Travelogue set on UKEREWE ISLAND, Lake Victoria, TANZANIA

3rd May 2022

The Saviour Fish (Life and Death on Africa’s Greatest Lake) by Mark Weston, travelogue set on Ukerewe Island, Lake Victoria, Tanzania.

Lake Victoria is the world’s largest tropical lake, bordered by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. The island of Ukerewe sits in a largely uncharted archipelago, comprising perhaps 30 or so islands, many of which have never formally been recorded. There is an immigration office on the island because Kenya and Uganda have been known to exile prisoners and undesirable persons to the island. It is a largely spartan island, in the middle of nowhere, riven with malaria and other diseases rife, and in the water there is a strong chance of meeting crocodiles and hippos and contracting bilharzia. Because the lake is so large, it has its own weather system, so storms can descend unexpectedly and in fact 4000 people die per annum in the lake every year. The author is joining his wife Ebru, as she has taken up a teaching position and they have committed to being there for 2 years.

Mark and his wife Ebru travel from Mwanza by boat. Ebru is taking a two year teaching post and it does not bode well that the woman Ebru is replacing cannot wait to leave, and that she hopes they have brought many films as there is nothing to do. Already the sense of place, the basic nature of facilities and the remoteness of the island are becoming rather disquietingly evident, and a glimmer of doubt about this whole exercise is already forming…. However, as the book progresses there is a real connection with the people and understanding of their ways. The author conjures up a real sense of the hand to mouth existence, which just brings home how little the people in this part of Tanzania have and how much we, in the Western world have in contrast. Existence is a matter of life and death, with virtually no access to healthcare and education levels that are low.

The title of the book comes from the author’s learning about the nature of fishing on the lake, an integral part of life that has come and gone over the years, as the biodiversity of the water has changed. Simply put, in order to counter the poverty along the shorelines, the Nile perch was introduced, which in turn reduced abundance of the cichlids who were happily living the water. Thus everything was up-ended and what proved at first to be good plan, soon turned out to be a rather poor decision, given the bigger picture. Over fishing resulted and the consequences are still huge.

Religion plays a big part in the community, mainly Christian but there is a also a deep-seated sense of the power of witchcraft. Misfortune is often attributed to the actions of the witches and witch doctors and there is a general wariness of not upsetting anyone with spiritual sway within their midst.

I came to the end of the book wondering what toll such a stint on the island might have taken. It would have been interesting to know a little more about the emotional and mental effects of the couple’s stay on the island.

I travelled to Tanzania several years ago and given that I like to read books that evoke the location, I nevertheless struggled at that point to find something suitable that was set in the country. This account of the two years on the island would have been wonderfully informative, setting what I saw as a tourist into a very different context. The author has a very personable writing style and excels at conveying everyday life in this relatively remote part of the world. The narrative bowled along and I very much enjoyed reading his well written, poignant account of the couple’s time on the island. There is a lot of warmth in the story but I imagine the two years were not without significant difficulties.

Tina for the Tripfiction Team

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