Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Tanzania Tuesday #2



Mount Kilimanjaro has two peaks: Kibo and Mawenzi. Their names, in the Chaga language, describe their appearance. Kibo means "spotted", and Maweni means "having a broken top".

According to Chaga legend, there were once two sisters, Mawenzi and Kibo, who were both the same height. Mawenzi was lazy and used to take Kibo's food to avoid having to cook for herself. Kobo finally had enough, got angry, and hit Mawenzi on the head with her wooden label. According to the Chaga, that is why Kibo's peak is lower and has bumps on its head.

Source: Jay Heale & Willie Wong, Cultures of the World: Tanzania. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Tanzania Tuesday #1

Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa, covering 364,900 square miles (including the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, and Maria). It's bigger than Kenya and Uganda put together, and one and a half times the size of Texas.

Political Map of Africa

Source: Jay Heale & Willie Wong, Cultures of the World: Tanzania. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009.