Saturday morning in Dar (Dar Es Salaam), time to get out of bed and complete the first service day on the bikes. The lights go out and ceiling fan stops, next the sound of a generator bursts into life. I think to myself this is obviously well rehearsed, the lights come back on but the ceiling fan remains off. The hotel is obviously well configured for a generator connected supply. On the balcony I note the further hum of more generators starting up around the local area. This has obviously happened before.
A further investigation shows that most hotels and local retailers are all equipped with permanent standby generators. They all conduct business as usual and appear to function well. I hear one unassuming tourist say “my water is cold” the answer is “of course it’s cold…. DAR Power Is Out”
Speaking with one of the locals they inform me that they have had a very dry winter and the local hydro lakes are low. (I wonder where I have heard that before) Furthermore the local government has been slow in fast-tracking a new thermal station on the outskirts of Dar Es Salaam. The result being rolling power outages to the city. (Auckland De ja vu)
12 hours go by, the city functions just fine. Suddenly there is a click and a change-over switch activates the hum of diesel generators drop off and the ceiling fans, hot water and aircon’s start to function again.
DAR Power is back on.
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