Day 90: Biharamulo (Starlight Hotel) – Bukoba (Balamaga B&B)

Without good earplugs, it would have been a miserable night. So we slept decently and still weren't "running" smoothly.

Staying in Birahamulo for a day isn't appealing, just as it wasn't at our previous spot. However, we'd like to take a day's rest before moving on to Uganda, so we're looking for a suitable place in Bukoba. Not easy. Basically, all hotels are more or less suitable for spending the night in the parking lot. So we decide to treat ourselves to two nights and head for the Balamaga B&B.

They actually exist: accommodations with intact insect screens on the windows. With windows and doors that close. A shower that doesn't flood the bathroom and room. Not a sand or clay floor, but paved, which isn't a flowerbed or lawn. This luxury costs us 44 euros a night, including breakfast.

And yes, we have a view of Lake Victoria! It's kind of unbelievable. It's the largest lake in Africa, about the size of Bavaria, and the second largest in the world by area. Lake Tanganyika is longer from north to south and deeper, and has the second largest water volume after Lake Baikal. Two superlative lakes, only a two-day drive apart.

The route initially takes us along a side road along the lake through densely populated and heavily agricultural areas. Banana plantations and perennials beautifully packaged for transport. Avocados in sacks. Rice drying on the ground, small fish on racks (they smell quite bad!). Pineapples in large bunches. Corn plantations. Boundary stones modeled like the ones in Germany. Sugarcane or bamboo, it's hard to tell. Cotton. Reeds for thatching sheds and huts. Houses with absurd gabled structures. Filling stations for bagged goods. And people everywhere. Many who greet us friendly.

And again and again the view of the lake, so hazy that the shoreline and the sky are barely distinguishable.

In Bukoba, we then ran the obligatory errands: ATM, diesel, groceries, etc. for a good week (except for fruit, vegetables, and bread, which we will get the day after tomorrow).

A very late lunch and early dinner: fish and chips at the Good Health Kaffeehaus (German for coffee house), which at least our waitress doesn't know why it's called a Kaffeehaus. Good Health probably refers to the "gym" next door and the freshly squeezed juices and yogurt mixes.

The town makes a nice impression. Beautifully situated, hilly, green, and with a pleasant mix of dusty streets lined with grocery stores, small and tiny shops where you can't always tell from the outside what's for sale, something like a gym (!), and modern houses with gardens. Very pleasant and interesting.

However, they don't really understand English here either; Swahili is predominant. As Peter from Kigoma told us, the Germans were involved in this development. They recognized the "quantitative potential" early on and introduced Swahili as the official language. Children learn English, if at all, only in secondary school (also spelled Shule in Swahili).