Mwanza City

Mwanza-rocky city. The city of Mwanza is the major Tanzanian port on Lake Victoria and a major center of economic activities in the region. The lake borders the country’s East African neighbors – Uganda to the north west, and Kenya to the north east. Expand map

Export and transport among the countries is a foundation of Mwanza’s economy. Around the city of Mwanza, the land is primarily devoted to agricultural enterprise. Tea, cotton and coffee plantations throughout the area produce large volumes of cash crops that pass though Mwanza on their way to market. The town’s industrial harbour and busy streets make it a prosperous and busy place to explore.

Mwanza City
Mwanza City

For visitors, the city makes a good base from which to explore the nearby Rubondo Island National Park and the western parts of the Serengeti. Rubondo Island National Park offers pleasant day-hikes and bird watching around the lake shore. Mwanza’s proximity to the western Serengeti makes it a necessary stop for visitors who want to experience a less bust part of the park and see the magic of the Serengeti without the parade of safari vehicles and seasonal crowds. Mwanza is also the centre of the Sukuma tribe, the largest tribe in Tanzania, who have inhabited and farmed the region for centuries. Cultural tourism programmes to their local villages and farms can be arranged through the local cultural centres.

Facts about Mwanza City

  1. Although Dar-es-salaam is the metropolitan city of Tanzania, Mwanza is the fastest growing city in East Africa and is the second largest in Tanzania.
  2. Mwanza is known as ‘Rock City’ due to the many rock formations in the area. One of the outstanding features of the city is the ‘Bismarck Rock’.
  3. There is a great mystery that surrounds this structure, as people wonder how the rock came to be so perfectly balanced. The Bismarck rock is named after the most famous German Chancellor who also served as Kaiser during the Berlin Conference. The very same conference that divided Africa and Africans into colonial assets, and created boundaries over which modern African countries today are still in dispute about.
  • The indigenous people are mostly Sukuma, which is the largest tribe in Tanzania.
  • Kirumba, Eastern, and Central Africa’s largest fish market is located in Mwanza. It should be no surprise that fishing, alongside farming, is the economic generator of the region.
  • The hangman tree in Mwanza is now a popular tourist destination. However, it used to be the place where prisoners and criminals were hanged by the German colonial establishment.
  • The growth of tourism has come from the vast beauty of Mwanza’s surrounding area, and its proximity to the various national parks (Serengeti being the first). When in Mwanza, the distance to Serengeti is only 2 ½ hours!

Here are some of the Multi-day Safaris, day trips and local activities that we offer from Arusha at Joagro Safaris Tanzania

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