"Darwin's Nightmare"

The transport of fish and gunsAfter a bit of searching I found "Darwin's Nightmare," a documentary set on the banks of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. Lake Victoria is the second largest lake and is referred to as the birthplace of mankind. Sometime during the 1960s the Nile Perch fish was introduced to the lake. In subsequent years the Nile Perch has destroyed almost all of Lake Victoria's native species. Apparently, the perch is quite the delicacy, and nearly 500 tons of the fish are flown daily to Europe, representing about twenty percent of Tanzania's exports. The film introduces us to the complex web of transactions that occur around the fish. We meet Russian pilots who while fly the perch from Tanzania to Europe. One pilot tells us, "I just want all the children of the world to be happy." He says this after he admits that the plane is flies to Tanzania is not empty; it is full of gun and ammunitions. These weapons help fuel the countless conflicts in Eastern Africa. We meet Eliza, a prostitute who sells herself to pilots for ten dollars a night. She is killed by an Australian pilot before she can finish telling her story. There are the men who work on the boats and in the fisheries. There are the countless street children, many of whom have lost their parents to the fishing industry or to HIV/AIDS. These children collect discarded fish containers and melt them down to make glue. They sniff the glue to get high. And then there are the government officials who are proud to be a part of the fish trade; they vehemently deny that Tanzania is having a famine as well as the devastating effects of the trade. All these interactions demonstrate the complexity of the situation, as well as the tensions between groups involved.  The film seems to epitomize a larger problem. To put it blatantly, Europeans are bringing Africans guns and taking their food. Tanzania has the resources to end their famine, however the Nile Perch is transported to Europe rather than used to feed the Tanzanians. 

So how does this relate to tourism and travel that was discussed in this week's readings? To be honest, I have no idea. I don't think watching this documentary would give anybody the urge to jump a plane to Tanzania. What is seen is the worst side of a country--homelessness, drug culture, prostitution, the serious affects of globalization. It really is a nightmare.