Habari

The Boeing 767 which was operated by British Airways, took off on time and the duration of the flight was approximately ten hours. I’m happy to say that the flight was uneventful, the take off and landing was extremely smooth and there was virtually no turbulence, if you travel by plane that’s exactly what you want.

Flying has never really caused me a concerned and this flight hasn’t altered my view. The in flight meal was ok and there was plenty of films to choose from, I could also view the flight path and current location of the plane on the screen which was located on the back of the forward seat, it’s also gave me the altitude of 37000 feet and a land speed of 524 mph, if you fancied stepping out for a bit of wing walking, take a coat, because it was minus 58 degrees outside.

I did manage to get some sleep and a good investment I made before the flight was paying 53p in Tescos for some eyeshades, I prefer to sleep in total darkness and these did the job.

 
I arrived in Dar es Salaam about 7am local time and passing through customs wasn’t a problem, all I needed to do was complete a simple entry form and have my finger prints scanned and that was that. When I got to the luggage carousel all three of my suitcases put in an appearance, what more could I ask.
 
I was met at the airport by Neil, the Project Manager for Transaid (who I had met before in London during my pre-brief regarding the trip) for the short taxi ride to the hotel. On the way to the hotel we passed a road traffic accident on the other carriage, nothing too serious, a fender bender with a couple of cars. The police were already in situ with their tape measures; there was quite a lot of traffic, all at a standstill. I was told by Neil that traffic jams are common place.
 

The hotel is called the Blue Pearl and is situated on a busy road not far from The Institute of Training, where I would meet the trainees and start my day from. The room is clean; there is a kitchen area with a table and chairs, a coffee table and a two seat sofa, so no complaints there. I even have sky sports on tap.

I’m in room 1304, I was given room 1305 at first, but when I entered the room for the first time, I was immediately confronted with a pool of water on the floor, looking up, there was a hole in the suspended ceiling the size of a dart board and the offending water dripping to the floor, the suspended ceiling conceals all the air condition ducts, a few words to the porter in Swahili from Neil, soon produced the key for the room I have now.

The room number as I said is 1304, that’s room number four on the thirteenth floor (not rocket science really is it?)  Neil booked this floor as it tops an adjacent building and gives me a better view over the landscape, access to the room is by an open walk way, where a member of staff sits all day making sure that the gym next to me and the infinity roof top swimming pool are only used by guests. The hotel is also used for conferences and exhibition, there was a lot of activity from staff when I arrived, who were very busy erecting stands for this week’s exhibition, promoting Tanzania and environmental issues, many delegates wore traditional African attire and I can tell you they all looked fantastic.