INTRODUCTION:

THE HISTORY OF IRINGA

Iringa in the language of the local Hehe tribe means a fence to discourage the entry of
wild animals but this book intention is to welcome not discourage the visitors to his
unique tract of Africa and help to discover its many and varied attractions. Iringa been a
desirable place for man to live since time immemorial and has defended his high land
home against intruders. This can be traced from the Old Stone Age where man lived
around small lake at Isimila near Iringa. The site is situated in an eroded water course,
where one of the richest exposure of old stone age tool yet found any where in the world
has been revealed. A number fossil bones where found which vouch for an existence of
elephant, giant pig and extinct.
Iringa district lies in the southern Highlands province of Tanzania bisected by the Great
North Road which passes through grassland country ranging in elevation from 5000 to
6000 ft. Iringa is also directly linked to Dar er salaam by a first class road 114 miles, twothird of which is tarred. This road winds down the kitonga pass cross the great Ruaha
river. Iringa is the perfect stop over point on the way down through the Southern
Highlands or if you are off to visit Malawi and Zambia. If you are going back the other
way towards Dar it is definitely a much nicer place to stop than Morogoro.
A FEW FACT AND FIGURE
Iringa has an area of 14.057 square miles. Population in (1957) African 246,000, Asian
1400, European 900. Distance: Mbeya 240 miles, Tunduma 312 miles, Dodoma 164
miles, Arusha 438 miles. Climate as the land rises the rainfall increases iringa town

average 29mm a year while over 60 mm at Mufindi. The rains fall between December
and may.
THE RISE OF HEHE TRIBE
In iringa district today live the Hehe tribe though of Bantu stock they are not the same
people as those who live at ifunda according to oral tradition number of small tribe
settled in iringa high land during the 17 century. In 19 century under the leadership of
Muyugumba unify people to hehe tribe said to be so called owing to the manner in which
they express heightened feelings He! He! He! After Muyugumbas death in 1879 his
Mkwawa lead successful the tribe.
MEMORIAL IN IRINGA
There are number of interesting memorials in the town, outside the police station German
commander built a monument to the askaris from the district who fell in suppressing the
majimaji rebellion. On the edge of the township garden there is memorial to the askaris
who fell in the Second World War. On other stone the wide variety of names lend
testimony to the people from many lands that have developed the district since the First
World War.
FACILITIES AVAILABLE IN IRINGA
Airport at nduli 9mile on Dodoma road. Fluently east African airway flight to Nairobi,
Dar er salaam and Mbeya.
Banks Barclays, standard bank of South Africa, CRDB has a branch near the market and
provides all the usual money exchange services. It also has an ATM, in case you get
desperate. Useful to note is that they are open until 1pm on Saturdays. In Iringa, there are

also branches of NMB (across the street from Jacaranda) and NBC. NMB has an ATM at
its branch. It also has an ATM in the town center. However, CRDB and NBC take only
VISA cards. A Barclays has opened but has a bit of an unreliable cash machine at the
moment and they only change foreign currency if you are an account holder.
Buss services fluent service to Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Dodoma through different buss
company like Hood, Sumry, Nganga, Tonda, Upendo and new force.
Campsite: tungamalenga, bwawani campsite, Mkwawa magic campsite. Chemist;
Uhehe pharmacy, Miomboni pharmacy. Clubs; the iringa club (tennis, sporting, hole golf
course.
Hospital: full equipped government general hospital consisting of various categories of
amenities as a regards in patient accommodation; Aga khan, Pisalala dispensary
Places of worship: St. Georges church, St. Franciss cathedral (RC) Lutheran Church,
Hindu Mandal, Jamat khana, Juma mosque.
Tour operators and travel agency includes Tatanca tour, Sifa tour and safari, Leopard
tour company
ATTRACTION IN IRINGA
Gangilonga Rock .This large rock gives you great views over Iringa. To get to it you
have to walk out past Lulu's, Ruaha Club way through the well-off suburb where all the
rich NGO and government workers houses are. The rock itself is covered in graffiti from
Local youth.
Isimila Stone Age Site. About 15 kilometers from town towards Mafinga, easily
accessible by daladala or taxi. This is one of the most interesting Stone Age sites in East

Africa and is well worth a visit. Isimila Stone Age there found south along the great north
road at 13 miles a sign posted track lead to the site.
At Kalenga, you can go and see Chief Mkwawas skull which was returned by the
Germans after many decades. The remains of the 12 ft. wall enclosed an area can still be
seen, as can the ant hill from which Mkwawa addressed his people. Kalenga lies 9 miles
along the Mloa road from Iringa.
Tourist activities conducted

Mkwawa Golf Course. Why not have rounds of golf? Brown greens and more
caddies offering unwanted advice and mirth than you can shake a stick at
hilarious watch out for the donkey and goat based green keeping team

Learn about the AIDS pandemic first hand. Iringa region has the highest
infection rates in the country. The Amani Orphanage in Mbigili (around 15 km
from Iringa) is run by a German-Tanzanian NGO and offers camping and basic
rooms against a small donation - very lovely, an ideal spot for hikes through the
surrounding area. The kids are also always very happy to see new playmates!

Places to Eat

Neema Crafts A great restaurant in a great centre. Good food, large portions at a
good price. Amazing coffee and cakes. European and Tanzanian dishes to suit all
tastes. All the staff is deaf which adds a twist to ordering and the service is great.
Games available, great kids corner and play house, sofas, book exchange for your
holiday reading and a useful library of development literature for those who have

an interest in this area. Voted the Best restaurant in the world by the UK telegraph
newspaper in 2010! not bad for iringa! Often stage evening events, concerts etc,
keep your eyes open for these, always great fun.

Saivilla Sai Villa. In a bit of a remote location. It is Indian run and offers
authentic Indian food along with a variety of other dishes. Its on the expensive
side with many main courses ranging around 10,000 sh. You can find it off
Kawawa Street about 500m east of the Lutheran Center; you will see a path way
to your right, leading to a white gate.

Riverside CampsiteOut of town on the way to Dar Es Salaam you will find a
great campsite next to the Little Ruaha River. Serving a Western/Tanzanian blend
of locally sourced food and open to bookings for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
Booking recommended +255 787 111 663. Day visitors are also welcome to bring
picnics and enjoy the woodland and hills next to the river.

Lulus - One of the highlights of Lulus is the soft scoop ice cream if the machine
is working, In addition they have the usual range of Indian, Chinese and western
food. Beware the strange opening hours! A little bit quiet. The Chinese dishes here
are greatly disappointing if you expect something that even remotely tastes
Chinese.

Shooters which was known as "bottoms up", is under new management and has a
new decor and similar stuff to what the previous owner had. It has a restaurant
and also serves food in the bar Barbecue there is great and the egg biryani is a

favorite. Reasonably expensive but great if you are already holed up there for the
drink or football (or both) especially as the food can take several hours to arrive if
you are in a large group or its very crowded! Indian, Chinese and Western dishes
served alongside Tanzanian food.

Twisters Much the same as Shooters except service is slower! Twisters has food
in addition to drinking facilities (Vegetable Jalfrezi here is good)

Sajuus Home Restaurant It feels homely and you can amuse yourself with
Tanzanian soap operas (Camilla is having a hemorrhage). Cheap Tanzanian
food is available along with the aforementioned Indian/Chinese/Western trinity
which is almost the law in this town.

Aashiana Restaurant - Here you will find a mixture between Indian and
Tanzanian food. It is not to expensive but you also won't get amazing food.

Greek Club Iringa, Lumumba Street, Gangilonga, Iringa. Quality Greek and
European cuisine. Playground facilities and garden. Perfect spot for families.

Beverage places

Luxury Bar. The place to go for watching football. It is impossible to describe

the atmosphere. Anything up to 500 avid Tanzanian fans crowd into the bar,
theater style watching three small TVs in cages. Be prepared for very unTanzanian displays of emotion and deafening verbal abuse aimed towards

everyone's friend Jose Mourinho. On Friday nights they have a reasonable live
band.

Neema Crafts. Will often be showing the big matches on the biggest screen in
town (but no Alcohol there).

Shooters. A great meeting point and the night time social hub. Has sports
channels, a pool table and plays fairly loud hiphop/rap/..... Clientle is a mixture
of Tanzanians, SPW volunteers (watch out for the smell of the villages), depressed
VSO and Peace Corps volunteers (watch out for boring life stories), and assorted
vipepeo (as per SPW volunteers).

Twisters. Has a similar vibe to Shooters but has a lot less SPW volunteers and is a
little more Tanzanian. It also has a pool table and sometimes has live music. You
may find a cover charge of 5,000/= at the weekend if they are opening late and
have a disco. Food a bit of a risk and service very slow.

Miami Beach. Classic Tanzanian bar and dance hall. The place to go for a little
Tanzanian culture.

Places to Stay

Bankers Academy. Close to Hasty Tasty and offers clean, en-suite rooms varying
in price depending on facilities. There are two types of accommodation Cheap
(situated around the back of the college) and expensive (accessed from the main
road). The more costly option offers single en-suite rooms at 18,000/= and double

suites at 25,000/=. For the spendthrifts amongst you there is a cheaper choice
accessed further down the Dodoma road turning up the side road by the NMB
bank at the college itself, rooms about 12,000/=.

Neema Crafts. (yes this really is the heart of Iringa) Has just opened (August
2011) a fantastic guest house in their centre. It is the first disabled run guest house
in the world as far as they know and definately the first in Africa! rates: single
25,000 a night B&B, double/twin 45,000 and family room (double and bunk bed)
65,000. The rooms are large & all ensuite with pressurized water and electric
showers so a good hot high flow shower, a rare luxury and the views great and it
will have Wi-Fi and a great internet cafe on site as well as their great restaurant.
Safe parking too. turn off the main road at the clock tower roundabout just past
the post office.

Wazo Lodge. just 2.5 KM from Town along Mkwawa road, two streets opposite
Mkwawa University college, an ideal place for those looking for a peaceful place
out of the busy town life, A bed and Breakfast facility at the price of 24,000/=,
Good Self Contained rooms with TV, dinner can only be provided if ordered
before hand. a customer hot line +255755338033 is available for those that need
to book their place before hitting town.

Lutheran Centre. Down the hill from Neema crafts, just been refurbished and
reopened, much above the old style backpackers haunt, now one of the most
comfortable places to stay in Iringa (not that Iringa is well endowed with top class

accommodation but this will serve even the fussiest traveller). currently $25 a
night.

Staff Inn There are two Staff Inns. One is next to the bus station, called white
house, another on the main road, called annex. Both of them offer similar kind of
rooms, from usd 20 to 28. Annex has strange odour and restaurant is just average.

Central Lodge near Bankers Academy and opposite Hasty Tasty. The place is in
old German hospital building, has single and double rooms with breakfast and tv
from usd 25 to usd 35. Rooms are big and run down but service is friendly. Beds
are short with high end boards so beware if you are tall and like to stretch out, that
are taller than me (5'9").

Embalasasa Motel On main road, near bus station has modern rooms with tv and
bathroom, usd 30 - 35. they close their door at 21.00. After that you may be in
trouble to get in, even you are the guest!

Riverside Campsite Out of town on the way to Dar Es Salaam you will find a
great campsite next to the Little Ruaha River. With Ensuite Banda and Tented
Banada accommodation and serving a Western/Tanzanian blend of food. Booking
recommended +255 787 111 663. Day visitors are also welcome to bring picnics
and enjoy the woodland and hills next to the river.

Ruaha Executive Lodge. Across the street from Hasty Tasty and Jacaranda.
Offers clean, en-suite rooms with hot water for 30-40,000/=. basic breakfast is
included but dinner must be ordered ahead of time.

Communication system
There are many internet cafs in Iringa. The best of these is at Iringa Net, probably the
fastest in town (they use the new high speed TTCL connection), turning off the
main road at the clock tower roundabout past the post office. They have fast
internet and also unlike the other cafes are virus free as they run on open source
software.

REFFERENCES
Southern highland attractions Retrieved from www.Tanapa.tz
Tanzania hotels guides, Places to stay in iringa
American Automobile Association (1992), Campbook of Southeastern
James Cook University of North Queensland, The Journal of tourism studies vol. 16
John K. Walton Histories of Tourism Representation, Identity and Conflict Retrieved
from www.eco2tz.com