ARUSHA IS THE NEXT THING TO HEAVEN

PHOTO:Heritage Hotel in Arusha, how do you find it?

THEY call it A-Town, this is one of the most cosmopolitan towns in this country, except for its population, but it deserves the title of city in many ways.
By Elias Mhegera


I had a one-week assignment in that town, but having before that stayed in Dar es Salaam for quite some time, I had never realized how the weather could be different by such a surprising magnitude.

On the first day of my visit I realized that I ought to have taken my coat or jacket along in preparation for the chilly weather of A-Town. So it was on that very day that I realized that I was in quite a different world from Dar es Salaam.

After having stayed for three days I phoned my boss asking him to let me remain in Arusha for the rest of my working life.

But then, why did I have this sudden change of attitude? Yes, it was because I came to realize it was no longer worthwhile living in Dar es Salaam city.

I realized living in Dar es Salaam is tantamount to legitimizing a self-imposed condemnation to hell, while still alive.

In Dar es Salaam, the city, full of both commercial and entrepreneurial opportunities, is now overloaded. So the new land of opportunity should be Arusha!

While I am used to walking with three handkerchiefs in my pocket in Dar es Salaam, in Arusha I even forgot to put even one in my pocket for almost my entire visit.

But that is not everything, not at all, it was the traditional food that also attracted me. After having visited Kenny Garden I was introduced to a special brand of soup, nicknamed by the town-dwellers “mchemsho-trupa”.

Once having tasted the sweet stew from that stuff I was prompted to call the bar manager in order to understand why their soup was quite different from other brands that I have been encountering.

My hostess was an elegant-looking lady in her mid-twenties; her name is Ms Khadija Said. So I had the best of luck to be allowed a meeting by the bar owner for she had a very tight schedule due to an ever-increasing number of customers.

Now tell me Khadija what does the name ‘trupa’ mean? I did not bother to ask the word mchemsho because it is a common name almost throughout the whole of this country.

They call it trupa because it is a combination of so many spices, which brings about the final product, a sweet stew which is not common in other places.

“We have two types of trupa mchemsho, chicken and beef soup, the prices vary accordingly, ten thousand for chicken and nine thousand for beef,” said Khadija.

She said Arusha has so many customers, being a busy town, both as a tourist centre, the biggest in the whole of Tanzania and probably the second after Nairobi, for the whole of Eastern and Central Africa.

So I came to realize that there are six other places with such a sweet soup, namely; Night Park, City Park, Family Club, Florida Bar, Galaxy Club and Picnic Bar.

But my earlier planned last evening in Arusha was even more interesting, I had almost forgotten that one of my best friends is working in Arusha.

It was just by “mere accident” that I almost collided with him nearby the Gymkhana Club, as he was rushing there for his daily exercise in the evening.

Inside the club we were received by its chairman, Richard Gomes, who jovially said his club is in the final stages of the construction of a gym and a swimming pool.

So I had to stay one more day in order to make full advantage of the tourist attractions within the limits of my financial ability.

That same evening my friend offered me dinner at the Lively Lady, Bar and Grill. The small place is unique in several ways.

Located in Station road, opposite the railway station is the place where people meet for roast meat, “nyama choma”.

The owner, Pally Singh, said his place has turned out to be an attraction of a kind that he did not expect. “In order to reduce customers I have had to hike the prices,” he boasted.

For instance, while beer sells at Tsh 1400 in the common bars I sell the same at Tsh 2500, all this is to ensure I maintain a certain standard in my customers.

So the following day I had the occasion to visit almost all the beautiful places that one can mention in Arusha, from Cultural Heritage Hotel, Naura Springs, Impala Hotel, to Ngurdoto.

It was in Naura that I met an elegant blonde, Ms Nsia Swai, who is the marketing and guest relations manager, who introduced me to some of her workmates, and she was boasting of quality services at the three constituent hotels, the others being Impala and Ngurdoto.

END