Anyone that has worked with me knows that, for reasons unbeknown to me, I go through trousers like hot dinners. (‘Work’ trousers tend to have the highest failure rate.) My previous travel trousers had already been crotch re-stitched three times, so before coming to east/southern Africa I decided to buy a couple of high-quality replacement pairs to take me through the sub-continent. To my horror, the thread of the crotch on one of them has started to unpick itself and so I had to move swiftly and get a local street tailor to fix it before I got arrested for public indecency (again).

In Moshi, there are street tailors everywhere you look; whilst people slum around in off-the-peg clothes for everyday life, it’s traditional in Tanzania to have something hand-made using a unique fabric for special occasions, church days and social gatherings.

Of course, this tailor thought it was hilarious that a mzungu’s hi-tech travel trousers were coming apart at the seams. She did a fine job of re-stitching the critical parts and I can continue to do star-jumps without the fear of another wardrobe malfunction!