As the oldest and deepest lake in all of Africa, with a unique system of micro-organisms living in its waters, and only the tiniest of river outlets, Lake Tanganyika has long intrigued scientists, explorers, and travelers alike. Bruno and I were two of these travelers. The combination of inaccessibility and exoticism lured us to its banks like a bug to a light.
It was on Tanzania’s stretch of this long lake that we got our first taste of Lake Tanganyika’s multiple personalities.
When we arrived at Lakeshore Lodge and Campsite in Kipili, near the lake’s southern bank, we weren’t sure we were going to be able to stay. The luxury of the lodge and price of the camping seemed inhibitive.
We ended up glued there for five nights, and had we had a larger fridge, we would have stayed longer.
Set right along the water’s sandy edge, surrounded by welands, arid hills, and shade-giving mango trees was the perfect romantic haven from which to experience Lake Tanganyika. The icy blue water twinkled invitingly in the morning light, framed by fuscia bougainvillea on a white sand beach, the alluring purple-tinted mountains of the Congo beyond. It was impossible not to swim in its waters, which were refreshing and clean and filled with miniscule fish. The hills behind us begged to be hiked upon, and their summits afforded vast views of the small rugged islands speckling the water.
I would have paid almost anything to camp here.
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| A swim a day keeps the doctor away. |
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| Our own private beach. |
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| The view from our campsite. |
According to local folklore, Lake Tanganyika was created as a punishment. A family had been living at a tiny spring here for generations, privately enjoying its fresh water and fish. They were sworn to secrecy about the existence of the magical spring, however, and all would be lost if they told. One day, the matriarch of the family began an affair with a man, who was treated to a tasty dinner of its fish and water. He was so impressed with his feast that he managed to convince his liver to tell him where she had acquired the meal. Unfortunately, as soon as she divulged the secret, a great flood welled up from below, drowning the lovers and creating the vast body of water we now know as Lake Tanganyika.
The level of the lake hadn’t always been as it was today, I learned from Lou, the co-owner of Lakeshore Lodge. Prior to 1870, the water of the lake had reached much further inland. Tectonic plate-shifting had made the lake level drop abruptly, and the once-lakeside villages had found themselves suddenly inland.
This explained the location of the ruined church we had visited the morning prior, on one of our hillside walks. When the village had relocated to the new coast, the white missionaries had built their new church on one of its hills. The mission had existed here for decades, until an outbreak of disease caused the entire village to relocate once again, in the 1940s, to its current location a few kilometers away from our lodge.
The mission had been large, it seemed. The church was sizeable and impressively built, with Roman-tiled ceilings molded on the thighs of Congolese slaves. On either side of the church were sprawling women and men’s quarters. Nearby was an extensive cemetery, where locals and missionaries alike were buried during the epidemic.
The church now tilts precariously to one side. As you walk the grounds, you can dig up shards of broken pots, made from earth and decorated by hand. The whole site is begging to be taken up by some sort of historical preservation organization, but for now it’s Lou and her husband Chris who tend the grounds. We found that made it more personal and special to visit, as though we were the first to discover this place.
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| Finding the church, hidden in the dense bush, on the top of a hill. |
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| The inside of the church. |
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| Shards of decorated pottery scattered around the church grounds. |
It was on a sunset boat ride that I learned the history attached to the church ruins we’d already visited. We were kindly invited aboard by Chris and Lou, who were taking fellow campers out for a birthday boat ride. I love boats, and this was a wonderful way to experience Lake Tanganyika. We rode out to the nearby river, home to a variety of birds, and even occasional hippos. Then we rode out toward the Congo and the setting sun, past a private island and another that had been a leper colony during the 1940s epidemic. The clear lake reflected the setting sun, and the storm brewing behind the hills turned the sky breathtaking shades of dark purple.
With the wind in my hair just the way I like it, we sped back to shore as night fell. It was the highlight of our stay at Lakeshore Lodge, and is probably the reason that our second visit to Lake Tanganyika could never have compared.
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| Another glorious sunset. Note the silhouette of the tiny island. |
At the northern tip of Tanzania’s section of the lake is the town of Kigoma. Its location near the borders of Burundi and the DRC make it a vibrant, multicultural town. The most colorful and beautifully-patterned fabrics are available here, imported from the fashionable central and western regions of Africa. Women don these fabrics from head to toe in various styles that I hadn’t seen since Senegal. I heard African French spoken here for the first time since Senegal, too. It was definitely a unique Tanzanian city.
But it was still a city, and that meant all the dirt and noise that comes with a city. Our campsite was right on the beach a mere two kilometers from town, and though the sunsets were just as beautiful as in Kipili, looking out at the water didn’t make me want to swim. I found an entire light bulb floating at the edge of the water, but that was the only piece of unbroken glass I found on the beach.
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| The sunset at Kipili’s Lakeshore Lodge. |
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| The sunset from our lakeside campsite in Kigoma. We were pretty lucky with our Tanganyika sunsets, right? |
The nearby mosque sang for three hours straight on our first afternoon in Kigoma. The next night, I was awoken to a wedding speech being given on a loudspeaker. Then, the mosque started up again, and a woman’s high-pitched voice alternated with that of the regular singer for the next hour. On our final day, a group of local teachers spent the afternoon barbecuing, swimming, and dancing right in front of our campsite. Our privacy and peace were shot for the day, and I was forced to embrace the group, as I had the all-nighters. It actually became a fun cultural experience to explore the teachers’ makeshift kitchen and watch adult educators wade in water a foot deep wearing life jackets.
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| One of several women teachers preparing a feast for twenty. A good African feast MUST include hunks of meat. |
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| My favorite moment: Watching adults – and teachers, at that – wading in ankle-deep water decked-out in life jackets. Are they promoting water safety? |
Bruno and I visited the bustling market several times. We walked past the colonial train station and modern buildings which contrasted so noticeably with the tiny ramshackle tea shops, outdoor chipsi maayai stalls, and local medicine stores. We opted not to visit nearby Ujiji, reputably the location where Stanley pronounced the sound-bite of his generation, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” because we’d read it was a total tourist trap. I read a book about wily Stanley instead.
I could live with the pollution and noise and mzungu-calls, but the dirtiest shower I’ve ever been forced to bathe in was in too-sharp juxtaposition to the gloriously luxurious bathroom facilities at Lakeshore Lodge. It looked like a horror movie murder-scene waiting to happen. It was time to go.
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| Visiting a traditional medicine store in Kigoma’s market. All sorts of strange remedies for sale… |
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| Once or twice a week a train actually comes to the end of the line here from Dar es Salaam. |
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| In Kigoma, I dreamed of Lakeshore’s showers and toilets. I could have slept here it was so beautiful. |
Kipili and Kigoma may both be situated on Lake Tanganyika’s Tanzanian coast, but the few hundred kilometers that separate them truly make them a world apart. Despite the shower fiasco, I’m happy to have seen both, for it allowed me to taste the incredible variety that exists along this historically, culturally, and geologically-important lake.
Next we follow the lake’s edge up into Burundi, to its northernmost point, Bujumbura. Perhaps will we see yet another few facets of Lake Tanganyika’s chameleon-like personality?
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| Enjoying one of many gorgeous Tanganyika sunsets with my love. |
To read my other Tanzanian travel stories, click here.
