Exploring Kigoma, Tanzania

I was in Kigoma for four days and discovered that there was a museum. I had some time on my hands so the explorer in me got busy...

I called a taxi and set off to find it.I hear it is also straight forward going there by bus also. It was a fifteen to twenty minute drive from the Hilltop hotel where I was staying.

Kigoma is in North West Tanzania and is the capital of Kigoma region.

I read reviews while I was doing my research, there were good and bad reviews. I didn't have high expectations but I went anyway. 

An Exciting Trip to Portugal

My sister and I visited Portugal between the end of October and early November 2017.

Before we made the choice, I had three options - Hungary, Austria and Portugal. She chose Portugal and we were more than pleased that we went with that choice.

Around October, winter starts to say hello but Portugal was bright and sunny. My sister who lived in England at the time was so excited about the sun. Coming from Nigeria, I was pleased that the sun was not as hot!

We arrived Lisbon from London and were picked up by our super amazing host. We used CouchSurfing while we were in Lisbon. From our research on Lisbon, we saw that there was a lot to do. Having a local guide is always helpful and that’s one of the advantages of CS when I’m going to a city where I do not know anyone. From the minute he picked us up, we knew we made the right choice. He was warm, chatty and even took us around to see a bit of the city before driving home.

I broke a tooth...

I was chewing rice and bit on a stone, I felt my tooth break and next thing, I had a piece of my tooth on my palm. I didn't realise that rice here needed thorough washing as there are stones in them. I had only been here for a week when this happened. Oh, I learnt the hard way!

There is no dentist in Kibondo. Thankfully, there was no pain. I was due to go to Dar es Salaam a week from when my tooth broke so I would see a dentist then.

After looking in my mouth and doing some examination, the dentist told me the tooth was infected. It broke in a way that it could only be saved with a root canal filling. I had one of those years ago and it didn't end well. That tooth broke again and had to be extracted. She assured me that it would not be the case, as I would need to put a crown on the tooth to protect it.

The Ugliness of Domestic Abuse

I was going to write this as fiction which would have had additions and I would have had to make some parts not so bad, but what's the point?

I have a friend who was a victim of domestic abuse. For way too long, if I might add. When it started at first, she was shy to say so. Then it progressed, she was trapped in a cycle that she could not seem to get out of. I remember her reaching out to me one evening because she simply wanted to talk. One of the things she said that made my heart stop for her was "I don't like the person I have become and I can't seem to help it because I love him".

There is the danger of a single story but in this case, I unfortunately cannot reach the other party and have no intention to try. I am writing this with my friend's consent. Please note that there is so much that has been omitted for privacy reasons but this is the nicest of all the ugliness of that relationship. So here are some of the incidents she told me about as I remember:

Unpleasant Travel Experiences

I was asked recently if I have had any bad travel experiences! I laughed at this question as I would be lying if I said all my trips always go smoothly. 

I will give two instances of some of my travel woes.

     In April 2015, my friend and I went to Thailand. I wrote about it here and here. We travelled with Turkish Airlines and the trip going was fine, but I can’t say the same about the return leg.

We sat in front of the noisiest set of passengers who seemed to be having a conversation with the whole plane. It made the 11 hour flight uncomfortable. At some point, they gathered around and I had a guy standing over me and adjusting and doing God knows what with his belt and zipper, Ugh! We asked them if they could keep their voices down at some point, but they quickly resumed their noisy chat. We hardly got any sleep.

Banana oatmeal cookies

I had a few bananas in my kitchen that I knew would not keep till the next day. I had to come up with something to do with them.

Most of the ideas that popped into my head were smoothies but I wanted to try something new so I looked online and here is what I found!

I didn't have all the ingredients, so I made do with what was available in my kitchen.

My Jacob's Cream Crackers

These crackers are the truth! They have been my companion for years.

For the kind of work I do, I prefer eating something dry, devoid of any form of spices when I am out working on the field. I work in sometimes difficult terrains to navigate where bumpiness is normal as there might be only dirt roads.
I live on these crackers and apples (when they are available) on the field. I could find these easily anywhere in Nigeria. However, the last time I worked in another country, the 2 packs I took with me from Nigeria finished quite quickly as I was on the field much more than I was in the office.