On the new, Turkish financed, road out of Bagamoya to Morogore we were flagged down twice by the police for speeding. The first post looked illegal and Eric, the driver, got away with Tsh5000 ($2,5). The second one looked more legal and we got fined Tsh30,000 ($15). We saw more posts along the way but were not stopped.
The road to Morogoro first goes through a swamp area over the Ruvu river. Here rice planting is ongoing, waiting for the rainy season to start mid march. Further up there are many stalls selling pineapples so that must be the main produce. The landscape is first flat but then became hilly. Everything covered with grass of plantation crops (sisal, pineapple, peanuts). There are trees but not dense. You still see large bags of charcoal for sale. So the tree population is still shrinking. All fields are open and farm huts and villages are scattered around. This in contrast to Brazil where all fields are fenced off and hardly a tree remained. Morogoro itself lies at the foot of some large granite outcrops. We searched the town for the(German) railway station. It is on a muddy road outside the town centre. Obviously not used very much and therefore run down. There are only 2 trains per day and there was already a queue for tickets.
From Morogoro to the administrative capital of Dodoma the road is also sealed and in some places very good and in others with infrequent potholes. Despite using his mobile now and then, the driver was able to avoid most of them. The road is extremely full with trucks. Especial petrol trucks. They must be supplying petrol to all the Tanzanian cities inland but I assume also to Burundi and Rwanda. The drive was weaving in and out of the trucks and hoping you got back in time to avoid the ongoing traffic. We reached Dodoma at around 17:00. The first stop was again the train station. Not much going on. I did recognise the scene. Last time there were several steam trains. Opposite the station is the New Dodoma Hotel. It is a refurbished version of the colonial hotel which I have stayed several times in 1977/78. I am not on an expense account this time around, so I found a cheaper place next to a bar with load music and a football match on TV. I hope they turn down the music later. The bar did serve a great rice with fish meal. It was so dark that you were not sure what you put in your mouth. I managed not to swallow any bones. Wi-Fi points are mostly not available in the type of hotels I am staying in The manager of the bar gave me access to the internet via his phone. For some reason my apple phone does not connect to my computer.
Rudy Welling's Travels 