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| Muheza bus station |
This morning I walked to the bus station to catch my ride to
Dodoma. A great idea I thought, to get 15min of exercise before being cooped up
on a bus for 10hrs. Unfortunately, even in the comparative coolness of the
morning I arrived dripping with sweat. Perhaps I should have taken up the offer
for a lift.
It was a pleasant trip, albeit long. The bus had A/C at least
and the ride gave me plenty of time to rest and digest my experiences of recent
weeks. Very therapeutic. I was really looking forward to meeting the Muheza specialist-surgeon-in-training
and to see what sort of facilities are available in the Capital. I was also
delighted when I received a reply to my text enquiry regarding the wellbeing of
the child from yesterday. He is doing great! What a massive relief. Still a
long way to go yet though. Keep those fingers and toes crossed, it seems to be helping.
The journey took a slight downward turn as we had to take a
diversion. My pidgin Swahili established some problem with the main road. I later
learned that the ‘little rains’ were the worst for several decades in this
region and had washed away part of the main road. The enormity of this issue
became apparent as, having driven down a very wet and bumpy dirt road (possibly
through a game reserve) littered with vehicles, we re-joined the main route and
found hundreds of lorries all parked up along the edge of the road, waiting for
it to be repaired. It turns out that this is one of the major freight routes across
Tanzania.
We arrived long after dark. There, dutifully waiting for me,
was my host. What a delightful man. He had brought a colleague who owned a car
and after purchasing my return bus ticket (it leaves a 05.30, gulp) they took
me to my hotel. What an absolute result this was. I had some apprehension about
where I might be staying, but I needn’t have worried. This might just be my
most pleasant two nights sleep since arrival. Mmmmm.
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