarch beach resort and Bwiru cultural thatched simple traditional houses. Camping grounds are available in some villages; the Ukerewe cultural tourism programme guides visitors accordingly.

Monarch Hotel is only one kilometre from the ferry terminal to the west, although a newer and better equipped hotel is located near the main road into the interior of the island, a bit far from the lake.

At the Monarch Gallu Hotel one can take a bicycle tour to a village located under the banana and orange trees. By a motorcycle taxi ( boda boda) one can travel to Halwego Viewpoint, the highest point on the island with rocks and caves.

In the very west of the large island, which is about 35 kilometres long, is Rubya Beach Forest, an enormous pine tree forest with a fine wide, white sand beach for safe swimming.

The large Catholic Church of Kagunguli was built by the missionaries in the very beginning of the twentieth century. The nearby Bukindo Chief's Palace is believed to have been constructed in 1920 and completed in 1928. For a visit to the neighbouring Ukara Island one would need to see the dancing stone and for crossing one has to catch the ferry from Ukerewe.

Then, a tedious journey on a bodaboda to the quiet beach in the north of the island. The large population of Ukara cultivates intensively cassava or manioc fields and engages in fishing. Ukerewe is the largest island in Lake Victoria and the largest inland in Africa, with an area of approximately 530 km².

Ukerewe Island is situated in the Ukerewe District, nearly 50 km north of Mwanza to which it is linked by ferry, and it takes 3 to 4 hours to travel.

Ukerewe Island is situated 45 km (25 nautical miles) north of Mwanza to which it is linked by ferry, but a shorter vehicle ferry crossing of only 3.8 km also links the island across the Rugezi Channel to a dirt road on the eastern lake shore, which runs to Kibara and Musoma.

The shoreline of Ukerewe Island is carved into numerous bays and it is surrounded by 38 small islands surrounding the neighbourhood with 3 of them not occupied by humans and the rest are occupied by fishermen with their families.

Its largest community is Nansio. Its simple lifestyle and rocky terrain broken by lake vistas and tiny patches of forest, makes an interesting, unusual entertainment.

The few proper sights include the usual agricultural activities whereby residents cultivate maize, sweet potatoes, millet, cassava and rice. The main activity here is fishing.

At Kagunguli, there is the oldest Roman Catholic Church built in 1895 located near a hill with the same name; the old school and dispensary which were built between 1902 and 1913.

According to Mr Wilbard Edgid the Chief's palace, Bukindo was built in 1928 in the modest European-style palace of the island's former king, Kasyeza Ruhumbika.

The building is still in use and is a must see place if you are in the area. You may find out from the palace guide why one of its rooms has remained closed more than half a century.

Others include, Irondo point where visitors see amazing views of Mwanza city, Entebbe in Uganda and Nairobi in Kenya; a chance to be part of a traditional dance group Buzegwe staff band that is sure to leave you fascinated; a visit to the historic sites, including graves in the area.

As part of the activities here, visitors are introduced to local fishing, canoeing, biking, and village tour and more are mildly interesting, but the deeply rural life between them is the real attraction.