Bukoba travel guide

do you like Bukoba?

Although it receives few visitors, Bukoba, set in a bay between lush hills, with a population of 81,000 and a university, is now is Tanzania’s second largest lake port. But for several centuries, until Bukoba was established at the end of the 19th century, Karagwe, some 100 km inland, was the principal centre. The Bahinda, a cattle-herding people from the interior, operated a feudal system where chiefs took tributes from their subjects and the wealth of the area was based on cattle that were raised successfully despite problems with tsetse flies . It was founded for the Germans in 1890 by Emin Pasha. It is a lovely part of Tanzania – green and fertile and with a very relaxed way of life.

The major food crop here (as in much of the area around the lake) is matoke. This is the green banana you will see grown everywhere. It is peeled, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked very slowly by steaming. Vanilla is another recently introduced cash crop. The major commercial crop is coffee, which has contributed significantly to the wealth of the area. There is a coffee factory near the jetty. Unfortunately, the world price has fallen in recent years with notable effects on the people of this district. There are quite a few aid projects in this area so a number of expatriate aid workers live here. Huge deposits of nickel and cobalt have been discovered in the area, and there are plans to exploit these.