Prison Bar

At first I thought the sign “No Photography. Prison Property.” was just a clever marketing gimmick. It took me a couple of trips to Prison Bar to figure out that it is actually adjacent to the local prison.

This establishment is a short walk from my office, and it is positioned right on the lake, making it one of the few places in town that you can enjoy a sundowner while watching the sun set behind the hills of Congo (and behind the prisoners sneaking into boats in the more immediate foreground).

The local spectacles include: pied kingfisher hovering above the water before diving in for their evening dagaa; bats swarming between you and your friends to catch bugs by the lakeside; the fishermen’s boats forming a line of lights on the nighttime horizon; the occasional prisoner in the moonlight; and oh, the stars.

These sights more than makeup for the sub-optimal service, limited beverage selection and the shall we say "creative" choo (toilet), which is simply an area of sand that is demarcated by bamboo walls on 3.5 sides.

Here is how it ranks (on a scale of one to five bananas, five bananas being the highest):

Sunsets:

Service

Sanitary latrine

Proximity to prison

Endless supply of Konyagi (a Tanzanian spirit)


The place has become one of my favorite after-work hangouts; enjoying a beer at sunset often seems the best way of ending another day in paradise.