Mwanza: city on East Africa’s largest rock!

I’d been looking forward to exploring Tanzania for two years. I’d often been to Arusha and Moshi and had already learned a lot about the country. And now, finally, it was time for the first big trip—going offbeat in Tanzania. Over six weeks, we travelled from the shores of Lake Victoria to the paradise island of Pemba, north of Zanzibar. What lies between Mwanza and Pemba? We revisited the parks, Lake Natron with the active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai, the now-familiar Arusha, Moshi and Kilimanjaro, the Usambara Mountains (which I had briefly visited before), Tanga, and the beaches along the Indian Ocean. I was lucky that two good friends had just graduated and had time to join me. TUENDE, TUENDE, LET’S GO! Check out my first vlog of this trip below:

About Mwanza

Travelling along the shores of Lake Victoria, we took public transport from Kisumu to Mwanza, also known as Rock City. The city earned this nickname because it’s built on hundreds of massive boulders! In this city, which lies west of the Serengeti and east of Rwanda and Burundi, I met Rastafari Joseph, who took us on safari! After Dar es Salaam, Mwanza is Tanzania’s largest city, yet somehow many travellers remain unaware of this place on the other side of the Serengeti. I felt right at home in this city—mainly because it sits on Lake Victoria. I hold this immense freshwater lake close to my heart due to my time in Kisumu, the Kenyan town where Charlie’s Travels was originally founded. You might not expect it, but it has a bit of a Seychelles vibe!

My Story?

Freshly shaven and with a short haircut, I arrived in Kenya in 2014 to start an internship in the financial sector. Kisumu, located on Lake Victoria in the east of the country, became my new home. I immediately bought a small motorbike—a Honda Boxer—to explore Africa. Within a year, I realised that finance was far from ‘my cup of tea’—perhaps not so surprising. It was time for something new! I began handing out homemade flyers to expats, offering ‘off the beaten track’ trips to my new homeland, Kenya. My unique selling point was avoiding the busy tourist circus and well-trodden paths as much as possible. By travelling myself, I opened up a different side of Kenya to adventurous travellers. It turned out that people loved it as much as I did! My business sense grew just as quickly as both my hair and my passion for travel, and today, Charlie’s Travels has evolved into a young travel agency specialising in tailor-made adventure trips.

Want to see more?

Check out my YouTube channel for more videos! Have a look at the vlog series I filmed in Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda, or explore the list of experience videos to see what travelling with Charlie’s Travels is like in practice. Watch the vlog series here:

1. Mwanza
2. Lake Natron
3. Usambara Mountains

Follow Charlie’s Travels!

You can follow my adventures on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! On YouTube, all my vlogs go live a week earlier than on my other channels, so make sure to subscribe if you don’t want to miss a thing! You can also find more information on our website about family trips, lustrum trips, and holidays for lovebirds, plus we publish several blog posts every week!