Dar to Dodoma

We gathered today at 8 am to take our bus to Dodoma from Dar Es Salaam. Today was the six hour busride to our final destination. We left around 9 after packing the bus with all our luggage and getting organized. It was a good bus with enough space on a good road - so we were all thankful for that. When the roads aren't paved here, they 'really' aren't paved - they are dirt roads with deep ruts in them that drivers have to navigate very slowly. Fortunately that was not the case for our group. We stopped in Morogoro for lunch at a very nice hotel that normally has a buffet - but that was not to be. We had to order lunch - and living up to the expectations set by the other CSC teams, preparing lunch took forever. I would say we were there nearly 2 hours, and then did not arrive in Dodoma til about 6 pm. The road and scenes were varied. They included rows of roadside shops (they were closed in this picture as it was early on Sunday morning) - and then some beautiful mountain scenery.


Of course it got more rural as we reached Dodoma, and then as we saw some billboards we knew we were finally getting to town. Tonight we had dinner with so many people from the University including the Chancellor, and the Heads of all the colleges . In addition to a very warm welcome, and interesting conversation, we heard from them about how important this university is to the country and what an important project this is for the President of Tanzania. They described the campus a bit, and apparently it is just huge. We'll get a tour tomorrow - so I will share more then. Dinner was great - a nice buffet of Tanzanian and Chinese fare - all was good. Interesting dishes with bananas as part of the main course, and an excellent hot and sour soup. I may not need all my kashi bars after all.

Must go to bed now. Lala Salama