How Mandarin-speaking local guide is drawing Chinese visitors to Tanzania

He always wanted to be a safari guide; he remembers that while in primary school, he would see the safari vehicles carrying foreign nationals passing through his neighbourhood. Upon finishing his secondary education, he attended Mweka Tourism College for safari guide training.

He opted to be a freelance safari guide rather than getting employed; he reasoned that it was a better way to expand the scope of work, network and gain experience while building his profile without being limited.

By the time he joined the tourism business, there were many German and French interpreters who were already established, but very few local guides spoke Mandarin.

He wanted to position himself to capitalize on that. With a population of 1.5 billion people, the second-largest economy in the world, China has enormous potential to be Tanzania's leading source of tourists.

Its people are getting richer and more willing to spend vacations outside their country and Goodluck wanted to be ready to translate for them everything they would want to know during their safari in Tanzania.

Mandarin is a language that is the very opposite of Kiswahili, his mother tongue. “Mandarin is a very tonal language; the meaning of what you say may change depending on the tone you use,” he stated. Tones are crucial in distinguishing words. Mandarin uses characters, what Goodluck describes as images, not the alphabets used in Kiswahili or English.

A challenging language to learn for a Bantu- speaking person, he had to rewire his brain, withdraw from social life and focus on learning the language. “I went to the very extreme; I didn't even have a girlfriend, never went to any social events.

I just wanted to focus; it is not an easy task to learn Mandarin, I had to persevere,” he said. His first teacher was Chinese and later down the line a Tanzanian who had lived in China took over; that helped him learn Mandarin from both perspectives.

After graduating, contrary to what he had hoped, the number of Chinese guests was modest compared to European and Americans flocking into the country. Goodluck started getting restless and the years he invested in studying were not paying off after it had cost him more than 2 million Tanzanian Shillings to earn his 3-year certification as a recognized Chinese translator.

During the rough patch, with no money or work, we settled on selling second-hand clothes around the Njiro area.

When that didn't improve his financial situation, he decided to travel to Dar es Salaam and look for an opportunity to translate for the burgeoning Chinese business community, but alas, the Chinese he encountered spoke decent Kiswahili that enabled them to conduct business without the aid of a translator.

He had to travel back to Moshi, not knowing what he would do next. Then, in June of 2024, a ray of hope shone.

He remembers clearly his first call to pick up Chinese tourists flying into Kilimanjaro International airport and he would be serving as their interpreter. A bridge between the tourists, the tour guide and the driver as they cruised through the Serengeti.

Even after three years of learning the language, his first encounter with a Chinese tourist was nerve-racking.

“There are levels of speaking Mandarin from level one to four and I was hoping I was fluent enough to speak to a native Chinese,” he said.

He recalls they got to the airport two minutes late because of the morning fog on the road. Upon arriving at the airport, he had to brief the guests on the day's itinerary, translating what his fellow guide was saying.

They took the guests from the airport to Serengeti Serene hotel for lunch; afterwards, they went for the game drive. “The first time you felt a little scared, I was just starting,” he remembered. He followed the instructions his language teacher gave him. “Ā, zhēn de shì nmen ma?” that translates to "Ah, is it really you guys?" was the first mandarin sentence he spoke for the first time as a translator.

He held his breath, looking at the visitors, when they nodded and responded; that's when he was relieved that they understood him. “I realized that what I had was correct.

So I felt peace knowing the guests understood me and listened to me. I felt I was in the right place,” he noted. Equally surprised were his guests; they wouldn't believe that they were people in Africa who spoke any Chinese.

Over time, he got used to it; his Mandarin got better as he interacted with Chinese natives and he received more work.

On Safari, he had to serve not only as a translator, but he had to help them stay clear of any dangers from the wild animals, guide them, share interesting information about the wild animals, as well as instruct them how to conduct themselves in the presence of the wild animals. “I told them to be cautious, calm them down when they saw the big five,” he explained.

Being in the middle of the wilderness can be terrifying; sitting a few feet away from the gigantic elephant or a 200-kilogram full-grown predator lion is petrifying, it helps to have a tour guide who speaks your language.

And that's how the demand for Chinese-speaking local tour guides like Goodluck is increasing. He is glad that, in the time he has worked, he has not faced any language challenge while translating English or Kiswahili to Mandarin-speaking guests.

Now his new Chinese guests are using him to learn English. They ask him to speak Mandarin while they speak English and he teaches them how to improve their English vocabulary. “Ironically, I have now become an English teacher to my Chinese guests and I love every minute of it,” he said, smiling.

The presence of Chinese-speaking Tanzania tour guides has enormously helped increase the flow of Chinese tourists visiting Tanzania. Chinese have admitted to feeling more at home when they get a guide who speaks their language.

Even when Goodluck is working with other guests and some other Chinese tourists pass by and hear him speaking Mandarin, they stop and engage in a conversation.

“They get excited, but it also motivates me more,” he added. For anyone who wants to learn Mandarin, Goodluck encourages them to invest their time learning it. It is adventurous, different and it will help you connect to a different culture.

“Mandarin has four tones: a flat tone that stays on a low level, the second tone goes up, the third tone goes down and then back up, then the fourth tone falls from top to bottom,” he explained.

All these tones are commands, which is why when you're around Chinese people, it often looks like they're arguing, but they're not; it's because every second, their conversation depends on those tones and often if you miss the tone, you change the meaning.

Goodluck hopes he will get a business partner who will invest in a safari vehicle, so that he can finally drive his own guests to the National Parks. He wants to invest in his dream as a self-employed tour guide. He also hopes the government will look at their niche and experience working with Chinese tourists to use them as tourism ambassadors to China.

He said Tanzania has to use them as a competitive edge, take them to China to promote Tanzanian tourist attraction sites. “Other neighbouring countries are already doing it; they have brochures in Mandarin, social media presence targeting Chinese nationals and we have to catch up and we, Mandarin-speaking Tanzanian tour guides, can do it and we are ready,” He mentioned.