German tourist with impressive memories of Tanzania’s beauty

By Anganile Mwakyanjala

The high-profile visit of the German President, Frank-Walter Stainmeier, to Tanzania truly must have sparked more German tourists to flock to this East African country.

But for Günter Ulrich, a German tourist from the city of Krefeld, West Germany, the city that, until the 1980s, was known for its velvet and silk industry, the visit is not the motivation for his coming to Tanzania.

Günter has been in Tanzania for a while, choosing to travel across the country. Like any other local, he would be close to the communities and people he met. Born in 1978, Günter had never boarded a plane. “I’ve never boarded an aeroplane, at least not a passenger plane. I started gliding when I was 14, but only for 2 years,” he says. In Europe, where flying is far more common, it caused astonishment among many of his acquaintances.

The first flight in his life was to Africa, in Namibia. The flight was ten hours long, and though he endured the long flight, Günter admits he has a fear of flying.

“When I travelled through this country, I felt comfortable. I had the impression that this special world, which is so different from my homeland, has a very great radiance, which I was excited about. And that awakened a lot of motivation in me to travel to other African countries,” he says.

Günter has already been to Tanzania three times. The first time was in 2019, together with a friend, to climb Kilimanjaro, and again in 2021.

He very much wanted to visit Mafia Island, and on the way, he met many people who helped him and gave him their hospitality.

Though he can’t constantly travel to Tanzania due to the costs, he feels a little bit more at home when he is here.

On his trip in 2021, he went by bus from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya. That was a 16-hour bus ride that he enjoyed very much.

“I can look out the window for hours and enjoy the surroundings. There is so much to see in Mbeya,” he remembers.

He met a young man called Joe, who had previously given him some tips in a chat about the best way to get from Mbeya to the border with Zambia. He formed a friendship with him and even met his colleagues, and he showed him his home.

“That impressed me deeply. I really like to get in touch with people and learn about their lives,” he adds.

The visit to Mafia Island for the first time was also in 2021, and naturally, he made friends as well.

“There I met Shabaan and Max, two wonderful people who showed me a lot of interesting things. And, of course, Samuel, who happened to be on the island at that time as well. I even got to spend the night with him and his family,” he says.

Günter’s English is not as good as he would like it to be, but it’s enough for the basic and necessary communication in Tanzania.

Learning Kiswahili gets a tourist easy and quick relations with the locals, like the food vendors and people you cross paths with.

He has mastered a few Kiswahili words, and he is getting better.

On his trip this year, he was accompanied by his girlfriend and her two children. For the girlfriend and her teenager, Tanzania was the entry into an unknown world, so they were sometimes a bit surprised but also fascinated by the animals.

“Here in Germany, they only know them from the zoo. To be able to be so close to them here and to see them in a natural environment made a big impression on them,” he says.

Günter is back home in Germany, but he still talks to his friends about Africa. “It is a big question mark for many, many have reservations.”

“They think it is unsafe. When Africa is reported on TV here, it is often very one-sided. That is really a pity,” he adds.

With the incredible hospitality he has enjoyed in Tanzania and the friendliness of its people, He gets disturbed when the negative perception of Africa is still dominant in some European countries.

But as a country, Tanzania has endlessly marketed its tourism industry, and generally, word of mouth from tourists who come here has helped change that, and eventually, the truth about the beauty of our continent will outweigh all the bad news.

Günter loved the adventure in Tanzania, a cultural shift from the life he is accustomed to at home.

“In Germany, there are bus schedules; our daladalas have very structured infrastructure; on a tight schedule, the bus waits for no one and leaves on time; in Tanzania, it is much more complicated, and the daladalas leave when they are full. I think that’s great,” he says.

While on safari, he was fascinated by the lions and elephants. He also finds giraffes very beautiful.

“In the morning at breakfast, impertinent birds often come and try to get something out of it. I think that’s great too,” he observed.

After seeing the animals roam free in Africa, Günter believes zoos are a form of animal cruelty.

“I find it cruel that we deprive them of their natural habitat here in Germany and keep them in cages in zoological gardens,” he said.

It is often perceived that Europe is richer than Africa, but Günter has observed and begs to differ.

“We are considered a very wealthy country. At first glance, that may be so. Nevertheless, I have often wondered whether the Tanzanians might not be the richer ones. Not in a material sense. I live in a world that is very much influenced by consumerism. People flock to department stores and indulge in random junk. In Tanzania and other African countries, I realise how little this matters. People have a lot less of these things and go through the world with a smile, and I realise how little I need to be happy,” he said.

Günter urges Europeans to visit Tanzania and see what a great world it is. “Every time I leave the country, I want to return. And it’s nice to know that I’ve found friends in Tanzania,” he concluded.