Driving on slick tarmac across a vast expanse of wetland in Dar es Salaam, the scale of destruction from surging seawater is vividly clear.
An abandoned home with French-styled furniture sinks in water infested with green algae. An old Mercedes stands immobile in knee-deep water. A maze of abandoned apartments with a tiled red roof is engulfed with sea marshes.
As the afternoon sun dazzles Ununio beach, the Indian Ocean is moving inland in a less obvious but more destructive way.
Across the sandy beach, rising tides increasingly threaten posh homes and businesses, some of which are already swallowed in the wetland.
Driven by the intense shift of climate coupled with powerful storms, the sea level in the smoke-belching city is rising rapidly, creating powdery patches that destroy buildings and kill natural vegetation.
Adding to the peril, dry spells experienced in Dar es Salaam have reduced the natural ability of most rivers to replenish groundwater aquifers from creeping salty water.