Society

By Elisha Mayallah

If you are starting to feel a bit cranky being confined within the four walls of your home for fear of venturing outside into Arusha's stifling heat, then may I suggest somewhere to go for a nice relaxing change of scenery?


A food market at Mto wa Mbu

Mto-wa-mbu, the astounding town which is only a short drive from Arusha and it does promise a different culture, a beautiful ambiance and a few degrees less humidity too.

 As my friend recently arrived in Arusha for a holiday, we decided to be adventurous and tackle the lengthy road to Mto-wa-mbu by car. The drive was pleasant enough and after nearly two hours of encountering town after town, which were all pretty much exact replicas of one another it began to feel a little like a day of discovery.

 Luckily, however, the nice, but repetitive, scenery gradually began to diversify the closer we motored towards Mto-wa-mbu. The road became lined with plantation-like houses surrounded by lush green farming land and many trees. The Manyara National Park sprang up out of the horizon and generous landscaping welcomed us to an important tourism town found in the RV [Rift Valley].

 The backdrop for Mto-wa-mbu is palm, baobabs and acacia trees framed by the Rift Valley escarpment. Located halfway between Arusha and the Ngorongoro Crater, Mto-wa-mbu is also close to the entrance of Lake Manyara National park.

 Our home for a few hours was in the market. Its buzz and vibrancy had nothing to do with big markets like Kilombero in Arusha or Kariakoo in Dar es Salaam, but simply because you can tell that an enormous amount of creative effort was put into arranging different goods offered for sale.

 Needless to say that the small but busy market matched the rest of the spacious area. Tranquil, is how to best sum up time spent at the market. Unlike in big towns, the sound of movements of people and cars didn't drill through our ears as we managed to walk through easily. Window-shoppers were hardly seen although the place looked nearly at full capacity.

 The market is a mix of local and contemporary influences. The rapid population growth has turned Mto-wa-mbu into a melting point of cultures. Various traditional modes of production stand as an example of culture diversity.

It is believed that Mto-wa-mbu was no-mans land between the warring Maasais and Wambulu at the turn of the century, and nowhere there were any settlements to be found.

 The area was rather dry and hardly populated until the early 1950s when the first steps were made to irrigate the area. Irrigation changed everything and within a few years, hundreds of acres of newly cultivatable land became available.

 On the surrounding plains Maasai families were seen easily in their tradition regalia with the tall, elegant, proud Maasai herdsmen draped in red cloths and hung with strings of beads and intricate earrings.

 A small yet busy market selling fruits, vegetables and other farm products grown in the neighbourhood, its strategic location making it an ideal stopover for anyone traveling the length of the Makuyuni – Ngorongoro - Serengeti road,  are spectacles to behold.

 It has become a compulsory stop for all safari operators to buy a cold-coke to wash down their throats, visit the curio market selling carvings, Maasai spears and many more to the increasing number of tourists.

 But the reason we came to Mto-wa-mbu was to take it easy, walk the streets, explore, shop and eat lots of local cuisine. The street reflects the lives of most of the population with informal roadside trading lines selling varied groceries. There are dozens of public transport [minibuses] traversing in the main road.

 Like in a normal African village, where there is always something about home, bicycles and cars repair garages, which do their business mainly by the roadside pavements, offer stunning sightings.

 The people in this area have simple way of life with their houses roofed by iron sheets and some thatched by dried grass. However, I noticed that rural life is fast urbanizing with a huge number of villagers coming from different ethnic backgrounds.

 Modern technology is also fast taking shape in this little town, especially mobile phones and Internet. The thriving mobile phone industry has nevertheless made life better and easier. It is fortunate that almost everything from the city is coming to this town, and now everything is available and it does not feel the same again like living in the village.

 The paved streets looked busier near the bus station as bus conductors yelled out their destination, while drivers revved up their engines to convince the-would-be-travelers – that they are about to leave. Troops of sellers selling sodas, fruits, newspapers as usual took charge of all corners.

 I could not stop admiring the way women prepared meals on the three stone fire sides, constantly arranging flaming wood and roasting maize over open fire. It looked very similar to the lifestyle of where I was born.

Dragging ourselves away from the calm refuge in the market place, it was time to explore the town. Just like Arusha, Mto-wa-mbu gets great collections of boutiques for arts, crafts and groups of people who sell more curios along the driveway to Ngorongoro and Serengeti.

Tourists and locals mingled in and out of camping sites, and restaurants in the town, with the rift valley wall providing a spectacular view. With each moment getting sweeter, dazzling rays of cool refreshing air, the earth seemed faraway and the countryside looked greener. It was like a sacred place that reawakens your spirits as you get in touch with the quiet, natural world.

Among some of the attractions that have put Mto-wa-mbu on the map as an important tourist hub, many of whom, though, still head directly to Ngorongoro and Serengeti but some are increasingly using the town as their base of exploring the Rift Valley, Tarangire and Lake Manyara national parks. Surely, the town makes a good stop before venturing off to explore the Tanzania wonderland.

Email contact: elisha.mayallah@gmail.com