May the road rise up to meet you, may the sun shine warm upon your face, may the good lord hold you in the hollow of your hand...
I hope you all have had a wonderful St. Patty's day!
Today we continued on the B141, a major road heading south through Tanzania. Here is a picture of the major route through Tanzania...
It is hard to see in the picture the dirt, the sand, the rocks and the ruts. But they are all there. As you ride you have to pay close attention to the road because all of a sudden there will be a deep hole or there will be troughs of sand 6 to 8 inches deep. The best way to do the road is as fast as you can. They say if you go fast enough you will simply bounce off the high points of the ruts and not go down into the valleys. Well that's what "they" say. It still was a bone jarring experience.
I hit a rthym early on in the day and started flying down the road. It felt really good so I kept pounding down on the pedals. I kept it up and was passing person after person. I felt like the engine was in sync with the bike and that is always a good thing.
We did come across an unusual site along the way. On the side of the road in a ditch was a large snake. It was dead as something had hit it. But what was unusual was what type of snake. It was a black Mamba, the most deadly snake in the world. The snake was very large, over six feet long. It brought back the thought that this is a very formidable continent fraught with danger. The locals say if they see one they kill it. They do this because a Black Mamba can kill one of their cows or sheep with one bite in 30 seconds.
The Black Mamba you saw was a small one from what I've heard. When I was there, I was a passenger in a car and wanted a picture. The drive hit the gas and as we approached the snake, he turned the car and hit the brakes. The car side sideways an the snake stood on his tail and looked in my side window, which was not rolled up. Happily the snake dropped down and moved off. It all happened so quickly that I didn't get the picture. I've a number of stories about those snakes, but we'll make those another time.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your day and watch out for those snakes. They are capable of great speed and can hang out in trees, I'm told.
Oh and drink, drink and drink some more.
Ray Van Ostran