We started the day with a plan to visit the Tanzanian Tourist Board, unfortunately our amazing guide Ben had to quickly re arrange the morning for us so it was off to the awesome African Art Gallery which held floor upon floor of the most amazing art depicting not only the wildlife, but also the many tribes in Tanzania and ornate wooden carvings some showing the well known Wilderbeast migration where each one was meticulously carved into another.
From here we went on to a short drive to the Shanga Foundation which is a located on the Arusha Coffee Lodge and the very bumpy drive took us through rows and rows of coffee trees. The foundation is a social enterprise employing Tanzanians with disabilities. There was an interactive workshop where we witnessed the fantastic work being carried out and inspiring to see so many people with disabilities being empowered to produce quality art and crafts. We were able to see how the handloom worked, watching them make glassworks, beadwork, paper bags and other accessories.
I was amazed at the effort it takes to set up the design on the loom. Operating it was quite interesting and needed some deft footwork according to the design expected.We also saw many artists producing intricate bead work, doing tinga tinga paintings and glass decor.
Lunch was in a local sports bar which was amazing but there was so much food left over and with so much disparity between the poor and the rich it was hard to walk away and not want to share.
A visit to the local Tanzanian Tourist Board office finished our afternoon where we were given an interesting orientation on tourism and how they are working with other countries across to world to promote Tanzania. The number of tourists visiting has declined rapidly since the pandemic and has not picked up to pre pandemic levels. Many people in the country rely on the tourism so it’s important to promote. As the orientation ended myself and Charlotte were gifted with a bag containing brochures of Tanzania and had to have many photos taken with the host and we plan to promote when we return home via social media using the tourist board Instagram account.
A brilliantly insightful day of culture and information!.