We bad farewell to Clive & Ann who were headed for Dar Es Salaam to visit Zanzibar, we had decided to skip on the coastal area as the hot/humid season was on its way and that's something that we're not keen on, so our plan was to head for higher ground (again) by driving north via Dodoma. This is a "route less travelled" - at least by tourists as most people tend to automatically head for the coast. The road to Dodoma is good, but a long uphill slog, a lot of it through dry lands (we started calling them "badlands"), so not very scenic. Around Morogoro there are quite a few Maasai around, many wearing their traditional clothes, a lot herding cattle, most with mobile phones, some with motorcycles, some playing pool(!). A little way out of town we stopped for a "natural break", while Sue was in the back a motorcycle ridden by a Maasai stopped, turned round and came to the truck....he just wanted a chat, turns out that his father owns a lot of the land around, has 1000 head of cattle, the motorcycle is the family transport and he was "just out for a spin" on it - not too unlike a lot of people in Europe somehow. This was one of those really pleasant interludes that makes you reflect on the differences (or rather lack of real differences) between people.
A lot of the small towns en-route were pretty unpleasant looking, so we didn't feel like stopping, however we did find a sand road where we could pull off for lunch (for once!). Dodoma was busy (it's the administrative capital, so lots of expensive cars around) - we'd been recommended to try the New Dodoma Hotel in the town centre, so headed there. Its carpark and the entire road outside were packed with Toyota Landcruisers - most looking brand new, many with the big "whip aerials" that are an immediate signal that they're operated either by the UN or an NGO - there was a conference in town and the charities had arrived in force.....We've heard from many locals what they think about how charities spend the money that has been entrusted to them - this sort of underlined what had been said - it was clear that there was "a lot of money" at this conference - just how was it being spent?! Obviously the hotel was full, but the receptionist suggested we try the "African Dreams Hotel" and gave what appeared to be quite comprehensive instructions as to how to find it - off we went - into an area of pretty nice looking housing until we got to a junction that wasn't in his instructions (or at least not in our memories of his instructions) - Sue hopped out and asked a couple of ladies who directed us left - then another unrecognised junction, we went round in a circle, nothing, so Sue went to a bar to get more help - finally we found it (we were breaking new ground as far as the GPS was concerned). The hotel seemed pretty new, modern by African standards, spacious, clean and at £16 for a room with a/c - affordable. When they showed us how we could bring the truck round the back into a parking spot near the room, we decided to stay in the hotel (they were willing to let us camp in their grounds for free - but at that price and with the heat building there was no argument). We had dinner in their restaurant - this however was overpriced for the stringy, chewy fried chicken with good chips, greens and onions washed down with a beer.
A lot of the small towns en-route were pretty unpleasant looking, so we didn't feel like stopping, however we did find a sand road where we could pull off for lunch (for once!). Dodoma was busy (it's the administrative capital, so lots of expensive cars around) - we'd been recommended to try the New Dodoma Hotel in the town centre, so headed there. Its carpark and the entire road outside were packed with Toyota Landcruisers - most looking brand new, many with the big "whip aerials" that are an immediate signal that they're operated either by the UN or an NGO - there was a conference in town and the charities had arrived in force.....We've heard from many locals what they think about how charities spend the money that has been entrusted to them - this sort of underlined what had been said - it was clear that there was "a lot of money" at this conference - just how was it being spent?! Obviously the hotel was full, but the receptionist suggested we try the "African Dreams Hotel" and gave what appeared to be quite comprehensive instructions as to how to find it - off we went - into an area of pretty nice looking housing until we got to a junction that wasn't in his instructions (or at least not in our memories of his instructions) - Sue hopped out and asked a couple of ladies who directed us left - then another unrecognised junction, we went round in a circle, nothing, so Sue went to a bar to get more help - finally we found it (we were breaking new ground as far as the GPS was concerned). The hotel seemed pretty new, modern by African standards, spacious, clean and at £16 for a room with a/c - affordable. When they showed us how we could bring the truck round the back into a parking spot near the room, we decided to stay in the hotel (they were willing to let us camp in their grounds for free - but at that price and with the heat building there was no argument). We had dinner in their restaurant - this however was overpriced for the stringy, chewy fried chicken with good chips, greens and onions washed down with a beer.