Driving Around Dar

Our work day started with a review of the tasks still to be completed before the atlas can be finalised. It was clear that "workshop fatigue" had set in as only four of us were really participating in the discussions and two of those were the consultants responsible for producing the atlas. We finished everything though at around 11 am but everyone stayed on in the meeting room waiting for lunch.

We had a little bit of light entertainment while waiting for lunch at the expense of our Malagasy colleague. We were all sitting quietly doing our own things when a very strange noise came out of the air conditioning vent in the ceiling. I said that it sounded like ice moving and that possibly Fabio and the Malagasy guy should move away. Fabio took my advice and moved his laptop and himself to a place at the table away from the vent but the Malagasy just stayed where he was. Five minutes later, with and almighty crash, a huge amount of ice fell out of the vent straight onto the Malagasy's laptop directly below. He then proceeded to just sit and stare at the ice as it started to melt on the keyboard. The two Tanzanians sitting on the other side of the table rushed around, grabbed the laptop from the Malagasy and turned it upside down to get the ice off as quickly as possible and then switched it off. The hotel staff were called and they whisked the laptop away to get a hairdryer on it and others came to clear away the rest of the ice on the table. Fortunately the laptop survived its little avalanche experience and the rest of us spent a good amount of time chuckling over the incident.

After lunch Robert, one of my Tanzanian colleagues, took Fabio (Italy), Xavier (Mozambique) and myself (South African of course) on a driving tour of the city. It was a really pleasant afternoon with interesting things to look at, nice things to taste and fantastic conversation. I had a really fantastic time! Here follows some photos from our drive around the city.
 Saint Joseph's Cathedral

 The alter of Saint Joseph's Cathedral

 The beach ... I don't think I would ever swim here though as there is a sewage pipe flowing out very close by!

 The Askari Monument - which is a monument honouring the Askari soldiers who fought for the British Carrier Corps during World War I

The guys drinking coconut juice (Fabio, Xavier & Robert)

 The most popular section of beach for the Dar locals

 A disturbing site! Shells for sale on the sidewalk.

 Tuk-tuks - these are very popular for getting around town

 A view of the ocean

And we ended our tour with a beer at a local spot!

Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

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