Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Boat
Ferries connect Mwanza with Bukoba and Ukerewe island. For details
Click here
and
Click
here
respectively.
Cargo boats to Uganda (
Click here
)
and Kenya (
Click here
)
depart from Mwanza South
Port, about 1.5km south of the centre.
CROSSING MWANZA GULF
Travelling west from Mwanza along the southern part of Lake Victoria entails
crossing the Mwanza Gulf. There are two ferries, each with advantages.
The Kamanga ferry (passenger/vehicle Tsh800/6000) docks right in town. It
departs Mwanza hourly between 7.30am and 6.30pm, except Sunday when de-
partures are every two hours from 8am to 6pm. If you're travelling to Bukoba or
anywhere along that highway, ask which ferry the bus will use; you may be able
to save a trip to the bus station by boarding the bus here.
The government-run Busisi (aka Kigongo) ferry (passenger/vehicle Tsh300/
8000), 30km south of Mwanza, has the advantage of the road west being paved
and it sails more often: every 30 minutes from 7am to 10pm. But, there are often
delays since many trucks use this boat and also government officials sometimes
call and tell the pilots to wait for them.
Bus
Nyegezi Bus Station, about 10km south of town, handles buses to all points east, south and
west including Dar es Salaam (Tsh40,000, 14 hours). Mohammed Trans, departing for Dar
at 6am and 8.30am, has good service (Bunda and Mombasa Raha has also been recommen-
ded) and its buses conveniently begin at its city centre ticket office before heading to the
bus terminals. NBS and many other companies go to Tabora (Tsh14,000, six hours) during
the morning.
Jordan has the best buses to Arusha (Tsh30,000, 12 hours). It leaves its city centre office
at 5am and the bus station at 6am and travels via Singida, as do all other Arusha-bound
buses. Buses to Bukoba (Tsh20,000, six to seven hours), departing between 6am and 1pm,
now mostly use the Busisi ferry, but if they're redirected to the Kamanga ferry in central
Mwanza, you can meet them there.
Golden Inter-City is the best of four companies departing daily at 5.30am to Kigoma
(Tsh25,000, 10 to 12 hours).
