Kondoa

Overview

Kondoa (or Kondoa-Irangi) is a small town along the old caravan route from the Indian Ocean to Lake Tanganyika. A still existing artesic water source here provided the caravans with good and plenty of water. Today the main communication route is north-south, from Arusha to Dodoma, a road that looks impressive on the map, being a section of the old Cape-Cairo highway. In reality the road is in poor condition and difficult during rains. It is supposed to become asphalted before the end of 2006. 

A 3 km long road from the main road leads westwards into town crossing the Kondoa River on a narrow bridge. (Don�t take photographs of the bridge, as you are likely to be seen from the police station close by.) The town consists of dusty streets and low buildings, only few being two-storeyed. Polite children will greet the European visitor �Good morning, teacher!� any time of the day. There is nothing special to see, but the friendly tranquility that the visitor is met with among its predominantly Moslem inhabitants makes it worth while to stay there a day or two. The spiced coffee served in a kiosk at the bus stand can be recommended. Ten or fifteen years ago it was a rare event to come across a bottle of beer in town, but times are changing. Today there are several bars and simple restaurants, some of them quite nice.

Remnant buildings from the German time can be seen east of the bridge, now used by the district...more

History