And here we go....

We dutifully made our way into the airport at the crack of dawn, the light still soft and warm and the air cool, with a few essentials in hand in case things kicked off and we elected to bug out to Dar es Salaam.  The mood was jovial as the rumour was that the gas project announcement would be further delayed.  Nobody was looking forward to an extended period of keeping one's bug-out bag fully loaded and ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble, not to mention no mountain biking, long walks or beach time for days.  It was almost a relief when we got word that the announcement was imminent.  The relief was short lived however, as the plan then changed to get everyone back to the hotel in the centre of town.  As we drove, quite madly in my opinion, we ran into a mob of young men waving for us to stop and pull over.  They were blocking the road but not yet angry enough to stand their ground when it became apparent our driver wasn't stopping.  We passed more groups of those bound for ill intent, their ire not yet risen, as they sat in the shade of the trees, waiting.  You could feel the trouble brewing.  We arrived back at the hotel just in time for the announcement, the worst outcome; the gas project would not be in the region, and within moments, the gun fire began amid explosions and plumes of black smoke rising from the market area, and again just up the road at the police station, until billows of black smoke cropped up from all around.  Sirens wailed tainted with sounds of sporadic gunfire and pops from launched tear gas canisters, interspersed with short staccato bursts of AK47s.  I still hear booms and pops and sirens as I write, and there's no chance of getting back to the airport, back to our helicopters, our ticket out of here, as all the roads are now blocked.  Going to be a long day at our hotel.  I really wanted to go to the beach today.