An interesting day indeed (June 20, 2015)

It's Saturday night in Tanzania...another long day of travel to get to our destination. In just a few short hours, it will be time to rise and shine and embark on a 9 hour drive for our upcoming work week in Mbinga. Today started out quite smoothly at the Nairobi airport, but things changed when we arrived at our connection in Dar es Salaam. No surprise, every country is so different in the way they operate and we anticipated some challenges so expectations were set appropriately. In the US, you get used to a certain way of things working...therefore, you can come to expect it elsewhere. However, it's always best to lower expectations so they can be easily exceeded :) Ha! Anyway, we had a connection to get to our final destination but were only checked through to our connection. Once we arrived, we had to go through customs and then check in again and go through the whole ordeal. Unfortunately, our colleague Peter ran into some difficulty with his ticket and there was no record of it in the system. Due to timing and a short connection from earlier delays, we ended up buying a one way ticket for him so we could get to Mbeya. We arrived with no other hassles - except the fact that our driver never showed up. This is a TINY airport and as soon as everyone exited from this flight, the airport literally closed down. We called our supplier to check on things and he assured us the driver would be there. Well, no driver and by now all taxis had departed. Lucky for us, the kind gentleman in charge of security at the airport was willing to drive us to town (40 minutes away) for a somewhat reasonable fee. So, here we are in Mbeya Tanzania.

The drive here was surreal to me. It was of things I've seen in the movies. And while I wasn't terribly surprised due to my extensive travels, there was still a hint of exhilaration. To see goats and cows on the side of the road chewing on lush grasses, women walking with baskets expertly balanced on their heads and children strapped in vibrant fabrics to their backs...An interesting day indeed.

I hear connectivity will be limited the next few days. These will likely be the most interesting for me in this profession of coffee and ethical sourcing. I look forward to what lies ahead and will post when able.

Until then, I listen to the lively music outside my room with locals abounding (while I scratch the heck out of my mosquito bites)... 

Happy Solstice!
Jamie