Habari

Once all the bus checks had been completed it’s time to head out onto the road. I needed to find out exactly what I was dealing with and the first assessments gave me a clear understanding of the trainee’s needs, so I focused on the weaknesses observed and tailored the lesson plans on an individual basis.

After all, I only had one week with team one and had no time to mess about.

Late awareness and planning, when approaching buses, setting down or picking up passengers, needed to be addressed straight away, as these buses would often stop quickly with total disregard for following traffic.

The buses in Tanzania are called Dala Dala; they are small vehicles with twenty four seats.

The driver rents the Dala Dala from a local dealer, they are then responsible for the running costs, such as fuel and minor repairs; over sixty percent of Dala Dala drivers have no formal training what so ever.

The Dala Dala driver chooses the route he would like to operate, he contacts the local authorities and if there are not too many Dala Dala already serving that particular route, he is added to the list.

Journey times vary enormously, roughly speaking though, if a route at home was timed for forty minutes, that route here would regularly take two hours. Traffic jams are common place, the term “to allow traffic flow” is something most motorists in Tanzania don’t even think about.

The Dala Dala drivers are self employed, they also have to pay for the services of a conductor, although there are only twenty four seats in the Dala Dala, they cram in as many passengers as they can.

A typical fare is around twenty pence; yes twenty pence that’s not a typo and with fuel at around 80p a litre, you can understand why they need as many people on the vehicle as they can possibly get.

I’m was told by a trainee, some Dala Dala drivers inform passengers they are only going half way on that particular trip, when they get to the half way point, all the passengers alight, then moments later the driver changes his mind and says he’s now going the full distance, so passengers get back on and pay another 20p each. It’s against the rules but I’m told it happens.

As I get into the lessons, the lads awareness and planning improves quite nicely and they all began to understand, they need to Look, Assess, Decide and Act on what they observe and they do this with little prompting.

On two lane roads, Tanzanian drivers have a tendency to sit in the offside lane even if the nearside lane is clear, this is because they know at some point they will approach a Dala Dala driver setting down or picking up and it will save them the hassle of moving out and overtaking.

In the main the boys avoided doing this; however, it did pop up occasionally and a quick prompt given, sorted that out.

Now, here is your starter for ten “Unnecessarily using the offside lane, when the nearside is clear” results in:

(A) Other vehicles dangerously undertaking

(B) Other vehicles dangerously undertaking

                                or

(C) Other vehicles dangerously undertaking

 Answers on postcard please:

I am relying on the lads to navigate around town as I have no way of knowing which are the best roads to train on, I ask them to keep away from the town centre as congestion is at its highest there, they are happy to oblige.

They are a great bunch of lads and are very keen to learn, they have all told me how grateful they are to Metroline for allowing me to be out here training.

I get on even better with them, when I discover two of the lads are Arsenal supporters, the other lad supports Barcelona, who ever they are.

When traffic comes to a complete standstill and it often does, weaving in and out of the stationary traffic are street vendors, theses guys will sell a wide range of items from cold water, juices, clothes, fruit, toys, food, you name it and you can buy it from one of them.

Having thought about it, if this system was employed on my way home from Cricklewood, it would at least save me the weekly grind of going around Tescos or Morrison’s (other stores are available)

I was slightly concern though when I saw a young lad selling machetes, these things were over a foot long, honest, I am not exaggerating, they are shown around to the motorists to inspect and if they like what they see they buy them.

I have a quick chat with one of the lads about street crime and car jacking and why anyone would want to carry such a weapon, I got the feeling its more about the fear of crime, than crime itself.

Tanzanian people are great people; they are polite, courteous and appreciate the support given by companies like Metroline and others from all around the world who are willing to help and support their country.

I have already promised Neil Rettie, when my numbers come up on the euro lottery, I will donate a fully equipped and staffed training vehicle to the NIT to compliment the great work he and other members of Transaid do for the people of Tanzania.