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Lion hunt: the movie

The wait is over. My brother, Dan, has done the editing and the six-minute movie of our Ruaha trip last August is now ready. The blurb describes it as "a story of misadventure and folly, deep in the African bush". It's a film of us hot on the heels of a lion-kill following a strong tip-off from Felix in the safari lodge office. Did we manage to track down the elusive king of the jungle? Find out by watching the YouTube version here. A higher-quality download should be available on this blog later.

Three-lane madness

Traffic in Dar es Salaam can get pretty bad. At least a couple of times it's taken me two hours to drive around 10 miles. So you can imagine the anticipation that gripped us when work started to widen the main road from Mwenge towards the city centre. But as the new road took shape we began to scratch our heads. Could it really be wide enough for two lanes in each direction? Well, the conundrum was solved when they eventually got round to painting the white lines. The answer? Three lanes. That's three lanes in total.

For a while it wasn't clear who had the legitimate right to use that middle lane. Signs have now gone up showing it's two lanes towards town and one coming back out. However, in reality, the usual rules of the road apply: priority goes to the larger, heavier and faster vehicle - and also to the braver driver.

There's already been a considerable amount of chaos.

Toilets: advice, requests and warnings

Haven of Peace for the Olympic torch

After a rocky couple of weeks travelling through Paris, London and San Francisco, the Olympic torch made its way to Africa in the middle of last month. And its one destination on the continent was right here in Dar es Salaam - whose rough translation is Haven of Peace. Some of us held our breath as we waited to see whether the event would live up to the city's name. To the organisers' relief it passed off completely peacefully - no doubt helped, in part at least, by keeping the route under wraps until very late and dramatically cutting it down to 5km. Still, from the press coverage the next day, a large crowd of people in Coca Cola t-shirts seemed to have tracked down the torch to cheer it on its way.

Coconut encounters

A less welcome encounter happened the previous day when my foot and a rather large coconut came together at a not inconsiderable speed. We were doing the obligatory (and fascinating) Spice Tour and, as the end approached, a helpful guy shinned up a palm tree to hack down some tasty fruit. We looked to be a safe distance away - but we hadn't counted on the coconut rolling down a palm leaf and shooting out sideways. Time for the tourist authority to re-do their risk assessment I think.

No blood trickled out although it was clearly sloshing around where it shouldn't have been. But bones are obviously much tougher than I realised because a swift x-ray revealed no breaks. Still, purple toes get you a lot of sympathy - and Philly, George, Pete and Sophie spent the next few days bringing me endless cups of tea while I spent much of the time sitting rather pathetically in a comfy chair.

Looking back I'm simply thankful it missed both my head and my friends.

Colobus encounters

People pay hundreds of pounds and trek for hours to see Uganda and Rwanda's mountain gorillas. But for a park fee of around £2 and a short stroll through the woods you get to see the almost as rare Zanzibar Red Colobus Monkey (Procolobus Kirkii). With their beautiful red coats and cheeky nature, they enthralled us in Jozani Forest, a short drive from Stonetown - and the only place on earth where they live.

And did you know, according to research by TT Struhsaker in the International Journal of Primatology, they're the only primate aside from humans known to eat charcoal in the wild? No, neither did I. It's been almost a year coming - but that's moderately interesting fact number eight.

Serengeti in the Spring

Safari veterans - Pete & Sophie, George and Philly - all returned for the second consecutive year to head off to some of my favourite places in Tanzania: Bougainvillea Lodge in Karatu, Ngorongoro Crater and Ndutu on the edge of the Serengeti plains. It turned out to be among the best visits I've done - a worthy end for what may sadly be my last big trip here.

We saw some amazing things: half a dozen of the Crater's extremely rare black rhinos and more cheetahs in five days than I've seen in the previous four years. Some of you, no doubt, will also be interested to know we beat our record for secretary bird sightings with some ease. And among the other astonishing sights was this guy modelling what he seemed to think was the new season safari fashion - the sunburned torso. The guide books suggest avoiding brightly coloured clothing so you don't scare the animals. But this surely is taking it a bit too far. Quite distressing.

Some of our fellow guests at Ndutu turned out to be a BBC film crew getting footage for next year's new series called something like Natures Greatest Events. They said they were mainly interested in following a pride of lions among the great wildebeest migration - but they seemed to spend a fair chunk of their time filming the local erupting volcano. Sadly, despite Pete's charms, we didn't get a ride in their helicopter. Neither did I manage to sell them my 30 second footage of lion cubs shot rather shakily on my digital camera.

 

 

Words of wisdom from The Hill

To indicate that something is happening at a certain location, you add the suffix ni to the end of a noun in Swahili. For example:

nyumba = house; nyumbani = in the house

shamba = farm; shambani = at the farm

The English Church Service I attend is at the University of Dar es Salaam whose campus is set up on a breezy hill (mlima) overlooking the city. So the area became known as Mlimani (on the Hill). It provides a refreshing green and open area out of the hustle, bustle and dust of Dar where the academics can think, discuss and give their views on the issues of the day. In addition the university administration has all sorts of signs with words of wisdom exhorting us to particular behaviour. Here's one I particularly like:

Bye bye George

Contrary to my fears, one local paper reported that during George Bush's visit "many roads will be closed to ease congestion." It wasn't immediately clear whose congestion they were talking about. Nevertheless I've stuck to riding my bike for the last three days and managed to dodge the worst of the jams.

So he came, and stayed - apparently longer than he's ever done before in an African country - and now we've waved him goodbye. The show piece event was the signing of an agreement for the US to give almost $700 million* over the next five years. Of course there are a few strings. Tanzania will need to keep going with the progress it's making since the money only goes to countries that continue to deal with corruption and enforce the rule of law. So, as if to reassure the President, banners had been strung around town declaring "we cherish good governance" and "we cherish human rights". And there were posters galore with George's beaming face and words from the Tanzanian people saying "Thank you for the Millenium [sic] Challenge Account".

All-in-all he got a pretty warm welcome. Probably quite a relief from reactions in other parts of the world.

*For those Brits out there, you should know that this latest grant plus existing US funding means the Americans will overtake the UK as the largest donor country in Tanzania.

Political earthquakes

Tanzania straddles the Great African Rift Valley, so tectonic action is not unusual. But the recent earthquakes have been political rather than geological in nature, with several alleged corruption cases involving leading figures. Last year the President sacked the governor of the Bank of Tanzania when $130 million was wrongly taken from an account there. And last week the Prime Minister and two ministers resigned - leading to the whole Cabinet being dissolved - following a Parliamentary report on an emergency electricity generating contract.

So what are we to make of it all? Clearly there is still a long way to go in these inquiries. But the public at large and the media are becoming increasingly vocal about the unacceptability of corruption. Parliament has been increasingly key in recent steps to demand public figures are accountable for their actions. And people in authority at the highest levels have been taking action against some of those implicated in the scandals. Corruption has undoubtedly diverted precious resources away from the citizens of Tanzania, but there are positive aspects to take away from the recent dramatic events.

Bean cooking for beginners

Rice and beans - it's a staple of the Tanzanian diet. And over the last four years, I've become strangely addicted to it. But despite a few experiments I've been unable to re-create the dish in my own kitchen. So I was delighted when Mama Nuru, my Swahili teacher George's wife, offered to let me into her culinary secrets. And last Saturday, as a prelude to the cookery course that I plan to start in September, I headed off to their home in Buguruni for Bean Cooking for Beginners: part 1.

We started by sorting the soya beans (better than the red kidney beans apparently) by hand with the children. To be honest I wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to be looking for - but it seemed to be the black and misshapen ones that were discarded. That was followed by furious boiling for an hour or so over the charcoal stove - providing the perfect opportunity to relax and discuss the dramatic political events of the last week (see next post). Oil, onions, tomatoes and green pepper followed. All very simple you might think. But it was the magic ingredient that I'd been skimping on in my previous efforts: salt, salt and more salt. The result? Extremely tasty - but not a dish for the hypertensive!

George Bush is on his way

We are looking forward to George W Bush's trip to Tanzania next month, although perhaps not the prospect of sitting in queues of traffic as his motorcade speeds around town. It's to demonstrate his commitment to Africa, you know. The White House website reports it's his first visit to the continent since back in 2003. Here are some extracts from the press release issued by the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam yesterday:

"President Bush demonstrates US commitment to Africa with trip to Tanzania"

"During his trip, President Bush will highlight his Presidential initiatives"

"President Bush said, 'We have a strategy that's working. It is to support a strategy that has made a difference' "

"The US President's historic trip to Tanzania will further strengthen the ties between the people of the United States of America and the people of the United Republic of Tanzania"

World Toilet Day

I'm sure you spotted it last month too: 19 November was World Toilet Day. Thanks to those lovely people at the UN it has been every year since 2001. Did you know 2.6 billion people in the world don't have access to any kind of basic sanitation?

Part of my job is to try and make sure more things get counted - toilets being one of them. At the moment the numbers are pretty dodgy but the Statistics Office here is currently doing a couple of surveys that should shed a bit more light on the situation. Right now the best estimate is that, although 90% of Tanzanians are able to use some sort of pit latrine, more than half of those are completely inadequate - just holes in the ground without any cement floor. Something to think about next time you're in the smallest room in the house.

Want to do something about it? Can't think what to buy your loved-one for Christmas? Go to World Vision's alternative gifts website and click on Buy a Bog.

Progress in Kenya's public service reform

I know some of you have your doubts but, during office hours, I do try and focus on work rather than spotting safari animals. Of course in East Africa that's not always possible.

This afternoon I was supposed to be taking part in a review of Public Service Reform, Results Based Management and other such phrases that are completely incomprehensible to anyone outside government and development circles. I'd been (un)reliably told the meeting was at the Kenya Wildlife Services HQ, a short ride out of Nairobi on the edge of the city's national park. So at 1.30pm, off I trotted to join the afternoon session. Unfortunately no-one there had heard of the event and, after a lot of failed phone calls and a few text messages, I discovered they were all meeting at the international conference centre in town.

Still, all was not lost. While waiting for the taxi to come back and pick me up, I was able to enjoy a quick saunter round the "Safari Walk" - a raised boardwalk through some animal enclosures - and spotted these rather odd-coloured zebra-type animals. And I also came extremely close to tripping over this warthog as it charged through the car park.

Sadly none of this contributed much to the reform of Kenya's public service. Maybe I'll be more effective tomorrow.

 

Goong Goong is 70 today!

Happy Birthday Dad! Or Goong Goong (Chinese for grandad) as he's known by Hannah and David, my niece and nephew.

As some of us are living in far-flung places at the moment, we had an early 70th birthday celebration on our recent family holiday in Devon. It was complete with specially commissioned "Goong Goong 70" T-shirts and a hunt for a special letterbox on Exmoor.

We'd been looking for letterboxes all week: specially hidden plastic boxes - with a clue about their location - that contain a notebook to leave messages for the original owner plus other miscellaneous bits and pieces. So we set off from the village of Simonsbath to follow that day's clue: Follow the footpath to Cow Castle and, after one mile, look under the south side of the bridge near the abandoned mine.

With Mum leading the way, we found the bridge and soon tracked down the letterbox. And, much to Dad's surprise, it turned out to be a special Goong Goong box with a photo history of his life and an exclusive rubber stamp to mark the day!

As Devon's a little far from home, we took the box with us and it will be re-hidden as a geo-cache, possibly on Box Hill in Surrey. Get in touch for the GPS coordinates, search it out and leave a greeting!

The Godfather

That's me: godfather to Jonathan Herbert!

I was delighted earlier in the year when my friends Stephen and Alex asked me to be one of the godparents to their new little one, Jonathan. What a privilege! They also kindly arranged the service to coincide with my recent family holiday in the UK. So on Sunday 9 September parents, godparents, family and friends gathered at Christ Church, Winchester for his baptism. It was a great day - including the weather after (what I hear!) was a pretty poor British summer.

Of course now the tremendous responsibilities start for us: to pray for Jonathan and, in due course, teach him about the Christian faith and encourage him to confirm the promises we made on his behalf.

Deepest, highest, longest ... largest

Tanzania's attractions are often accompanied by a string of superlatives:

• Lake Tanganyika: the world's longest fresh water lake and the deepest point on the continent.
• Mount Kilimanjaro: Africa's highest point and the tallest free-standing mountain on the planet.
• The Serengeti Migration: the greatest movement of mammals on the earth.

But now there's a new one to add to the list. Screen 1 at Dar es Salaam's new Century Cinemax theatre. Yes, it really is the largest in East Africa. (Number seven in the series of moderately interesting facts.) And on Monday night Dan, Tom and I paid it a visit to see the Bourne Ultimatum. It's very good indeed and well worth two hours of your time when it opens across the UK this weekend. Although perhaps Dan should lend his tripod to the director - as the shaky camera work does make you a bit dizzy after a while.

Nun on safari

Now that we've moved into the era of Facebook, going on safari carries the added risk of being away from that all important internet connection. But I think that me, my brother Dan and Tom coped admirably well when we set off for Ruaha National Park last week. Trev, of course, hasn't (yet) caved in to the pressure to join the Facebook generation - and he even left his mobile at home! Fortunately for Dan and Tom it was possible to get the tiniest bit of phone reception just to the left of the Celtel tree at the River Lodge Camp where we stayed, so they weren't completely out of touch.

Much of the trip was captured on digital media of some sort. Dan and Tom had just come from filming the work of a micro-finance charity in Malawi so, when Felix from the Lodge office gave us information about a nearby sighting of lions eating a giraffe, they had the camera at the ready. You would have thought someone called Felix might have pretty accurate info about cats - but sadly, on this occasion, we were sent off on a bit of a wild goose chase (if that's possible in a search for lions).

We saw all sorts of amazing things like the elusive kudu and a pride of 19 lions. But equally interesting was going on a game drive with Sister Elizabeth, the German nun who has been working in southern Tanzania for 25 years. It turns out she's rather partial to the odd bottle of bitter lemon. And we were enlightened over lunch by her specialist knowledge of the rocks and geology of Ruaha.

Here are some more photos, mostly from the long lens of Trev's camera.

 

Hongera sana! Naangela Mcharo MBE

Hongera sana! (Congratulations!) to my former DFID Tanzania colleague Naangela Mcharo who is now a Member of the British Empire! It's thoroughly deserved for many years working to strengthen civil society organisations in this country. The High Commissioner did the honours at a reception at his residence on Monday night while HM the Queen watched on in oil paints from above and her signature graced the royal warrant. Having recently retired, Naangela is enjoying a well earned rest. But our office is the poorer without her wisdom.

Hoots the chemist

Perhaps you were a little disappointed not to have the cash to nab a share in the recent £10 billion takeover of Boots the chemist. If so, maybe you'll want to consider putting in a bid for Dar es Salaam's version: Hoots the chemist. It's the same kind of thing - just a bit smaller.

Going green

Some of you have expressed concern about the few long-haul flights I take each year and whether they might be damaging the environment. I'm pleased to let you know you can relax.

Last month I was working with my DFID Kenya colleagues in Nairobi where we announced we are aiming to become the department's first carbon neutral office. Using a little over 400,000 sheets of paper, travelling almost a million airmiles and consuming almost 700,000 units of electricity each year between us, we'll have to plant just over 2,500 trees to off-set our emissions. But at least we made a start with our first one now growing in the rather comfortable surroundings of Nairobi's Windsor Hotel and Golf Club. Actually it looked more like a small insignificant shrub. But I'm sure it will mature over the years.

(More seriously, we've also set ourselves targets to cut back on paper, flights and other stuff.)

Student protests

In common with many other countries, university students in Tanzania are facing the introduction of tuition fees and the replacement of grants with loans. And like elsewhere they're not happy. So back in April they went on strike with the result that the government shut down Dar es Salaam University for three weeks.

As well as interrupting lectures it also had an impact on other campus activities, including the University English Church that I help to lead. But now that the students have been allowed back and started exams, things are returning to normal.

The next step for your child's education

Your child about to finish primary school? Planning for the future? Concerned about your local high school? Look no further. This may be the answer...

Brilliant.

Under an eland's watchful gaze

Many Tanzanians avidly follow English football. So a week ago on our way back from the Serengeti it wasn't difficult to find a place in Arusha showing the FA Cup final. We managed to get prime seats at the bar to watch the action. And the atmosphere was enhanced by the presence of a sizeable stuffed eland head on the wall next to the TV. As the biggest member of Africa's antelope family, it was certainly impressive.

Unfortunately we were let down by the unreliable electricity supply - and missed much of the second half of extra time, including the only goal. Not even a rather large eland can help in that situation.

Birds of the Serengeti

I'm privileged to get to go on holiday with the steady stream of friends from home who are discovering the wonders of Tanzania. And the fascinating thing is they're all interested in different aspects of this country's beautiful national parks. For Peter and Sophie it was the diverse bird-life that captured their attention. So the 500+ species in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro kept us busy on our trip up there last week. This was good news for me in my quest to find interesting sightings since all the lions we saw, and the one leopard, were fast asleep and most uninteresting.

But that didn't seem to matter, particularly to Peter. He'd had a fruitless search for a secretary bird during their two months in South Africa. So when we saw a total of five in a single day, you can imagine how pleased he was.

Here's a selection of feathered photos - mostly courtesy of the Hamiltons' camera.

Individual service

Travelling back from my sister's 40th birthday on Monday night, it felt a bit like being in a private jet. The cabin I was in was completely empty: 24 seats; one passenger. It did mean there were no delays in getting served my meals. But I hope it's not a sign that business on the Heathrow to Dar route is falling. We need to retain that direct flight.

Support British Airways: come and visit Tanzania!

You've got until August 2008 when I'll be heading home.

Cats in trees

Ndutu, April 2007

Slightly embarrassing: part 3

Know your jacking points

Of the three, this incident was really only potentially embarrassing. After 36,000 km on Tanzania's roads I was beginning to think I was immune from punctures. Foolishly I hadn't even read the manual on how to operate the jack. Fortunately I got round to doing that just one month ago. And as we returned along Ngorongoro Crater rim, there was that unmistakable hissing sound that said a flat tyre was on its way.

We could have done the whole thing ourselves (yes, really) but when a couple of passing motorists insist on helping, who were we to spoil their fun?

Photos by George

Slightly embarrassing: part 2

Stuck in the mud

Ngorongoro Crater was dry as a bone last week. So it was slightly embarrassing when I managed to find what must have been the only boggy patch within 20 kilometres. Only a little larger in size than a car, my Land Rover was quickly up to its knees in mud and completely stuck.

Fortunately Mike managed to flag down a group of fellow tourists who kindly pulled us out. I was somewhat stressed - but everyone else seemed to find it extremely amusing.

Photos by George

Slightly embarrassing: part 1

Department of Transport advice: Know the height of your vehicle (Land Rover Defender: 1.97 metres)

But of course when you put luggage on the roof, it tends to make it a bit higher. So last week it was a little embarrassing when I drove my fully loaded car straight into the shelter we park under here at my house. Particularly as Philly, George and Mike had made such a huge effort to hit our 6.30am safari departure time. Fortunately for me (disappointing for you) none of them had the thought to take a photo of the damage to the canopy or the plastic crates. But remarkably we were on our way 20 minutes later after a few repairs and reorganising.

Sam Nujoma's new highway

Named after Namibia's first President, Sam Nujoma Road is getting a major face lift. With it's severe congestion, the old narrow strip of crumbling tarmac was a real pain for getting to and from church activities on the University campus.

Now that's all a thing of the past. Apparently it's going to be Dar's first road with dedicated bus lanes. The space they've created certainly looks like it could take about five lanes in each direction. And now small stretches of new tarmac have started to appear at various points along its 4km length. At the moment these don't join up, so the rule of the road seems to be to zigzag wildly from one side to the other in search of those brand new smooth bits. The result is slightly disorganised chaos although the huge amount of extra space has virtually removed the jams at a stroke. The main problem now is to avoid the large holes that appear overnight at random points as they dig the drains.

But my favourite bit is the new roundabout that's being installed at the junction with University Way. The road markings and signs are yet to be installed so at the moment people drive in both directions around it, as well as a few hardened souls that go straight across the middle.

Barrows in Tanzania

Last month the Barrow family were here in Tanzania - my sister Faith, brother-in-law Tim, Hannah and David. Younger sister Debs also joined us and now is the sole holder of the record for most visits to see me. The current count is three if you'd like to try and beat it.

We had a lovely three weeks meandering around Dar, Zanzibar and the northern safari parks. Of course we saw the animals - elephants, lions, the great wildebeest migration, and so on - but Hannah's favourite bit throughout remained ... swimming. David's a bit too young to tell us what he enjoyed most. But the roller-coaster ride in the Land Rover down the bumpy dirt tracks always brought a massive smile to his face. And, as his own way of amusing himself and us, he'd pretend to be thrown about in the same way while completely stationary in his car-seat or even lying on the floor!

Here are some photos from Debs and me to give you a flavour.

   

      

Curry with Cherie

I was disappointed to be out of town and miss the visit of Sophie, Countess of Wessex, to Tanzania a while back. So you can imagine my excitement at the prospect of meeting Cherie Booth QC - better known to you and me as Tony's wife. And last night, just like Willy Wonker's lucky golden ticket holders, we clutched those all important invitations as we made our way to the British High Commissioner's house for a party in her honour.

Security was tight but unobtrusive. Although we did observe several unidentified people lurking furtively in the shadows and whispering earnestly to each other. They tried to blend in by removing their ties. But who wears a dark suit when it's 30 degrees?

I still haven't quite got to grips with the main reason for her visit. But we were happy she found time to meet DFID, High Commission and British Council staff over a tasty curry. And she was kind enough to spend a long while having her photo snapped with various groups of us, while we all grinned somewhat inanely next to her.

She'd been travelling most of the day from Rwanda and must have been pretty tired. So it suited all round that she retired fairly early so that we could move on and watch the England rugby team play rather poorly against Ireland.

Sniffer rats: better than humans

Two hours down the road from Dar es Salaam lies Sokoine University in Morogoro - the location of one of Tanzania's more unusual success stories. They're training sniffer rodents. African giant pouched rats to be more precise, although I'm sure you're more familiar with their Latin name: cricetomys gambianus.

They started off searching out landmines in Mozambique. But now they've branched out into detecting tuberculosis from samples of saliva. Bart Weetjens, the wonderfully named project director, said the rats can diagnose up to 2,000 samples a day compared with a paltry 20 for a lab technician. Number six in this blog's increasingly infrequent series of moderately interesting facts.

What's more, you can just pick them up from the African bush and breed them. Well fed and highly trained, they can grow as large as a domestic cat. And their upkeep is considerably less than a human, needing just a small piece of banana as a reward. The trainers report that it's not easy for the rats to graduate but they're eager to learn and don't get bored with the somewhat repetitive task.

Hurricane Bondo

On my way back to the UK in December I managed to slip into Heathrow just as the fog enveloped the airport but before the real chaos descended. But it wasn't only London where the weather caused inconvenience. Here in East Africa, Christmas Eve saw Hurricane Bondo loitering just off the coast - and with it one of the windiest and wettest periods for a long while. In fact Ndutu Safari Lodge, up near the Serengeti, had its wettest month since their records began more than 20 years ago. Apparently it's all the fault of El Niño - the warming of the Pacific off the coast of South America.

It seems the weather warnings were so severe that those helpful chappies at the UN office in town issued their staff with some useful advice:

• Ensure you have dry rations, canned food and generator fuel for five days and medication for one month
• Keep adequate stocks of matches, lanterns and charcoal
• In the event of strong winds, avoid the beach and tape-up or board your doors and windows

You've got to be prepared I guess. Unfortunately for me, they missed the most crucial bit of advice: tape-up your bedroom ceilings. So when I returned to my flat, once again I found rather substantial holes in two rooms and rather a lot of water on the floor! But then I'm getting used to that by now...

In the event, the worst of Bondo missed us and the real wet and windy stuff proceeded to Madagascar.

Happy Christmas to you all

The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2: 10-11

Sorry none of you received a real card from me this year. I seem to have spent most of the last few weeks in far-flung places and on planes. Wishing you a peaceful and joyful Christmas.

Happy Birthday Tanzania

It's Independence Day! Happy 45th birthday to Tanzania. Actually it was Tanganyika that got its independence back on 9 December 1961. Zanzibar had its revolution on 12 January a couple of years later. Then the two joined together to form the United Republic of Tanzania on 26 April 1964. As you can imagine, with so many significant events we need a lot of public holidays to celebrate properly. Sadly for me, today is Saturday so we don't get a day off work.

Driving schools in Dar

Driving school in Dar es Salaam must be a very different experience from my distant memories of learning on the back streets of south west London.

With the frequent congestion and gridlock in certain parts of the city, it's just not always possible to drive in a completely orderly fashion. And to keep costs down, pupils often share their lesson with three or four other keen novices. Sat in the back, the idea is that they learn from watching. But I think I'd have found it a little off-putting to have several pairs of eyes observing inside the car as I stalled in the middle of a junction.

Vehicle size is another key difference. The tiny Nissan Micra, favoured by many UK instructors for its ease of driving and parking, is nowhere to be seen. Instead the choice is often a sizeable Land Rover Defender, Nissan Patrol or Toyota Land Cruiser to cope with the rather large pot-holes - or a minibus to provide enough space for the whole class.

Of course choosing a name for your driving school is a key part of any marketing. Many go for place names: Kilimanjaro, Mwanza or - a bit more bizarrely for East Africa - the Oxford School of Driving. Others choose words that express what I guess their proprietors think are desirable characteristics: Love & Joy, Victory and Perfect. But my favourite has to be the Get Well Driving School. What's that all about?

Front page news

Somehow I've managed it again: the front page of a national paper. This time it was my photo in the Business Times. You may not have heard of it. But I can assure you it's Tanzania's premier (only?) weekly business and financial newspaper. I like to think it's a bit like being on the front cover of the Economist.

There's no real story. In fact the only text that accompanies the picture is the short caption below it with our names and the information that we are "exchanging ideas". The event was the main annual review meeting between Tanzania's government and 14 key donors - including DFID. British readers will be pleased to know that we're giving around £100 million of your hard-earned taxes to support Tanzania this year.

The big clean up

Before...

After...

It happened virtually overnight a couple of weeks back: right across the city, Dar es Salaam's streets were cleared of almost all the street traders. In addition a lot of shops that were in what looked like pretty permanent structures - either brick buildings or old shipping containers - were knocked down or removed.

Since then there's been a strong debate in some quarters: was the government's approach right? Some point to the six-month warning that traders were given, the illegal nature of many of the businesses and their buildings, and the (emerging) provision of specific areas for more orderly markets. Others note the sudden and drastic way it was handled and the loss of a means to earn a living for a large number of ordinary people.

My local shops were not immune. The photos above are before and after shots of an area just round the corner from me. The two on the left are taken from almost exactly the same spot. So my shopping is now mostly done at the local supermarkets rather than the market stalls. Of course that has little real impact on me. But it's really not clear what has happened to all the people who used to trade there.

The day I met the Vice President

I know you all realise just how important statistics are. But now you've heard it from the top. Last Friday the Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania, His Excellency Dr Ali Mohamed Shein, spent a good 15 minutes extolling the virtues of facts and figures at Dar es Salaam's Movenpick Hotel.

 

Hotspots of Norfolk: Haveringland Hall

Although there's still a huge amount of Tanzania for me to explore, it was good to spend a lovely September week in the UK with the Harris and Barrow families. Having never been to Norfolk before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But Haveringland Hall's website proudly boasted it was "perfectly placed to explore the abundant delights" and "at the epicentre of all Norfolk's finest attractions". Who could resist that? And, with a clock tower built to a design by famed Buckingham Palace architect Edward Blore, the converted coach house made for a wonderfully relaxing time.

It also turns out that, in a pioneering project, those lovely people at the local county council have turned Norwich city centre into one giant hotspot with free wireless internet access to all. So we didn't need to feel to out of touch. Although, like many of Tanzania's national parks, our holiday house itself turned out to be in mobile phone blackspot territory. But never mind, it reminds you what life used to be like.

Phone code change

Tanzanian phone codes have changed! So if you want to carry on texting or phoning me - please make a note:

+255 744 XXX XXX numbers are now +255 754 XXX XXX

Basically, the first '4' in my phone number has become a '5'. I think there's about one month of dual running where the old one will still work. But you can never quite be sure what's going to happen here.

I'm still not entirely clear why they've made this move - it doesn't seem to expand the number of phone lines that Tanzania's burgeoning mobile networks will no doubt need. If you can think of of good reason, please do enlighten me!

Sign of a misspent youth

Dar es Salaam is a relatively safe and peaceful African city. But with a steady rise in the rate of robberies and muggings, the authorities have been left with little choice but to take action. Their approach? A ban on playing pool during working hours. As is probably obvious, the police have reported that bars and pool halls have become the prime location for thugs to plot criminal activity. Although I'm still not clear what is to stop them doing a bit of planning elsewhere or in the evenings.

In addition to the potential benefits to the crime rate, the press also reported that "wives whose husbands are addicted to the game expressed joy, saying the ban was long overdue."

Fortunately for me, our office hours finish at 3pm. So we're still able to play for a good couple of hours before the sun goes down.

Note: Picture is purely illustrative. There is no criminal plotting going on between Louis, Isaac and me.

The car's the star

I'm getting used to appearing in top quality publications. First it was World of Tenpin way back in 1990. That was followed by a couple of quotes in the main front-page article of the UK's Guardian Newspaper. (We will ignore the fact that this was because of a small error we may or may not have made in presenting the Tory Party's record on health in the run-up to the 1997 election.) But I've now reached the pinnacle of media exposure: a full-page feature in Land Rover Lifestyle.

I'm sure you'll know that LRL is the first and only US-based Land Rover magazine. As well as existing owners, the website says it's also aimed at "those unfortunate individuals who have not yet purchased one". And page 10 of its June edition is given over to the safari that Keri, Jennifer, Charity, Travis and I went on in February.

Sadly there's only a single photo of my car. It gets crowded out by Maasai tribesmen, flash floods and leopards in trees. But the article does make us sound suitably adventurous: five people packed into a Defender 90 in the heat of summer, driving 11 hours on tracks that can hardly be called roads. Actually we had the air-conditioning blasting away. And, thanks to those nice people in the Japanese government, it was a gentle drive on one of Tanzania's smooth new stretches of tarmac.

Missing apostrophe

The more pedantic among you are probably itching to get in touch and tell me about the missing apostrophe in the previous entry. I can save you the effort. Prue Leith started her Leith's School of Food and Wine in 1975 and then sold it to Caroline Waldegrave, her business partner, in the early 1990s. That is, she sold everything except for the apostrophe which mysteriously disappeared.

By the way, there is also Leith's Catering - also started by Prue but then sold to Excel Conferences. It's now nothing to do with the school. So when you go to Glyndebourne and get a jacket potato that's not completely cooked, please don't blame me!

 

Back to school

Two weeks at Leiths School of Food and Wine was certainly an education for me. And, as well as some top tips, I've come away with a whole new set of slightly pretentious French words. But in the future I will certainly dépouiller to help skim the scum from my stock - and sweat onions below a cartouche for that sweeter, softer result.

With an astonishing amount of cream and butter added to almost everything, it wasn't exactly a course for those on a diet. Although we were assured that this didn't really matter as "you rarely eat the whole batch" and "there's nothing worse than biting into a half-filled profiterole".

Apart from a couple of people losing small pieces of finger during the chopping exercises, we had no major disasters. And even when three of us completely forgot to add bicarbonate of soda to the sticky ginger cake we discovered that you can simply stir it in half way through the baking.

 

The Queen's birthday party

Unlike for my parents and Debs, my younger sister, the Queen doesn't turn up to the royal parties that I get invited to. But last Wednesday my DFID colleagues and I still dutifully went along to the party thrown by the new British High Commissioner in honour of Her Majesty's 80th birthday.

It was a night of warm words from both the British to the Tanzanians and vice versa. With toasts to His Excellency Jakaya Kikwete, President of the Union and to our own Elizabeth II, followed by renditions of both national anthems. Tanzania's was sung in beautiful harmonies by the choir of St Peter's catholic church, Oysterbay. God Save the Queen was a rather more crackly recorded affair that sounded a bit like it was from a war-time radio broadcast.

The astute among you will have noticed that last Wednesday was, in fact, significantly later than both the Queen's real and official birthdays. But that didn't seem to matter in a continent where many are not in much of a rush.

Bird flu: are you ready?

As well as reaching Scotland, bird flu is continuing its steady march south through Africa. On the east side of the continent it's reached Sudan and Djibouti. So, from my perspective, we've still got the buffer of Kenya before it reaches us here in Tanzania.

We do get periodic reports of hundreds of chickens being slaughtered both here on the mainland and on Zanzibar - but there haven't been any positive results yet. However maybe that says more about the ability to test in this part of the world than the spread of the disease. Still, the migratory birds have finished their travels into this region for the moment - so perhaps we're safe for another year.

The British government, being the good employer that it is, has provided us with a whole range of top quality stuff just in case:

• Uniscrub-S (5 litres chlorhexdine gluconate solution)
• Savlon hygiene handwash (gentle yet effective)
• 100 face masks (2-ply paper)
• 100 latex examination gloves (ambidextrous)
• Digital thermometer (water proof, high accuracy, big display)
• Tissue wipes (non-woven, alcohol free)

So there's no need to worry about me. Although no-one seems to have the faintest idea when or how we're supposed to use all this kit. At least I will be clean for a while.

Bomb scare excitement

As its name suggests, Umoja (Unity) House is usually a haven of calm amid the bustle of Dar city centre. It's also the place where I work - with DFID sharing the building with the British High Commission, the Dutch and German embassies and the European Commission delegation. All that changed for a couple of hours on Thursday. Here's how the local press reported it:

"A pandemonium of confusion and utter scare gripped a section of Dar es Salaam city when a bomb scare targeted Umoja House. Panic stricken workers ran helter-skelter yesterday in fear of their lives after being informed that 'dangerous articles' were found inside and outside the building. People who had come for visas were also seen running around. The British High Commission Information Officer told the press there was nothing to worry about as it was just a safety and security exercise. The hoax scare was arranged to keep the staff in the building sitting up in case such emergencies occurred. He added the exercise started when they parked a car outside the building and announced it contained a bomb. Police rushed to the scene and discharged the 'bomb'. Only then did they tell the seemingly horrified people what it was all about. Alfred Tibaigana, Commissioner of Dar es Salaam's Special Police Zone had approved the exercise, he noted."

To add to the realism, various staff "volunteers" were made to lie around the place covered in fake blood and surrounded by shattered plastic water bottles and upturned tables and chairs.

Sadly I missed the whole thing as I was next door visiting those nice people at the World Bank.