UNDER THE EDGE INCORPORATING THE PARISH MAGAZINE GREAT LONGSTONE, LITTLE LONGSTONE, ROWLAND, HASSOP, MONSAL HEAD, WARDLOW www.undertheedge.net No. 256 May 2020 ISSN 1466-8211 Travelling to Africa in these Strange Times about a dairy farm in East Africa that we visit regularly to see our daughterSeveral months and grandchildren ago I promised in theirthe Editor Easter I wouldholidays. write Times a short and articleglobal circumstances change, so I felt it more appropriate to describe events andWe actions decided happening to make thein connection trip despite with all thatthe COVID-19was going outbreakon in Europe, here in Tanzania, as I become the UTE African Reporter. Asia and North America but was yet to make any mark in Central and inEastern the morning. Africa. WeManchester self-isolated airport at home was not for asover busy a week as usual before since leaving, many to ensure we were virus free. Our first flight was to Amsterdam very early mustflights apologise were cancelled, for this but generic our check-in assumption queue as was they as were long mostly as normal dressed with insignificant all in one numbers plastic suits, of Chinese, face masks, presumably goggles makingand hats! their Bizarre way andhome. not I a little scary but we kept our distance and were armed with surgical gloves, alcohol wipes and hand sanitisers. Security and boarding were no different to previous years and the plane was packed. No medical checks! I was sitting next to one of the ‘protected’ who in excellent English offered both of us fresh face masks and demonstrated how to fit them accurately. shut.At Amsterdam Touristy shops we went were through open but to wethe keptmain apart hall to as find much our asgate possible, for the Off to milking at Ndoto Farm onward flight. Like Manchester, it was not that busy and all food shops regularly washing, sanitising and using gloves. Still no medical checks. Our flight to Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania only had 55 passengers in a 350 seat plane! Hardly worth running but according to the cabin crew the return flight was full of those wishing to get back home, and I’ll wager, no discounted tickets. We spread ourselves out and enjoyed a trouble free flight over Northern Italy knowing theirs was not a pleasant time. It crewwas then to complete I felt some two guilt forms. and We apprehension recognised atone the as trip ahead and the distinct possibility that our return flight might not thefly. Ourstandard apprehension immigration increased form we when could asked use to obtainby the a longer visa than we had purchased online. The ofother our was movements a hugely detailedin the country, medical withquestionnaire multiple contactasking for details flight so and we couldseat numbers be traced and should exact a nearbydetails passenger prove infected. Clearly the Tanzanian authorities were taking COVID-19 very seriously, with an efficiency not usual in that part of the world - far more so than our experience in Europe. immediatelyOn landing, askedwe and to half use the a sanitiser, passengers then disembarked organised (the rest going on to Dar es (Continued Salaam) onand page were 2) Tanzanian tractor on its ‘starter’ hill! into a queue two metres apart.Coronavirus lockdown - Under The Edge delivery To minimise the risk of spreading the virus, UTE will no longer be delivered to every household during the lockdown. www.undertheedge.net by clicking on Current Edition. • Nick Casey has very kindly offered to include a copy of UTE for everyone on his paper delivery round. • Otherwise,Please youlet your can readneighbours the all-colour who may UTE not online have at a paper delivered know of these new arrangements. • If you have no (or limited) internet access, you can collect a copy of UTE from the Village Shop. (Continued from front page) health forms double checked again,There very were thoroughly. more officials Then than on passengers,to visa application all wearing and immigration,gloves and masks. all very This correct in a country and in starkwith at contrast the time to only Europe. three confirmed cases and no deaths! We were temperature checked and then questioned, with our since the schools were still open, we arranged to be collected by a hotel car and stayed the night in an isolated cottage in Originally our daughter was to greet us and take us to her house near where she teaches, but as we were viewed as a risk grandchildren south to the farm, with our daughter staying at school to set up distance learning for all pupils at home. the grounds. Our son-in-law collected us the next morning, as by then all schools had been closed, and drove us and our Our journey was far from uneventful. We started before dawn as it would take over twelve hours to complete, the roads being in a very poor state following torrential rains in previous months. We could average only 35mph, partly to avoid the jagged potholes and partly as every village had a speed limit of 50kph, almost always with a speed trap. We were caught once for speeding on this trip but as our son-in-law is fluent in Swahili we got off with caution. This still requires payment but ‘no receipt’. We were also stopped and accused of overtaking when there was a solid white line. We knew we had not and so ensued a five minute argument, as the police Sargent could not find a photo from his informant’s camera. This was clearly a ‘try on’ to extract a bribe, and eventually we just drove off! The final 20 miles of our journey to the farm was over a dirt road, mostly single track, on which continual work was being testingcarried merelyout. The a dreamsloped as parts no vehicle, were just including covered our in slimyown, would mud, while pass and the theflat countryparts collected would grind water to and a halt. therefore The main became fault mud pools. Bad enough in daylight - but in the dark? The standard of vehicle maintenance in East Africa is woeful and MOT a motor cycle to an oil tanker, all of whom are in the middle of the road as there is no edge. The one advantage of night seems to be headlights - indeed any sort of light would be a bonus! You have to drive on full beam to pick out anything from backdriving anyway! is that mostWe eventually consider itmade too dangerous it without andmishap, so don’t! to an If empty you do farm get forced house, into where the sidewe lit culvert the wood there’s burning nobody stove to help, and as the vehicle that forced you off will be long gone, without a care for those in their wake. Without mirrors, they can’t look after emptying the car (it was raining by this time) managed to cook supper. At least the electricity was functioning for tea! A few days later our daughter made the same journey with a fellow teacher and two girls. Having been warned, she started even earlier, but a leaking radiator meant several stops to top up and to find a garage with some Radweld to fix it. Then, in the dark, with only five miles to go, they met an obstinate truck whose occupants seemed incapable, or too scared, of reversing ten yards to allow her to pass. After a ‘discussion’, a hazardous pass was attempted with inevitable consequences. Fortunately, we were tracking them on our phone and could see they had not moved for 20 minutes. We phoned them and our son-in-law set out with tractor and chain. We greeted rescued and rescuer with a hot but somewhat overdone supper. Life now continues on the dairy farm, which is so remote that isolation is not an option, but neither is a visit to the nearest town, Iringa, back down the impassable road. In any event shopping in a large town is perhaps not wise. Most expats have returned or been recalled home, particularly charity and NGO staff, so a white face in the crowd is a rarity. COVID-19 is seen by locals as a European disease, potentially imported by us. Though not yet widespread (13 cases and no deaths as of 26th March), they are undoubtedly right, which makes one a little uncomfortable. In the other direction, the ‘county town’ of Kilolo is nearest for shopping, though of a poor standard, as all goods have to arrive up the mud road. The ‘county authority’ are not happy about the state of this road as the one to the farm is good and even part tarmac! A ten mile trip in that direction takes only 15 minutes but across the border to Iringa it is appalling. Iringa does not see why they should spend money on a road that does not directly benefit them, apart from the timber trade. Kilolo has a half decent bank with two ATMs, a local authority office, local road and electricity HQ’s, and a petrol station (often without fuel). There are up to 25 tiny shops of all varieties but whose stock is limited to the very basic. We will never starve (milk and meat are all ‘in house’) and basic food is available, though not as fresh as you might like due to the road. But no tonic water (we stick to a local beer) or strawberry jam (a local concoction has to suffice). Tinned goods are plentiful (no Heinz Baked Beans though), but you might have to shop around, as are basic plumbing bits, toilet seats outsidefencing wire,on a stool, hinges with and a so bowl on.