Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
After breakfast they come out and we follow them. So we follow slowly, slowly,
if they go to the tourist information then we have our answer; we know they are
a safari.
How much commission do the safari companies give you?
I don't want a
commission, I want a job. We live as a cooker or as a porter so when we bring
someone somewhere we get work on the safari or go up the mountain. Or com-
mission, but I want the work more than the commission. Me, I work as a cook.
[If I get the company customers] they just put me on the list and then I go anoth-
er time. The big companies don't give us a job or a commission.
The Maasai [Mt Meru] Market gives us 5% and we get commission from tan-
zanite companies. The hotels in Arusha don't give us commissions like in Zan-
zibar, so we never take them to a bad place.
Do you like being a flycatcher?
Me I don't like it, but I don't have a job. If I
get a job then I leave this. But because I don't have a job I do it. Another com-
pany gives me a good salary for cooking. But they don't have much work. It's
hard work, but there's nothing to do and we are not thieves.
SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES
The best thing to do in Arusha, besides arrange your safari and/or trek, is join a Cultural
Tourism Program (
Click here
)
in the surrounding countryside. If you're interested in a city
walking tour or learning how to cook Tanzanian food or play and make drums, stop by Via
Via cafe (
Click here
)
.
Natural History Museum
MUSEUM
(Boma Rd; adult/student US$5/2; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-6pm Sat & Sun) This
museum inside the old German
boma,
completed in 1900, has three parts. The best is the
wing dedicated to the evolution of humans since much of what we know about it came from
fossils unearthed in Tanzania. There are also displays on insects, the history of Arusha dur-
ing the German colonial era, and many wildlife photos and mounts.
Warm Heart Art Gallery
GALLERY
( 0754-672256;
www.warmheartart.com
;
Pemba Rd; admission free; 10am-8pm) A
mix of art for sale and show, there are changing exhibitions and three artists in residence
rooms at the back. It's also home to the
Rock Art Project
where you can get information
about the Kondoa Rock-Art Sites (
Click here
)
; a proper information centre about them will
eventually open here.
