Eyes to See, Ears to Hear

We went to Mbeya again this past weekend. This time to pick up things we need to take to the States with us like diapers and such. Our friends the Nicholls told us about someone they knew who had a full-size LandCruiser and invited us to ride along when they went on Thursday. No bus?! You betcha. Count us in!

So, there we were, Paul and his wife Katrina, the Nicholls tribe, Dana and me, riding along the bumpy road from Iringa to Mbeya when Paul pulls off the road. Yep, it was a flat.

All-in-all, it took us an hour to get it changed because his jack was too short and there aren’t many resources out in the middle of the African countryside. After moving the car to the other side of the road (for slope), digging a hole, using a piece of concrete I found up the road (how’d that get there anyway?), and sweating off 3 pounds, we piled back into the car and were on our way.

I didn’t enjoy that Paul’s tire was shot but I did enjoy helping solve the problem. I dug the hole to give room for the spare to go on.

Just a couple of miles up the road, we stopped again to make sure all the lug nuts were tight. While we were stopped, I looked out of the back window and saw this kid on a wooden scooter. He wasn’t the only one. It seemed as though every youngster in the village was on one. Interesting…