And so it begins..

The rainy season that is. Everyone here seemed very worried because the dry season was lasting longer than normal. Not only does that mean that the crops will not grow, but 60% of Tanzania’s energy is hydroelectric so there were power outages for Dar es Salaam over the last week or two. The power was going off regularly around 6pm every afternoon. However, since the rains started the electricity has been on consistently.



It rained ferociously for 30 minutes, but that was enough to flood the streets in front of our hotel.



After the drains pulled all of that water away, Ruth and I were able to head back out on our walks. We have nearly everything we’ll need for our year in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park except for a CAR! We have one selected but we are waiting on our $ to be transferred from our US bank into our Tanzanian account. Ruth’s Tanzanian account I should say. It is not possible for me to have one due to totally reasonable banking bureaucracy. Why would they want my money?

I take care of my Durham Bike COOP peoples and Lesley Starke so I have procured this photo of a hand pedaled bike (photo credit: Ruth Steel). These bikes are all over the city and are being used by the MANY crippled victims of Polio. It’s incredibly sad to see so many people with wasted legs when this disease was supposedly cured a century ago.



And finally one last bike photo- for those readers considering what a post apocalyptic produce carrier might look like. This will get you from your urban homestead to the farmer’s market in classic Gilligan’s island style.