Passion

An exciting trip today on the new SGR (Standard Gauge Railway) service to Dodoma, the capital, in the centre of the country. The warning to arrive two hours before a 6am train seemed a little excessive, so I chanced it later. This strategy almost failed me as the taxi broke down on a deserted major junction at 4.53am, possibly due to a lack of water. I felt a bolt of being tired of logistical challenges, but I soldiered on and found a new taxi.

The train ride was aggressively cold in terms of air conditioning but otherwise excellent and covered the 450 kilometres to Dodoma in less than four hours. With my puffer jacket on standby, I was perfectly comfortable.

‘Experience the passion of hospitality’, proclaimed the advertising on board. Arriving suitably impassioned, I headed out to a restaurant to meet my counterpart from government for a meeting on a key piece of funding we’re trying to secure. When a former President shifted the seat of government to Dodoma, a huge range of new ministry buildings were, and are still being, constructed around what was a small regional town. Dodoma has been growing apace in the years since to service the influx of people. Certain ministry staff agreed to move whilst others have found reasons to remain based in Dar es Salaam. Most associated with wildlife and the environment have made the switch and after our meeting I went to see the latest developments. I confirm the buildings have expansive views.

In the evening, some other partners I know from our joint work in the landscape also found themselves in Dodoma, so I had some dinner buddies for a nice shawarma.

I chose a hotel without much to go on. It was a gaudy type with loud phones ringing and those squeaking floors reminiscent of a British high school in the 1990s. Also lots of mosquitoes and those slow-moving flies that always look like they’re carrying cholera. Give me a rapidly darting fly over a sluggish one any day.