This was a few weeks ago, but I thought I'd share because it was a fun little adventure.
To drive from our house to the nearest "town" is about 20-30 minutes over 8 kilometers of dirt roads. When you get to a paved road, you've reached "town." As rainy season continued over the last 2 months, we got to experience the ever changing landscape of the dirt roads that we have to take to get to town.
There was one particular spot that we noticed had been flooding pretty significantly (our Texas friends can relate right now) because the surrounding drainage was insufficient. The last time we drove through the high water, I wish I had my video camera on because it was a lot of water. Now, don't fear because it wasn't high water all the way across the road. The ditches on each side were full and the water was extending into the road but not quite all the way across. The beast (our car) is so wide with huge tires that when we drove through it, the water literally came up over the car.
Someone, Uganda Road Authority or local people who were fed up, who knows, decided to fix the problem. They started by putting extra dirt across the road. That only lasted about 2 days. Then they came and added drainage culverts and covered them with A LOT of dirt; however, they didn't dig down to put the culverts under ground. They just made a little ditch for them. So, here's what happened the following day.
This truck was trying to go over and got too close to the edge. It remained like this for several days.
One morning, we left for the city and they had turned the truck upright and moved it to the side. We were gone for several hours. Our last stop was to get eggs in Kapeeka, then we headed home.
As we reached this point, we found that our passage was completely blocked.
This large pile of loose dirt had been dumped in the center of the road and the sides were being dug out to make bigger ditches. This pile is way bigger than it looks. Perhaps if you consider the height of the pile compared to the man standing next to it, you can imagine the true size. Also, notice it isn't very wide.
At first, they told us to turn around because we couldn't pass. We called him over and explained that this dirt road is the only passage way to our home, where are children were. We explained that we could be patient but that we had to pass through. So, they suddenly were very quick in their job. The man on top started to shovel some dirt off the pile, basically spreading the pile out a little bit.
Now, you recall that the Beast is quite powerful, so once he flattened out the top a little bit, he climbed down and they moved out of the way. What you can't see is that a good group of people had gathered around because several boda drivers wanted to pass and other local folks were just watching. An older man that was to the side out of the picture was part of the work team and he had dealt with the Beast before when the road was flooded. That time the men had scooted far off to the side to avoid flying water, we put the beast in 4-wheel drive and went right through. He remembered.
So, we did the same this time. The men scooted over and the Beast charged the mound. Now, just as we started to ascend the mound, I had a sudden flash of memory. That truck that had sat on it's side for days came into my mind. I wished I had put my video camera on, but my hands were fully occupied. I was holding 2 trays of raw eggs (that's 60 eggs sitting on a plastic tray with no lid). As the front end of the Beast lurched upward, I remembered another detail. I wasn't wearing a seat belt. I pretty much never wear it in the village because it's very uncomfortable (it locks up frequently) and there is normally nothing to really worry about (few other cars and a slow speed due to the bumps). I didn't fear getting stuck because the Beast is powerful, but I did fear the loose dirt crumbling under her weight and us going off the side of that narrow mound.
It happened very quickly. The Beast handled that mound like it was nothing and everyone watching got a good burst of adrenaline and a good laugh. The eggs all remained in place. We continued on our way home. Now, everyday we travel down the road and there is no sign of this short lived excitement. That road repair actually worked.
To drive from our house to the nearest "town" is about 20-30 minutes over 8 kilometers of dirt roads. When you get to a paved road, you've reached "town." As rainy season continued over the last 2 months, we got to experience the ever changing landscape of the dirt roads that we have to take to get to town.
There was one particular spot that we noticed had been flooding pretty significantly (our Texas friends can relate right now) because the surrounding drainage was insufficient. The last time we drove through the high water, I wish I had my video camera on because it was a lot of water. Now, don't fear because it wasn't high water all the way across the road. The ditches on each side were full and the water was extending into the road but not quite all the way across. The beast (our car) is so wide with huge tires that when we drove through it, the water literally came up over the car.
Someone, Uganda Road Authority or local people who were fed up, who knows, decided to fix the problem. They started by putting extra dirt across the road. That only lasted about 2 days. Then they came and added drainage culverts and covered them with A LOT of dirt; however, they didn't dig down to put the culverts under ground. They just made a little ditch for them. So, here's what happened the following day.
This truck was trying to go over and got too close to the edge. It remained like this for several days.
One morning, we left for the city and they had turned the truck upright and moved it to the side. We were gone for several hours. Our last stop was to get eggs in Kapeeka, then we headed home.
As we reached this point, we found that our passage was completely blocked.
At first, they told us to turn around because we couldn't pass. We called him over and explained that this dirt road is the only passage way to our home, where are children were. We explained that we could be patient but that we had to pass through. So, they suddenly were very quick in their job. The man on top started to shovel some dirt off the pile, basically spreading the pile out a little bit.
Now, you recall that the Beast is quite powerful, so once he flattened out the top a little bit, he climbed down and they moved out of the way. What you can't see is that a good group of people had gathered around because several boda drivers wanted to pass and other local folks were just watching. An older man that was to the side out of the picture was part of the work team and he had dealt with the Beast before when the road was flooded. That time the men had scooted far off to the side to avoid flying water, we put the beast in 4-wheel drive and went right through. He remembered.
So, we did the same this time. The men scooted over and the Beast charged the mound. Now, just as we started to ascend the mound, I had a sudden flash of memory. That truck that had sat on it's side for days came into my mind. I wished I had put my video camera on, but my hands were fully occupied. I was holding 2 trays of raw eggs (that's 60 eggs sitting on a plastic tray with no lid). As the front end of the Beast lurched upward, I remembered another detail. I wasn't wearing a seat belt. I pretty much never wear it in the village because it's very uncomfortable (it locks up frequently) and there is normally nothing to really worry about (few other cars and a slow speed due to the bumps). I didn't fear getting stuck because the Beast is powerful, but I did fear the loose dirt crumbling under her weight and us going off the side of that narrow mound.
It happened very quickly. The Beast handled that mound like it was nothing and everyone watching got a good burst of adrenaline and a good laugh. The eggs all remained in place. We continued on our way home. Now, everyday we travel down the road and there is no sign of this short lived excitement. That road repair actually worked.
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