Back in Diani Beach, we had realized that my video camera had ceased to function. We could record sound, but no pictures, and despite Beth’s technical assistance and my shaking and banging to try to beat the imagined broken piece into place, we could not get it to work. In Dar Es Salaam, we made it our mission to either get it fixed or somehow get another one, fearing that if we didn’t have something our big video project at the end of our trip (which many of our visitors have already participated in) might not be possible.

We toured around Dar in the morning, stopping into video stores and were happy to find good cameras but distressed to find US prices. We showed the camera to a few folks, but no one could figure it out. Instead, they sent us to another store, and then they sent us to another, until finally we found a store that took great pains to explain to us how to get to the Sony Headquarters here in Dar. They printed off maps, gave us contact names and phone numbers, scrawled addresses, and even drew out directions. We were skeptical that anyone could fix it, and even more skeptical that we could just walk into a factory and have technicians at our disposal. But it was either try or dish out $600 (and maybe shorten our trip), so we thought we’d give it a shot. (more…)

We took what was supposed to be an 8-hour bus ride across the Kenya-Tanzania border and into Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania’s capitol. But just our luck, the bus broke down in a small town with no electricity just over the border, and we were confined to sitting outside in the scorching heat of mid-day, while men scrambled to fix the bus.

Traveling with the daughter of a mechanic has proved its benefits: Beth entertained us by guessing what was wrong. The brakes were air powered, and when the brakes were applied, the normal hissing sound sputtered and the bus jerked. She surmised that one of the tubes had a hole in it, causing air to leak out and lessening the power and force of the brakes. We watched as no less than seven men toiled underneath the bus, pulling out a hose from the engine and emptying liquid from the tank. “The break fluid,” Beth stated. (more…)