2 Days to go...

I know I said that I wouldn't be writing before I go but I think I may be addicted! I've just woken up to something in the region of a thousand text messages, all of which seemed to be saying the same thing: "Check your emails".

Having taken advice from the text message guru, I have been informed that my excessively extensive route to Tanzania has been changed. And changed to somewhat of an easier journey. I now fly from Gatwick to Dubai, and then from Dubai to Entebee, Uganda. I still have to be picked up in Uganda for the drive to Bukoba, but this seems much less complicated, and I am less likely to lose my baggage, or myself for that matter.

I'm quite happy about this revelation, in fact I may just go and celebrate with a cup of tea and a quick read of National Geographic. Does anyone else think that sounds on par with sitting on a nice African beach with white sands and water that is more blue than the average smurf? I could very well be doing that some day soon too...

3 Days to go...

So it's been a while since I provided you with information about the travels. A lot has happened in the past few days, and I have a departure date that is now set in stone.

I have been injected with some magical potion that will prevent me from catching Yellow Fever, one to stop me from getting Hepatitus A and another to boost my typhoid resistance. Having paid an extortionate fee to the NHS for the jabs, I then had to fund a small hospital to be able to pay to pick up a 3 month supply of anti-malaria tablets...and then I had to pay for the tablets themselves! Madness...the price you pay for drugs these days.

I was in London for a meeting with one of my new bosses. Sitting down for a nice meal in the Intercontinental Hotel on Park Lane, I spent most of the meeting looking for the Monopoly man. Alas he was no where to be seen. I did however see a top hat roaming the pavements...I thought that to be a bit odd.

One of my bosses is not really my boss (I have been drafted in as a consultant to look at the economic development potential, with a focus on tourism) paid for a lovely dinner and provided much more information with regards to what I will be doing, although I am unconvinced he really knows what work I'll be doing for him. Our discussion made me feel very confident about what I am to be doing...however, I now feel like I am very underprepared and I should be reading more than I am.

Hon. Kagasheki, the boss(ish), informed me that he would be providing me with a car when I reach Dar es Salaam. Noting a drop of his jaw when I mentioned that I couldn't drive (legally), he came up with an answer to that issue and it was fixed seamlessly. A driver has been volunteered to educate me with regards to controlling a motorised vehicle...I am not sure whether he knows he'll be teaching me how to drive.

Following this revelation, discussion moved on to the issue of flights. Having been asked if I would like to pay for the flights, I suggested that I would not like to pay for them all that much. You may notice that I am pluralising the word flight. I got the details of the flights through recently. I have a flight from Heathrow on wednesday at 9 in the evening. From Heathrow, I will fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I will then jump on a connecting flight from Ethiopia to Nairobi, Kenya. From Nairobi I'll get another connection to Entebbe, Uganda. I'll be met there and driven from Entebbe across the border into Bukoba, Tanzania. It's likely to take somewhere in the region of 24 hours or so to get from A-B-C-D-E. I think I am then expected to start working from Friday onwards. I can only hope that I'll have an unlimited supply of coffee or at least a chance to get some sleep. Both would be muchly appreciated.

So with all this in mind I have been running around like a mentalist to get everything sorted before departure. The shops have loved my company and now I am reasonably broke!

The Geraghty family changed the Christian calendar this year so today is technically Boxing Day. Needless to say I have been eating rubbish food and I am getting unrealistically tired and distracted by psuedo-bad television. I should be reading about development projects and taxation...predictibly I am not.

As far as I can see this will probably be my last post before I disappear off to Africa. Maybe, if you are lucky, you may get a mid-transit update whilst I am waiting for a connecting flight.

Right...toodles for now...

10 Days to go

Well here we are. This is a blog to enable two things:

1. My following in the footsteps of others and joining the blog-wagon;
2. You to keep up with my movements when I disappear off to Tanzania.

For those that know very little of what is going to be happening, I am off to Tanzania for the next 6-8 months on working basis. I'll be looking at economic development projects in a town called Bukoba on the north western shore of Lake Victoria, and I will be looking at increasing tax revenue through a university research position in Dar es Salaam.

Basically, I want to feed my own ego and I would also like to think that at least some of you would be interested to hear of the roamings and experiences that I will be having.

At the moment, as far as I know, I am going to be heading out to Tanzania on the 15th December. I have a meeting on Thursday where I will find out about the finer details and I will obviously be letting you all know. Well at least I hope so...after all I cant be held accountable for the amount of electricity hours that I will be able to make use of and I will have to look into the availability of internet access but I will post as and when I can.

As this post is only serving as an introduction to the blog-like fun I will end this post here. I imagine I will keep you informed of the comings and goings of the pre-trip, trip, and possibly post-trip details.

For now, Toodles.