Bracelet capitalism and cultural appropriation: How Arusha lost its innocence

An aerial view lof Arusha city. [Courtesy, Wikipedia]

I was in Arusha this week, after some 16 years.

My memory of the township remains hazy - we had been on assignment, by road, with colleagues - and our border crossing was prologued by a brawl because our designated driver couldn't leave the pub and the immigration office was minutes away from closing.

This backstory, hopefully, will end up in a memoir one day to explain how news is gathered and the anxieties of the reporter being part of the news. That very year, I'd be deployed to Darfur where I ran out of money, a colleague was taken ill and the military ordered the airport shut.