Slip sliding down the roads.................

We left last Wed. to take the RP visiting team to Kampala for their flight out. We started out at 7 AM, and of course it had rained the night before in the middle of the night, so every thing was very muddy.

Our first thought was if we would even be able to make it down to the end of the long drive way!!! When it rains the culvert is flooded and it is breaking apart and it is a major feat to be able to get over it with out hurting the vehicles!!! And the water is moving farther and farther up the road with each rain and flood. Soon the church will be flooded!!! But we made it across the culvert and on to the very slick part of the road!!! Just a lite shower will make his part of the road very slippery, and endanger the health of the fence that is on both sides of the road. We had a few close calls with the fence, but would have had to take out some of the well wishers out first in order to get to the fences!!!!! (there is very little comprehension about the fact that if you are standing along side the road and the car slides in your direction that it just might hit you if you don't move out of the way!!!!)

So it was now onto the main road and more slip-sliding fun!!!! The road was muddy, but not too bad until we hit the spot several miles away that had the potholes. We had no trouble driving down into or out of those deep pot holes. I was following Craig, and from time to time I would just about lose sight of his vehicle in the pothole!!!!! And occasionally the muddy water came up onto the hood of the car and got the windshield very dirty!!!!! PTL for four-wheel drive!!!!!

Our next difficulty was at Rice town (not it real name). But it is where they grow rice and they flood the fields and the roads and you never know if there is a hole under that river of water!!!!!! You just sort of hold your breath and start out slow to see how far you drop into the water and pray that you don't get swept away!!!!!! This is also the spot where the large trucks that haul the large marble stones like to dump them. In the water where they can't be seen from the surface. So as you are driving thru the water, holding your breath, not only are you waiting for the water to come into the car, or cover the car, you are also waiting to take the underside of your car out on the hidden rocks.

Craig went first, slowly, then dropping into the hole and realizing that it was very deep, he stepped on it and shot water out from under the car and his tires in all directions. And here again is the lack of comprehension about standing to close to the edge of the road!!!!! The villagers where running and screaming at Craig for splashing them with the water. I made it thru just in time, before the water flowed back after Craig's trip splashed it all out on to all the people!!!

From there on out we drove on very slippery, muddy roads. By now one of my passengers was very car sick and there was little we could do for her!! We just kept going, fish tailing along the road, driving off the roads to get around all the big trucks that were stuck in the very middle of the road. Or those ones that just decided that it was to muddy to continue and left there trucks parked in the very middle of the road!!!! That happens a lot here!

Our next trial was a heavy truck completely parallel to the road, with a group of men trying to push it back into the cornfield so it could get back on the road. They saw us coming and decided to see how we would make it around the truck if they just left it where it was sitting! Craig got out and looked over the situation and flashed a "lets show them" grin at me and climbed back into his vehicle and took off at a mud splattering speed. People were running in every direction, screaming and mud was flying all over the place. The road sign wobbled a bit and the tree picked up its branches as Craig bounced and slid on by!!!! Then it was my turn!!! And in my defence, I was carrying all the visitors luggage and there were five people in my car, Craig only had four people riding with him!!!!! I backed up and got a running start and saw the road sign yelling at me " come get me" and chicken out, but I tried it again and all the bystanders decided to move closer to the front of the vehicle, and they didn't move when I started out. So Craig came through the deep mud and I got out and turned my back to him. I didn't want to see him take out that road sign!!! Or the riders screaming as they bounced and slid past the truck and took out people who still were not moving out of the way. The road sign wobbled a lot more this time as it was deciding whether it should still stand up or just fall over, and those who were not covered in mud were cheering and clapping as the 'Old Muzunga" made it through the bad spot. Most of them had not moved yet!!!!

The rest of the road to the pavement was muddy and we had to drive slow in order to stay on the road. This did nothing to help our car sick visitor. But we made it to Mbale in just under 3 1/2 hours, a 1 and half trip most any other time!!!!!!! (we are still knocking the mud off the cars!!!!)