Butiama Bed & Breakfast

Butiama Bed & Breakfast

Sunday, 14 July 2013

A ride on the Kamanga ferry from Mwanza to Sengerema

For the first time yesterday, I took the. Kamanga ferry from Mwanza to Sengerema. Lake Victoria always provides some of the best scenery in northern Tanzania.

As I stood on the side enjoying the unfolding scenery that included a few rocky islets along the way, I quickly realized that Lake Victoria was also a gigantic refuse bin, all 68,800 square kilometres of it. Many passengers on the ferry threw litter into the lake, from food wrappers and food waste to empty plastic bottles.
Buses on the Kamanga ferry.
Every time I board a vessel I contemplate the likelihood it will sink and the prospects, mine particularly, of reaching the shore. On this occasion I even pre-planned the removal of my fake Timberland boots once I found myself in the water and how I would lie on my back and remain afloat and attempt to keep my mouth shut to prevent the Lake's water, which I suspect to be highly contaminated with the effluent generated by the city of Mwanza, from entering my mouth and causing me some unknown health risks.

The script reads much better than what may actually unfold when disaster strikes. I might be happy to drink my fill of contaminated lake water in exchange for reaching the shore.

The ferry takes about 25 minutes to reach its destination.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why do you think it will sink?

Madaraka said...

I was just thinking through what I might do in case of an emergency. Murphy's law states: Anything that can go wrong, will ge wrong - at the worst possible moment.