There’s the fifth pair of eagles circling near the road. #toto
18km to Morogoro. Much greener: mountains catch the rain. #toto
First casualty: me. Photographing an abandoned sisal farm. Result: 6cm scratch on arm. Plus a photo. Of sisal. #toto
Drought effects: none of the maize seems to have reached harvest. Passing thru Chalinze. #toto
Piss stop. Sorry, “traditional medicine stop”. Lame advice to watch out lions. Cellphone towers line the road. #toto
Good 2-lane highway. Heavy lorries, plus people walking between villages or on bicycles. #toto
Kibaha region. West, rather than north. Small farms: bananas, coconuts, cassava, cashews, others I don’t know. #toto
En route to Dodoma. Lonely Planet says “There is no reason to go to Dodoma”. We are going to Dodoma regardless. #toto
This will clearly be a long road trip. #toto
Albert complains that we didn’t tell him we had interests other than cloves and cassava. #totn
Lena complains loudly that Albert failed to tell us Freddie Mercury was born in Zanzibar. #toto
Driving north-east out of Dar es Salaam. Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean”. Discussing our SEKRIT investigation. #toto
Oh, and for the police with AK-47s. #toto
Stop at mall for videotape. Same as any other anywhere, ‘cept for the occasional Masai in full tribal garb. #toto
One lane each way. Traffic slow. Fuelling and water-buying stop: four young women to operate the pump for us. Dusty. #toto
Wondering whether to introduce our new Tanzanian bloggers to @TheBloggess. Maybe there IS such a thing as too much culture shock. #toto
@micktleyden I thought IMAP would help resync back to my MacBook Pro when I return, but it’s causing too much grief here. #toto
In hindsight,changing my email from POP3 to IMAP was a mistake. Too much network overhead. Srsly. #toto
Noting that everyone sending their last email all at once is killing at office’s 512k/128k link. #toto
Watching people finish frantic emails before we hit the road for hours… days… to the end of Time itself. #toto
0815. Avoiding the traffic jam by detouring down a very rough back lane. #toto
Should I be concerned that “Born to be Wild” is blasting out as we cruise intn town? Yes, Thomas was waiting for us. #toto
0745. Breakfast done. On safari for 4 days now, Dodoma and Nzega. Updates as we’re rolling. I bet Thomas is already waiting for us. #toto
45 minutes left for breakfast, final re-pack for the road trip, checkout, “urgent” emails. That view looks nice. I’ll try to look. #toto
@mrsnickhodge Every hour there’s four things which could all be 400 words. Ever single hour. #toto
@mrsnickhodge It’s not the 140-char killing me. It’s that a post takes an hour or two. W e never get them. #toto
@SnarkyPlatypus Our shared human creation of bureaucracies is also universal. ;) #toto
@mrsnickhodge Kilimani village on Zanzibar wasn’t distant in space, but certainly in culture. And yet… ah, I’ll write later! #toto
@mrsnickhodge The “culture shock” isn’t about what’s vastly different, but what’s almost-the-same. There’s an essay there! #toto
@archielaw @Mark_Chenery It’s clear that the longer-form writing will come once I return to Sydney and can reflect. #toto
Tue plan (D5): Drive to Dodoma (5 hours), see… something; continue training on blogging. Long day. #toto
Emerges. 0608 in Dar es Salaam. Pre-dawn sky over the ocean. We leave in 90 minutes. #toto
I can’t believe I’ve been in Tanzania for 4 days without knowing “wanaume”. #toto
It’s approaching 7pm. Kili Time has been declared. Dusk falls on a dusty Nyerere St, Dodoma. #toto
They’re still discussing tomorrow’s itinerary. A photographer to be collected from Mwanza before Nyega. How many km? #toto
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the Fair was over. However, we did get a nail in a tyre. Mechanicals proceed. #toto
So, we’re going to talk our way into the NGO Fair at Parliament House without registration. I detect looming Fail. #toto
Eating goat and rice, in company with a concrete antelope while “Falling in Love” croons. #toto
Kidia Vision Hotel, Dodoma, where Jesus Loves You, it says. There are large, prominent Bibles. 3.40pm. Lunch. #toto
In Dodoma. “There is no reason to go to Dodoma”, it said. Except it’s the national capital. And dusty. #toto
Did I mention lots of baobab trees? Oh. Another question. #toto
I don’t know why I’m asking questions. I’m in the middle of Tanzania. #toto
The sunflowers are heartbreaking: drought-tattered. Everything grey, dry. #toto
Semi-desert now. Stunted trees, prickly pear, dusty farm towns, sunflowers, goats, cell towers. Kibaigwa. #toto
Passing thru Gairo, noted for it’s maize markets. 123km short of Dodnma. #toto
Passing Keyangaya mountain in Morogoro region. #toto
The cellphone transmitters live in better huts than 95% of the farmers here. #toto
Local transport is Chinese motorcycle, quarter the price of a Honda. Used heavily, they last 6 months. #toto
We don’t enter Morogoro, we turn north. But we pause to buy the freshest bananas ever. A dozen eagles overhead. #toto
My confusion re the newspaper story. It’ll be published when my photos to accompany it get uploaded. #toto
@maverickwoman All tweets yesterday (Sunday) were from Zanzibar, then the flight to Dar es Salaam. Today, Dar all day. #toto
@ericscheid Tanzania is East Africa Time (GMT+3), so 7 hours behind Sydney. #toto
@SnarkyPlatypus Thank you. Though reconnecting to the Twitter firehose is a tad overwheming all at once. #toto
@kcarruthers I was met by ActionAid driver at the airport on Saturday, yes, been “minded” ever since. #toto
Lots of beeps at the UPSs kick in during a power outage. Second time in the hour I’ve been in the office. #toto
@neerav This is not a “peaceful holiday”. There’s hardly been a moment without intense information overload. #toto
Um, Dear Google, can I please have you in English and not Swahili? Like, I appreciate the effort, but… #toto
Ploughing through 3 days of email. Some things seem remarkably unimportant from this distance. #toto
Ahem! Just been told the office here will get fibre soon. In Dar es Salaam! DID YOU HEAR THAT, CONROY? #toto
I have internets in the Dar es Salaam office, thanks to Davis. 512kb ADSL. Damn, email to respond to. #toto
Thomas says there’s no trouble. “When you get money, ynu wamt everything in its place.” Ah, symbols! #toto
Security is tight. Walls with razor wire, electric fences, guards in military garb. iMac ad on roadside. #toto
Tuktuks! Lots of them, as we drive south to the city. No! Turning inland. #toto
Where are my bags? Thomas already has them! He’s enthusing about US vs Brazil in the football. #toto
No, we’re not waiting for the driver: Thomas, in a shirt way more fashionable than mine, is waiting for us. #toto
Almost 0900. Organizing Wi-Fi for the room tonight, and waiting for our driver. #toto
Have also just heard that I’m in the Sydney Morning Herald today. Is this old news? Not in TZ! Breakfast time. #toto
“Social media” is the social: human connection. I can show tools, but thoser in TZ will find the uses. #toto
Mon plan (D4): ActionAid office, Dar es Salaam, planning the week and introducing social media concepts. #toto
Notation: D1 Fri departure. D2 Sat arrived Dar then Zanzibar, briefing. D3 Sun Zanzibar touring projects. @toto
Those postcards with an orange sun rising thru pink-grey clouds over a pale blue ocean? They do not lie. #toto
I’m afraid to describe how magnificently beautiful this is: if I do, you’ll want to kill me when I get home. #toto
Two young security men, in uniform, take advantge of the quiet, kicking a soccer ball, laughing. #toto
Hear: Nothing. Wait. No. Waves. Waves rolling gently on beach. Two ever-present crows croaking. Not seagulls. #toto
See: Clear flat ocean in clear dawn light. Two dhows move quietly out near the small island on the horizon. #toto
Emerges. Apartment in northern Dar es Salaam overlooks Indian Ocean. Red sun rises through a distant cloud layer. #toto
But enough for now. Only hours left in Dar es Salaam.[exit]
The schedule is intense, but the forewarned “culture shock” isn’t there. The project goes well, Lena and I agree. #toto
Our driver Thomas collect us 0745. We go to Dodoma (capital), then the next day to Nzega. #toto
0040. Images send to newspaper. Graphics created for website. Anything written? No. Sleep needed. #toto
@clutterbells Oh the ISPs seem reliable enough. It’s just the hotel Wi-Fi. I’m right at the end of the complex. #toto
Yes! The Man With Electronic String haveth fixed mine internets! Wi-Fi FTL! Ugly long wire FTW! #toto
Reviewing today’s photographs. Provided bandwidth behaves, will upload some with a blog post in a few hours. #toto
@sirexkathryn The “paper blogging” exercise sounds good. I’ll look at that shortly, thanks!
Can has internets at the hotel! They’re very dodgy interrnets, but nevertheless they go ping (mostly). #toto
6.30pm, work over for the day. Afternoon of training began with “What is a blog?” Yes, I am the alien. #toto
I WANT THAT TWO-METRE CONCRETE GIRAFFE FOR THE GARDEN! #toto
New companies get tax concessions for 5 years, so every 5 years they’re bought out by “new” owners. Restart! #toto
Walking Kivukoni Front, Dar es Salaam. K = Ferry. #toto
Noticing how many of my tweets via TXT have appalling typing mistakes. I am detaching from accuracy. #toto
@maverickwoman Yes, my first visit to Africa. A long blog post tonight DAR time. #toto
Program for the week mapped out. 4 days of travel around Tanzania starts tomorrow. But for now, lunch (almost). Awaiting transport. #toto
Ah! Meeting starts! I’ll have more on the plan later. #toto
@kcarruthers Oddly enough, people seem to appreciate my sense of humour. I, um, THINK they’re laughing with me, not at me. ;) #toto
Precision Air is completely misnamed. Just be warned. #toto
Replacement replacement tickets arrive. They’ve been double checked as correct for the 2050 flight. 3 hours to relax. #toto
Replacement tickets are issued. 2 out of 3 are for the wrong flight. Try again. #tnto
Actually, “stuck” in Zanzibar is a fail full of win. #toto
The 1700 flight has gone we were not on it. Boarding pass confusion. Stuck in Zanzibar. Comprehensive fail. #toto
Loud argument in Swahili ensues. #toto
Zanzibar airport. Alive. #toto
Still alive. Bonus. That, though, is what I’d call overtaking on a blind crest, with ox-cart. #toto
Chickensgoatsbananatreesscootersfarmersmosquechickensgoatsmanwithmattressonbicyclechickemsgoatsit’sablur. #toto
OH: “You know, he is going to get us killed.” That was the guy next to me. #toto
That mudbrick hut has a 2m satelite dish. #toto
Fark! Um, that village speed hump seems to have served its purpose. No-one hurt. Did I mention: this minibus has no seatbelts. #toto
Eating fresh charred corn while not-speeding to the airport. I’ll explian the drunk village policeman later. Maybe. #toto
I agree, the crows at this fishing village are the fattest, happiest crows ever. #toto
Erm, we’re going to look at the fish markets? WTF? #toto
We have an hour to get to the airport, 5pm flight to Dar es Salaam. We are not, I repeat not, driving too fast on a rural road. #toto
The entire school sang a welcome. Then we met the village chief, proud of the new school. #toto
Avoiding the ox cart, turning off to visit a nursery school. #toto
Passing farmers with produce on their bicycles. No faster than the speed limit, no Sir. #toto
Driving north again, very fast. Because we detoured to a clove farm and ate fruit. I am sure we are not speeding. #toto
I have a magic Zanzibar clove ball which will “improve relations”. #toto
Mud huts, thatched rooves. Cows rest betweem banana trees beneath coconut palms. We have arrived. #toto
Police checkpoint. Waved thru. Brown and white cow cow pulling a cart. #toto
Our driving speed seems no slower than before. #toto
Um… pulled over for speeding. Watchmen chat with sergeant. Tells us to drive safely, waves us on. #toto
Black cows graze on an empty soccer pitch carved out of the bush. #toto
North out of town, market stalls, donkey carts, chickens, abandoned half-finished homes. #toto
Winding thru streets of Zanzibar Town, avoiding old men on motor scooters, children, bicycles. #toto
In a minibus, passing vegetable farms, battered concrete flats, an immaculate white mosque, tethered cows grazing on roadside. #toto
Breakfast done. Zanzibar’s masala tea is a delight. #toto
Zanzibar tip: coff
Meanwhile I’ll sit on this balcony and write up my notes, until the sun rises over the Indian Ocean. Without internets. #toto
We spend Sunday touring Zanzibar projects, meeting those on the ground and who they work with. #toto
0415 Can’t sleep now. Being phone-interviewed by Sydney Morning Herald 0600. Can’t get any photos to them yet. #toto
Erm, that was twin-prop. And as soon as I have real internets I’ll post some longer bits and photos, as respond. #toto
Then Cessna Titan tion-prop to Zanzibar to be briefed by the ActionAid team here. PowerPoint is a universal curse. #toto
Met at airport by Reza, an ActionAid Tanzania “logistic assistants”, or “watchmen”: driver / translator / protector…. #toto
Yesterday was a blur of travel. Sydney to Bangkok to Nairobi to Dar es Salaam by commercial jetliner, then… #toto
It’s my second day in Tanzania, but I still has no internets… at least not on this balcony at the, um, beach resort. #toto
Emerges. Not quite 4am local time in Zanzibar. Half-awake from jet lag anyway, I’m fulley wopken by a sudden rainstorm. #toto
Starting to unwind, finally. Tomorrow: my turn to fill their heads with too much weird shit. [exit] #toto
I’m really wondering what this mad bunch of tweets looks like from the outside. With no feedback it feels weird. #toto
Tomorrow (today) it’s ActionAid office. I’ll worry about internets then. Our driver Tom collects us at 0900. #toto
No internets for more than 2 days. It’s nearby, but no time to organise it. #toto
Whoever imagined there’d to time to reflect, let alone write (including me!) had no idea how packed the program would be. #toto
Midnight. Brain exploding. Seen enough in one day for a month of writing. Weird, just this one-way thoughtstream. #toto
11.45pm. How tragic, another apartment overlooking the Indian Ocean. I’ll wake to the sound of waves at dawn. #toto
Roadside video odverts for painkillers. #toto
“Everybndy Everybody” by… Rozalla, was it? This is on Choice FM, Dar es Salaam. #toto
Our driver takes us into Dar es Salaam for the first time. The Bee Gees “Staying Alive” pumps. #toto
Touchdown Dar es Salaam. #toto
Hurrah! A twin-engine turbo-prop, high wing. 5H-PAR. We’ve boarded. Transmitters off! #toto
Who needs Twitter? A man imagines he sees something in the dark. “it’s landing now!” Words ripple around the room. #totn
The Man in the Green Shirt says we’ll have an aircraft in 20 mins. Precision Air, huh? Everyone looks very tired. #toto
The boarding passes are OK. I guess. How can tell? Also, ddpart time is in 6 mins, but no sign of an aircraft. Am I fussy? #toto
Reading boarding passes carefully. #toto
Ah, I remember this airport. And these security people remenber me. We’re old friends now. #toto
I can thoroughly recommend the local blend of sugar cane juice and ginger. #toto
We are all now ignoring Albert’s “plans” and following Lena’s orders and full of octopus. #toto
This fail is full of fresh seafood from street stalls at dusk. Also, some tourists. #toto
Do I need to explain again why I’m only communicating one way via SMS? I’m in Zanzibar with no Internets. #toto
The summoned watchman has arrived. Headed to Stone Town for sunset and dinner. #toto
Boarding proceeds… slowly and haphazardly. Transmitters off. #toto
Oh. Boarding. A Boeing 737 which today is KQ480 to Dar es Salaam. Tarmac walk. #toto
Through another security check. If I’m going to be bored, I might as well have a view of a misty cloudy morning over Nairobi airport. #toto
I’m not responding to tweets ‘cos I have no internets. Sending by SMS only. #toto
The highest concentration of duty-free booze shops is by gates servicing Virgin Atlantic and Amsterdam. How surprising. #toto
There is a cybercafe, which looks dodgy. Packet-sniffing and keystroke logging FTL. Also, lt sells Converse sneakers. #toto
Why are white South Africans always so fucking rude? #toto
Only one Wi-Fi point, locked. :( It is called “giraffe”, however. #toto
2 flights down, 2 to go. For today. Now. Huntimg Wi-Fi so I can see things… #toto
Touchdown Nairobi! It’s not even 6am and it’s still dark! Africa is COMPLETELY INVISIBLE! #toto
I still have no internets though. #toto
Oh. Apparently it works now. I’ll try to summarise an amazing and disorienting day in Zanzibar soonish. #toto
I’m still having SMS to Twitter failage. #toto
That little aircraft has two, um, propellors I thik they’re called. #toto
My last SMS toTwitter was made of fail. Will this one get thru? #toto
Sparrows. Everywhere I go there are sparrows. #toto
Changed USD 300 into TZS 393,000 in ragged notes. They’re not into giving a docket, it seems. #toto
I have a visa and I have cleared customs. I wait for the others, and a crow watches me. #toto
The stern lady smiled at my name, but she still took my passport and USD 150. I wait patiently with a gaggle of travellers. #toto
Touchdown Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Filling in visa applicatiö.#totoo
Boarding. #toto
Did I misread that in my tiredness? Kenya Airways KQ0887 departs Bangkok for Nairobi at 0035, not for 40 mins? Damn. #toto
Also, I’m not responding to anything ‘cos I can only tweet by SMS, and that’s pretty dodgy. #toto
Sturdy airport security woman in black uniform and beret, but hot pink radio. #toto
Grrr. Bangkok airport is enormous, and once you go thru to the gates there’s no drinking water. Or Wi-Fi. Fail. #toto
Touchdown Bangkok! Rather blurry. That’s 1 flight down, 3 to go. Waiting to exit aircraft. #toto
Announcements made. Transmitters off. Next stop Bangkok in about 9.5 hours. #toto
Boarding a Boeing 777. #toto
This camera is full of 1. Fail 2. Shoddy no-name batteries 3. Photos of The Veronicas in concert. #toto
Powering down the netbook to save electrickery. Also trying to understand why the Nikon Coolpix P50 is being weird. #toto
@Ryan_Mitchell This is the first day of netbook use. My fingers are too fat. The small screen is… something to get used to. #toto
My whole itinerary is over at http://bit.ly/jVDL8 somewhere. Except for the being chatted up bit. That’s off-plan. #toto
Whoever asked, I’m flying Thai to Bangkok, then Kenya Airways to Nairobi, same to Dar es Salaam, and a local airline to Zanzibar. #toto
Gate lounge, gate 39, insanely early for 1530 departure but all’s going smoothly. Time to catch up on tweets and email. #toto
Being chatted up by Thai boys before even past the Chanel counter, let alone on the plane. I have his card, for some reason. #toto
Advice re forex correct. In CBD an AUD buys 0.77 USD. Airport 0.75. Once past security 0.73. #toto
Cleared Customs amd security. #toto
Thank somebody for Bar Coluzzi being at the airport and making a decent soup. About to go thru Customs. #toto
Bag limit 20kg. My case 22.7kg. “That’s fine”, says the clerk. I won’t see my underpants until Dar es Salaam. #toto
The gentle but energising chatter of the check-in queue. Some eager to embark on adventure, others tired and heading home. #toto
Sydney airport. International terminal 3. #toto