April 27, 2012. Yesterday was Independence Day in Tanzania and I learnt an important word: uhuru. Uhuru means independence.
In the spirit of that I decided to change plans. Initially I was on my way to Kigoma to follow in the footsteps of one of the most famous meetings in history: It was on the shores of Lake Tanganyika near the ancient trading town Ujiji where H.M. Stanley uttered the words “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” upon meeting a ragged and clearly sick mzungu figure – the explorer and missionary Dr. Livingstone who’d been missing for months.
After Kigoma I had planned to circle back to Dar via Bukoba, Lake Victoria, Mwanza, Arusha and Tanga, and finish my Tanzania adventure with a couple of days on Zanzibar.
Well, I stepped off the train in Kigoma, saw the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Ujiji, and bought a bus ticket straight back to Dar from where I’ll go to Zanzibar. Why? Because travelling is what happens when you make other plans.
