|
 Out
of Makeni the route continues through forested landscape that is irregularly cut
by rivers. The terrain is irregular small hills. The population is more sparse in this area so the proportion of
forest to farm is greater. In pockets where the terrain gets flatter, the
population is greater and the farms more numerous. The road condition
continues to be excellent.
Throughout the journey it seems as though you could stop and strike up a
conversation with almost everyone along the road. We didn't really have
the time to totally test the theory, but whenever it seemed desirable the theory
held. We made far more quick friends than the number of photos would
indicate because it was easy to get involved in the conversation and thoughts of
snapping a photo were general lost.
 At
Magburaka half the group elected to take a twenty mile side trip to Masanga Hospital.
The dirt roads
  were
firm and in good shape, but they grew narrower and narrower as we approached our
destination, which was at the end of the road.
 Masanga hospital has it own proud and tradgic history.
It was founded in the 1964 as a leprosy hospital. It provided free
leprosy and general treatment until the middle of the civil war, when it was
overrun and looted several time by the rebels. During one raid six
patients were massacred. By the end of the war the site was abandoned
and over grown. After the war some former staff members of the
hospital returned to resurrect it. Now, local staff, support by a
group of international volunteers coordinated by the Danish organization
Friends of
Masanga, is again providing free care to the district and to people who
travel from far away because of the hospitals reputation.
  One
of the objective of the hospital administration is to wean itself of its
dependency on foreign volunteers and support. One element of this is the
development of revenue generating programs. Two
of these that caught our attention are the bicycle workshop and a project when
sews old bicycle inner tubes into purses, laptop computer cases and other
accessories.
Both projects are supplied by containers of used bicycle, parts and inner tubes
from Denmark. Everything we learned and everyone we met (medical staff,
administrators, project staff, and international volunteers) was very
impressive.
 Returning to the
paved road was pleasant except that our tour of the hospital and its associated
projects took about three hours, which put us back on the road during the
hottest part of the day. With
temperatures of about 86oF (30oC) and relative humidity at
least as high, the heat index was approaching 100oF (40oC).
The hotter it got the less power the muscles could muster, the slower we went, the longer
we were out in the heat and the
more we felt like we were going to melt in to a lump of goo on the pavement.
At the time, it made the choice of passing on the hospital visit and going straight to Mamuri for siesta (left)
look more inviting and like the better choice. But Masanga Hospitalwas very
impressive as well, so it could be called a toss-up.
 As the shadows start
to grow longer in the afternoon, the temperatures start to drop again and it is possible to make a few more
miles. Sometime after 3pm we saddled up again and headed back out through
the forest
and rice farms. The nice dynamic of the late afternoon is as the sun gets
lower in the sky there is more and more shade across the road and the
temperature starts to drop so successive miles get easier and easier and the
lighting is inspiring.
 Our
destination for the day was Makali. Our arrival was not an everyday
occurrence so as might be expected we attracted an audience. After meeting
with numerous town
elders and officials it was decided that the best space for us to lodge was part of the upper
floor of a building owned by the family of the local paramount chief. It
wasn't a spacious as a hotel but worked out well under the circumstances because of its central location
and good ventilation, and it offered some
degree of privacy and security.
  Prominent
at the junction in the center of town is a memorial to the war victims from the
chieftaincy. Monuments and moralizations seems to be uncommon.
|
Bicycle
Africa Homepage
Please
write