Fascinated by the colours

What colour comes up in your mind when you think of Africa?

Well, there are so many colours here not to mention the red-ish brown of the sand, the blue of the sky & the sea, vast greenness of some rich countryside... but on top of those colours of beautiful nature, you see soooo many women in bright clothes.

I haven't quite managed to compile the photos of colourful ordinary people on the street, but I can't wait any longer to tell you the fascination of (East) African garments!

Here in Tanzania, among several, there are two popular kinds of garments: Kanga (sometimes spelt khanga) and Kitenge.

Kanga is -well, a picture is worth a thousand words- this.


It's about 1m by 1.5m, and usually sold in pair (um I'm not sure how to explain, when you buy, the cloth is actually 1m by 3m, with two prints, and you have to cut and trim the ends), for around $2-3.

And this is Kitenge. Typically 1m by 4m, around/less than $5.


See the difference?

While Kitenge is often used to make tailor-made clothes and those dresses are considered rather fashionable and maybe a bit formal (you see more women with these dresses on Sunday -when they go to church), Kanga is for ordinary use. It is most commonly wrapped around the skirt or around the head, but could be used as a baby carrier, table cloth, head-pad for heavy loads (when they carry things on their heads) and so on...

But you do see many women wrapping Kitenge around their skirts etc instead of Kanga too.

(The pic above: @Fish market, Mtwara)

Every Kanga has a Swahili saying -"jina" (name)- on one of the longer side. Can you see a bit of it on my purple Kanga (the 1st pic)?

Typical sayings are just like in any other culture - for example,
"MTAKA YOTE HUKOSA YOTE (One who wants all, usually loses all)"
"RADHI NI BORA KULIKO MALI (Blessings are better than possessions)"

I actually haven't quite properly decoded the sayings on my Kanga - that is one of the things I want to ask my kiswahili teacher tomorrow.. I'll follow up and put it in the comment below :)

My confession: At the western end of the town, there is a street known as "Kanga street" where you find many garment shops with thousands of different Kanga and Kitenge, and that has been my favourite spot (...for shopping). That was just inevitable!


PS To those who love trivial knowledge - "Kanga" actually is named -or came to be called- after Guinea foul (in kiswahili, kanga). This is because in the early days, the typical designs of Kanga was a border and a pattern of white spots on a dark background, just like the feathers of these birds!