The Geneva of Africa

Arusha, Tanzania

May 29, 2025

[NB: Our journey started last weekend. Previous installments are here, here, and here]

We landed late Monday. After collecting our luggage, clearing customs, and meeting our driver, we made our way to the Gran Melia.

Over roads resembling London after the Blitz, the trip covered a short distance in a long time. Potholes provided us an “African massage” during the thirty-mile ride, which ended at 2:30 Tuesday morning.

At the airport, we’d apologized to the guide for our late arrival and slow procession thru Immigration.

“No problem”, he assured us. “In Africa, there is no rush.”

We immediately learned he was right. Thank goodness.

The leisurely pace is welcome relief. But it requires adjustment. Americans are used to watching our watches. We’re anxious for action, and grow weary of waiting. This is a perfect place to break that habit.

An Active Hive

The patient staff checked us in, took our bags, and showed us to our rooms. Awakening later that morning, we pulled the curtains for the grand reveal.

The scene is spectacular. Lush. Dense. Colorful.

And calm.

An intermittent rain soothed the soul as it soaked the soil. Surrounded by plantations of coffee, bananas, papaya and tea, the resort nestles at the base of Mt Meru, the second-highest summit in Tanzania... and higher than any peak in the contiguous U.S.

Coffee and Bananas around Gran Melia

We’re just outside Arusha. Dubbed by (of all people) Bill Clinton as the “Geneva of Africa”… for its proclivity for peace agreements, diplomatic conferences, and international tribunals… the city is exactly halfway between Cape Town and Cairo.

Arusha is of relatively recent vintage. Less than two centuries ago, it was little more than mud huts and stick “houses”. Excepting several enclaves reserved for the rich, few parts look much better now.

It buzzes with outdoor markets that appear chaotic in the manner of an active hive. Products and produce are wheeled in carts and barrows, or precariously balanced atop feminine heads.

Unemployment is high, prompting vendors to peddle knick-knacks to scrounge some shillings. But all do so with relative good cheer. While it’s always wise to watch your wallet, no one approached us in a threatening manner.

Arusha traffic flows like molasses. The town features few stoplights, each of which is entirely optional. “Lanes” are a figment. As a legacy of British rule, an assortment of vehicles rides on the left side of the road. But they use it to go in every direction.

A couple roundabouts offer a semblance of “order”. One encircles the clock tower marking the midpoint between Cairo and Cape, another the Uhuru Monument commemorating Tanganyikan independence.

Uhuru Monument

Wealth of Smiles

The main sources of Arusha’s $150 per capita monthly income are agriculture, tourism, and mining.

Many Tanzanians live hand-to-mouth. While electricity is common, many homes (up to 80% in certain areas) have no running water, relying on community tanks to replenish supply.

White corn, bananas, and coffee are predominant crops. Irrigation is limited, creating precarious reliance on fickle rain. Government subsidies ladle support to supply inevitable deficiencies. But they do so by draining the pot they presume to replenish.

Despite material poverty, Arushans offer a wealth of smiles. The locals we meet (admittedly a limited sample) seem happy and hospitable, and warmly welcome their pampered guests.

Blue Jewel

This region is under enormous pressure. Earthquakes and volcanoes are symptoms of tectonic forces pulling the continent apart.

The opening of the East Africa rift started millions of years ago. Separation proceeds to this day, and will continue till where we’re standing becomes the bottom of the sea.

For now, the process is reflected in an assortment of mountains and the Rift Valley. Tectonic trenches create alignments of large faults, and the formation of minerals of varying type and rarity.

Among them are garnet, sapphires, scapolites…

and tanzanite.

A variety of zoisite, this violet-blue gemstone is among the most unique on earth, found only in the Mererani Hills southeast of Arusha.

Tanzanite is mined from four designated “blocks” in a confined region, the only place on earth where the gem is found. Two zones are allotted to large operators, with the others reserved for local miners.

Tiffany & Co bestowed the name as part of a marketing campaign sixty years ago. But resource wealth was recognized long before.

White Highlands

The Masai ruled the region till the Berlin Conference of 1884, when Europeans decided to carve this continent. Land was divided and artificial borders drawn. Some encompassed the colony of German East Africa.

By the turn of the 20th century, Arusha’s location made it a convenient base for safaris, and a stopover for weary travelers traversing the continent.

A Greek magnate built the iconic Clock Tower outside the Arusha Hotel. The hotel became famous, hosting such notables as Baron Von Blixen and John Wayne, whose movie, Hatari!, was filmed at Momela Lakes and Mt Meru.

After the British evicted the Germans during the First World War, they built railways, which attracted commerce, growth, and a modicum of prosperity.

Arusha became a haven for the “White Highlands” of East Africa. Safaris proliferated between the wars. At the time, the primary purpose was the hunt… with the “Big Five” (rhinoceros, cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, and lion) being the most difficult animals to bag on foot.

Layered Clothing

Tanganyikan Independence was signed in this city in 1961, as were the 1993 Arusha Accords that resolved the Rwandan civil war. Similar agreements for Burundi (2000) and South Sudan (2015) lent additional credence to the “Geneva” moniker.

Arusha has been an official city for only a dozen years. Most growth has come this century, during which population has doubled. It’s risen six-fold since 1990.

Tho’ just south of the equator, Arusha’s elevation moderates humidity and provides pleasant weather. Layered clothing is appropriate. Sweaters and coffee mitigate morning chill. Short sleeves and cold beer help moderate afternoon warmth.

Tanzania is a new country with a long pedigree. Like many colonial constructs in the Middle East and Africa, its boundaries make little sense outside the wartime boardrooms of Western Europe.

The country comprises more than a hundred tribes, and as many tongues. Swahili is the main language, tho’ there isn’t an “official” one.

English is neither ubiquitous nor unusual. But its arrival is relatively recent (which is good enough for us).

Khoisan preceded it by at least 10,000 years. I’d give a history of the people who spoke that neolithic language, but I have no idea who they are.

The next few days may offer a clue. We’re going to the Ngorongoro Crater, where some pieces of Pleistocene puzzles are ostensibly scattered.

Today we ride west toward the Great Rift, to see if any of them fit together.

JD