Arusha to Dar bus

I choose Dar Express at 25,000 tsh.
Woke plenty early and then Nangs drove me down.
left station at 5.58am. Nangs typically upset that I am leaving her for so long. I wish she would come with. Let it begin!
Gps shows max speed 127kmph. Dar express livin up to it's name.
Maji ya chai 6.26 am. Despite voracious braking action the moving average is 65kmph - the beskirted lady conductor steadfast despite deceleration forces that would make an astronaught grimace..
Dawn fights with the clouds and ahead thick banks of rain make the sky and earth one. Kilimanjaro certainly not visible and the tanzanite yielding blue mountains to the south are being quickly eaten by the approaching rain clouds as we hurtle east.
Plains nr KIA airport a dustbowl. Reminder that drought is coming. 2009 will be a drought year in so many ways..
7.09am Moshi town. Movin avr 75kmph. 879m asl.
Once we turn down south there is cloud cover but no recent signs of rain. The soil turns the relatively young reds and rich browns to sandy soils, their light colour indicative of their high silica content. The Pares are to the left and to our right the Pangani fault and valley are clearly visible. A future mountain bike reccy is a must. The Pangani valley looks stunning.
The railway and road are partners for a long way side by side for mile upon mile. Why is it not used more? I'll ask in dar at the station.
144km in, the sisal plantations start. The rows provide a geometric backdrop and have been farmed here for around 80 years.
Planted for their fibres, these agaves produce a dramatic flowering stem at the end of their lives, and that stem is also used extensively for roofing poles and even fencing. sisal has always been subject the world demand which has waned due to our every growing reliance on petroleum products - plastics and synthetic fibres. But - consumer demand is fickle. Recent years have seen an upturn in demand for natural fibres but I wonder if a more stable use would make a difference? Can this agave also be used to make a mighty beverage?? My friends from the states tell me that tequila is made from the fermenting of the core of an agave species- tis high time the 'Pangani' elixior is born!
Same at 08h27. 182km, 867 masl.
At Korogwe we stopped for a toilet and food session (10.15am) where buddy Peter 'cobra' did the honorable thing and bought some tins of Tusker - with over 16 Monde Selection Gold Medals it's hard too go wrong. Well, until about the 5th one and then good luck.
Back on the road the coconut palms became more prolific - littering the undulating hills were plentiful mango and groundnut trees (needs reference check). All of these trees certainly not locals (indigenous) but absolutely litering this route, hardly suprising these productive fruits and nuts making their way into the interior following trading routes that have been established for millenia. The groundnut more recent though from failed socialist schemes in recent Tanzanian history.
The bus reaches Chalinze - 536 km from Arusha and now very humid. 12h46 and about another hour to dar.
636 kms and we are in the bus station! It was around 2.30pm and time to get to the train station to buy the ticket to Kigoma. The buses are marked clearly and so I took the bus to 'posta' in the town centre.. But something happened on the way..