I have always thought of the good wish ‘Safe journey’, ‘Mwende bwino’ in Zambia and ‘Safari Njema’ in Tanzania, as an excess of courtesy or something said for habit, which makes no difference , in the past few days I am changing my mind …
If the buses do not take this road from Iringa to Dodoma and pass through Morogoro instead, making it longer by 232 km, there must be a reason! Today I wanted to reach Dodoma, so very early wake up alarm breakfast of oat biscuits and an omelet of four eggs and vegetables and go! Of the four main roads going to Dodoma, three are gravel, I do not know which other capital in the world is in this same situation.
I thought of taking the first stone on the head from an Ethiopian child, instead, ready go and a Toyota Hilux who overtook me at a crazy speed, made some stones take off and one of them landed on my helmet, no consequences for me, the helmet I still have to check it.
It is winter, but today from midday to three it was terribly hot, I drank seven liters of water and a couple I poured over my head. I have never seen so many baobabs all together, in the valleys I crossed there were of all ages and dimensions. Many are young, nature’s answer to all those uprooted to build the road. 
133 kilometers of gravel orgy with the prevalence of red and white sand, on the latter I make a huge effort to push my bamboo bike, moreover for long stretches the ‘cemented waves’ put a serious strain both on the structure of the bike, panniers included, and myself mainly on a downhill. I have a pair bike gloves which I have yet to wear, so two blisters have come out on the palms of my hands. The bike and I have literally been covered by sand, at a certain point I thought I was not going to make it to Dodoma today, then the road got a bit better, the heat went down and I managed to cycle well, and when I could take advantage of the good gravel road the Chinese are building at a fast pace, I felt the need for those very long riding stick prosthesis used at the dawn of triathlon.
For long stretches I did not meet anybody, any vehicle not even animals although there were some acacias perfect for giraffes, towards the end I met some motorized vehicles and also some very few buses heading towards Iringa. They are terminal buses, born before me, which can die together with their passengers from a moment to another, loaded so much to seem in the shape of a square, when they pass close to me I am scared something is going to drop on my head.
At 25 km from arrival a large group of youngsters and children run after me dancing and singing with an enthusiasm never seen up to now in Tanzania, this together with a phone call from Chaniana in Zambia where the Never Give Up athletes were encouraging me in chorus, gave me the drive to finish the stage with a bang.
It has been a very hard and encouraging stage, tomorrow gravel is waiting for me again hopefully a bit better.
I have a doubt could it be that the Chinese are putting a spoke in my wheel because I did not go to Beijing by bicycle?
Mtera Dam Mtera Dam S 7° 13.66’ E 35°98.77’ – Dodoma S 6° 17.30’ E 35° 74.19’
136 km