Deep Heat

A satisfying day, all told, with random moments.

I made a presentation on my focal landscape (the Ruvuma in southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique) via Zoom to a freshwater workshop in Entebbe, Uganda, which I ultimately couldn’t join in person due to timing. I haven’t yet been to most parts of said landscape, but I cobbled it together and it went reasonably well.

The director of our office sadly lost his father this week, so people are rallying around to cover his duties and send their condolences. One of the long-serving drivers had been appointed to ferry me to and from the hotel today, despite my insistence that making my own way was more than feasible. I was mortified when he turned up at the end of the work day to take me back to the hotel, having interrupted his time at the director’s family home.

As family is a big theme of the office this week, he asked me about mine.
‘You have child?’
‘No I don’t.’
‘Oh. Sorry.’

I suspect he suspects I have fertility challenges, and that he generally pities my childless status. I am content with the situation.

We moved on from that exchange by buying a pot of delicious jackfruit from a vendor at the side of the road. This will become a Dar fave. Keeping on the food theme, after watching the sunset again at Slipway, I found a simple restaurant which served spiced paneer and ‘chipsi masala’, which was as tasty, potato-ey and spicy as it sounds. Hurrah to Tanzanian food and its Indian influences. I also seem to be drinking gallons of the refreshing Stoney Tangawizi ginger beer drink common in East Africa.

A final conundrum of today is whether it’s possible to develop an addiction to Deep Heat. Who can deny the smell and sensation create a heady intoxicating mix. I’m applying it regularly to my neck but I suspect I’ll be inclined to long after the soreness has subsided. Coincidentally, the name Deep Heat could also apply to the climate and humidity of Dar es Salaam.