Today (now yesterday) I got behind the wheel of the cruiser for the trip from Aweil to Wau. The marrum road is in decent condition, but being a four year old road with little to no maintenance has left areas with significant washboard conditions. The challenge is to find a fast enough speed to fly over the top of the washboard (approximately 80-90 kph), while controlling the fish-tailing effect that occurs when the rear is starts bouncing too much. Driving on these roads is an effort since you need to focus directly in front of you to find the path that is the smoothest, while keeping a look out for the real serious potholes that make a real nasty bang with the rear suspension and cause groans and moans from those sitting in the back. You need speed so you don't spend all day on the road; better to get the misery with over quicker although it might be more punishing, then to take draw out the experience. Besides keeping an eye on the road to be maneuver over its surface, you can't forget about the peripheral; this is where people might come out of nowhere on a bicycle or motorcycle (rarely on rural roads), cattle and goats are also serious offenders of wandering onto the road, thinking they own it. They will stare at you without expression, as if it takes a few minutes for the brain reaction to kick in; their face like a computer screen stuck with a screen saver on - no matter how much you hit the keyboard or move the mouse, nothing happens. I've realized that honking the horn gets a group of cows excited and they will usually scatter well in advance of the approaching cruiser…on other occasions they will run down the road, directly in front of the vehicle kicking up their back feet. You can't help but feel sorry for how ridiculous they appear in that scenario is, when all they have to do is step off the road. Goats will also scatter at the sound of a horn and can be entertaining to watch even if they are not on the road.
The first time I heard the phrase, "we are stopping to check the tires", I thought there might be something wrong. But it just turns out to be another way to mean I have to take a piss. After driving a whole day on these roads, I said "let's stop to check the suspension". At least one person got the joke.
We had a fantastic blow out on yesterday's trip, the tire was completely destroyed. It wasn't even noticeable at first, only seemed like we were dragging something, but stepping out of the vehicle, the rim had been sliding on the rubber tire and burnt rubber filled the air.
Rain is falling now in Wau, the sky is threatening to unleash a storm, but only a light drizzle has materialized. We are nearing the rainy season and once it sets in with full force, access on these roads will rapidly deteriorate. Many of the marrum roads will remain passable, but the ones that are only cleared swaths of land will turn to mud or swamp. Thunder rumbles in the distance, but I think this storm has gone around us. A refreshing cool breezes has blown away the exhausting heat. I'm staying at the Jur River Lodge, an old school built with stone sitting on the banks of the Jur River. Walking into the room offers a brief escape from the shearing heat; a nicely furnished room complete with mosquito net and en suite bathroom. Maybe if I came from somewhere else, it wouldn't seem so nice, but after the hotel in Aweil, this is as VIP as one can get in my book, complete with a little veranda overlooking the river; flamboyant trees in full red blossom (a sign the rainy season is approaching) in the foreground. The Aweil hotel is ok - once again a relative statement - for 250 Sudanese Pounds ($90) for a basic single room, it has power that fluctuates between phases and is off and on, it has a water that trickles out of the faucet (taking a shower takes a very long time standing under the five holes where the water trickles from, there is a lock on the door, the staff are very friendly and hospitable - probably their best quality. There is cold beer now, after last trip, I made a comment in their visitor's book that there had been no cold beer; the best thing to cut through a long hot day in the field is just that. The next trip one of the first things they bragged about was they had a fridge and a cold beer. I thought about putting 'no swimming pool' this time, but didn't want to bankrupt the hotel. They will provide dinner, which was pepper steak and fries…not too bad until the middle of the night, but that could have been BBC (a local restaurant that I like and we had lunch at). They make a mean foul and grilled chicken, just don't look at the kitchen…actually ignore everything about the place and make sure your carrying cipro and flagil in your bag. So far so good, nothing drastic…we'll see how long that continues. I suppose it is bound to happen out here, that you pick up something really nasty and spend you days and night with it squirting out both ends. I also travel with the malaria cure and after buffet feast I was for the mozzies in Bor, I am surprised nothing came of that, or maybe too early to tell.
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