Dodoma to Morogoro – Sunday August 19th

I was in two minds about cutting out Morogoro and heading straight south to Iringa. As the crow flies it would have been easier and a guy the previous night assured me that it was all tar and that I could get there in about three hours.

However when I asked him when he was last on that road he couldn’t remember. So I decided to stick with the advice given by the Manchester guy a few days earlier and go to Morogoro.

I tried three atm’s before finding one dispensing cash and this is a common enough problem in these parts. They run out of money regularly. I parked up outside and when I came out of the booth a very well spoken woman spoke to me. She was in a flap about there being no cash in other machines and I assured her that I had left some for her in this one.

She seemed intrigued at meeting a white person in Dodoma and asked me to wait for a moment for her. Then, when she asked if I was living in Dodoma she replied “oh thank god” when I told her that I wasn’t. She is from the area but has been living in north London for over twenty years with her dentist husband. She was back with her kids to visit their grandparents but she couldn’t wait to board her flight back to London the next day.

I’m not sure why I am mentioning this conversation as it might seem a bit banal. Anyway I guess it’s just an example of the myriad of people that I meet on my journey.

The landscape was wide open barren bush and you could see for miles in either direction. And even on a Sunday there was a steady flow of lorries.

One thing that I always look out for is a decent tree offering shelter whenever I want to take a break. Invariably some locals are nestled under the shade but I do get lucky occasionally.

The day passed slowly and by mid afternoon I arrived at Morogoro.

It is the closest big town to Dar es Salam and is set against a magnificent backdrop of picture postcard mountains to the south.

I had been feeling a bit unwell for a while now and, without being graphic about it, my tummy had been upset for over a week. I asked for a plain omelette and some black tea with dried toast but even that managed to reappear later….