Air Tanzania, TWIGA issue 03

Issue 03 / October to December 2019

YO U R F R E E A I R TA N Z A N I A M AGA ZINE

T R AV E L / TA S T E / TA L E N T

Twiga A I R TA N Z A N I A Issue 03

Education entrepreneur Inside the work of Given Edward

The best of Bollywood

A cinephile's tour of Mumbai

Designing Dar The Tanzanian team of interior designers transforming homes

Pride of Tanzania

Lions are king in photobook

contents 8

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41

Regulars

Features

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8 The Lion King soundtrack

44 To infinity and beyond

14 Remembering Lions

50 24 hours in… Harare

CEO foreword Spreading our wings into Europe

6 Air Tanzania news 13 Tanzania’s treasures 18 Twiga trends Light and dark looks

27 Twiga competition Win two nights’ at Zanzibar’s Emerson on Hurumzi hotel

30 Health and fitness Chill out… and in-flight yoga

41 Twiga interiors Dar interior designers Creative Studios showcase their work

52 Blogger Faysal 52 Sound and vision 53 Culture coming up 57 Kids fun and puzzles 58 Tech for cooking

Is published by: Land & Marine Publications Ltd 1 Kings Court, Newcomen Way, Severalls Business Park Colchester, Essex, UK, CO4 9RA Tel: +44 (0)1206 752902 Email: publishing@landmarine.com www.landmarine.com Advertising: Head Office: +44 (0)1206 752902 Catherine O’Callaghan: +44 (0)7944 212063 (WhatsApp) Godfrey S. Urassa: +255 (0) 686 118 816 (WhatsApp) Email: ATCL-inflight@landmarine.org Printed by: Jamana Printers Ltd.

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Twiga

East African artists react to Beyoncé ‘Lion King’ snub

Check out these hotels with the best swimming pools.

Photobook aims to raise awareness and funds to save king of beasts

What to see, do and eat to make the most of your day in Zim’s capital

16 Mumbai Bollywood tours

55 Chocolate cake recipe

Tours reveal city’s cinematic heritage

Leah Assenga, owner of Arusha cafe Kitamu Coffee, shares a sweet treat

20 Ndumiso Nyoni

60 Given Edward

Zimbabwe artist champions the continent’s heroes, real and imaginary

How social entrepreneur has opened up education beyond the classroom

23 Tazara Railway

62 Namwali Serpell

Two-day rail trip from Tanzania to Zambia is an amazing an affordable adventure

Zambian author releases debut novel to wide acclaim

28 Body Street

Air Tanzania information

Dar fitness studio provides a state-ofthe-art shortcut to getting in shape

32 The best beach reads

The owner of Dar bookshop A Novel Idea picks her favourite holiday novels

37 Utengule Coffee

Plantation on a mission to bring quality coffee to the Tanzania market

On behalf of:

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Travel information Air Tanzania fleet Air Tanzania destinations Air Tanzania contacts

Follow us on:

@AirTanzania Air Tanzania Company Limited (ACTL) ATC House, Second Floor, Ohio Street Dar Es Salaam.

Toll free: 0800 110045 Office (JNIA) Telephone: +255 222113248 Email: info@airtanzania.co.tz

@airtanzania airtanzania_atcl For the latest flights, information and to book online, visit:

www.airtanzania.co.tz

The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editor, or any other organisation associated with this publication. No liability can be accepted for any inaccuracies or omissions. ©2019 Land & Marine Publications Ltd.

Twiga online:

Read online: qrs.ly/nsalme9

CEO foreword

Spreading our wings into Europe ABOUT THE COVER STORY When you have a book filled with images of lions donated by the best wildlife photographers in the world, choosing which of the stellar collection will make the front page image is not an easy task This was the dilemma that faced professional wildlife photographer Margot Raggett when putting together Remembering Lions, the latest photobook in a fundraising series raising money and awareness for animal conservation projects.

In the end she chose the majestic close-up of an alpha male lion – all flowing mane and piercing amber eyes – taken by Federico Veronesi in Tanzania. It’s an incredible image which deserves its place on the cover and we at Twiga are delighted Raggett has allowed us to use the image on our front page as an example of the majestic animals to be seen on a Tanzania safari. Inside the magazine, you’ll find more stunning images from the book and learn how the idea for the book came about.

www.airtanzania.co.tz

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Issue 3 of Air Tanzania’s inflight magazine, Twiga. Inside you’ll find stories that reflect the airline’s growing network of international destinations as well as the 10 towns across Tanzania it serves.

You’ll find out about a young entrepreneur revolutionising education in Tanzania, a South African artist capturing Africa’s heroes, an award-winning author revealing Zambia’s hidden history, tips on making the most of a day in Harare, where to go in Mumbai for a Bollywood experience and plenty more stories about the amazing people and places amid a network of destinations served by Air Tanzania (ATCL).

In the past few months we have introduced three times weekly direct flights to Mumbai and four flights a week to Johannesburg. With India and South Africa now added to our international destinations of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Burundi and the Comoros Islands we are progressing towards becoming a top-tier player in the international airline industry.

These moves to establish our long-haul capability have been bolstered by our President John Pombe Magufuli’s announcement that the ATCL fleet will receive two more Airbus A220-300, with the first expected to arrive in 2021, as well as another Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner by the end of October and a Q400 by the end of November this year.

We are looking to expand our route network into Europe and Asia. Direct flights between the UK and Tanzania are already taking shape with ATCL being granted landing slots at London Gatwick Airport. There are likely to me more arrangements like this to come now that Air Tanzania has passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit, which is the internationally recognised benchmark for the global aviation industry.

Now Air Tanzania is creating quite an international story for itself.

As an Air Tanzania passenger you are a valued part of that story.

Thank you for flying with us and I wish you an enjoyable flight.

Eng. Ladislaus Matindi Managing Director and Chief Executive Air Tanzania

Follow us on:

@AirTanzania @airtanzania airtanzania_atcl airtanzania.co.tz / 3

Air Tanzania news

ATCL on track for flights to and from London Air Tanzania has taken a huge forward step in its plans to extend its flight network into Europe by securing landing slots at London’s Gatwick Airport.

We hope to offer flights every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday to London from Dar es Salaam via Kilimanjaro by the end of the year. The route will be operated by our second Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which should be added to the fleet by November.

The route will make Air Tanzania the only airline currently offering a direct link between Tanzania and the UK.

An Air Tanzania spokesperson said: “The 787 Dreamliner will be the flagship aircraft as we renew and grow the Air Tanzania fleet. We aim to establish our long-haul capability by starting flights to Europe, Asia and the USA over the coming years and the 787 is the perfect aircraft to achieve this ambition.

“Our hub airport at Dar es Salaam is well located to provide connections onwards across east Africa, capitalizing on the growing demand for tourism in Tanzania and throughout the region from intercontinental markets.”

A WARM INDIAN WELCOME FOR OUR DREAMLINER AS MUMBAI FLIGHTS LAUNCH

Staff at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, in Mumbai, organised a stylish welcome for the inaugural arrival of Air Tanzania’s 787-8 Dreamliner in July.

The arrival of our flagship aircraft in India marked the beginning of three-times-a-week commercial flights between Dar es Salaam and Mumbai.

Among the passengers being welcomed with torana (garlands made of flowers and leaves) was Tanzania’s Minister of Construction, Transport & Communication, Isack Kamwelwe.

Senior government officials, ATCL staff and journalists

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Twiga

He said the direct flight would cut time for passengers who previously had to connect through Nairobi, Dubai and South Africa and would spur the growth of tourism and trade between India and Tanzania.

He said: “India has a high potential as a tourists source market and we must take advantage of this by ensuring that we maximally utilise the available opportunities.”

Return tickets between Dar and Mumbai are still available at the special launch price of US$ 378, including tax.

To book flights, visit www.airtanzania.co.tz

The Lion King

East African artists react to Beyoncé ‘Lion King’ snub

Featureflash Photo Agency |Shutterstock.com

Singing superstar Beyoncé has referred to her companion album to Disney’s computer-animated remake of its own film, ‘The Lion King’, as a ‘love letter to Africa’, but a number of East African musicians are less than enamoured.

The region is unrepresented among the roster of artists called in for collaborations – an omission that has puzzled many as the film is set in the Serengeti and Swahili refrains are all over the original soundtrack.

Mark Edwards investigates.

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/ The Lion King

JStone | Shutterstock.com

C

alling ‘The Lion King’ an African story does little to acknowledge its curious, globetrotting genesis. Its plot is inspired by the Biblical tales of Joseph and Moses along with a sprinkle of William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, it is written and animated by Disney, an American film company, and its songs are composed by Hans Zimmer, a German, and Elton John, a Brit.

Still, it is the plains of Kenya and Tanzania that provide the setting for the Oscar-winning tale of lion cub Simba’s efforts to reclaim his pride-leading destiny and it is the lingua franca of those countries, Swahili, that crops up in the song lyrics, especially the sing-a-long ‘Hakuna Matata’.

No place for East African artists So when one of the biggest names in music, Beyoncé Carter-Knowles, who voices the character of Simba’s Lion Queen Nala in the just-released computer-animated Disney remake of the film, announced she was putting together a ‘Lion King’ inspired album that would showcase African musicians, many artists from the east of the continent were understandably excited.

However, that album – ‘The Lion King: The Gift’ – has now been released and East African artists are conspicuous by their absence.

There’s no place for Tanzanian superstars such as Diamond Platnumz – who even coined the nickname ‘Simba’ for himself – and Kenyan acts Sauti Sol and Khaligraph Jones.

Instead the continent is represented by a phalanx of West African musicians, including Nigerians Yemi Alade, Wizkid, Mr Eazi, Tekno,

(Far left) Ghana’s Shatta Wale duets with Beyoncé on the album

(Centre) He may call himself Simba, but there was no place for Diamond Platnumz

The thing that stings the most is when the blanket term ‘Africa’ is thrown over an entire body of work but the representation doesn’t match Burna Boy and Tiwa Savage as well as Salatiel from Cameroon and Shatta Wale from Ghana. South African artists Moonchild Sanelly and Busiswaah also appear.

While the tracks are undeniably good – Tekno, Yemi Alade and Mr Eazi team up well on bass-heavy banger and the ballad ‘Otherside’, in which Beyoncé switches to mellifluous Swahili as the track fades, is majestic – the fact that no East African artists are included seems a missed opportunity, especially given that Beyoncé, who is curator of the project and appears on all but one of the tracks, has spoken publicly about how the album is intended to showcase the true sound of Africa, not just a few of its countries.

She has said in an interview: “This soundtrack is a love letter to Africa and I wanted to make sure we found the best talent from Africa, and not just use some of the sounds, and did my interpretation of it. I wanted it to be authentic to what is beautiful about the music in Africa.”

Among the most eloquent responses was from Kenyan-born Ivy Awino, who, under the stage name Poizon Ivy, is DJ for the Dallas Mavericks, an American basketball team. She told US magazine ‘The Atlantic’: “The thing that stings the most is when the blanket term ‘Africa’ is thrown over an entire body of work but the representation doesn’t match. I don’t by any means

think it was intentional and I think that the gesture [of making the album] was extremely needed and very welcome in the sense that this opportunity has now opened the door for these artists and the places that they’re from and the people who look up to them, but it also has been a very eye-opening moment in seeing how the rest of the world views what’s going on musically at home.”

Sauti Sol, a guitarist with the Kenyan Afropop band Polycarp Otieno, expressed a similar sentiment in a post online. He wrote: “For a movie [with a] concept based on the Kenyan/Tanzanian scenery, use of Swahili phrases and references, you would think they would at least consider artists from this region.

Believe me, I have nothing against the artists picked, if anything I am happy for them. It’s a lifetime opportunity that you can’t pass by. I am very much against the people who decide to present Africa with artists from one country/region.”

Puzzling omission Other East African artists have revealed their puzzlement at being unrepresented on the album. Among them is John Katana, frontman of the Kenyan band Them Mushrooms, who has had previous experience of Disney’s appropriation of African culture. The band’s early 1980s Chakacha hit ‘Jambo Bwana’, which

(Left) Tanzanian artist Vanessa Mdee called on East African artists to pursue their own voice

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/ The Lion King

popularised a number of Swahili sayings, was commonly thought to have been a big influence on the song ‘Hakuna Matata’ in the 1994 original ‘Lion King’ film. Disney went on to copyright the phrase for its hugely profitable lines of associated merchandise.

He admits to being shocked that he and other East African artists never got the call to be a part of ‘The Lion King: The Gift’. Speaking to tabloid news website TMZ, he said: “No one called us. We read about it in the media, just like everyone else.

We should have been on this album.

A lot of the scenery, culture and language used in 1994’s and 2019’s ‘The Lion King’ appears to come straight from Kenya or at least East Africa.”

Money-spinning projects ‘The Lion King: The Gift’ is released in the wake of another big budget soundtrack album that failed to live up to its pan-African ambitions. ‘Black Panther: The Album’ was intended to provide tracks to evoke the film’s fictional East African nation of Wakanda, but was essentially another Kendrick Lamar record – the American rapper took producer and curator duties – with brief appearances by South African artists Babes Wodumo, Sjava, Yugen Blakrok and Saudi.

An opportunity appears to have been seized to maximise profits rather than broaden awareness of the breadth and richness of African music. Both Marvel and Disney are entertainment conglomerates with huge international audiences they only want to increase, so this move is disappointing, while being understandable.

The West African artists who appear on ‘The Lion King: The Gift’ all sing largely in English, are superstars in their own countries and have already gained crossover success in the United States. There seems to be little risk or adventure in the project.

Tanzanian musician and actress Vanessa Mdee says she understands the business vision at work here,

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while also voicing her sadness that East Africa and the “essence” of ‘The Lion King’ have been passed over in achieving it. In her opinion, East African artists need to make sure they maintain their own voice in the work they do.

In a post, originally in Swahili, she wrote: “This thing is a business. They all know the film is set in East Africa and we would certainly be eligible for a movie, but we don’t have any representatives there for Disney’s exec or Beyoncé’s team. In addition, the Western population outperforms us in the buying of music in and out of Africa. Ideally this album should be full of Swahili and the sides of our sides, but in the international market we are still not heavy in comparison to Western people. They had to do research to fully embody the essence of Simba. But that’s it. And of course it is misrepresentation and there are problems, but that’s why the market is under attack. Keep it to you.

Ownership. Like how do we make our own album.”

There are initiatives suggesting that there are East African artists seeking to join together and build awareness of their music.

In Tanzania, the regular Coffee House Sessions at various locations in Dar es Salaam, organised by Swahili soul singer-songwriter Grace Matata, offer exposure for talented home-grown artists to play live and build their audience. For more information, visit the Coffee House Sessions Facebook site.

Collectives champion talent Mzuka Records, a record label run by NGO Art in Tanzania with a recording studio in Dar’s Bahari Beach, offers support for the country’s young musical talent. The team, which includes hip-hop luminaries Miikka ‘Mwamba’ Kari and Dudu Baya, produces music and music videos for artists as well unearthing new talent through local youth talent shows.

Nafasi Art Space, a contemporary arts centre in Dar es Salaam’s Mikocheni district, holds regular free

music workshops to help Tanzanian musicians gain experience in their careers. A recent workshop guest was Ugandan ragamuffin singer and songwriter Mad Ice. The centre also showcases local musical talent in its hugely popular series of Wikiendi Live music festivals. For more details, visit nafasiartspace.org It is hoped that initiatives such as these will allow Tanzanian musicians to realise their grand destiny, as Simba does in ‘The Lion King’.

Beyoncé’s soundtrack album may have overlooked them, but it could prove to be a wake-up call to take charge of their own careers and spread their musical message.

Beyoncé described The Lion King album as a “love letter to Africa”

The Lion King has the sights but not the sounds of East Africa

Tanzania’s treasures national parks

President Magufuli kickstarts national parks plan with

BURIGI-CHATO UPGRADE Move intended to draw in more wildlife-loving tourists to Tanzania’s north-west

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anzania has a new national park. The game reserves of Biharamulo, Burigi, and Kimisi in the country’s northwest region have been merged to form the 4,702 square kilometre Burigi-Chato National Park. Close to Lake Victoria, on the border with Rwanda and surrounded

by Kagera River and Lake Burigi, the new park provides an unspoiled habitat for wildlife such as rare species of antelope as well as elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, zebras, giraffes and primates.

Burigi-Chato is the first of the six game reserves selected for upgrade in May to have its national park status made official.

The announcement was made in July by Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli.

The hope is the move will take advantage of Chato Airport to open up the north-west tourist circuit.

President Magufuli said the government has allocated 361,594 square kilometres as

protected areas under different categories, making up 32 per cent of the country’s land.

The tourist sector is a lucrative revenue stream for Tanzania – last year 1.49 million tourists visited the country, generating US$ 2.43 billion for the economy – and it is hoped the new park will woo more international tourists here.

A new tourism circuit Minister for Natural Resources & Tourism Dr Hamisi Kigwangalla said National Parks would support the government’s initiative to increase revenues from the tourism sector.

“The newly promoted National Park will open up a new tourism circuit in the North Western and Lake Zone of Tanzania,” Dr Kigwangalla said.

The minister also revealed Tanzania is looking to tap into tourism resources in wildlife parks that are currently lying idle,

developing tourist facilities such as lodges, roads and airports. This will ease overcrowding in the popular parks of the northern tourist corridor, including Serengeti and Kilimanjaro National Parks.

Dr. Kigwangalla further said that the new park will attract tourists and other visitors to view the rare animal species available there, including sitatunga (nzohe) and sable (palahala) antelope leopard, flamingo and giant eagle as well as striking natural sites such as misambya trees and hot springs.

Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) has allocated Tshs 4 billion ($1.8 million) to be spent for development of the newly gazetted parks, the National Parks Conservation Commissioner Allan Kijazi said.

HOW TO GET THERE: Fly to either Bukoba or Chato airport.

Alternatively, fly Air Tanzania to Mwanza and then get the ferry to Bukoba.

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Remembering Lions

Unforgettable images of lions showcase work of

WORLD’S TOP PHOTOGRAPHERS Latest release in acclaimed series of wildlife books hopes to raise awareness of plight of lions in the wild and support projects to protect them. Twiga speaks to the project founder, photographer Margot Raggett

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new book filled with beautiful images of lions taken by many of the world’s top wildlife photographers comes with a warning that in years to come it could be seen as a tribute to a magnificent, but now extinct creature.

Remembering Lions is the latest in a series of books – following Remembering Elephants, Remembering Rhinos and Remembering Great Apes – created by wildlife photographer Margot Raggett to create awareness about threats to animal populations and raise funds to help protect endangered species. The series has now donated more than GBP 500,000 (USD 623,500) towards carefully chosen animal conservation causes in Africa and Asia.

Raggett, an award-winning professional wildlife photographer herself with her work published worldwide, says the “deliberately provocative” series title is archly suggestive of a future where these beautiful images may be all that’s left of these iconic creatures.

Lions ‘disappearing silently’ It may come as a surprise that the future of the majestic king of the beasts, which has no natural predator, is as perilous as the animals the series has previously covered. However, the WWF now classifies lions as a ‘vulnerable’ species with their numbers having plunged by more than 40 per cent in the past 100 years.

“Lions are disappearing silently,” says Raggett.

“Which is why we felt it was so important to raise

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awareness with this book. People are used to seeing shocking images of poached elephants and rhinos on social media, but the plight of lions is less widely known.”

The Brit, who has led photographic expeditions across Kenya and caught lions on camera in Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, adds: “The biggest issue is habitat loss. As the human population expands the lions are more likely to come into conflict with people and their livestock – often resulting in retaliation. I’ve seen evidence of spears and snares used as well as poisoned carcasses, which not only kill lions but can destroy an entire ecosystem.”

In Remembering Lions, Raggett has set out to create “the most beautiful book on a species ever seen”, drawing on the talents of more than 70 of the world’s top wildlife photographers, including Marsel van Oosten, Frans Lanting, Art Wolfe, Steve Winter, Michael Poliza and Suzi Eszterhas. Inside are images of imperious alpha male lions, all brooding latent power and flowing manes, as well as more tender scenes of playfighting prides and lionesses sharing tender moments with their cubs. Aside from a couple of sickening images of hunted lions, the pictures show the animals in their prime. As Raggett says, “if we filled the book with gruesome images, we wouldn’t sell many books,” but the photographer knows well the grisly truth that is out there.

She was moved to launch the series after witnessing the death of an elephant speared by poachers in Northern Kenya.

Majestic – a male lion surveys the scene Image: Andrew Aveley/ Remembering Lions

Cubs caught on camera Image: Margot Raggett/ Remembering Lions

/ Remembering Lions

A tender scene between a lion and his cub Image: Suzi Eszterhas/ Remembering Lions

people’ they were the obvious choice to write the foreword to Remembering Lions.”

The success of the books has made it a “full-time job” for Raggett. She has had to call time on her role as photographer in residence at Entim Camp in the Masai Mara and now focuses on choosing the right conservation projects to support as well as poring over the hundreds of images that flood in from photographers hoping to be involved in the Remembering series.

“People aspire to be in the books now,” says Raggett, “so we have to limit it to one image per photographer. Choosing the images that make it is hard.”

Choosing the cover “We were woken by the noise of dozens of hyenas going crazy,” she says. “We found them feeding on a dead elephant that had been shot with a poisoned arrow. It was a young male, probably around 14 years old, with small tusks.

“It looked like it had bolted after it had been shot and had escaped the poachers. He probably took around three to four days to die and he would have been in immense pain.

It was horrific.

“The sight and the smell at that moment has never gone away. It traumatised and infuriated me and I thought I’m not standing for this – if I can do anything that stops one elephant going through this then I will.”

Record-breaking support Raggett put the book idea to other wildlife photographers and once a few big names backed her the project took shape.

Soon there were almost 70 photographers involved. Each, including Raggett, donating one of their most striking images for inclusion in the book.

Remembering Elephants was released in September 2016 with the money for printing

was raised through crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. Since then, each subsequent Remembering book has raised more money and in a shorter time, culminating in Remembering Lions becoming the highest funded photobook – GBP 163,904 (USD 204,395) – in Kickstarter’s history. The funds enabled Raggett and her team to not only finance 6,000 copies of the Lions book, but also cover a reprint of the sold-out Rhino book and to donate GBP 25,000 (USD 31,176) to Rebuilding the Pride, a programme which focuses on reducing human-lion conflict in Kenya’s South Rift.

There will be more projects being helped when profits from sales of Remembering Lions start to come in – the book goes on sale on 17 October, though it can be pre-ordered now.

As well as the images there is plenty of powerful prose from Raggett and others on the conservation frontline such as Amy Dickman, who runs the Ruaha Carnivore Project in Tanzania, which aims to address the conflict between the local community and the lion population in Ruaha National Park.

The project has had great success in reducing livestock attacks by 60 per cent and carnivore killings by 80 per cent.

The book also contains a foreword by Jonathan and Angela Scott, the award-winning wildlife photographers who first inspired Raggett to take up the profession almost 20 years ago when she was part of one of their safari trips to witness the Great Migration.

“Every night they would put on amazing presentations on what makes a good picture,” Raggett says. “They were and have continued to be my mentors, supporting me from the first Remembering book. As renowned ‘cat

Much agonising goes into the cover image especially, but Raggett is delighted with her choice for Remembering Lions. The dazzling close-up of a male lion with its flowing mane and amber eyes fixed on the viewer was taken

by Federico Verenesi. Like Raggett he has led photographic safaris in Kenya, but this image was taken in Tanzania. “He’s such a beautiful, strong, stunning animal,” says Raggett.

The book and those involved in it are doing their bit to ensure such beauty remains more than just a memory.

To purchase Remembering Lions or any of the other books in the series, visit buyrememberingwildlife.com Each book is priced at GBP 45 (USD 56).

HOW TO TAKE GREAT PICTURES ON SAFARI Margot Raggett shares some tips

1

Consider the whole impression of the picture you will take. You need to take in the background as well as the animal. Try to objectively look at the image and make judgements – are the animal’s eyes open? How is the light? Is your view obscured?

2

Take time with your pictures. If you rush, it is unlikely all the elements will come together. Good photographers take hours with their subject.

Don’t just snap and go.

3

Make sure you choose the speed option on your camera if you are taking an action shot. You will need a fast-shutter speed to capture movement sharply.

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Mumbai Bollywood tours

Soak up the screen magic of

BOLLYWOOD IN MUMBAI

Mumbai is the birthplace of Bollywood, the hugely popular and prolific Indian film industry. More than 1,000 films are produced here each year and there are many ways to soak up the cinematic glitz and glamour for visitors to the city, including film studio tours and even becoming an extra in one of the productions.

Almost all Bollywood films have, in part, been filmed at this vast complex in the western Mumbai suburb of Goregaon. The studios were built by the Maharashtra state government in 1978, but the chance for visitors to look around the 350-acre premises was only granted five years ago. The two-hour bus tours (in Hindi and English) are led by official provider Mumbai Film City Tours and offer a peak inside the indoor studios as well as outdoor shooting locations, including a helipad, a temple and a church. Catching a live shoot can’t be guaranteed and, if there is one going on, it has to be watched from the confines of the bus. If you’re after the chance to rub shoulders with the stars, the same tour company also offers trips to a live shooting of a TV serial at Film City. Here you’ll be able to meet the actors on set and have your picture taken with them. For more information, visit mumbaifilmcitytours.com There are a few private tour operators that include visits to Film City as part of more expansive Bollywood experiences. The well-established Bollywood Tours (bollywoodtours.in) offers a full-day trip with attractions

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Olga Vasilyeva | Shutterstock.com

Film City

including a drive past homes of Bollywood stars, a visit to another shooting studio, a dubbing studio and a Bollywood dance show.

If you love the all-singing, all-dancing Bollywood spectaculars, No Footprints (nfpexplore.com) offers a fun half-day tour, which includes learning some dance moves, visiting a music studio and more.

Be an extra If you want to get yourself into Film City and get paid for being there, then a day’s work as an extra is the way to go. It’s not as tricky as you might think: head to the famous Leopold Café to hang out and make sure you’re at your charismatic best.

The Juhu home of Amitabh Bachchan Image: MD Sharma | Shutterstock.com

The travellers’ institution, which has been in Colaba Causeway since 1871, is a hunting ground for extras scouts.

Your Bollywood screen debut is likely to making up the numbers in a crowd scene, rather than sharing moves with the leads, but it affords fantastic access into the filmmaking process here and you’ll get something in region of 500 rupees (US$ 7) for your troubles.

If you’re on your sixth cup of coffee and still haven’t been tapped on the shoulder at Leopold Cafe you could always go to the Gateway of India on the waterfront, in South Mumbai, which is also rumoured to be frequented by film scouts.

Go to the cinema To appreciate the love that mumbaikars have for Bollywood films, join the throng pouring in to a local cinema to see the latest blockbuster. There are plenty of new air-conditioned multiplexes that are springing up around the city, but

/ Mumbai Bollywood tours

Actor Amitabh Bachchan meets his fans with ‘Sunday wave outs’ Image: Denis Makorenko | Shutterstock.com

why not visit one of Mumbai’s Art Deco heritage cinemas instead? The Metro, Edward and Liberty theatres provide a wondrously plush experience with the latter 1,200-seater – with its giant piano carved into the façade – described as Mumbai’s best ‘jazz’ monument.

If you’re after a lively evening at the cinema where the crowd is as much part of the entertainment as the film, check out the G7 Multiplex in Mumbai’s Bandra district. Fondly referred to by locals as the Gaiety Galaxy, the cinema has its own down-at-heel charm and attracts an audience that comes to cheer their favourite star and dance in the aisles during the musical numbers.

The crowd is as upfront at voicing its derision as well as its delight so screenings here are seen as a barometer of the film’s popularity – so much so that A-list film stars are believed to sneak in to screenings in disguise to gauge the response to their latest release.

Art Deco cinemas and (bottom right) the National Museum of Indian Cinema Image: AnilD | Shutterstock.com

As well as being home to the film industry, Mumbai is also packed with the palatial homes of the stars, directors and producers of those films. Taking a tour of these movie star homes will more often than not provide viewing opportunities of your screen idol’s security gates rather than a sight of them in the flesh.

Thanks then to Amitabh Bachchan, arguably India’s most famous movie star with winning performances in such classic films as Deewar and Zanjeer, who, every Sunday at 6pm when he is in Mumbai and not filming, opens the gates to his residence in Juhu to wave to his fans.

Fans in their hundreds arrive for these ‘Sunday wave-outs’, which the actor has carried out for more than 30 years. His rather swish bungalow can be found on the VL Mehta Road.

National Museum of Indian Cinema Opened in January this year. This stylish five-storey glass structure is India’s first film museum and tells the story not just of Bollywood, but traces the development of the art form internationally from its birth in the late 19th century to the latest 3D and 4k technological innovations.

It’s an interactive experience with touch screens for visitors to watch film clips from memorable movies as well as host of film-making memorabilia and equipment to pore over.

One wing is devoted to civil rights pioneer Mahatma Gandhi and how his ideals and life influenced and became the subject of many films.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. For more details, visit filmsdivision.org

Harshits3 | Shutterstock

Meet Amitabh Bachchan

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18 / Twiga

Ndumiso Nyoni

PUTTING AFRICAN HEROES IN THE PICTURE Ndumiso Nyoni’s portraits of African icons – from leaders such as Winnie Mandela to superheroes such as X-Men’s Storm – fuse traditional and modern style motifs to portray ‘the beauty and positivity of Africa’.

20 / Twiga

/ Ndumiso Nyoni

Portraying Africa in the right way – the work of Ndumiso Nyoni

W

hen Ndumiso Nyoni was a boy growing up in Bulawayo, in the south west of Zimbabwe, he and his older brother loved to watch cartoons and read comic books. Rather than going outside and re-enacting the exploits of their animated heroes, the brothers preferred to stay in and try to draw their favourite characters.

However, though Nyoni could not articulate it at the time, there was something that troubled him about the images he was copying.

“Growing up and being exposed to the cartoons and comics we had, I always had a problem with the portrayal of black people in drawn media,” says Nyoni. “We were always portrayed in a derogatory way. As a young child I knew it didn’t feel right, but I didn’t have the vocabulary or technical ability to do anything about it.”

Now Nyoni is a professional illustrator – as is his brother – and with his beautiful artworks that capture and celebrate African people he has been able to redress the balance.

He says: “I can portray Africa and her people in the right way, from the eyes of one of her own children.

There is so much beauty and positivity about Africa and I am constantly inspired to depict that in my work.”

Superheroes The subjects of his illustrations include African heritage superheroes such as the weather-controlling Storm from the X-Men and even an imagined African Powerpuff Girl along with real-life celebrated Africans such as kwaito singer Lebo Mathosa, South African anti-apartheid politician Oliver Tambo and Winnie Mandela.

Nyoni’s work is instantly recognisable. It combines vibrant colours with bold textures and draws on African social themes as well as contemporary youth culture. While relying on a balance and symmetry of geometric shapes, each of his portraits reveals how beautifully unique and different one face is from the next. The results draw on traditional pre-colonial art as well as taking inspiration from the more modern styles he was exposed to while studying multimedia at the University of Johannesburg.

Inspired by Ndebele art He says: “In university I was really intrigued by the works produced during the modernist art era. I was drawn to the use of geometric shapes, clean edges and colours of Bauhaus art.

“What I hadn’t realised was that I had always been exposed to geometric and vibrant art in the form of the Ndebele art that forms a big part of our culture. A lot of my portraits incorporate a lot of this visual

language, combined with modern lighting and shading techniques that I learnt later in my career as a digital compositing artist.”

Nyoni was able to acknowledge his debt to the art of the Ndelebe people in Zimbabwe and South Africa in his portrait of Dr Esther Mahlangu – resplendent in traditional neck ring and vibrant wrap – who with her bold, large-scale contemporary paintings has done so much to spread the word on Ndelebe art.

He says: “As a Ndebele artist myself, she has had a great influence on me and it was truly an honour to have my work presented to her.”

That work was part of Nyoni’s collection, ‘African Sisters’, celebrating strong women from the continent, a companion piece to his ‘African Kings’. Other subjects for his work have included the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and he has also brought his singular style to marketing artwork for the Business and Arts South Africa and Absolut Vodka awards.

I hadn’t realised was that I had always been exposed to geometric and vibrant art in the form of the Ndebele art airtanzania.co.tz / 21

/ Ndumiso Nyoni

The honing of his creative vision has taken place around an award-winning career as a graphic and motion designer.

Nyoni’s talent was recognised in 2010 when he won a place on the Design Indaba Emerging Creatives programme, which nurtures young South African talent and exhibits their work at its annual Design Indaba Festival in Cape Town. Nyoni credits the programme with giving him exposure within the industry, but it’s clear his own illustrations really get his own creative juices going.

“I’ve spent the past three years trying to develop my personal style of illustration and animation,” he says. “My day-to-day roles range

22 / Twiga

from motion design to traditional ‘corporate’ graphic design. But my illustrations are my passion and I hope to do more work in my style for brands around the continent.”

Positive message The illustrations are a celebration of Africa, its people, cultures and resilience. Nyoni is keen such a positive and relatable message gets across to young people. His illustrations were used in an animated series of African folk tales on the sadly-nomore Kwesé TV in East Africa. He is also among a group of volunteer creatives at Book Dash, lending his illustrator skills to create new African storybooks for young children, available free on the Book Dash app (currently available on Android with an iOS version in the pipeline).

“I have been volunteering for Book Dash since 2016 and it has been such

Nyoni’s work often features strong female characters

a humbling experience, which I will always be grateful for,” says Nyoni.

“It’s such an honour to be able to help improve children’s literacy around the continent. The books are available at no cost and the children who read them can view themselves in a positive light thanks to the relatable heroes and characters in the books.”

Nyoni’s boyhood may have been bereft of cartoon heroes that spoke to him as an African, but he is ensuring that today’s young people see themselves in the heroes he so beautifully illustrates.

For more information on Nyoni’s work visit ndumisonyoni.com To ask about buying Nyoni’s work, email info@ndumisonyoni.com Download the Book Dash app at Google Play.

Tazara Railway

FOLLOWING THE FREEDOM RAILWAY With its 1,860 km route winding through wildlife-rich national reserves, across mountainconnecting bridges and dissecting the Rift Valley between Tanzania and Zambia, the Uhuru or Freedom Railway is an unforgettable adventure – just don’t expect to arrive on time.

I

f you are one of those people that starts pacing in frustration once a friend is a minute or two late for an agreed meeting, the Uhuru or Freedom railway might not be your best travel choice.

Sticklers for punctuality may be alarmed that it is considered a success if the train completes its 1,860km route between Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam and New Kapiri Mposhi, in Zambia, hours, rather than days late of its official 46-hour journey time.

But this is to miss the point of this epic rail journey, which represents a monument to pan-African socialism and offers passengers two days of

views of some of both countries’ most spectacular scenery as well as a unique insight into the everyday lives of its people.

Tazara (Tanzania – Zambia Railway Authority) runs two trains a week – one express, one ordinary – between Dar and Kapiri Moshi.

The Mukuba Express, which benefits from Chinese-built cars delivered in 2016, should, if all goes to plan, shave around six hours off the journey time of The Kilimanjaro, which uses older cars and stops more frequently Tickets for the Kilimanjaro are cheaper and the train has provided a safe and affordable lifeline for many Tanzanians and Zambians from the

airtanzania.co.tz / 23

/ Tazara Railway

There are glimpses to be had of wildebeest and baboons among the undergrowth and, if you are very lucky, sightings of elephants, giraffes and even lions

Wildlife from your window – the train passes through the Selous Game Reserve

hundreds of communities that lie along the route’s embankments since the line was opened in 1976.

Passengers can include children being ferried to school, families visiting loved ones, mourners on their way to a funeral, farmers shuttling their fresh produce to market in towns and cities or traders heading to the port town of Dar to return with consumer goods to sell at home. Because of the railway, small villages along the route have grown into big towns.

Train traders The train is a market in its own right.

Traders peddle their wares up and down the corridors and there is a clamour on the platform at each of the train’s 100-plus scheduled stops as locals offer fresh fruit, snacks and drinks, with passengers leaning out of the carriage windows to make their purchases. Each train has a restaurant car and meals can be brought to passengers in their sleeper cabins, but these platform sellers are a welcome option to supplement the onboard meals.

With so many reliant on the train for their commercial connections, it is almost always full – from the second and third class seated carriages, where there is regularly a mad scramble for window seats, to

24 / Twiga

the first class four-bed and second class six-bed sleeper cabins, which are popular with tourists wanting to travel the full length of the line in comfort.

With so many passengers from many different walks of life on board for the best part of two days, there is always the opportunity to meet new people and share stories, especially in the restaurant car, which becomes quite a social hub.

While there’s plenty going on inside the train, there is much passengers will want to see from their windows. If you are starting your journey from Dar, you will soon be passing through lush tropical farmland, which gives way to the woodland, grassland and swamps of the Selous Game Reserve. Here there are glimpses to be had of wildebeest and baboons among the undergrowth and, if you are very lucky, sightings of elephants, giraffes and even lions. What other train journey can offer that? There is more game spotting potential at the Udzungwa Mountains National Park and the outskirts of the Mikumi National Park.

The Tanzanian side also offers a dramatic passage through the Rift Valley, meandering around steep hills and across deep valleys. The ascent peaks at around 1,800 metres

above sea level in the heather and bracken-clad hills around the city of Mbeya – which has now become a business hub to southern Tanzania thanks to the railway – before a steep descent across the Zambian border through mist-shrouded forest.

Travelling through the mountainous terrain makes you appreciate what a massive endeavour the construction of this railway was. Tunnels – some as long as 800 metres – had to be dynamited out of the Rift Valley rock so the line could continue and labourers laid tracks across national parks while prowling lions looked on.

Huge undertaking

Station stop – business hub Mbeya

The work began in 1970, six years after Zambia gained independence from Britain. One of new president Kenneth Kaunda’s first moves was to take back control of the copper-rich country’s mineral wealth. However, the landlocked country ran into conflict with its neighbour Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), which imposed heavy duties on copper being transported to South Africa’s ports.

As a solution, Kaunda formed an alliance in the name of pan-African

/ Tazara Railway

socialism with Julius Nyerere, President of Tanzania, which had itself become an independent country just four years before Zambia, to build a railway that would cut a path from Tanzania’s port city of Dar es Salaam to the copper belt in central Zambia.

They hoped this would pave free passage for their people and goods away from then white-controlled Rhodesia and South Africa and pave economic freedom for Zambia to the north. They called it the Uhuru or Freedom Railway.

Leader of China at the time, Chairman Mao Zedong, offered a US$ 400 million loan to build the railway and soon there were tens of thousands of railway workers laying the track in East Africa. Now China-funded major engineering projects are all over East Africa, but at the time this was the first project of its kind.

The huge undertaking was completed more than 40 years ago and it still transports 30 per cent of Zambia’s copper produce to Dar’s port. It is a vital, yet ageing service.

Chinese-imported rolling stock from the 1970s is still in service and the remote wildness of the landscape the train passes through takes its toll on the track. Derailed or abandoned wagons are scattered along the length of the line and trains rarely get above 40km/h and drivers are always on the look out for obstacles on the track – which can include roaming elephants.

Freedom Railway FAQs How often do the trains run?

Can I stop off on the way?

The trains depart twice a week from Dar es Salaam and New Kapiri Moshi.

There are more than 100 stops along the route – if you’re travelling on the Kilimanjaro – but some of the most rewarding places to disembark include Mbeya, with its mountain ranges and stunning waterfalls, and Selous Game Reserve, both in Tanzania, as well as Serenje, in Zambia, which offers the option to visit Kasanka National Park and the Kundalilia Falls.

The express train, Mukuba, leaves Dar on Fridays at 3.50 pm; the ordinary train, Kilimanjaro, leaves on Tuesdays at 1.50 pm.

From Kapiri Moshi, Mukuba leaves at 4pm on Tuesdays and Kilimanjaro departs at 2pm on Fridays.

(For the full train schedule, visit tazarasite.com) How do I book tickets?

You cannot buy tickets online. They have to be bought at the station, over the phone. Call the Dar ticket office on +255 2226 2191.

Bear in mind as the train does not make frequent stops at each station, you should plan your stops in advance and make sure you have accommodation or alternative transport arranged.

What should I bring with me?

On Kilimanjaro, first class sleeper tickets are US$ 37 and second class US$ 30.

The cost of the sleeper cabin ticket includes bedding, toiletries, and bottled mineral water, but it would be wise to bring extra water for the journey. The onboard currency for transactions adjusts to the country you are currently travelling in so your Tanzanian shillings will not be accepted once you cross the Zambian border. A money changer will embark once you cross the border, but will take a hefty commission.

Sleeper compartments accommodate four people, in first class, and six, in second class, and do not mix sexes so it is advisable to book a whole compartment if travelling with men and women or as a family.

As you’ll have plenty of time on your hands a good book and a personal stereo would be advisable as would some warm clothing as the temperature can plunge overnight at some of the journey’s highest altitudes.

New funding

How much do tickets cost?

There is hope on the horizon, however. Helping Tazara get back on track is the promise of US$ 1.2bn in new funding from the Chinese government to support the regeneration of the railway and there has been a steady rise in passengers and freight companies using the railway.

Such developments should ensure the Freedom Railway remains a lifeline for rural communities along the route and one of the world’s most amazing train journeys – just don’t expect to arrive on time.

First class sleeper tickets on Mukuba cost US$ 45 and US$ 36 for a second class sleeper.

Children under seven travel free, under 15 pay half fare. Bookings can be made up to one month in advance of travel.

airtanzania.co.tz / 25

competition

WIN

TWO NIGHTS’ BED AND BREAKFAST

AT LEGENDARY STONE TOWN HOTEL

including free Air Tanzania flights between Dar and Zanzibar To be in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize, send your answers to the three questions below along with a picture of yourself holding Twiga issue 3 to competition@landmarine.org

by December 10. Good luck!

1

What is the name given to the rare coffee bean formed when only half of the coffee flower is fertilised?

2

3

What is the name of the vast studios in Mumbai where most Bollywood films are shot?

What is the name of the British photographer behind the Remembering Lions project?

COMPETITION TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Choice of room and date of stay is dependent on availability at Emerson on Hurumzi. One entry per person.

Entrants must be 18 years or over. The decision of the organisers will be final.

The competition is not open to employees and their relatives of Emerson on Hurumzi, Air Tanzania or Land & Marine Publications Ltd.

E

merson on Hurumzi is unmistakeable amid the Stone Town skyline, towering above its neighbours and offering panoramic views of the city and across to the ocean from its open-air verandahs.

It began as Hurumzi House, the palatial residence of one of the Swahili Empire’s richest men, and while its fortunes have waxed and waned in the intervening years, the past quarter of a century has seen it lovingly restored to its former glories as a sumptuously romantic boutique hotel.

We are giving one lucky reader the chance to win a two-night stay at this sumptuously romantic hotel for them and the guest of their choice.

What is more, Air Tanzania has joined in on the prize, offering returns flights for the winner and their guest from Dar to Zanzibar to connect with their stay.

The competition winner and their guest will be staying in one of the hotel’s 16 individually designed and themed rooms with features such as large stone baths, antique Zanzibari beds with spacious netting, glass chandeliers and hand-painted window panes.

Each morning of their stay they will also be treated to breakfast at the hotel’s rooftop Tower Top Restaurant, which has become one of the most sought after dining spots in the city.

For more information about flying with Air Tanzania please visit our website at www.airtanzania.co.tz

airtanzania.co.tz / 27

Body Street

GET FIT FAST Why feel the burn of punishing workouts when you can feel the tingle of a 20-minute Body Street session, which uses bio-electrical pulses to supercharge the work done by your muscles and gives amazing results in a fraction of the time? Mark Edwards takes a look at the science behind this shortcut for getting in shape available now at the franchise’s Dar studio.

I

t’s easy to get caught up in the constant hustle of Dar es Salaam where time is in short supply.

Finding an hour or more a few times a week to devote to your own health is not easy, but an exercise studio in Dar’s Kinondoni district is making use of next generation fitness technology to provide once-a-week fat-shredding, muscle-building workouts which are all over in 20 minutes.

Body Street is one of the world’s leading providers of EMS (electrical muscular stimulation) workouts.

The company was set up in 2007

by Emma Lehner – a former track athlete who represented Tanzania at the Olympic Games – and her German husband, Matthias. Since then the couple have expanded operations from a single gym in Munich to a global franchise with more than 300 studios across Germany, Austria, the UK, Italy and USA training 40,000 people a week.

It was always in Lehner’s vision to

28 / Twiga

open a Bodystreet gym in her home country and, in 2018, the Dar studio arrived and has proved an immediate success among the commercial capital’s growing number of timepressed professionals.

Amazing response Titus Gindo, Bodystreet East Africa’s chief executive, says: “The response has been absolutely amazing. Our numbers have been rising every month as more and more people experience the effectiveness of our 20-minute workout. This has enabled us to attract several companies to join our corporate clientele. Due to the success of our pilot studio in Dar, we are now receiving franchising requests to open more studios here and in Nairobi.”

As to the effectiveness of the workout, Gindo mentions, Bodystreet’s website (bodystreet. co.tz) claims a person of medium build, eating a healthy diet and doing one 20-minute EMS workout

Each client wears a training suit fitted with electrodes

at Bodystreet each week can expect to burn 500 calories in each session and reduce their body fat by around four per cent in the first six weeks.

Over a 12-week period your body fat ratio could be reduced by up to 10 per cent.

In support of these figures, Gindo refers to numerous studies carried out by German academic and medical institutions, which, he says, reveal EMS training “is one of the most effective methods for targeted muscle growth”. Among them is an independent study by Bayreuth University, which found that a whole body EMS workout is up to 40 per cent more intensive than traditional strength training with weights, boosting strength by 12 per cent and endurance levels by 69 per cent.

So how does EMS training work and how does it achieve such visible results so quickly?

The body stimulates muscles naturally by sending bio-electrical pulses along nerve fibres and

/ Body Street

into the muscle cells. EMS simply amplifies this process by generating more of these impulses and passing them through electrodes on the full body training suit each class member wears and on to the skin surface above the muscles to be stimulated. The extra stimuli cause your muscles to contract more and work harder, helping to build muscle mass, resulting in improved body shape, stamina and strength. It also speeds up your metabolism, which is key in transforming the way your body uses calories. This makes it an effective tool for reducing body fat and losing weight.

Giving back to Tanzanian sport This summer Bodystreet secured a professional contract for talented young Tanzanian female footballer Enekia Kasonga with German team FFC Wacker München. Kasonga was named player of the tournament at the recent Cosafa Women’s Under-20 Championship, which Tanzania went on to win. Bodystreet also offered the Tanzanite star a scholarship to continue her studies while she furthers her promising football career.

A joint-friendly workout While the workout sessions can be intense, the actual feeling of the current is gentle and non-invasive – nothing more than a tingle – and these pulses are able to target far more muscle groups than conventional strength training or gym sessions, which typically only work a few at a time. The 20-minute session will hit those hard-to-reach fast twitch muscle fibres, which are key to building muscle mass and turning your body into a fat-burning machine, as well as the deeper core muscles that have a tightening effect and are crucial to regaining a flat stomach.

Such intensity and super-charging of the muscles comes without any dangers of overloading the joints – as can happen with over training – as the electric impulses work on the muscles directly. In fact, the training is so joint friendly it has proved effective with clients who are recovering

from injury and are keen to maintain fitness during their recuperation.

How the EMS training fits in around any aches and pains and the client’s life outside of the studio is something the qualified Bodystreet personal trainers are there to advise on. The maximum number of clients in a single Bodystreet session is two so the trainer is able to respond to individual requirements and adjust workouts to suit.

Gindo says: “At Bodystreet no client works out alone; you are always supervised by a personal trainer who demonstrates every exercise. This increases the precision of the workout process and also its effectiveness.

A personal trainer is on hand to guide clients through their workout

The extra stimuli cause your muscles to contract more and work harder, helping to build muscle mass, resulting in improved body shape, stamina and strength

“The result is exceptionally fast muscle growth, even when training for only 20 minutes a week.”

Your first session may take slightly longer – only because your trainer will use the time to record some body statistics, such as fat percentage, to measure progress against and set you up with a training programme tailored to your goals.

Such services along with quarterly progress reports are part of the Bodystreet membership package, which starts at TSH 39,000 (US$ 17) per session.

Try Bodystreet for free To try the training for free you can apply for a workout voucher from the Bodystreet website. Then, once you’ve been briefed by your trainer, it’s just a matter of slipping into the training suit – you’ll find one freshly laundered for you in the changing cubicle – and beginning your workout.

Just 20 minutes later you should be looking and feeling good and ready to hit the hustle of Dar once again.

airtanzania.co.tz / 29

Health and fitness

CHILL OUT… Sometimes the best thing to do is to do nothing.

Taking time to truly relax amid our busy lives is essential for mental and physical wellbeing. Here are some products and inspiring words to help get you that regenerative rest we all need.

Ted Baker Dream Journal Sometimes great ideas can come during a nap. Goalorientated dreamers can write them down in this journal.

Store.wildandwolf.co.uk USD 30 Evesham Single Sun Lounger This lounger is adjustable to find the perfect position for outdoor relaxation. bridgman.co.uk USD 1,480

True Grace Black Lily Candle Light this scented candle to release an air of relaxation in your home. sweetpeaandwillow.com USD 35

Ga Fullner | Shutterstock.com

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Sophie Allport Elephant Sleep Mask Black out wherever you are with this silk sleep mask. sophieallport.com USD 22

‘Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.’ – Maya Angelou

Yes Studio Just Chill Bath Fizzer A jasmine-scented bath bomb containing essential oils for a skin-soothing soak. store.wildandwolf.co.uk USD 7

‘If you want to relax, watch the clouds pass by if you’re lying on the grass, or sit in front of the creek; just doing nothing and having those still moments is what really rejuvenates the body.’ – Miranda Kerr

In-flight yoga

Zanzibar yoga instructor Marisa van Vuuren suggests some simple exercises to stretch out your body, massage your internal organs, improve circulation and relieve anxiety and stress - arriving at your destination, energized and ready to go.

30 / Twiga

Kapalabhati pranayama A practice of short, sharp exhalations through the nose, drawing the navel towards the spine on the exhalations. The emphasis is on the exhalation.

The inhalation happens by itself through the relaxation of the abdominal muscles. This breath is awakening, energising and clears the mind.

The practice is done in rounds.

In the beginning 11 expulsions of air constitute one round. Pause between rounds and breathe normally to rest and relax your nervous system. Do this for three rounds.

Seated twists Sitting with a straight spine gently twist to the right, take the left hand to your right knee and the right hand behind you.

Use your breath, exhaling to twist deeper by looking over your right shoulder. Repeat on the other side.

Shoulder Stretch Sit with a straight back. Bring the right elbow over the left and the palms towards each other. Draw the elbows up and the shoulders down, feeling the stretch between the shoulders blades. Breathe deeply for eight counts. Repeat on other side.

Spinal Flex Sit with a straight back, drawing the lower belly softly in and the shoulders back, chin parallel to the ground, hands on the thighs. As you inhale push the chest forward and up, shoulders back. As you exhale, flex the spine back, keeping the shoulders relaxed and the head straight. Repeat five to eight times.

For more information on Marisa’s work, which includes yoga retreats, yoga teacher training, scuba diving and tango dancing, visit www.yogazanzibar.com

A novel idea

THE BEST

beach reads Beach breaks can appeal to bookworms as much as boarders, giving them a chance to catch up on their reading while others are riding the waves. But, what makes a great beach read? We asked Sarah Clithero, the owner of Dar bookshop A Novel Idea, which has been providing good reads for local residents from its Masasani Slipway location since 1993. She says: “The formula is pretty straightforward. Whether mass-market candy or high literature, a beach read needs narrative momentum, a transporting sense of place, and, ideally, a touch of the sordid.” Here, Sarah picks five of her favourites for reading while soaking up the rays.

Erebus The Story of a Ship

by Michael Palin Comedian, actor, travel journalist and British national treasure Michael Palin turns his talents to maritime history in this extraordinary biography of the sailing vessel, HMS Erebus. In September 2014 the wreck of the sailing vessel was discovered at the bottom of the sea in the frozen wastes of the Canadian Arctic. Palin brings this extraordinary ship back to life, following it from its launch in 1826 to the epic voyages of discovery that led to glory in the Antarctic and to ultimate catastrophe in the Arctic.

He explores the intertwined careers of the men who shared its journeys: the dashing James Clark Ross who charted much of the ‘Great Southern Barrier’ and oversaw some of the earliest scientific experiments to be conducted there; and the troubled John Franklin, who at the age of sixty and after a chequered career, commanded the ship on its 32 / Twiga

Heroes

by Stephen Fry There are heroes - and then there are Greek heroes. Few mere mortals have ever embarked on such bold and heart-stirring adventures, overcome myriad monstrous perils, or outwitted scheming vengeful gods, quite as stylishly and triumphantly as Greek heroes.

In this companion to his bestselling Mythos, Stephen Fry brilliantly retells these dramatic, funny, tragic and timeless tales. Join Jason aboard the Argo as he quests for the Golden Fleece. See Atalanta - who was raised by bears - outrun any man before being tricked with golden apples. Witness wily Oedipus solve the riddle of the Sphinx and discover how Bellerophon captures the winged horse Pegasus to help him slay the monster Chimera.

final, disastrous expedition. Palin also vividly recounts the experiences of the men who first stepped ashore on Antarctica’s Victoria Land, and those who, just a few years later, froze to death one by one in the Arctic ice, as rescue missions desperately tried to reach them.

Filled with white-knuckle chases and battles, impossible puzzles and riddles, acts of base cowardice and real bravery, not to mention murders and selfless sacrifices, Heroes is the story of what we mortals are truly capable of - at our worst and our very best.

Publisher: Cornerstone ISBN: 9781784758578 Number of pages: 352

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd ISBN: 9781405940368 Number of pages: 496

/ A novel idea

An American Marriage

by Tayari Jones A tender and humane dissection of what happens to a relationship when unforeseen events conspire to sabotage it. Jones’ handling of her protagonists’ emotions is a masterclass in authentic characterisation while the story subtly probes issues of race and justice with intelligence and heart. The book won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2019 and fans of the work include Oprah Winfrey, who included the work in her influential Book Club, and former US president Barack Obama. Young newlyweds Celestial, a promising artist, and Roy, an executive, are the embodiment of the American Dream. However, their lives are ripped apart when Roy is arrested and sentenced to 12 years for a crime he didn’t commit. The devastated Celestial begins to take comfort in Andre, the couple’s closest friend, which further complicates matters when Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned and he returns home to resume their life together. Jones looks into the hearts and minds of three unforgettable characters who are at once bound together and separated by forces beyond their control.

Publisher: Oneworld Publications ISBN: 9781786075192 Number of pages: 320

The Corfu Trilogy

by Gerald Durrell Bonjour Tristesse and A Certain Smile

by Francoise Sagan This tale of adolescence and betrayal on the French Riviera built a scandalous renown. Its writer was still in her teens when it was published and the story’s frank treatment of a schoolgirl’s quickly consummated summer romance earned Sagan – a pen name inspired from a character in Proust’s Memories of Times Past – a papal denunciation and its sexual scenes were removed for the English publication. This translation presents the uncensored text in full for the first time and also includes Sagan’s second book, A Certain Smile, which centres on Dominique, a young woman bored with her lover, who begins an encounter with an older man that unfolds in unexpected and troubling ways.

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd ISBN: 9780141198750 Number of pages: 240

For millions of readers Durrell’s idyllic childhood paradise stands as the defining image of the Greek island of Corfu, so embedded have this trio of reminiscences become in the national psyche. Detailing the narrator’s exploits amongst the wildlife of the island as well as his family’s vast array of eccentricities, The Corfu Trilogy remains a beloved slice of sun-kissed biography.

Just before the Second World War, the Durrell family decamped to the glorious, sun-soaked island of Corfu where the youngest of the four children, ten-year-old Gerald, discovered his passion for animals: toads and tortoises, bats and butterflies, scorpions and octopuses.

Durrell’s memories of those enchanted days gave rise to these three-classic tales, loved by generations of adults and children alike, which are now available in one volume for the first time.

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd ISBN: 9780141028415 Number of pages: 768

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Utengule Coffee

Plantation on a mission to bring quality coffee to the Tanzania market The Utengule plantation produces coffee that is as unforgettable as its views it affords of the cascading valleys of the Rift Valley. Mark Edwards finds out how its premium quality range of products are stirring the interests of discerning Tanzanian coffee drinkers.

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n 1919, it wasn’t just Christianity that missionaries brought to the villages on the slopes of the mighty Mbeya mountain range in Southern Tanzania. They were also carrying with them plenty of bourbon coffee beans.

These they planted on land in Utengule donated to them by the village chief. It became apparent the coffee coming from those first bourbon trees was of exceptional quality and the planting area was rapidly expanded. The missionaries soon passed on ownership of the land, but coffee production continued to grow. The Utengule Coffee Estate, which has been run by Swiss coffee expert Hans Fässler and his family since 1987, is now known by gourmet coffee lovers far and wide and this year is marking its 100th anniversary, a century on from the planting of those first coffee beans.

There are still a few small plots with trees from the missionaries’ original planting, but in recent years a renovation programme has replaced those old plants with younger material. That the soil here is still producing a high yield of quality coffee after one hundred years is due in part to a sensitive cultivation system.

Perfect conditions The estate may be 1,400 metres above sea level, but the fields are located in flat areas only and soil is protected by the spreading crowns of Albizzia and Grevillea shrubs that help to reduce soil temperatures and provide organic litter, such as leaves and twigs. Agro-chemicals are the last resort here.

The perfect conditions for growing coffee here actually go back much further than one hundred

Around 40 per cent of the estate’s 740 acres has been left as a nature reserve

years. The mineral rich soil originates from volcanic eruptions millennia ago that formed the surrounding Rift Valley and Mbeya ranges. This mountainous terrain has the ideal climate of warm summers, fresh winters and seasonal rains and the streams that run down from its peaks and cross the estate provide cool, clean water to irrigate the coffee fields and to wash coffee during the harvest.

The altitude and good cultivation system combine to turn out the estate’s slow maturing, high-density beans that produce a cup of coffee of smooth flavour, full body and fine acidity.

These qualities have brought Utengule Coffee success in Europe, where part of the plantation’s production is exported, but a growing amount is roasted locally – at the estate’s own modern facility in Dar es Salaam – and supplied to cafés

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/ Utengule Coffee

Utengule Coffee Estate fields spring to life when the red, ripe cherries are picked. Over 90 per cent of pickers are women, who like this work and enjoy the additional revenue

Harvest time at Utengule Coffee Estate

and hotels or sold as five specially branded products to the public. The Utengule brand has also expanded to open The Zanzibar Coffee House Hotel, in Stone Town.

Award-winning The discerning Tanzanian coffee drinker gets to enjoy the same quality of bean that is exported and two of the Utengule Coffee Estate’s products were winners at last year’s AVPA world coffee awards, held in Paris. RiftValley – made exclusively from the highest quality A and AA beans arabica beans – and Africa’s Wildest Coffee – which uses the estate’s rare, around 10 per cent of the crop, Pea-Berry or Pearl beans and which are considered a delicacy – both won bronze awards.

Fässler says coffee connoisseurs appreciate that they are getting beans from a single estate with multi-faceted flavours rather than a blend. He says: “Coffee from the highlands of Tanzania belong to the finest in the world. This coffee expresses the typical, much sought after East African coffee qualities with its fine flavours, good body, fine citric acidity and berry, floral and chocolatey undertones.”

The East African influence is also to the fore in the Utengule

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production process. It uses traditional disc pulpers to remove the fruit of the cherries, leaving just the beans. These are then pre-graded to remove twigs or stones, washed and carefully left to sun-dry over 10 days. The result is called parchment coffee and is put in storage over six to 10 weeks to ensure maximum quality. Finally, coffee will be hulled, polished, graded and packed for the demanding coffee gourmet.

The success of the process is dependent on the selective plucking of only mature berries. Picking season runs from April to August and has a celebratory feel with pickers pouring in to the estate from the neighbouring villages.

Harvest Fässler says: “Utengule Coffee Estate fields spring to life when the red, ripe cherries are picked. Over 90 per cent of pickers are women, who like this work and enjoy the additional revenue, which can be a significant contribution to the annual household income.

“Picking is tedious work, requiring patience but it is usually a lively time in the fields, because the pickers chat the day away, while working.

“Payment is done instantly by “nomas”, which are vouchers,

A stay at the Utengule Coffee Lodge allows for visits to the plantation

representing the picking wage for one “debe”, a 20-litre bucket, filled with cherries. These nomas can be changed into shillings at the office.

In good years, employees are paid a crop bonus at the end of the year.”

The picking months attract plenty of coffee-loving tourists to the estate – although there is always some part of the coffee-producing process, such as pruning and irrigation, weed control or fertilisation, to witness whatever time of year you come.

There are guided tours of the farm organised for those who want to learn more about coffee, pick their own cherries, plant a coffee tree and, of course, sample some of the fantastic brews.

For a longer stay and to really appreciate the farm’s majestic location inside the Great Rift Valley, visitors can book a stay at the on-site Utengule Coffee Lodge. Set amid terraced gardens, the hotel has a camp site as well as 16 rooms, the most luxurious of which have open glass frontages overlooking the pool, the plantation and the valley vistas beyond. The Lodge’s Arabica Restaurant and Bar provide a similar sundowner spot for all guests, who

/ Utengule Coffee

can enjoy the plantation’s coffee and a range of cuisines from the veranda.

Fässler says: “During sunrise the rift is set ablaze with sunlight within 20 minutes and at sunset the red sun settles on the other side in equally spectacular fashion. Guests love to watch this scene every day.”

More natural beauty awaits for guests taking time to explore the estate. Around 40 per cent of its 740 acres are left as a nature reserve, with its woodland, wetland and rivers becoming a habitat to more than 200 species of birds. It’s a wonderful place to stroll through on your way to the farm.

Excursions Excursions that take in more of the surrounding natural wonders can be organised from the lodge with destinations including some impressive waterfalls, extinct volcanoes with crater lakes, the 2,850-metre Mbeya Peak, the Mbozi meteorite and the crystal clear waters of Lake Nyasa.

For most visitors, though, the mission is to experience some truly wonderful coffee and gain insight into how it is produced – and, just as for the missionaries that preceded them here a century ago, there are some amazing discoveries to be had.

To book stays at Utengule Coffee Lodge and coffee tours at the plantation, visit utengule.com Here you can also find out more about the range of coffee products on sale and buy them in 350 grams tins or 500 grams gusset bags.

BATTLE OF THE BEANS The five Utengule coffee brands – RiftValley, Zanzibar Coffee, Tanzania Cafe, Africa’s Wildest Coffee and Kifaru – “gives an option to any coffee palate,” says Hans Fässler. Here the Utengule Coffee Estate owner explains more about the variety of beans used and what they add to the coffee’s flavour.

Arabica “Arabica is appreciated for its superior flavour and aroma as well as it’s citric acidity and other desirable components. For instance Tanzania Arabica contains some chocolatey and berry undertones.”

Robusta “Compared to Arabica contains the double amount of Caffeine, has less flavour but considerably more “body”. Robusta coffee per se is not worse than Arabica, it is just different. Coffee brands that combine high quality Arabica and Robusta marry the qualities of both species and produce an outstanding quality, appreciated by so many coffee drinkers.

Pea Berry “Pea Berry beans make up about eight to 12 per cent of the total crop and this is indeed a rarity. Pearls, as we call them, are round, in contrast to usually half-flat beans and develop when only half of the coffee flower is fertilised and one bean occupies the entire space in the cherry. They are considered a delicacy by many specialty coffee roasters, convinced they taste better due to a more even roast, which again is associated to better “rolling” of the round bean in the roaster. However, this view is also disputed.”

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interiors

CREATING A SPECIAL SPACE FOR WORK OR THE HOME If you want to give your home or work place the wow factor, calling on an interior designer to help shape your vision can brings you results you never thought possible. Creative Studios, an interior architectural designing firm in Dar es Salaam, has an impressive portfolio of building transformations under its belt that harness Tanzanian talent and materials in their creation.

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ar es Salaam is the second fastest growing city worldwide and many individuals and businesses in our commercial capital are looking to make the most of the raft of newly built homes and offices both functionally and aesthetically by employing interior designers. Creative Studios is highly regarded for creating beautiful, workable spaces in Tanzania with a portfolio that includes private homes, entertainment venues and commercial premises.

The firm’s six-strong team, which includes four qualified interior designers, is headed by Sandra Aikaruwa Mushi, who has led a life driven by creativity through her 15 years within the interior design and architecture industry as well as her side career as a published author of poetry and short stories. She is registered with the International Interior Design Association and the African Institute of the Interior Design Professions.

Mushi and her young Tanzanian team have set out to lead the way in interior

architectural design, creating singular spaces that make use of the latest techniques and materials while remaining affordable.

While the talented team is able to draw on diverse styles and embrace the latest technology such as 3D visualisation in their work, it is never forgotten that clients have to be able to recognise their original vision in the finished product.

“For us it is important that the client understands that their project is a reflection of them through us,” say Neemaeli

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/ Creative Studios THE HOPEJA RESIDENCE

We love the idea of promoting everything local and Tanzanian as there is so much talent in our nation.

Whenever we can, we work with local artists as well as craftsmen…

Mkony, a well-travelled Creative Studios interior designer who gained her honours degree in interior architecture and design in the UK. She adds: “We encourage the client’s participation in every phase of the design process from the concept stage to material selection and finally to the implementation stage. The end result is a fusion of the owner’s unique personality, values, and preferences.”

Creative Studios is evidence of the bank of design talent Tanzania has and the team is equally keen to draw on the country’s wealth of materials and artisans as much as possible in its mission bring quality craftsmanship to all of its work.

Mkony says: “We love the idea of promoting everything local and Tanzanian as there is so much talent in our nation. Whenever we can, we work with local artists as well as craftsmen because we believe giving them a platform to show case their work in our interiors is an extension of our mission to represent our culture.”

Here, Mkony provides a guide to the work behind three recent Creative Studios projects that display the team’s ability to create stylish and stimulating spaces for the home or workplace.

To find out more about Creative Studios and its services, visit creativestudios.co.tz

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This four-bedroom modern family home has a spectacular hillside location with panoramic views over Dar es Salaam. Creative Studios was commissioned to help the young homeowners’ dreams of an uncluttered home that blended modern chic and traditional touches become a reality.

Mkony says: “We took the house as it had been designed by the project architect and found creative ways to improve circulation as well as make the spaces more functional. To achieve this, our proposal called for a few interior walls to be demolished and a few others moved slightly.

“The open-plan feel this created was accentuated by the large windows that not only allow natural light effortlessly into the individual spaces but also allow the homeowner to make the most of the fantastic views”.

“Local contractors have aided in fitting the installation while the materials specified for the interior finishing, fit outs and décor has been sourced here in Tanzania.

The materials chosen are robust and the colour pallet throughout the house is a selection of fun and versatile hues, from subtle earth tones to funky bright.

“Our ultimate goal was to achieve a space that the homeowners can feel at home in and put their feet up and unwind at the end of a long day.”

CROWE TANZANIA OFFICES Creative Studios was commissioned to design a new interior for the head office of this fast-growing certified public accountants firm on the seventh floor of Hekima House, a newly constructed building at the heart of Dar’s CBD. Mkony says: “As the interior designers, we took up the challenge of providing our client’s staff with a flexible and growth supportive environment in state-ofthe-art Crowe Tanzania offices.

“The work environment was revitalised towards a more collaborative and inspiring space with concentration zones with silence areas, individual and shared desks as well as private offices for the executives and accountants.

“Glass walls and doors have been used in some areas, allowing the space to feel lighter and more airy while LED lighting soaks into the vibrant yellow and blue walls to add hues of warmth and character into the space.

‘To celebrate a successful African company, we added art works and handcrafted ornaments prepared by local artists. We also used local finishing materials and allowed the Tanzanian office to stand in a unique league of its own.”

MINET OFFICES The offices of international insurance company Minet are located in Haile Selassie Road in Dar’s Msasani Peninsula. Creative Studio’s brief was to take a minimalist approach with the interior that mirrored the clean lines of the attractive two-storey building.

Mkony says: “On the ground floor, the reception draws you into the space with a cleverly designed reception area and an adjacent waiting area that looks out into the beautiful landscape the compound has to offer.

“The proposed office spaces here have been designed in a manner that promotes privacy when needed and collaborative work when required. The use of glass partition walls has been employed so as to allow natural light to filter into the space without interruption.

“One of the aspects we love here at Creative Studios about working with companies is that we get an opportunity to integrate who they are and the office culture they represent into the space. Brand identity is represented throughout with the use of the fire-truck red feature walls derived from the logo Minet is internationally known for.”

/ Creative Studios

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Best hotel pools

DIVE IN! From infinity-edged stunners to rooftop oases of tranquillity, Twiga has taken the plunge and picked the best hotel pools within Air Tanzania’s network of destinations.

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here’s nothing like returning to your hotel after a sweltering day’s safari or sightseeing and taking a cooling dip in the pool. Most hotels worth their salt will have them, especially in the reliably roasting African sub-Sahara, but many are raising the bar and turning their pools into idyllic escapes and landscaping them to make the most of their picturesque surroundings. Welcome to the Instagram age of the hotel pool with these beauties prominent on the hotels’ websites and social media to lure in new guests who love the idea of socialising, seeing and being seen in these eye-popping locations. Well, what are you waiting for? Dive in!

Four Seasons Safari Lodge

Serengeti, Tanzania

Malaika Beach Resort Mwanza, Tanzania Malaika Beach Resort is dramatically built into Mwanza’s rocky coastline and offers luxurious accommodation, lush landscaped gardens and breathtaking views of Lake Victoria.

It’s home to the city’s only infinity pool, which reaches out to the mighty lake and is a great place to spot the teeming birdlife and wave to local fishermen on the lake. Whether you’re taking a dip or enjoying drinks from the Pool Bar, you’ll find a soothing sweet breeze and some truly wondrous sunsets to feast your eyes on. malaikabeachresort.com

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The Four Seasons Safari Lodge is located deep in the heart of Tanzania’s celebrated wildlife reserve, the Serengeti, where the Big Five – lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhinoceros – roam free. The lodge is built on a series of elevated platforms and walkways, which gives fantastic views of the untamed landscape. The best vantage point is reserved for the lodge’s magnificent free-form infinity pool, which overlooks a neighbouring waterhole and allows early-morning swimmers to watch families of elephants stop for their morning drink. fourseasons.com/serengeti

/ Best hotel pools

Richard Waite | Four Seasons

The Residence Zanzibar Tanzania This hideaway on the south-west coast of Zanzibar is fringed by a mile-long beach, but also offers wondrously opulent and private swimming options on-site. Each of its 66 luxurious villas has its own secluded pool to relax in. If you want to really put in the lengths and work on your swimming fitness, the resort also has a huge 41-metre pool for use by all guests. Or you can just admire the pool’s sleek, shimmering beauty from the terrace while enjoying light bites and cool drinks from the poolside restaurant. zanzibar-retreats.com

The St Regis Mumbai, Maharashtra

This lavish five-star hotel, part of the Marriott International global franchise, occupies Mumbai’s tallest building and its open-air pool can be found on the 10th storey – the dedicated wellness floor, which also features a gym, beauty salon and spa – and offers awe-inspiring views of the city’s iconic skyline far above its crazy chaos. The glamorous pool deck has a sunk-in lounge, four private cabanas and a bar serving contemporary cocktails and tapas. marriott.com

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/ Best hotel pools

Amalinda Lodge Zimbabwe

This exclusive, privately owned safari lodge is built around an ancient bushman’s shelter in the Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe’s oldest national park, just 45 km from Bulawayo. The granite domes of the kopje form the walls of the luxury villas here and a slab of gradually sloping rock provides the bottom for the infinity pool, located next to the dining area.

Just beyond is a waterhole, which gives the ‘infinite edge’ illusion to the swimming pool and attracts wildlife such as baboon, impala, kudu and ‘zonkey’ – a zebra-donkey hybrid the area is famous for. The pool is also popular with the birdlife here, with kingfishers swooping down for a quick drink, while the endangered black eagle can be seen circling above or perching on hills in the distance. audleytravel.com/zimbabwe

Hyatt Regency Johannesburg This rooftop pool is a wonderful place to seek solace from the hectic pace of urban Johannesburg with its soul-soothing views across a horizon of jacaranda trees. Returning to the hotel in the modern suburb of Rosebank after a long day’s exploring, the 20-metre pool is an excellent place to freshen the body with a few lengths or you can ease those tired muscles by getting in the poolside hot tub. www.hyatt.com

Cresta Golfview Hotel Lusaka The curved lagoon-style pool is the centrepiece of this friendly Lusaka hotel. Framed by palm trees and with a children’s area, the pool is set amid the hotel’s expansive, verdant gardens and it’s not unusual to have the occasional free-roaming zebra or impala pass by nonchalantly. The pool and gardens also provide an attractive view for guests taking in a sundowner on the outdoor terrace of Cresta Golfview Chatters cocktail bar. crestagolfview.com

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Harare

24 hours in…

HARARE

Whatever the time of day, there’s plenty going on in Harare – unsurprising, given the Zimbabwe capital takes it name from the Shona word ‘Haarare’ meaning ‘He who does not sleep’. Cecilia Kamuputa, who has called the city home for the past 15 years, shares some of her favourite things to do and see from dawn to dusk.

MORNING Mornings have become warmer, allowing the capital to stir to life early. The sunrises, like the sunsets, are breathtaking and experiencing them is recommended, sitting by the window with a steaming cup of coffee to shake off sleep. Then it’s time to join the rat race in the metropolis.

If you chose any of the hotels in the city centre, then it’s ideal to take a stroll through the ‘Sunshine City’.

If you’re at, say, the five-star Meikles Hotel, it would take you approximately 11 minutes to your first destination. The route takes you through Africa Unity Square, formerly Cecil Square (after Cecil John Rhodes), with its huge fountain and florists lining the Jason Moyo Street side of the square.

The square was built in 1890 and has served as an important meeting place throughout the history of Harare. It offers different views of some of the capital’s important buildings, including the Parliament of Zimbabwe, the Cathedral of St Mary and All Saints, Herald House, the former Greatermans Departmental Store and ZB Life Towers.

The strip from the square spills into Sam Nujoma Street, where glimpses of the Munhumutapa

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Government offices and the High Court of Zimbabwe can be caught along the way before taking Central Lane into Park Lane to the glass doors of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. The gallery is expediently located just a stone’s throw from the Crowne Plaza Monomotapa Hotel, and if this is where you’re staying in Harare you’ll only have to wander past the Harare Gardens, the main gardens of the city, a popular wedding venue as well as the permanent home of the annual Harare International Festival of Arts.

After paying your entrance fee at the gallery reception, you will be free to view the exhibitions, following the no photographs policy. Head first for the Courtauld Gallery on the ground floor, which is lit by natural light streaming through the glass roof, then upstairs to the first floor where there is the Nicholas Mukomberanwa Gallery and the permanent collection. The Artlife Gallery and Gift Shop downstairs has a selection of souvenirs to buy, including books, jewellery, sculpture, ceramics and paintings.

Opposite the gift shop there are a number of stone sculptures included among the pieces that also make up the gallery’s permanent collection, including Thomas Mukarobgwa’s serpentine ‘Family Dreaming’ and

The Mukuvisi Woodlands teem with wildlife

Dominic Benhura’s ‘Teenage Lovers’.

You can get a good view of the sculptures from the Artisana Gallery Cafe, which is open from 9 am till 5 pm. It has a breakfast menu, in case your early start meant you missed it earlier or you need a second helping.

On the menu are scrumptious sandwiches, melt-in-your-mouth waffles served with ice cream and seasonal fruits, full cheese boards with selected cheeses, olives and pickles, paninis, tea and coffee, freshly squeezed juices and the alcoholic stuff for those who want to start early.

AFTERNOON Then it’s time to experience the touch of the wild. Download either of the ride-hailing apps Vaya or Hwindi on your phone and get one of their drivers to pick you up from the gallery; or, for a fuller, cheaper yet

/ 24 hours in… Harare

The Zimbabwe capital takes it name from the Shona word ‘Haarare’ meaning ‘He who does not sleep’

Mukuvisi Woodlands is a serne space just five km from the city

independence celebrations in 1982, and murals depicting Zimbabwean history.

NIGHT

edgier experience, hop on a commuter bus or ‘combi’. Ask someone local where to get one.

Head east to the Mukuvisi Woodlands, just 5 km from the pulse of the city. The tranquillity of this jungle oasis, tucked away in the suburb of Hillside, is punctuated by calls of the wild, making you feel a world away from the busy city.

Here you can take in the staggering array of flora, catch a glimpse of crocodiles, zebras, giraffes, impalas, tortoises and see many types of birds housed in the spacious bird conservatory. For lunch there are plenty of braaing spots available to enjoy a barbecue and a beer within the wild environment; or you can grab a light lunch at the woodlands’ own café.

Back in the city centre, if you need to indulge in some retail therapy or pick something you forgot to

pack, Longcheng Plaza is ideal, with its ample parking space. At this Chinese mall, situated in the wetlands in Belvedere, you’ll find the Horizon Ivato stores, a pharmacy, dentist’s services, chic boutiques, children’s wear shops, gift shops, print shops, bars, banks, betting shops, restaurants, a fast food outlet, a massage parlour, hair salons, an amusement park and a casino under construction.

If you’re not too drained, you could then squeeze in a quick visit to the National Heroes Acre of Zimbabwe, passing the National Sports Stadium on the way. The 57-acre memorial site includes the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a bronze statue of three guerrillas, which pays homage to the unidentified soldiers who died during the Zimbabwean liberation war. You’ll also see the Eternal Flame, lit at

Harare’s National Sports Stadium

After a rejuvenating nap, you’re ready to enjoy Harare’s nightlife.

Harare, derived from the Shona word ‘Haarare’ meaning ‘He who does not sleep’, lives up to its name as the nights here are just as pulsing as the days. The Jam Tree Bar and Restaurant in the northern suburb of Mount Pleasant offers a tranquil dining atmosphere, with a childfriendly play area and good outdoor seating. Here you can unwind while enjoying unplugged music sessions with local artists while having dinner.

There are plenty of barbecued meat options as well as pizzas, fresh salads and delectable desserts. With your stomach lined, you can start imbibing, if you so wish, with a choice ranging from local and imported beers, ciders, wines, spirits, whisky, brandy to shots. If you have an early morning, it would be wise to go and lie down; but if you feel as if the night is still young, night owl options include the Pabloz VIP & Deck and Pitstop Bar and Grill in Borrowdale as well as Evitro Lounge and Bar in Belgravia.

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Sound and vision

Faysal blogger

When I woke up this morning, I thought to myself, “this is the day”. I grabbed my phone to message a friend who lives a couple of miles from me, hoping he will just tell me one thing – “Twende!” – let’s go. He was up for it so I quickly took my shower, packed my stuff and off I went.

It was a Sunday, the sun was shining and a slight breeze blew across my face. Coco Beach, edging the blue waters on the Msasani Peninsula of Dar es Salaam, has a bustling and exciting atmosphere that captured our hearts.

We thought it would be a good place for us to spend the day and experience the pulse of life in our city.

When we got there, the first thing we picked up on was the aroma of mouth-watering food being prepared, which filled the entire area. We started off by taking a quick dip in the ocean and proceeded to build sand castles, then enjoyed a delicious plate of fried cassavas and barbecued beef on skewers as well as a bowl of octopus soup.

Later in the evening, we heard sounds of a local band playing music. The melodies carried us towards a small gathering at a restaurant where people danced and sang along to their songs. To wrap up our day out, we had a couple of drinks, took pictures of the sun setting over the horizon and then hopped onto a dala dala and made our way back home. The perfect Dar Sunday.

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FILM REVIEWS

Faysal Alao is a vlogger from Tanzania currently living in Dubai. He uploads videos roughly every other day about his experiences and everyday lifestyle on his YouTube channel, ‘Lifestyle of Faysal’. You can also keep up with him on Snapchat @ faysal_alao and Instagram @callmefays

BOOK REVIEWS

Twende! This is a day for Coco Beach

MUSIC REVIEWS

BY MARK EDWARDS

THE LION KING: THE GIFT / Various artists One of the biggest names in music, Beyoncé has created what she refers to as ‘sonic cinema’ with the release of a companion album to this year’s computer-animated remake of ‘The Lion King’, which she also stars in, voicing the character of Nala. ‘The Lion King: The Gift’ features songs inspired by themes and scenes in the film and showcases African artists alongside Beyoncé and her growing musical family – husband Jay Z and her children make an appearance. Nigerian singers Burna Boy and Wizkid shine on two the album’s finest moments, ‘Ja Ara E’ and ‘Brown Skin Girl’. The latter is a gorgeous celebration of black women’s beauty and is one of a number of tracks on the album which seem to be an extension of Beyoncé’s increasingly woke work, exploring themes of ancestry, self-love, spirituality and family.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD / Directed by Quentin Tarantino This all-star exploration of the Swinging Sixties of the Hollywood film industry and the real-life tragedy that brought the era to an end is Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film and, if you believe the US auteur, his second-to-last. The film is full of delights, including the chance to see two of the world’s biggest movie stars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, playing against type as losers. DiCaprio is washed-up Western actor Rick Dalton, who is drinking away his disappointment at his fading career, and Pitt his stunt man/ chauffeur and only friend Cliff Booth, whose charm and capability hide some dark secrets. Fitted in this fictitious world is real-life actress Sharon Tate, who was horrifically murdered in 1969, while pregnant, by members of Charles Manson’s cult family.

Here, played by Margot Robbie, she is an innocent, revelling in her burgeoning career, but with her dark fate looming over her. As with Tarantino’s best works – ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’ among them – there is plenty of humour amid the explosive events.

THE OLD DRIFT / Namwali Serpell Serpell, who was born in Lusaka, but has been living in the USA since the age of nine, won the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2015 for her short story ‘The Sack’. The brevity of that work did little to suggest the epic nature of her debut novel, 20 years in the making, that weaves history, fairytale, romance and science fiction across three generations in Zambia.

Beginning in colonial times – the title is the name given to a settlement near Victoria Falls

by British colonists in the 1800s – the complex tale entangles three Zambian families and Serpell introduces amazing characters such as a woman covered from head to toe in hair and another who cries endlessly. It entwines their tribulations with some of Zambia’s most bizarre but true moments in history, such as its ‘Afronauts’ space training programme. It’s a wild ride.

Culture coming up Agnes-Senga Tupper, the director of Chuma Art Workshop, in Dar es Salaam, rounds up the latest events in arts, music and film in the commercial capital.

ED SHEERAN / No 6 Collaborations Project Though he built his fame on confessional, earnest acoustic guitar songs, Ed Sheeran has been keen to show recently that he loves dance music and African rhythms. Recent trips to Ghana have seen him team up with Fuse ODG on the track ‘Boa Me’ and here there are plenty more tracks destined for the dance floors. These include ‘I Don’t Care’ with Justin Bieber in which the fellow newly-weds declare love for their respective spouses over ear worm dancehall rhythms. Ed’s honeymoon period continues with ‘Cross Me’, this time roping in Chance The Rapper to share protective paeans to their partners. There’s some UK grime in the team-up with Stormzy – or ‘Big Mike’ as ‘Teddy’ calls him on the track – which adds a bit of edge, but the best cross-pollination of ideas here is with Travis Scott on ‘Antisocial’ in which the US rapper’s trademark skittering beats propel the duet.

Image: yakub88 | Shutterstock.com

ART AND FASHION Artists hangouts / at Nafasi Art Space Meet artists Elish and Edna, from Kenya, as well as Dar’s Mzee Raza and Kola, from Zanzibar, during their four-week residency at Nafasi.

Stay tuned for dates on the Nafasi Arts Space social media pages.

Christmas Market Alliance Francaise / 7 December A one-stop craft market for all your Christmas and holiday gifts.

Swahili Fashion Week / 6 to 8 December / at the National Museum

FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW

Celebrating and rewarding East Africa’s fashion designers and designs.

/ Directed by David Leitch It seems there will never be an end to the ‘Fast & Furious’ films. Number nine in the franchise is scheduled for release next year and, just in case you haven’t had enough of the motors-and-muscles big screen action, here comes offshoot ‘Hobbs & Shaw’.

The film pairs two of the biggest – and baldest – stars of the franchise, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. The reliably violent duo first faced off in ‘Furious 7’ when hulking lawman Hobbs (Johnson) tried to take down rogue former British military elite operative outcast Shaw (Statham). In Hobbs & Shaw they are, begrudgingly, on the same side and tasked with tackling cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton Lorr, played by British actor Idris Elba, who has gained control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever. Oscar winner Helen Mirren adds some much-needed gravitas as Shaw’s mother.

FILM AND EXHIBITIONS

Cinema / every Friday night / at the Alliance Francaise Cine Kids / every last Saturday of the month at 11 am at the Alliance Francaise

Thursday movie nights / at the Goethe-Institut East African Biennale / 2 to 22 November An exhibition presenting the best recent works by East African artists together with international guest artists.

A Bad Idea / 7 December to 10 January A joint exhibition by artists using different mediums exploring and presenting what could be classified as a bad idea at Alliance Francaise.

LIVE MUSIC AND MORE Marafiki Night Live / 1 November, 6 December from 7 pm NEW DAUGHTERS OF AFRICA: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent A quarter of a century ago, Ghanaian-born publisher Margaret Busby compiled the groundbreaking anthology ‘Daughters of Africa’, unearthing a slew of forgotten or overlooked work by black female authors. ‘New Daughters of Africa’ continues that mission for a new generation, bringing together artists from across the globe, many of them inspired in their writing by the original anthology. Here you’ll find autobiography, memoir, oral history, letters, diaries, short stories, novels, poetry, drama, humour, politics, journalism, essays and speeches, all united by a heritage and a sisterhood.

The 200 contributors across the diaspora – among them Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, poet Patience Agbabi and former UK Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman – tackle topics such as tradition, friendships, romance, sexuality, feminism and the politics of gender, race and identity.

to late / at The Slow Leopard Live music event

Chi and Friends / 14 November, 17 December from 7.30 pm to late / at Triniti Guesthouse and Bar Oyster Bay Open mic nights filled with music, poetry, and comedy.

Paza Sauti Festival / 9 November / at Nafasi Art Space Popular poetry festival celebrating rhythm, rhyme and performance.

Chi and Friends / 14 November, 17 December from 7.30 pm to late / at Triniti Guesthouse and Bar Oyster Bay Open mic nights filled with music, poetry, and comedy.

Wikiendi Live / 7 December from 3 pm to late at Nafasi Art Space The best live music event in town with a day full of arts celebrations.

Barazani / 13 November A dance night with DBass Ganun and Sikinde Band on stage.

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tastes

Leah shares her

SECRET RECIPE The freshly made cakes of Leah Assenga are one of the biggest draws to thriving Arusha cafe Kitamu Coffee with the recipes a closely guarded secret – until now. Here Leah shares step-by-step instructions to make her Amazing Chocolate Cake. Enjoy!

T Owner of Kitamu Coffee and talented baker Leah Assenga

he fresh homemade food and drink at Kitamu Coffee has been drawing in an ever-increasing number of customers since it opened in 2018. Such is the current popularity of the Arusha café, customer seating has recently been extended over two floors to accommodate the crowds.

Owner Leah Assenga is a talented chef whose creations make use of the rich variety of fresh produce available

among Arusha’s fertile farmlands.

Before the shop even opened, Assenga would try out her recipes on friends and family. When the glowing verdicts were returned, one word could be heard time and again: ‘kitamu’, which is Swahili for ‘delicious’. What better name then to give the café and who better than Assenga to have as Twiga’s new food columnist? In each edition of the magazine she will be sharing recipes that have

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/ Twiga tastes

New look – Kitamu Coffee now has a stunning mezzanine floor with extra seating for customers Image: John Mallya

Ingredients: 66 Butter and flour for coating and dusting the cake pan 66 345 grams all purpose flour 66 600 grams granulated sugar 66 1 80 grams unsweetened cocoa powder 66 One tablespoon baking soda 66 O ne and a half teaspoons baking powder 66 One and a half teaspoons salt proved such a success at Kitamu.

To begin with, Twiga feels very privileged to share one of Assenga’s cake recipes. Kitamu is renowned for its freshly made cakes, which Assenga spends her evenings baking after work.

In the morning she decorates them and they are then displayed on the Kitamu counter.

Here they don’t last too long – either snapped up as dessert to follow savoury dishes or as the perfect accompaniment to a cup of locally produced coffee.

Assenga is often asked for the recipes for her cakes and to reveal how she makes them taste so good, but she has kept coy – until now.

With this recipe for Assenga’s ‘Amazing Chocolate Cake’, you can create your own Kitamu-worthy dessert at home.

Karibu chakula!

56 / Twiga

Instruction:

66 Four large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three nine-inch cake rounds. Dusts with flour and tap out the excess.

2. Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a stand mixer using a low speed until combined.

3. Add eggs, buttermilk, warm water, oil and vanilla. Beat on a medium speed until smooth. This should take just a couple of minutes.

4. Divide butter among the three pans.

5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

6. Cool on a wire racks for 15 minutes and then turn out the cakes into the racks and allow it to cool completely.

7. Frost it with your favourite frosting and enjoy it.

66 365 grams buttermilk 66 365 grams warm water 66 180 grams vegetable oil 66 Two teaspoons vanilla extract.

Chocolate cream cheese buttercream frosting

66 340 grams butter softened 66 8 oz cream cheese softened 66 190 grams unsweetened cocoa powder 66 Three teaspoons vanilla extract 66 850 grams powdered sugar 66 60 grams milk as needed.

Kids fun and puzzles

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Can you find eight differences between the two lions below?

Air Tanzania’s inflight magazine

Get on board the next issue Book now To advertise please contact:

Godfrey S. Urassa godfreyurassa@landmarine.org Tel: +44 (0)1206 752902 Cell: +255 (0) 686 118 816 (WhatsApp) Cell: +255 (0) 716 118 080

Lost cub Can you help the lost lion cub find its way… should they use A, B or C to get across the maze?

Tech for cooking

TECH

COOKING Using your smart phone to do the cooking doesn’t have to mean speed dialling your favourite takeaway. The latest technology can take the guesswork out of your culinary creations, help you spend less time in the kitchen and assure lip-smacking results every time. Twiga has selected the latest app-linked gadgets to make your culinary life easier.

First Build Opal Nugget Ice Maker

Anova Culinary Precision Cooker

NutriBullet Balance

Are you yearning for a succulent steak, but your efforts come out more like shoe leather? If so, this is the gadget for you. It makes use of a French cooking technique called sous-vide, which requires the meat to be placed in a sealed plastic bag and then slowly cooked in a pan of heated water. This is where the Anova comes in.

Using its blue dial or the iOS or Android app it links to, you can set the temperature of the water. Once the correct temperature is reached it will maintain it, all the while timing the cooking process so it knows exactly when the steak is done to perfection. The app also has cooking times for chicken and burgers from cooking website Serious Eats.

A good blender that makes delicious morning smoothies and post-workout shakes is essential for those with a busy and healthy lifestyle. NutriBullet has been a market leader for some time, but the smart functions of the Balance are a definite step forward. It works with the Apple Health app. Simply input you wellness goals such as ‘vegetarian, weight loss and energy boost’ and the app will scan hundreds of smoothie recipes to find a selection that suits. Follow the recipe and fill up the NutriBullet with the ingredients and the app will then analyse the contents and work out exactly how long they need to be blended for the perfect-tasting smoothie. Yum!

anovaculinary.com US$ 172

ww2.nutribulletbalance.com US$ 182

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The Opal Nugget Ice Maker is a countertop ice machine that connects to your phone and uses a singular compression process to produce at home the ice nuggets you get in restaurants in bar. These nuggets are soft and let the flavour of the drink seep into them.

It makes them very tasty to chew while or after enjoying your drink. Just fill up the tray with water and it gets to work making ice, far faster than your refrigerator does. You can connect it to an app to schedule a time for the ice production so you’ve always got the ice nuggets when you want them. firstbuild.com/products/opal US$ 499

/ Tech for cooking

The Sage Smart Kettle

Gourmia describes this smart coffee maker as like having your own barista butler to do all the hard work of making a delicious pot of coffee for you.

This is not quite true – you still have to fill it up with beans or pre-ground coffee and add the water and good luck engaging it in erudite Jeeves-like chat – but once the prep has been done you can set it to brew whenever you like and wherever you are. Once you have downloaded the Gourmia app, which is compatible with both Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant, you just have to say “brew” to start the grind and jumpstart your morning for you. It also has a programmable timer so you can have your coffee ready any time you want.

Today’s young people will often promote their cool credentials by saying they’re ‘keeping it one hunnid’, but if you’re a tea sophisticate you know such rigid adherence to the temperature water boils at – 100°C – can often ruin a good cuppa. To extract the most delicate flavours, different teas need to be steeped at different temperatures. If not being able to get the water in your kettle to the required temperature drives you boiling mad, then you’re going to love the Smart Kettle from Sage. It has five pre-programmed temperature buttons – choose from black, green, white or oolong tea and French press coffee – to tell you which temperature to select for which type of tea. It heats to the selected temperature, turns itself off and, if selected, will even keep warm for 20 minutes after heating.

amazon.com US$ 90

sageappliances.com US$ 160

Gourmia Wi-Fi Coffee Maker

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Education

Start-ups take education beyond the classroom Dar es Salaam-born social entrepreneur Given Edward drew on his own frustrations at school to create a trio of tech-savvy ventures to empower students to own their education

“

It’s proven that the best way to learn something is to try to teach someone else,” says Given Edward, a young social entrepreneur whose tech-savvy ventures have helped transform the student experience in Tanzania and opened up education beyond the classroom.

His trio of start-ups – student discussion forum MyElimu, offline question and answer database Mtabe and prospective school ranking database Shulewiki – support students looking to take control of their education.

It wasn’t long ago that the 25-year-old Edward was a student himself and his experiences of that time have fuelled these influential enterprises. Studying for his A-levels meant a two-hour, two-bus journey – inching along in the notorious Dar es Salaam traffic – to and from Kibasila Secondary School in the Chang’ombe district.

To ensure he got to school on time he would be ready for his first bus at 5am and the later he stayed in school, the longer he sat in rush hour traffic. As a consequence, Edward felt he was missing out on the opportunity to discuss the day’s lessons with his fellow pupils. He began to work on a solution.

He says: “I thought, what if I did

60 / Twiga

not have to stay behind for me to discuss with my peers? What if I could be at home, and another friend in school and another on a bus and we could all discuss?”

The Dar native’s answer was MyElimu.com – a free-to-use discussion platform for students across Tanzania’s secondary schools to discuss study topics with their peers.

Start-up Mtabe uses AI to deliver learning to students in remote areas

Young talent Still a teen when he created MyElimu – elimu is the Swahili word for education – Edward used his coding skills he had developed from a young age creating YouTube videos and web pages to build the online platform on his own.

As the number of users of MyElimu increased, Edwards was able to see that the platform catered not just for isolated learners like him at the time but also those students who feel more comfortable getting help from their peers rather than their teachers. It was also clear the back and forth of ideas and the applying of what was learnt in the classroom was deepening students’ understanding of the subjects discussed.

“Discussions allow students to move from trying to prove they can cram content to actually dive deeper and aim to understand,” Edward says.

Mtabe allows students to learn even if they have no access to the internet

“We aim to transform the way students think about learning and not just about passing. We want students to engage further, question deeper and learn to bring together different pieces of information to inform their understanding of a topic.

Discussions also allow room for openness and vulnerability from students on what they are really struggling with as opposed to when they are discussing with teachers.”

MyElimu’s renown has spread and the platform now has thousands of registered users across Tanzania and neighbouring countries. In 2015, Edward was invited to Buckingham Palace in London to be presented

/ Given Edward

When people commend you for your work, it means they’re placing their trust in you to keep creating impact and I don’t take that lightly

with a Queen’s Young Leaders Award, which recognises young people across the Commonwealth making a difference in their communities. To Edward, the honour was recognition for his work in tackling a problem that was far from solved and it steeled him to do more to make education accessible to as many young people as possible.

“When people commend you for your work, it means they’re placing their trust in you to keep creating impact and I don’t take that lightly,” Edward says. “On the other hand, it also means responsibility.

More people know about me now and that means responsibility to help others grow when they need help. I have started this journey to build and innovate for them I can’t stop halfway on this journey I have started, no matter how hard it gets.”

Using AI to deliver learning Edward was soon continuing the journey with Mtabe, a start-up which uses artificial intelligence and SMS technology to deliver learning content to students in remote areas in Tanzania who don’t have internet access or textbooks. Again, Edward

attracted high-profile accolades with the venture winning a European Youth Award. For Mtabe, Edward collaborated with teachers and technology experts to ensure students received informed answers to their questions quickly.

“Students have a dedicated number to text the question they need help to and then Mtabe will send them an answer in a matter of a few minutes from our system,” says Edward.

“Our latest impact assessment on Mtabe has revealed the study plans have helped students get into the top 10 of their class, pass their school exams, and introduce learning that they wouldn’t otherwise have done.”

Mtabe provides an opportunity for students in rural areas to look beyond their surroundings for answers, encouraging a more expansive, ambitious mindset.

Schools database “The silent, crucial truth is that we can only dream as far as our surroundings allow us,” says Edward.

“Our dreams and aspirations – our view of what is possible is limited by our environment.”

Edward’s latest project, Shulewiki, has similar outlook-expanding goals, but this time it is aimed at the parents of students. As a database of more than 4,000 schools across Tanzania, Shulewiki provides information to help parents select the perfect schools for their children.

Edward says: “The parents can see each school’s regional and national ranking, then compare and contrast them based on their performance trends and their competency in individual subjects.

“I firmly believe that if we get students in the right schools – and not right by virtue of overall performance but their relation to

Royal honour Edward receives his Queen’s Young Leader Award from the UK Queen, Elizabeth II

the student’s aspiration, dreams and family’s status, we will increase the horizon of possibilities of these students.”

Edward was recently recognised

by Quartz as one of the 2019 African Innovators Shaping The Future and his work is far from done. He continues to fine tune his ventures and look for the next step in enlightening students that “the most important lesson to learn is how to learn”.

He is full of support for other Tanzania social entrepreneurs – “Let’s keep building” – and his advice to those preparing to launch a venture of their own could apply to any of the thousands of students he has enabled to own their education: “Don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

For information on Given Edward’s latest ventures, visit his Twitter page @Givenality

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Namwali Serpell

CATCH THE DRIFT OF ZAMBIAN AUTHOR’S ACCLAIMED DEBUT Namwali Serpell’s first novel, ‘The Old Drift’, is a sweeping epic that melds moments from Zambia’s hidden history with the fates of fictional characters from colonial times to the near future. It’s a wild “irresponsible” ride that captures the wondrous complexity of the country.

Z

ambian author Namwali Serpell’s debut novel, ‘The Old Drift’, involved a writing process almost as epic as the multi-generation-spanning tale that unfolds across its 576 pages.

“I’ve been writing this novel off and on for nearly twenty years,” Serpell says. “It came to me as an epic – three generations of one family – and then two more families quickly entered the picture.”

The Lusaka-born writer began work on the novel while still at college in the US and by 2005 had mapped out the full plot outline, which follows the fallout of a mistake made by a British adventurer near Victoria Falls at the turn of the 20th century, entangling generations of three Zambian families as they collide and converge through the years and into a drone-dominated near future.

Many years of research were to come.

Serpell, who now lives in San Francisco, working as associate professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, took pains to ensure real life characters and events – including some of the most bizarre moments in Zambian history – were weaved within the imagined story

62 / Twiga

in detailed and chronologically accurate fashion.

While ideas for her grand work brewed in the background, Serpell released short stories to acclaim and awards. Her first published story, ‘Muzungu’, was selected for The Best American Short Stories in 2009 and, in 2010, shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing – a competition she went on to win in 2015 for her story ‘The Sack’.

Awards and accolades ‘The Old Drift’ has done more than match that promise with widespread praise for the novel’s ambition and energetic ingenuity meeting its release in March year. Among those lauding the book were novelist Salman Rushdie, one of Serpell’s writing heroes and someone inextricably linked

This is an intricate story that attempts to reflect the multitude of cultures within Zambia

with the magical realism literary technique that possesses much of ‘The Old Drift’. The Booker Prize-winning writer called it a “dazzling debut, establishing Namwali Serpell as a writer on the world stage” in reviewing the book in the New York Times.

Rushdie’s praise “felt amazing”, says Serpell, and justification of all the time and effort invested in the novel. Such time has created an intricate story that attempts to reflect the multitude of cultures within Zambia – a country where even the local news is delivered in seven languages.

“I believe there is a great complexity to every country’s history, culture, and languages – in Zambia we have over 70 dialects! I hope I captured some of that,” says Serpell.

The author also captured in vivid detail an almost forgotten period from Zambian history – the country’s 1960s space programme, the Zambian National Academy of Science, Space Research & Philosophy. The project can, at times, seem so fantastical it appears made up, with its founder, Edward Mukuka Nkoloso, seeking to send an ‘Afronaut’, Matha Mwamba, to the moon, along with 12 cats, but Serpell spent

/ Namwali Serpell

Author and English professor Namwali Serpell The Old Drift took its author Namwali Serpell nearly 20 years to write

two years poring over archival research in Lusaka and conducting interviews to get the full story.

Nkoloso’s methods were unorthodox to say the least – they included using an oil drum and a swing to simulate weightlessness in space – but Serpell sees him as a “visionary, in all of its multiple conflicting senses” rather than a crackpot.

Real-life stories The research consumed her and she uncovered a host of stories about the mercurial Nkoloso, among them his own take on political agitation for independence, which Serpell fictionalises in ‘The Old Drift’.

She recounts the story in a New Yorker essay: “On the eve of Zambian independence from the British in the Sixties, Nkoloso and his comrades broke into the Lusaka mortuary and bribed an attendant for the corpse of a white woman, which they smeared with goat’s blood. They

transported the corpse to the crowded whites-only Ridgeway Hotel where they tossed it on the floor of the bar. ‘White men your time is limited, Nkoloso said. ‘We have killed the wife of [Governor] Welensky and we shall soon pounce on you.’ And once everyone scattered, they stole beer from the bar and sang ‘militant songs in favour of the political struggle.’”

Another real-life character, Victoria Falls trader and photographer Percy Clark, is the catalyst for the novel’s coming century of entangled events. Serpell read his ‘Autobiography of an Old Drifter’ and got the idea for the book’s title – and its metaphorical potential – when visiting the The Old Drift cemetery in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in 2013.

Serpell, who returns to Zambia for a couple of months each year to visit her family, says: “I was fascinated by the fact that these colonial settlers from all over the world—England, German, India, Poland, Australia, America—had pitched up and died of malaria at this spot within such a short span.”

For all the historical facts within ‘The Old Drift’, Serpell is deliberately playful with her

material and happy to meld facts with the fantastical. Laced among the true events are a number of wildly imagined characters such as Sibilla, a woman covered head to toe in body hair, and a swarm of mosquitoes that provides chorus-like commentary on events.

Subverting expectations “I’m interested in subverting people’s expectations about African literature, one of which is that you can use it as a tourist guide,” says Serpell. “To me, everything is just a story. But I also didn’t want to write a responsible novel. It’s not a responsible portrayal of my country in the sense of teaching you facts about geography and history.”

What you do learn from the novel are valuable lessons on the multicultural complexity of Zambia, the humour and revolutionary spirit of its people, the bonds of family and how life is an inscrutable mix of fate and chance. Suitably grand subjects to occupy 20 years of work.

‘The Old Drift’ is available to buy in all good book shops and online.

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Travel information

Before take-off Taking your first flight is certainly exciting, but can also become a source of stress for those who are unfamiliar with the rules, procedures and customs of flying. To prepare yourself for your first flight, it is therefore important to get information on everything you need to do before and during your journey. Here is a useful pre-departure checklist.

1

Before departing, it is important to check the airline’s website for its hand luggage rules: weight, sizes and types of objects you can take on board. For example, as regards liquids, you are advised to carry these in your hand luggage, only in transparent, reseal able, plastic containers, not exceeding 100 ml. In this section, you will find information regarding the hand luggage permitted on your flights; if you have connection flights, we advise that you also check the websites of other airlines.

2

Arriving at the airport in advance (at least two hours for domestic flights and three hours for international flights)

will enable you to check in and board your flight calmly, without anxiety and without unexpected last-minute issues.

3

Check in online, if possible.

If travelling with hand luggage alone, you can check in online and print or download your boarding pass which you must take with you directly to security checks. This will enable you to save precious time once at the airport and to go to the gate calmly. For further information, please visit the dedicated page.

4

Set your mobile to flight mode, as well as other devices connected to the internet that you are taking on board.

Cabin crew will remind you of this step before take-off. With flight mode set, you can still take photos of your unforgettable journey and you can also enjoy the in-flight entertainment system! To find out more, please visit the dedicated section.

5

If you suffer from motion sickness… you will only find out about it during your first flight! To prevent sickness from ruining your first flight on a plane, we advise you to take natural remedies, such as, for example, ginger tablets or gum to chew. Ginger is believed to have a anti-nausea properties. Otherwise, ask your doctor to prescribe you antihistamines with a sedative effect.

6

Enjoy the view! By choosing a seat near the window, you will see breath-taking landscapes and you can take photos of the exquisite white clouds you will be flying above.

Try to take a nap. Sleeping on the plane will make time pass faster and you will arrive at your destination calm and rested.

7

8

Lastly, especially during take-off and landing, the change in pressure inside the cabin may cause discomfort in your ears. To prevent this discomfort, you are advised to stay awake during these manoeuvres and to chew gum or wear earplugs.

AIR TANZANIA FLEET National carrier Air Tanzania is justifiably proud of its revamped six-strong fleet. Here we take a close-up look at our aircraft with technical data and specifications.

BOMBARDIER DASH 8-Q400 Number of aircraft available: 3 Seat capacity: Business Class 6, Economy 70 Number of flight-deck crew: 2 Range: 6,112 km (3,300 Nm) Typical cruising speed: 470 knots (541 mph or 871 km/hr) Thrust per engine at sea level: 23,300 lbf. / 103.6 kN Wingspan: 115 ft 1 in. (35.1 m) Length: 107 ft 9 in (32.83 m) Interior cabin width: 99 inches (2.51 m) Cabin height: 6.5 ft

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AIRBUS 220-300 (CS300) Number of aircraft available: 2 Seat capacity: Business Class 12 and 120 Economy Class Number of flight-deck crew: 2 Range: 6,112 km (3,300 Nm) Typical cruising speed: 470 knots (541 mph or 871 km/hr) Thrust per engine at sea level: 23,300 lbf / 103.6 kN Wingspan: 115 ft 1 in (35.1 m) Length: 127 ft (38.7 m) Interior cabin width: 129 inches (3.28 m)

BOEING 787-8 DREAMLINER Number of aircraft available: 1 Seat capacity: Business Class 22 and 240 Economy Class Number of flight-deck crew: 2 Range: 13,621 km (7,355 Nm) Typical cruising speed: 488 knots (561 mph or 903 km/hr) Thrust per engine at sea level: 64,000 lbf / 280 kN Wingspan: 197 ft 3 in (60.12 m) Length: 186 ft 1 in (56.72 m) Interior cabin width: 18 ft 0 inch (5.49 m)

BAGGAGE 3X

7 kg

Passengers also have a 7 kg allowance for free hand luggage. For each extra kilo Tsh 8000 will be charged on local flights and US$ 5 for international flights.

hours ahead of your flight time for domestic flights and three hours for international flights.

Family travel

Passports and visas A valid passport or travel document that is valid for at least six months is required to enter the United Republic of Tanzania.

Visitors will also require a valid visa upon arrival. There are a range of visas available depending on the nature and frequency of your visits, but a single entry visa can be obtained on arrival in Tanzania subject to the fulfilment of all immigration requirements. There is a US$ 50 charge for the visa.

For a full list of visas available and for countries for which special terms exist, visit the Air Tanzania website.

Check-in Check in online, if possible. If travelling with hand luggage alone, you can check in online and print or download your boarding pass, which you must take with you directly to security checks. You should check in two

Fares for infants and children As a general rule, children up to two years old are not required to have their own seat and are allowed to travel on parents’ lap.

An infant tickets costs 10 per cent of the regular fare. Depending on the destination, taxes and fees may apply. Please note that only 1 baby per adult is accepted. You can choose to buy a seat for your baby at the reduced rates for children if any children’s rate is applicable.

If your child is older than two years or turns two while you are travelling, you will have to book a separate seat for him or her and book the children fare for the entire journey. If a child travels with an accompanying adult in the same class of cabin, the child should be seated in the same seat row as the accompanying adult. Where this is not possible, the child should be seated no more than one seat row or aisle away. Reduced rates apply for children aged two to 11 on most routes, depending on the travel class. Children turning 12 years en route need to be booked as adults for the entire journey.

Expectant mothers Our priority is always your safety and that of your unborn child.

To avoid unnecessary risks to you and your baby, we recommend

that all expectant mothers consult a doctor before booking their ticket and inquire about their fitness to fly the length of the trip they intend to take.

Depending on the stage and circumstances of your pregnancy, you may be required to present certain medical forms before flying. For your own safety and the well-being of your child, Air Tanzania will not accept expectant mothers who are pregnant from their 36th week or beyond.

UMNR (children travelling alone) If you’re planning for your child to travel alone, we’re here to make sure they enjoy their trip and that they are well taken care of throughout their journey.

When you book our unaccompanied minor service, your child will be received at the originating airport, taken care of during transit and while on board the aircraft. He or she will be handed over to the person designated by the parents/ guardians upon arrival at the final destination.

Cost To avail the unaccompanied minor service, an adult fare needs to be purchased for the child. Please contact us to book the flight and the service.

Infant fare checked baggage allowance Infants travelling on an infant fare are allowed 10 kg as baggage allowance.

1 kg = 8000 Tshs (Int. US$ 5) EXTRA

30 kg

Air Tanzania allows two items (max 23 kg each) in Economy class as checked-in baggage allowance and three items (30 kg max each) in Business class.

HAND

23 kg

BUSINESS

ECONOMY

2X

Child fare baggage allowance Children and infants travelling on a child fare are eligible for the same baggage allowance as adults.

Wheelchairs If you need wheelchair assistance at the airport, you must advise Air Tanzania of this at the time of booking. You can request wheelchair assistance through our Call Centre or at Air Tanzania Sales offices.

Inflight Wi-Fi On board Wi-Fi Enable Wi-Fi on your laptop, tablet or smartphone, and select AirTanzaniaWifi You will need to launch your web browser, which will display the log-in web portal. From the portal, simply select your preferred price plan.

Portable electronic devices (PEDs) You can use your e-readers, tablets and smartphones from gate to gate – including taxiing, take-off and landing – without a risk to safety.

Note that on-board Wi-Fi is only available on certain aircraft. Please follow cabin crew instructions at all times.

For more information about flying with Air Tanzania please visit our website at www.airtanzania.co.tz

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Air Tanzania destinations

DISCOVER

Regional and international routes UGANDA

KENYA

Entebbe Bukoba Mwanza

Kilimanjaro

Bujumbura

IN

Kigoma Tabora Dodoma

TANZANIA Mbeya

Iringa

DI

AN

Mumbai

Zanzibar

Dar es Salaam Mtwara Hahaya

COMOROS ZAMBIA Lusaka Harare

ZIMBABWE

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Johannesburg

O

A CE

N

UK

London

CHINA

Guangzhou Mumbai

INDIA THAILAND

Bangkok

UGANDA

Entebbe

KENYA

BURUNDI

Bujumbura TANZANIA

ZAMBIA

Dar es Salaam Comoros

Lusaka Harare

ZIMBABWE

Johannesburg SOUTH AFRICA

Active routes Upcoming routes

For more information about flying with Air Tanzania please visit our website at www.airtanzania.co.tz

airtanzania.co.tz / 67

Air Tanzania contacts

WHERE TO CONTACT US E-COMMERCE Location: ATC House, Ohio Street.

Email: tce-commerce@airtanzania.co.tz

CONTACT CENTRE Location: ATC House, Ohio Street.

Email: contactcentre@airtanzania.co.tz

For the latest flights, information and to book online, visit:

www.airtanzania.co.tz

0800 110045 Toll Free (Tanzania only) Tel: +255 022 212 5221

Follow us on:

@AirTanzania

@airtanzania

airtanzania_atcl

AIR TANZANIA CONTACTS DAR ES SALAAM (HQ)

TABORA

KAMPALA

Location: ATC House, Ohio Street P.O Box 543 Office (JNIA) Tel: +255 222 117 500 Email: darairport.station@airtanzania.co.tz

Email: tabora.station@airtanzania.co.tz

Location: Park Royal Mall, Room 208, Buganda Road.

Email: uganda.station@airtanzania.co.tz Email: bbesalestc@airtanzania.co.tz Tel: +256 414 289 474 / +256 393 517 145

ARUSHA Location: Boma Road Email: arusha.station@airtanzania.co.tz Tel: + 255 272 545 296

MBEYA

SONGEA Location: African Benedict Office Hanga- opposite TRA Songea Email: songea.station@airtanzania.co.tz Mob: +255 712 796 421

KIGOMA

Location: Jacaranda Road, Lupa Way Street Email: mbeya.station@airtanzania.co.tz Mob: +255 768 834 017 / +255 744 680 680

Location: Lumumba Road, opp. Mambo Leo Pharmacy Email: kigoma.station@airtanzania.co.tz Mob: +255 742 580 580

COMOROS

IRINGA

Location: Immeuble MATELEC Moroni, Grande Comores Email: com’airgsaatc@gmail.com Tel: +269 3714857 / +269 4464857

Location: Asas House, Dodoma Road, opp. TCC. Email: Iringa.station@airtanzania.co.tz Mob: +255 753 574 986

BUKOBA Location: Kawawa Rd. Block 1 Email: bukoba.station@airtanzania.co.tz

Location: Postal Building, Kijangwani Email: zanzibar.station@airtanzania.co.tz Mob: +255 785 452 585

KILIMANJARO

ZIMBABWE

Location: KIA Email: arusha.station@airtanzania.co.tz

Location: 24 Shamwari Complex, 157 Sam Nujoma Street, Ext Belgravia, Harare Email: hresalestc@airtanzania.co.tz Tel: +263 424 796 286/7 Mob: +263 773 119 462

ZAMBIA Barnetts Building, Shop 3, Hailie Selasie Avenue, Longacres, Lusaka.

Mob: +260 956 610 250

DODOMA Location: Mtendeni Street Block Q P.O Box 83 Tel: + 255 262 322 272 Email: dodoma.station@airtanzania.co.tz

MWANZA

Tel: +255 282 501 059 Email: mwanza.station@airtanzania.co.tz

68 / Twiga

ZANZIBAR

ENTEBBE Location: Entebbe International Airport, Room no 095.

Email: uganda.station@airtanzania.co.tz Email: bbesalestc@airtanzania.co.tz Tel: +256 716 680 250

BUJUMBURA Location: Air Burundi, 13 Avenue Du Commerce, B.P 2460.

Email: harieth.rutihinda@airtanzania.co.tz Tel: +257 610 139 48.

INDIA Location: 204, 2nd Floor-A Wing, Kanakia Wall Street, Andheri East, Near Chakala Signal, Mumbai 400059.

Email: Res.tc@airtanzania.co.in Email: Sales.tc@airtanzania.co.in Tel: 022-4882-5811/12 Help Desk WhatsApp Number: +91 93158 35057

JOHANNESBURG Location: West Tower, 2nd Floor, Nelson Mandela Square, Maude Street, Sandown, Gauteng, South Africa 2146 Email: southernafrica@airlinepros.com Tel: +27 11 881 5945

Issue 03 / October to December 2019

YO U R F R E E A I R TA N Z A N I A M AGA ZINE

T R AV E L / TA S T E / TA L E N T

Twiga A I R TA N Z A N I A Issue 03

Education entrepreneur Inside the work of Given Edward

The best of Bollywood

A cinephile's tour of Mumbai

Designing Dar The Tanzanian team of interior designers transforming homes

Pride of Tanzania

Lions are king in photobook