Mwanza

Mwanza is Tanzania's second-largest city, with between 300,000 and 450,000 residents. It's a sprawling town on the southwest shore of Lake Victoria in northern Tanzania.

Mwanza's name is thought to be a bastardisation of the Sukuma word nyanza, meaning 'lake'. Mwanza was founded by German colonists in 1890 and slated for cotton farming, but captured by the British in 1916.

Gold was discovered here in the 1920s, and a railway line from Tabora reached Mwanza in 1928. These factors boosted Mwanza's economic status.

Today Mwanza is mostly a tourist hub serving northwest Tanzania. The town itself is fairly unremarkable, but it has a jolly atmosphere

Attractions around Mwanza include a short boat excursion to Saa Nane Island (literally "eight o'clock island") which has a large variety of reptiles and small game; a visit to the scruffy beach resorts on Ukerewe Island; and a visit to the Sukoma Museum (15km out of Mwanza on the Musoma road) where there is a spectacular drum collection. Once a week, usually on Saturdays, the locals put on the riveting Sukoma Snake Dance, with live pythons. Fun.

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