Off on an adventure - Kili Trails Festival

Thursday 6^th February

Air Tanzania flight from Dar left on time at 9pm. First stop, Zanzibar, then onto Kilimanjaro International Airport. Leaving the airport building, taxi drivers were quickly in my face offering rides, but I could see someone holding an ‘Air Tanzania Airport Shuttle’ sign and headed for that. I’d done my research and knew that I could pay 10,000/- (about £2.85*) for a shuttle rather than the $25 (about £18.30) that hotels charge for their taxi services.

(*Approximate exchange rate at time of writing: £1 = 3500/- (Tanzanian shillings))

Shuttle worked as hoped, taking me to the door of Snow View Hotel, where I’d booked myself in for the night. Google Maps had shown lots of accommodation options in Boma la Ng’ombe, which is where I needed to stay in order to get a bus the next day. I’d phoned a couple of them up that were close to the bus stand, Snow View and Happy Family Lodge, and decided to go with Snow View for no particular reason other than its location and the friendly voice on the phone. Their cheapest rooms were 50,000/-. I’m sure there would be cheaper places if you’re willing to shop around more, but Snow View was conveniently located on the main road, so it was easy to get dropped off there by the shuttle. I finally got to bed at midnight.

Friday 6^th February

Not sure about ‘Snow View’ – all I could see out of my window was roofs! Maybe a different side of the hotel and a higher floor would afford better views. My room felt warm – 27.2C at 8am (so said my handy little thermometer). After a slow start to the day with time to pray, read the Bible, stretch and have a shower, I headed downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast. They provided me with some hot water so I could make my porridge and they cooked me up an omelette. The only fruit available was watermelon. I wish this wasn’t so often the sole fruit option in hotels – it’s very high in fructose so it’s not a good option for me, and I don’t really like them anyhow! They couldn’t even rustle up a banana.

Packed up and walked round the corner of the hotel to the bus stand. Went to an MPesa (phone banking) agent to get some more cash out, trying to ignore all the bajaj (motorised rickshaw) drivers who wanted to persuade me I needed their services. One outright lied, telling me the bus stop for the bus I wanted was further down the road. It wasn’t. The hotel staff had told me to look for a Noah (a Toyota people carrier) for Sanya Juu. Found one in the middle of the bus stand, waited about 10 minutes for it to fill up so that ten of us were squished into seats for seven, and off we went. It took us about half an hour to get to Sanya Juu, costing 1500/-. I alighted to find another vehicle to take me to Madati, once again trying to ignore the people trying to offer me rides. We were packed like sardines for the half-an-hour or so ride as far as Engare Nairobi, at which point most people got off and I sat in luxury in the front seat for the last 5 minutes. Cost 2000/-. (In theory, I think there are daladalas or Noahs that would go all the way through to Madati, heading to West Kilimanjaro, but I couldn’t find any.)

This time I needed the services of a motorbike and was soon on the back of one heading to Simba Farm, for 2000/-. Took about 10 minutes – the wind in my face felt good as we headed off the tarmac and along the dirt road to Simba Farm, with fantastic views of the mountains off to my right.

I seemed to be one of the first to arrive at Simba Farm at about 11.30am. The event officially opened at 12 noon. I hovered around feeling lost, until someone rescued me, pointing me in the direction of the people in charge of the rented tents. My tent was up and ready for me, among many other identical Quechua (Decathlon) tents. I got my stuff in, noted my thermometer reading around 30C, but low humidity, took my bearings and soaked up the view across to Mount Meru. Awesome.

Once registration was open, I reported at the tent and got my wrist band, took a rest and then went to find some food. Finding low FODMAP food was a bit tricky, but options existed. As I stood dithering, the chef of the Chinese food stall came over to chat to me, which led to him rustling me up a delicious low-FODMAP Chinese meal! A colourful plate full of rice, stir-fried vegetables and chicken with a tasty sauce. 20,000/- for a plate of food. I plucked up courage to ask a couple of people if I could sit with them and enjoyed chatting. Over the course of the weekend I did that many times, asking people I’ve never met before if I could sit with them, and meeting people from all walks of life. There was a surprising number of Brits, as well as Americans, Canadians, German and more; many had come from Arusha, Moshi, Nairobi or Dar es Salaam. I also met one couple from Switzerland and another from Canada, just visiting Tanzania on holiday.

Later on in the afternoon, when things had cooled a bit, I went for a walk with amazing views across to Mount Meru. By the time I got back the festival ground was buzzing, tents had sprung up everywhere, music was playing and food vendors were busy. I made use of the shower block – good showers, hot (I almost scalded myself), and a few handy hooks in the corner of the cubicle to hang your stuff.

Picked up my running bib and took a look at the merchandise. Enjoyed a light tea, using up some of the bits and bobs I had with me, and buying a big banana to finish it off. I also bought a banana ready for the next morning, in case I wanted something to eat before the big run.

Music went on until quite late, but it wasn’t too bad, and I think many people had headed to bed early after long drives or night flights, trying to restore their energy before the next day’s races. With earplugs, I slept surprisingly well. The little mattress, pillow and sleeping bag were comfy. Head torch proved an essential part of my gear (annoyingly my little solar light seemed to have stopped working at some point on my travels).

Saturday 7^th February

Woken by music about 5am, but then snoozed again until announcements began about 6am. It was just getting light outside. 16.7C in my tent. Oatcakes, half a banana and some peanut butter for a light breakfast – I was glad I had some of my own food with me for times like this. Toilet. Off to the start line.

Can you see me? Purplish top, behind the tall Tanzanian.
(Photo credit: @kilitrails photo)

We set off on the dot at 6.45am. It was a lovely route, though I didn’t take in my surroundings very much as a lot of the time you needed to watch where you put your feet. Most of the trail had been well cleared, with the only bad place being where some pine trees had recently been chopped down so there were sticks and pinecones all over the trail, and I brushed past some kind of nettle that stung me and left my leg tingling for the rest of the day. But this was only a short section.

There were two food stations, with little sweet bananas, avocado, sesame seed snacks and water. There was also a third just-water station, but I missed that one as I got lost! The route was well marked with red ribbons and chalk on the ground at key turns, but somehow I missed one of these chalked turnings, staying on a wide track when I should have gone onto a narrow track and into the woods. I should have turned back as soon as I noticed the lack of red ribbons instead of assuming that just because I could see someone ahead of me and I was on a good track meant I was on the right path! Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one who missed the path, so we were able to take council and decide what to do, and we all got back with more than a half-marathon under our belts! I was very annoyed about how all of this slowed me down, as I went back and forth and tried phoning the check points (but not getting through) and looking for other runners, but on the plus side I ran the farthest I’ve ever run!

Our names were called out as we approached the finish line, and a few people were there cheering us in. We had the choice of a medal or a tree – I obviously chose the medal as I wouldn’t be able to take a tree on the plane, and anyhow, I’d rather have the medal! Hung around, congratulating and commiserating with others who had run and got lost! I’d run 14.77 miles (23.77km), so an extra 1.67 miles (2.67km).

Eventually headed to the showers (water less hot this time due to high volume of people using them, but I only had to wait 5 minutes to get in), bought a coffee and got a cup of hot water to mix up my porridge as my stomach didn’t feel like it wanted a big, cooked breakfast. Feeling hot and sticky, I think I’d had too much sun, I headed to my tent, which was far too warm, so then I went to find some shade to sit and be quiet, but it was still very warm! Finally headed for lunch, getting a delicious gluten-free wrap filled with salad and chicken, which they prepared specially for me to make it free from garlic. Cost 10,000/-

Chilled afternoon chatting, writing this blog, and then eating cake while getting to know someone who works with SIL Tanzania but who I’d never met as she lives in Arusha. I chose a brownie (decided it was time to just indulge, even though it was wheat) – sadly it wasn’t in the least bit brownie-like. Then it was the awards ceremony. To my surprise I got a prize for being third in my age category for ladies, despite the extra kilometres and stopping to figure out what to do! The prize was a locally made necklace and a sweet snack. Later I found you could scan a QR code that took you to a website where all the races and times could be found – I discovered that there were nine ladies in my age category, and that altogether I was 37^th out of 50 runners, and 10^th out of 26 ladies. I wanted to get an idea of what I might have achieved if I hadn’t gone wrong – I reckon that I would have saved about 15 minutes (about 10 for the extra distance and 5 for the dithering about what to do), which would have placed me about 20^th overall and the 3^rd lady. I have to admit, those calculations made me feel good!  I then joined the sunset stroll – a short walk to a viewpoint looking across to Mount Meru. Absolutely beautiful, with the skies first turning golden and then red.

I chose Chinese again for dinner. Full plate of the same food as last time. Chatted with yet more new people from the UK, one who works remotely for the NHS! Another works with UNICEF and another with the embassy. I’ve met people working for the UN, teachers, someone in the coffee industry, someone with a gin business, people working in various aspects of agriculture, someone involved in reforestation…and so the list goes one. Fascinating to hear what has brought people to East Africa.

Sunday 8th February

Didn’t sleep so well, but once I’d stuck my head out the tent I felt awake and ready to get going. Decided to go for a good breakfast first before heading off for a walk. This time I chose Simba Farm’s breakfast buffet – particularly delicious was the granola, with some fresh raspberries, pineapple and banana.

My walk had two goals – one was to find out where I had gone wrong on the half-marathon and the other was to enjoy the sights and sounds that I’d only partially taken in while running the day before. I enjoyed pausing to take in the views, to look at the trees in the forest, to listen to the birdsong, to take phots and generally enjoy the variety and beauty all around. I saw signs that elephants had passed by – fresh dung and trees broken down. I saw some baboons and heard their loud bark. I saw a large bird of prey gliding effortlessly through the sky. I found where I went wrong – the turn had been marked with the usual white chalk dust, but as it was onto a small path off a much wider track it was quite easy to miss.

Beautiful views and natural forests

After a shower, I was hungry. One of the vendors was selling burgers and chips. The burgers were laced with onion and garlic, so not a good option for me, but you could have bacon and cheese on your burger, so I took advantage of that option and asked if I could have cheesy chips with bacon. They thought it a strange request, but played along, and I officially declare it was a delicious combo, washed down with some carrot & orange juice. After hearing my rave review, they said they’d consider adding it to their menu! Cost – 12,000/- I followed this with a homemade granola slice (5000/-), which was very tasty, and a banana.

All weekend I had been cheekily asking around if anyone had a space in their car to give me a lift at least partway back to the airport, but I’d had no luck – everyone’s cars were full of people and equipment. As the final awards ceremony progressed (with an amazing Tanzanian man achieving a record-breaking 75km in a race that involved running as many 5km loops as possible in 6 hours), the skies blackened, and as they finished there was a rumble of thunder. If I couldn’t get a lift, I’d need to get a motorbike to come and pick me up (i.e. do the reverse of how I came), and if it rained that would not be fun. I made one final attempt to ask for a lift from a couple I hadn’t spoken with before, and they said they had space! Within 5 minutes I was at their Land Cruiser with my bags, and my relief at getting a lift increased as we drove through heavy rain and some flooded sections of road! They dropped me off at the end of the airport road, where I was easily able to get a motorbike to take me along the long, straight road (cost 5000/-). It was hot and dry, and I looked forward to getting into an air-conditioned building, though I was not looking forward to the over-eight hour wait I would have for my 11.30pm flight. However, it turns out that despite Kilimanjaro Airport being an ‘international’ airport, it’s very small and once inside there was nothing but a short line of check-in desks and a few rows of chairs – you couldn’t even buy a bottle of water. The airport staff advised me to go to Jambo Coffee Shop, which was at the far edge of the car park. It’s an open sided café, but despite the breeze it felt hot (my thermometer showed 32C at 4pm). There were comfy chairs and a reasonable menu, including some nice fresh juice options. I spent my afternoon there – as it wasn’t too busy I didn’t feel bad for hogging a table for several hours with just a bottle of water and a juice. I later removed myself to some tables outside the café so that I could eat my own snacky food for tea. My only mistake was not putting mosquito repellent on before it got dark.

Plane was delayed, and then when we boarded there was a problem with the air con, so we continued to wait. Finally arrived in Dar about 3am. Luggage seemed slow in coming, but amazingly mine was the first to appear on the belt. Taxi for Transit Airport B&B was waiting for me, and I finally collapsed in bed at 4am.

Monday 9^th February

More hours sitting around at an airport before finally boarding my flight to Mbeya and heading home. I spent more time travelling than I did at the festival itself, but despite that… what a fab weekend! A few days later received an email from the event organisers with links to photos, race results and more. The whole thing was very well organised – a big thank you to the whole team, especially Brett.

Visit Kilitrails.com for more information.

Travel journal - my first time in Ethiopia and then off on an exciting adventure

General schedule: First stop, Ethiopia, to join the Scripture engagement (SE) interns for some SE training, with my former mentor, Bettina. I arrived just as they’d finished a week or so of training with all the other interns. Next stop, Dar es Salaam, including a visit to a Bible college. Finally, Simba Farm, West Kilimanjaro, for the Kili Trails Festival (see separate blog).

Leaving Mbeya

Thursday 29^th January (Tanzania: Mbeya-Dar)

Everything went unusually smoothly. White was on time with the shuttle (3.30pm), we got lucky at the hill (it was the lorries’ turn to wait), arrived at the airport early, internet was working, plane was on time, taxi was ready and waiting for me in Dar, and was welcomed to guest house by the friendly girl on duty who remembers me from previous trips. Stayed in the usual place (Transit Motel), as it’s the most convenient option  (pretty much opposite the airport) and they do a resident’s rate, currently 63,000/- per night (about £18 at today’s exchange rate). With Wi-Fi and breakfast included in the price, I really can’t complain (even if they had forgotten to put a towel and bed sheet)!

Temperature: With the AC on and fan whirring, it’s 27.3C at 9pm, 43% humidity.

Friday 30^th January (Dar-Ethiopia: Addis Ababa)

A slightly unsettled night, due to the warmth, vibrations from loud bass music being played somewhere and an occasional loud horn, but not too bad. Oats and peanut butter were available for breakfast, so I was able to make some porridge (throwing in some chia seeds I’d brought with me), and also had a hardboiled egg and a vitumbua. I’d say that’s a pretty good breakfast; I just missed my usual banana.

Temperature: 29C in the restaurant at about 8am.

Banana problem resolved by asking taxi driver to stop at a duka on the way to the airport to pick up a banana. All the ensuing travel went smoothly. As we began our descent to Addis everything looked very dry and brown in contrast to the lush green I had left in Mbeya in the middle of rainy season. Arrived in Addis on time and the taxi was waiting for me. Overwhelming impression of Addis as we drove was that it has a very different feel to the African towns and cities I am used to, both in Tanzania and the few other African countries I’ve been to. In particular contrast to Tanzania, what stood out was: they drive on the right hand side of the road, loads of high-rise buildings, ladies with umbrellas up as parasols to keep off the sun (you’d never see that in Tanzania unless they are carrying a baby), jacaranda trees were in bloom (they stopped blooming a couple of months ago in Mbeya), cobbled side-streets, lots of things seem to be painted grey – walls, fences, houses. On the plane I was surprised to hear them describe Ethiopia as “The land of oranges” – I didn’t know it was famous for its oranges; as we drove away from the airport, we passed a building proudly proclaiming “The land of origins” – no oranges after all!

Bettina found me at reception and after I’d settled into my room I went to visit her and have a wee chat and get the low down on how things run. Addis is about 2400 metres (7874 feet) above sea level, making it 700 metres or so higher than Mbeya. I could feel it going up the many hotel steps to check out the meeting room on the fifth floor! Temperature: At about 4pm it was 22.7C in my room and only 38% humidity!

Went for a very short walk up a steep cobbled lane that turned into a narrow path between houses before emerging on another tarmac road. I felt uncomfortable not understanding what people were saying and not knowing how to greet people – I’m not used to that! Everywhere I have been in Africa so far, I’ve at least been able to greet people, with English, Swahili or rudimentary French. But none of those languages are much use in Ethiopia, even at the hotel the English ability of the staff was limited. It was a relief to see my Tanzanian colleagues later and be able to use Swahili!

Lovely meal in the garden of the hotel – fleecy blankets were provided to keep us warm. I enjoyed the unique flavour of injera (made from teff) with some tasty chicken (they cooked some especially for me without onion and garlic, but still with some spices), and then a dessert that was totally not what I expected. Also made from teff, and obviously having been through some of the same fermentation process as injera, it was not sweet at all but rather spiced with I-don’t-know-what! It was a kind of peppery flavour, but not black pepper, possibly with a hint of cumin and cardamon; I can’t quite describe it. It was a fascinating sensory experience that I would happily repeat, but it didn’t fit in the ‘dessert’ category in my mind!

Felt weird to be arriving as most of the others (non-SE interns) were preparing to leave. I wish I’d come for the earlier part of the workshop. But it’ll be good to have these next three days with the SE interns and Bettina.

Amazing high pressure hot shower and soft while towel. Bliss.

Saturday 31^st January (Addis: SE intern workshop, Day 1)

Breakfast – they made me a bowl of porridge with yellow raisins. Peanut butter was available, so I put a dollop of that in, and added some of my chia seeds. Perfect. Also had some cheese and a couple of slices of tomato.

8am: Met Bettina at the meeting room, set things up and prayed together. It was a good day, though I think it was hard for the interns to stay engaged after already having had over a week of other training. A good personal challenge to take away from today was the question of how are we bearing God’s image? And as we are descendants of Abraham by faith, how are we being part of the fulfilment of God’s promise that through him all nations would be blessed – how are we being a blessing to the peoples of this earth? And then how through our ministry are we helping local churches to understand these concepts and see their place in God’s story?

Geza joined us – I taught her at iDelta in 2012! Now Bettina is mentoring her towards being a Scripture engagement consultant. So lovely to see her again. She lives 30km away from the hotel on the edges of the city, because she says property is too expensive in town, but she comes to this area for church every Sunday because it’s hard to find churches that faithfully teach the truth, despite there being so many churches around.

Went for walk-jog in the evening. Once I got onto the big main road there was a beautiful wide footpath and even a cycle path (though I didn’t see a single bike)! So much contrast here – one minute young children are running alongside of me grabbing my hand, presumably asking for money (though I couldn’t understand a word they were saying), while all around there is development to make the city look really nice, along the side streets there are slum-type houses made from corrugated iron right between nice houses or apartment blocks, just a few minutes further along there is a bustling street with high-rise buildings (presumably offices, shopping centres and apartments), newly designed gardens and more sprucing-up-the-city activity clearly going on. Apparently, my observation yesterday about the grey houses is because the government is trying to tidy things up, and so everyone has to paint their buildings the same colour – white or grey.

Language continues to be an issue of frustration and hilarity, especially when it comes to ordering food. I finally got what I wanted – a lovely bowl of lettuce, tomatoes and olives, with some injera and my left-over chicken from lunchtime (I was given too much to finish in one sitting). Lovely time chatting with Bettina, Timothy, Napta and Ayuba, as each one waited for, and eventually got, their food. Special people. They love the Lord and are passionate for his name and helping people to know Him through His Word.

It’s 9.18pm, I’m writing my journal, I have my balcony door open and can hear the city traffic outside and the occasional dog barking. Temperature: 21.5C in my room, 48% humidity.

Sunday 1^st February (Addis)

Temperature: At 7am it was15.8C outside on the balcony. Went for a run – lots for the eyes to take in: hills on either side of the road with pines on, people wearing white head scarfs (going to or from Orthodox churches), daladalas (they exist here too, but no motorbikes or bajaj), other roads with uneven paths so that I spent some of the time running on the road, an ornate domed Orthodox church, the hustle and bustle of people going about daily life. Ran about 8km.

Enjoyed a nice chat with Timothy over breakfast. Later we all met for a time of fellowship: singing, Bible study (Romans 8) and prayer, led by the interns. A quick (and very bitter) coffee on the veranda with Bettina. A time of quiet in my room, after rescuing my running leggings that I had hung over my balcony railing to dry but had blown away, down onto the balcony below!

Lunch took them nearly 1.5 hours to serve, and then it didn’t come as ordered. I ended up with some delicious Nile Perch, with injera and a tomato. The challenges of communicating in English, finding food that people like on the menu and waiting for food to arrive certainly provides us with plenty to laugh about, albeit accompanied by frustration and hunger!

Fun and fascinating afternoon at Unity Park with Geza, her husband, their 10-year-old twins (all of whom spoke excellent English, which was a relief) and a relative of theirs. Lots of beautiful flowers, beautiful buildings, interesting history and wonderful wildlife (white lions, African wild dogs, zebra, giraffe, fish, birds and more). Kids were great fun to be with, and it was lovely to hear more about Geza’s family and learn more about Ethiopian political history. High security to enter the park – had to get out of the car as we entered the car park and be patted down, and I wasn’t allowed to take my camera in (which I don’t understand as taking photos was not prohibited); apparently this was all because the park backs on to the prime minister’s palace.

We kept our dinner order a bit simpler – four of us shared a couple of big pizzas and some salad. Delicious. Tired after an afternoon in the sun and lots of people time.

Monday 2^nd February (Addis: SE intern workshop, Day 2)

Just time for a 10-minute leg-stretch in the fresh morning air before heading to the meeting room – made it as far as the British Embassy and back. Saw someone who definitely had the look of a fellow Brit striding ahead of me as I walked, and sure enough, he entered the embassy.

Continued to look at all the different spheres of life and in what ways our communities may know what the Bible says about that sphere of life, what they may not know and what they be misunderstanding.

Had a brief collapse of emotional resilience towards food at lunchtime, as I once again felt I had not and could not clearly communicate my needs, and that everyone else thinks I’m just over-reacting and I shouldn’t be so fussy about my food. I think I shouldn’t be so cautious about my food too, but I don’t know how not to be because get scared of what might happen if I have high-FODMAP foods; IBS symptoms aren’t fun, and I really hate being bloated.

The two-day workshop finished well; amazed at how well the interns remained engaged to the end. Said goodbye to the two Ethiopian interns – apparently it would take them a good hour to get home across the city. Time for a 5k run, though it was dark by the time I got back. Had salad for dinner, to which I added some nuts I had with me, and injera, to which I added peanut butter. A very un-Ethiopian way of eating injera, I’m sure, but it tasted good!

Tuesday 3^rd February (Addis-Tanzania: Dar)

Short walk as sun rose – roads were already busy and paths were full of people. SIL Ethiopia’s Land Cruiser arrived to pick Bettina and me up, plus all the left-over workshop resources, se we could visit the office. Took over an hour to get across town, as we crawled from one traffic jam to another; the complete absence of bajajs feels very strange, and I only noticed one motorbike. SIL office is impressive – big and spacious, several floors high, and they’re building another block to eventually be a source of income by renting out space for accommodation etc. SIL Ethiopia is certainly innovative, and it’s great that a few of the Ethiopian staff, including the director and his wife, are self-supporting (in the same way that I am). Hard not to be slightly jealous over all they seem to have, while in Tanzania we are having to scrimp and save.

Coffee break: barley bread with black cumin in it – unique flavour. I need to do some experimenting when I get home! Director has changed coffee breaks from being white bread to healthier options. Maybe I need to push for change in our office?! Time for a re-run of the healthy-eating course?!

Another long car ride to the airport. Had some left-over injera for lunch and bought a banana and a bottle of water for the usual extortionate airport prices, while Bettina bought some delicious teff tortilla chips. Said goodbye to Bettina – she still has a long journey ahead of her to get back to her home in DRC. Flight went smoothly. Charles was waiting to pick me up to take me to the FPCT guesthouse – even though it’s more expensive to use his taxi than walking out of the airport and taking a bajaj, it is nice to see a familiar face, and it feels safer. Asked if we could go by somewhere that I could pick up some carrots, a cucumber and some bananas, so we swung by a market (after sitting in a traffic jam for a while) on our way – another advantage of using Charles!

Good to be back in a country where I can understand what’s going on around me and make myself understood. Nice to be in the air-conditioned room at FPCT and know that tomorrow I get to just be on my own. Space to recover from the intense people-time over the last few days. I got lucky with Room 2 – much bigger and nicer than the room I had here last time; need to remember that so I can request it again!

Wednesday 4^th February (Dar)

Sun rises earlier here, amazing how being just that bit further east makes a difference. Went for a run, came back dripping! Warm and close – even before 8am my thermometer recorded 28.5C, 75% humidity. Was happy to spend the rest of the day working in my air-conditioned room (about 25C, 50% humidity), except for going to the dining area (32C) for lunch where I sweated over rice, greens and chicken. Dread to think what it is in the direct sun!

Nothing much to write about. Dealt with emails. Worked on checking ‘The big story of the Bible’ book translated into Manda. Went for a stroll in the evening, trying to ignore people saying silly things to me. Bought a couple of oranges en route. Rice cakes, an egg saved from breakfast, nuts, carrot, cucumber, orange, snack bar and chocolate for tea, while puzzling with Puzzler.

Thursday 5^th February (Dar)

A walk. Pray. Breakfast. Pack up. Few emails. Charles drove me to the Salvation Army Training Centre (Bible college). I was supposed to be meeting my colleague, Savera, there early so we could chat face-to-face before meeting with the students, but she was stuck in traffic. Altogether it took her 3 hours to get there! Good time with students (aka ‘cadets’), looking smart in their SA uniforms. Five of the twenty were from the Malila language area, which is one of the areas we have worked in. I’d guessed there’d be quite a few from there, as there are a good number of SA churches in the area. They kindly provided me with an air-conditioned office to use for a while after the session, so I was able to eat lunch there (I had the usual rice cakes etc with me) and get a few things done before getting a Bolt taxi to take me to the airport.

Sat outside in the canopied waiting area, about 31C even in the shade, but at least there was some breeze. Ate at the Bao café – a nice salad, chicken and chips – 20,000/- feels expensive, but I guess a meal for less than £7 at an airport isn’t that bad.

Checked in at 7pm. Let the adventure begin…Kili Trails, here we come!

(See separate blog post for the rest of the story.)