Peace Corps Camping...

People had been warning me about the terrible stretch of road from Doutchie to Konni since I got to this country, so I knew it was going to be bad. It is was a stretch of 150km that has a terrible reputation. It is being worked on, but according to the reports I got, the detours and work zones were just as bad if not worse than the way it was.

In order to deal with this menace, I got up at 5am and packed my bike up. I left while it was still dark and bought some breakfast on the side of the road (during Ramadan, muslims are permitted to eat while it is not daylight, so you can find street food before 6am, but not afterwards). I even used my headlamp in the semi-light until 6:30. The first 5km were really ugly - it was as if a giant had taken a big potato-peeler and stabbed the roadway hundreds of times, making it a mangled, mess of holes, puddles, trenches, loose rocks and chunks of pavement, etc.

But after that, it got pretty reasonable. There were lots of potholes, yes, but they were a reasonable distance apart and I was able to ride at a normal speed, going around the potholes as necessary. There were only a few times that I had to slow down to let a truck or a bus go by before I went around. I made good time in this section which was good, because when I finally got to where the road works were redoing the road, I had to slow down considerably. The pot-holes gave way to pot-ravines that stretched the entire width of the road and shoulder area, sometimes forcing me to dismount and walk the bike through. This treachery eventually gave way to a section that had the pavement stripped completely off. This was better, although it wasn't graded very evenly so riding was not very smooth. Then came the detours. These stretches lasted several kms and had varying degrees of ridability, depending on how frequent and sharp the stones were. For much of it, I was impressed to see that I could maintain a speed of around 10km/hr, half my normal speed.

I was praying about my tires (the skinny 10 speed tires, looked no match for the road), but they held up really well and I'm happy to say that the bike performed beautiful during that section. I had been prepared to load the bike on a bus or van if it got too bad, but I never had to even think about it. It was slow and more work than any normal 150km ride, but it ended up fine. The last 30km were on new pavement again, so that was a nice treat to end the day with. Thanks God, for getting me through that!

That night, on the reccomendation of a friend, I stayed in a Peace Corps centre in Konni. I have met lots of Peace Corps volunteers in various places around Africa, and have always been impressed with their dedication to bring change and to live very simply. The 3 volunteers who happened to be in Konni were no exception. I enjoyed hanging out and playing speed scrabble, eating some local street food delicacies that they introduced me to. Halfway throught the scrabble, we had to make a dash as the heavens let loose a mighty storm, and all my stuff was set up outside. The hostel there was very rustic and has a number of rattan bunks set up outside where you can drag a mattress and put up a mosquito net with no trouble. But when the rain surprised us, I had to run take down the net, get the mattress and all my gear (spread out over the next bunk) inside the hanger. After resetting my bed up under the tin roof, I went back to scrabble and won the game.

Thanks to Bec and Trace and other Aussie friends for teaching me TAKE 2 because it came in real handy. I shared some of my remaining cashews and mangos and had a great, evening under a cool African sky. Unfortunately, there is no internet available in Konni. I had been planning on taking a rest-day here. It turns out I had to go an extra 2 days to find internet here in Maradi.

The volunteers in Konni told me that they had another centre in Maradi and that is where I am now. Well, I'm actually in a cybercafé, but I am staying for a couple of nights at the Peace Corps centre here. More games, good fun and interesting people.