For most travellers to eastern Africa, a trip to Tanzania usually means a wildlife safari in the country’s Serengeti National Park, a hike to the legendary Mount Kilimanjaro, or soaking up the sun on the beautiful beaches of Zanzibar.

Only a few travelers consider traveling to Mwanza, Tanzania’s second largest city after the capital Dar es Salaam.

Granted, Mwanza – located on the southern shores of Lake Victoria in northwestern Tanzania – may not have the bustle of other Tanzanian cities like Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Dodoma or Arusha, but it’s a treasure trove of tourist attractions and business opportunities worth checking out.

Sukuma Museum

Most recommended for travellers to Mwanza is the Sukuma Museum, where visitors are often treated to performances by dancers with pythons wiggling in their hands. Established in 1968, the Sukuma Museum is an important resource centre that offers African history buffs an insight into the rich culture and history of the Sukuma, Tanzania’s biggest tribe that has inhabited this area since the 15th Century.

Visit Saanane Island National Park

Located just about two kilometres from the mainland in Mwanza City, Saanane Island National Park is one of the newest national parks in eastern Africa, having been created in July 2013.

Spanning an area of just 2.18 sq km, this is also the region’s smallest national park, protecting just a few mammal species such as impalas, rock hyraxes, velvets, de-brazas monkeys and wild cats.

But despite the limited number of mammal species in the park, it’s very much worth a visit because in Tanzania species such as the de-brazas monkey can only be found here.

Other sightings awaiting visitors to the park are crocodiles, leopards, tortoises, monitor lizards, agama lizards as well as several snake species, including pythons.

Bismarck Rock

The Royal Orchid Malaika Beach Resort offers its guests breathtaking views of Lake Victoria and the Bismarck Rock, which was named after Otto von Bismarck, Germany’s first Chancellor.

Precariously balanced, it is said that Bismarck’s statue was once erected on this rock, only to be pulled down by the British after World War One when they took over Tanzania from the Germans.

But the name Bismarck remained and today it’s one of the city’s most important landmarks. It sits on a set of larger rocks and rises about 15 metres above water – a true picture-postcard material. In fact, one Mwanza resident told me that most visitors to this place usually make sure that they take pictures with a background of the rocks to take back home as evidence that “we have been to Mwanza”.

Talking of rocks, almost the entire Mwanza city is awash with rocks, and the green and rocky land below is the first thing that strikes you as the plane touches down at Mwanza Airport.

Bustling business hub

Away from tourist attractions, the city of Mwanza is also a bustling business hub and is one of the biggest markets for fish buyers and suppliers in the Great Lakes region – its forte being the Nile Perch, a fish species that was introduced in Lake Victoria in the 1950s and weighs about 150 kilogrammes.

The fishing and fish processing industry remains the biggest economic activity for the majority of Mwanza residents, with a smaller percentage of people making a living out of cultivating the land, thanks to the region’s fertile soils and favourable climate.

Business here is boosted by the Mwanza Airport – which is a key link to the outside market – as well as the railway, which connects the city to the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam, and then Kampala in Uganda, making it a major transit centre for goods destined to neighbouring towns and countries.

Accommodation in Mwanza

Mwanza has a good range of accommodations that suit every taste and budget. Some of the fanciest hotels for high-end travellers include the New Mwanza Hotel, Ryans Bay Hotel, Tilapia Hotel and the Royal Orchid Malaika Beach Resort.

With its sandy beaches and panoptic gardens, the Royal Orchid Malaika Beach Resort is one of the best places for anyone looking for the best beach experience in Mwanza. It is located right on the waterfront and has 50 rooms that cost between $100-120 per night.