Script and Service: Field notes from a travelling pharmacist on global aid, work, and adventures

My journey on board the MV Liemba was a highlight. For over 80 years, the old German s teamship (formally known as the   Graf von Goetzen) has been travelling along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika between Kigoma in Tanzania and Mpulungu in Zambia. It is the last vessel of the Kaiserliche Marine (German Imperial Navy) still actively sailing anywhere in the world and launched in 1915 as one of three vessels the German Empire used to control Lake Tanganyika during the early part of the First World War. After being scuttled in 1916 she was raised by a British Royal Navy salvage team in 1924 and returned to service. These days she transports passengers and cargo but in days gone by she repatriated more than 75,000 refugees back to Zaire during the First Congo War and still takes Congolese and Burundi refugees back to their respective countries if needed . Thankfully this time I managed to get a compact and bijou first class cabin complete with 2 small bunk bed...

We chose the only day of the week to continue our safari where there was no direct transport to the next destination. So at 6am we were on a bus to Bwanga hoping to intercept a cross-country bus. Bwanga is a dusty settlement in the middle of nowhere with a cluster of dilapidated buildings that seem to exist purely due to the presence of the road junction. Skirting the children selling honey in gin bottles, I handed over more money for the second bus ticket of the day. No-one knew for sure when the buses from Mwanza would pass by so I was surprised when after only 90 minutes of villager-watching the Adveture Connection (sic) bus bounced over a hill into view. The inside of the bus was covered in a film of orange dust and there were many empty seats which was unexpected and foreboding. The few passengers on-board looked to be in a state of mild shock. Fifty metres out of Bwanga the paved road ended. For 11 more hours we bounced along a dusty red road on a bone-jarring 555km ride p...

After 10 months in Tanzania and having rarely left the south-eastern corner it was time for a trip, or as the Tanzanian's would say, a safari , to visit some far off places. A 9 hour bus trip from Nyangao to Dar Es Salaam started the adventure which after a bad egg the day before turned into a challenge in itself. Next stop Mwanza on the southern shore of Lake Victoria in the north-west of Tanzania.                      For £6 Salum a piki-piki driver, took me on a 2-hour tour of the city. Because I was clinging to Salum's back wearing an over-sized helmet with restricted vision whilst carrying a rucksack there was no opportunity for photos so you will have to take my word for it that Mwanza seemed like a nice place. It is Tanzania's second-largest metropolis, one of Africa's fastest-growing cities and the country's busiest inland port, handling most of Tanzania's trade with Uganda. That said, 70-80% of its' inhabit...

Midway through my time in Tanzania and it has started to feel like home. FOOD: My taste buds have become low maintenance after 9 months. Rice with beans and a dried fish for lunch every day and spaghetti with the same 3 vegetables each night will do that. On the upside, a dinner of kitimoto (deep fried scraps of hairy pork skin, fat and bone) is a culinary delight. A meal without  stones or insects is a triumph. Only creatures bigger than a fly get removed from my plate these days and any cabbage dish wouldn't be right if it wasn't covered in dead ants. I am accepting of the stark reality that my right hand will smell of fish every afternoon and a dinner where there is Angel Delight for pudding is a very special occasion. WILDLIFE: After accidentally decapitating two geckos in the door, I have lost any acquired confidence regarding Africa's wildlife. Being solely responsible for cleaning up body parts of small lizards was a step backwards. I haven't yet seen ...

We were ready. Truthfully, we'd been ready for two hours. The invitation to Sandra's farewell party said from 6pm . It was now 8pm, no one had come to escort her to the party and we'd started listening to the Dixie Chicks to keep the mood up (James' choice). I was starting to doubt anyone would come to collect Sandra. Maybe they would just have the party without her. Weeks ago, a committee had taken over the planning of Sandra's goodbye sherehe. She had wanted a small affair for some of her colleagues, friends, and the people whom she had grown close to during her year in Nyangao. But that is not the Tanzanian way. Parties are scheduled, ticketed events. End of. The committee chose the date, the venue, the caterer, the DJ, the decorations - we just paid for our cardi (entrance ticket) and waited for Sandra to be driven to the venue. Except that was two hours ago and there was still no sign of a party starting. We sent James down to the village to scout out ...