the roads.....oh my the roads.

First......this is our "new" car......an old Toyota from Japan......A 1999 Carina.   Yes they drive on the wrong side of the road here as well.  $7000.

 We bought the car just by sight and it took two weeks at least to process the paperwork.  It was picked up on a Friday night and we were back at the lot with the engine light on the next morning.  After an hour we were told to go across the street to get an oil change as the car has been sitting for months.  SO.... off to the garage.  We were told at the lot the oil change would cost 65,000 shillings.  We were quoted 85,000 based on skin color.  After the oil change we drove away and the light came back on. Back to the lot. After another hour we were told that we need to drive to a guy that has a computer diagnostic machine.  There were four of us in the car which made it heavy (the two of us, the supervisor from the lot and a local worker).  The dirty roads through the back streets were bumpy and we kept bottoming out.  Finally, we parked in front of a daycare place and some guy shows up with the computer. After they figured out what the problem was we went back and they finally turned off the engine light.  It has been working OK now.


This is indicative of the training the drivers get here. Can they see out the back window? No one pays attention to learner drivers as they just fly by them or lay on their horn.  I wonder how many drivers actually have a license.

Every since the attack on me on my street I now take a tuk tuk driver even to go three blocks.  A car drove behind me quietly and grabbed my tablet case. I didn't let go and I got dragged a bit until they let go.  Two visits to the clinic and I know to be even more careful and I do not take a backpack anymore. Luckily I didn't have one on this particular day at 5pm. A lady was seriously injured when someone grabbed her backpack and she couldn't get out of it. She was dragged for some time.
I look short,  heavy and distorted but here is the damaged body.  We went to the clinic at the International school close to the apartment right before they closed at 6pm.  The receptionist told us to please come earlier next time.....awwwwww I will tell the next attacker to make sure it is before 4pm so the clinic can help me.....no clue.   A couple of New Yorkers told us to use the Doctors at Msasani, where they seem to be better. The nurses were friendly but it was really busy both times at the International School Clinic.

The above marking on the wall is to identify the house. It could be a nice house or a run down one on a big piece of land judging by the walls.  Road signs are sparse even on main roads.
This is the A7 road in Dar. One of approximately 3 major roads in and out of the city. Yes, there are road improvements going on but since there are no police to control the traffic, it is mayhem.  The pictures are poor quality with my phone but this isn't the place to take out the professional camera and ask for people to pose.

The above road is the one we took out of Dar to the National Park.  We met a group of people (2 Swiss, 1 American) at the safari camp.  They work for a company that provides fertilizer, seeds and other startup materials to farmers to grow tobacco.  The company then buys the product back to process it.  They said their return rate was around 96%.  This is remarkable as many people will sell off anything they can get their hands on as they are living in the present only.  Anyway, our 7+ hour journey took them about a half an hour as they went by private jet.  One of the men was telling us stories how he refuses to drive the road anymore due to a few times he witnessed people taking items off of dead bodies along the road.  He also mentioned that criminals will purposely crash into the front of the car to disable it. Some will work as two cars and corner you in.  There is no where to go as it is ditches and soft ground on the sides.  Oh, and medical attention isn't coming either.........We met up with them for dinner two days later and they said the dirt runway was so bad they almost had to drive as well.  Luckily, we are all safe.

This is a street on the peninsula where we were stuck in traffic.  The right side of the pictures shows a side street that is unpaved and the reason most people have SUVs or    Land Rovers.