WE DON'T GET TO SEE MT KILIMANJARO
By Bob Van Leer

  (DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, EAST AFRICA, NOV. 5, 1993) - This is one of the fabled ports of the world. The name translates to "Haven of Peace". It was founded by the Sultan of Zanzibar in the 19th century when Arabs held sway in East Africa. The city has now grown to a population of 1.5 million and is one of the world's major ports. The harbor is full of ocean-going and smaller vessels. We arrived here this afternoon after a 50 minute flight from Kilamanjaro Airport at Arusha. The morning was spent in meetings in Arusha. The most interesting was with Gerold Ngwenya, hunting manager of the Tanzania Wildlife Corporation, a government agency that manages the country's wildlife. Ngwenya said Tanzania has the largest wildlife population of any country in the world. He said wildlife is not managed for Tanzanians alone but is held in trust. But Tanzania needs to use animals for the benefit of the country. 

  The public has to be encouraged to participate and get some benefit from game. Ways this is done are: hunting safaris, photo safaris and game cropping by the staff of paid hunters of his department. The government also sells wild animals, such as to zoos. He said game cropping provides meat to the public selling for half the price of beef. Money from hunting helps fund other government activities including schools and hospitals. He said his department crops to sustain the amount of wildlife. If wildlife grows beyond the capacity of the area, animals will die. Hunting is growing now, but he suspects it may not be as important in the future. Photo safaris encourage people to come and see Tanzania's wildlife. Human population in the world is growing fast and taking in wildlife area.

  Tanzania has an active program to deter poaching and violators can get up to 30 years. Hunting is not allowed in national parks but is elsewhere. In addition to parks, there are large areas called "game reserves". These areas can be used by people but use of grass and trees is not allowed except for wild animals. Ngwenya said the eventual aim is to pave the road through the Serengeti which is now a bone-jarring exercise to drive. He said plans are in the works to pave the first 50 kilometers now. Another stop was to a government-run taxidermy factory where we were informed hunting safaris are sold in 7, 16 and 21 day packages costing $630-$825 per day. Licenses add another $650-750 to the cost. The number of safari companies has grown from 9 to 30. Quotas are set for wildlife harvest for every area and normally old animals are shot.

  Our last stop of the morning was billed as a coffee plantation but actually it is a well-appointed hotel called Mountain Village Lodge. It was formerly the headquarters of a coffee plantation but the plantation is now a separate interest. The lodge is run by an English expatriate, Douglas Haigh, whose diction and bearing is of the classic style seen on such British TV shows as "Masterpiece Theatre". He was delightful to listen to and extremely knowledgable. He only recently returned to Tanzania. Because of problems the government had he spent the last 13 years in Guadalcanal in the South Pacific. Haigh commented there was no use for areas such as the Serengeti except for wildlife. He said the country couldn't be farmed. He estimated only 20% of the country is suitable for farming.

  We drove to the airport to catch our flight to Dar es Salaam, 549 kilometers southeast, and this was our last chance to see Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was covered with clouds when we came in and was covered again today. So all we could see was the base of the huge mountain. Our hotel is the Kilimanjaro, reputed to be the best in the city. It is a decent hotel but has a few problems. As a sidelight, we found the method of paging a person in the hotel interesting. A man strolls through all the public places with a blackboard in his hand on which is written the person's name and the number of the room being paged. While he is strolling, he rings a little bell to get our attention. We dined this evening at the Summit Restaurant on top of this hotel which has about a dozen floors. It is an open-air restaurant overlooking the harbor which is lit up like a Christmas tree at night. While we dined, the restaurant vocalist serenaded us with a heavily-accented rendition of, of all things, "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean". The town is 7 degrees south of the equator but is hotter than places we visited on the equator. But here we are at sea level, not in the mountains. Tomorrow we will take a tour of the city.