It was a tough decision, but luckily it wasn't ours to make. Sip mojitos poolside at the five star Serena Hotel in Dar or head back to riot stricken Mtwara? To be honest, I prefer the slow pace, freedom and lack of traffic of Mtwara. Anywhere you should wish to go in hectic, overcrowded Dar, you pretty much have to write off an hour or three for traffic, and walking isn't overly recommended in most quarters, more due to fumes than crime, although that is a serious risk. One of the pilot's German girlfriend had her suitcase stolen as she unloaded it from a taxi, for just as the taxi driver withdrew it from the boot, a guy on the back of a motorcycle swooped in and her luggage was forever lost to the hustle and bustle of the great city of Dar. Even after the riots in Mtwara, one can head off on foot in any direction the wind blows and have a fine peaceful afternoon and some good exercise, not too mention the friendly greetings from the locals, and the drive to work, when unencumbered by rioters and burning roadblocks, is relatively stress free. But in the end, it came down to the wishes of the customer and the need to get to our helicopters and get the crews too and from the rigs, so with reassurances that the military had everything under control, that we could all get safely to and from work, we loaded up the birds again and headed home.
The riots were serious. A pregnant lady was killed by police, and that made the BBC World News, and the government has stationed military patrols throughout the area to keep the peace for the next six months at least, tanks included I'm told. One of our pilots nearly had a nervous breakdown, which we tried to take seriously, but we were all having so much fun. While serious, from our jaded perspective, it was all a nice distraction and abit of entertainment. Not my first riot and probably not my last....
No comments:
Post a Comment