Street Fish

My last two weeks in East Africa were spent in Tanzania. First, I took the ferry MV Serengeti across Lake Victoria from Bukoba to Mwanza, and there I connected with the Central Line train to Dar es Salaam on the coast. The 40 hour journey across the Tanzanian savannah was most memorable for what I ate. Just prior to the train’s departure from Mwanza, I bought a grilled Tilapia fish from a street stall to take with me as a snack. I should have been more cautious after my earlier experience with ‘street fish’ in Uganda, but I was hungry, so I just tucked in. Sure enough, after a couple of mouthfuls, I took a closer look at what I was eating and there they were: dozens of maggots crawling inside the fish. Not again! I spat a mouthful of fish into the small sink in the corner of my compartment and decided that this time I would get some justice, since the train was still in the station. I dashed back to the street stall and demanded my money back from the lady. She muttered something (probably unkind) about Mzungus then took the fish from me, turned it over and shamelessly put it back on display! Reluctantly, she eventually handed back my money. Vowing never to eat street fish again in Africa, I ran back to the train and got on just as it was about to depart. I soon realised it had been a big mistake to spit the mouthful of rotten fish into the sink in my compartment. All attempts to clean the sink and remove the smell failed and I was stuck with the smell of rotten fish for the rest of the journey.



Boarding the ferry at Bukoba on Lake Victoria



On the Central Line train across Tanzania



A massive mango tree



Shopping made easy