Singida

I've been waiting for it to happen. The Landy has covered 56,000 km on the trip so far and no puncture. Until today. We'd been bouncing up and down a dirt road for hours alongside which were various road improvement efforts. About 20km from the turn onto the main road on to Kigali the rear left tyre blew, so we stopped, put out the warning triangles and proceeded to get out the jack etc. The whole village came out to see what was going on, then pulled up a seat in the dust by the side of the road to watch the show, with commentary we couldnt understand and lots of laughter.

Once we got the wheel off it was apparant the tyre had been slit on the inside. I went walking down the road to see what could have slit it as Duncan continued fitting the spare with the help of all the men in the village. I saw some bits of shock absorber and thought, well we're not the only ones who've had a problem on this bit of road. Oh, wait. Duncan now has the spare wheel on and notices the shock absorber is missing... it seems the shock absorber sheared off and slit the inside wall of the tyre before exiting through the other wall of the tyre and landing in the red dust on the side of the road. Pity its not a simple puncture - the tyre was new in Namibia.

The speed Duncan takes judder bars (of which there are thousands in Tanzania) and potholed/corrugated/rough surface/livestock infested/heavily pedestrianed roads is a source of contention between the two of us. I think he's a madman and should slow down, he thinks I'm overcautious and should stop asking him to slow down. I'm pleased to say he drove the remaining rough road to the turnoff at a speed that pleased the both of us. I hope he'll keep it a bit toned down in the future.

Tonight we're staying at the Aqua Vita resort in Singida. The GPS suggested they offered camping but they werent really into that idea when we enquired, however the cost of a clean double room with private bathroom, mosquito net and cable TV for the night was the same as the cost of last nights camping and included breakfast, so we took a room. Dinner was equally good value. Duncan ordered moussaka which took a forever but was a gargantuan size, if interestingly interpreted. I ordered the only non meat option on the menu (the fish was unavailable), the local delicacy Chips Omelette which was exactly what it says on the tin. While we waited we were served pea soup and peanuts at no charge. I went out to the Landy to get the malaria pills to take with dinner to discover one of the staff washing the Landy. 'It is very dirty' he said. True enough. By the time we finished dinner the Landy was unrecognisably clean and again, no charge.