7-27-2010

7-27-2010
I have heard other travelers say that it is not easy getting around Tanzania. I don’t really feel that this is a fair assessment. If you are patient, and can refrain from drinking water for long periods of time (or be really good at holding water with you – and I don’t mean in a water bottle), you can find a bus to take you just about a where you want to go.

However, here in Kiteto, busses won’t get you to farmers. For that, you need some form of personal transport.

Let me introduce today’s Kiswahili word of the day: Piki-piki. Translation: Motorcyle!

To get around kibaya, the ideal method of transport conveniently happens to be my favorite: The Dirt Bike. There are a good deal of surplus Chinese bikes around town, ones that I wouldn’t trust to ride on a road in the states – but to get around here they are perfect. I feel a little guilty that my research has turned out to be so much fun! It’s quite a pleasure to zoom around the bush on a peppy 125cc bike on my way to meet farmers.

I’ve been riding for years, and I’m quite confident on a motorcycle, but in all honesty it did take a little time to get acclimated to the ‘Traffic’ here in Kibaya. Now for those of you who have been following, Kibaya is a very small town, and there aren’t many cars or bikes here. But there are lots, and lots of cows, goats, and sheep. Imagine cresting a hill at 50 miles an hour and find yourself staring at a herd of thousands of livestock returning from the river to drink! You learn pretty quickly where the cows are likely to be, so as long as you don’t speed over certain hills, there’s not much of a risk of hitting one unexpectedly.

But it does seem that cows are more acclimated to dealing with people on motorbikes than I am with them. They don’t seem to have much of a sense of urgency to yield, but with a liberal use of the bike’s horn (and the occasional slap on the rump) they will meander out of the road.

I don’t want to make it seem like its my job to herd the cows out of the road all by myself. Each herd comes equipped with a few boys (typically 6-14 years old) that have sticks to herd them. Unfortunately, since there are not many Mzungu’s that ride motorbikes in this region, quite frequently the boys seem to forget about their herding duties to stare at my Mustache and North Carolina Basketball jersey as I weave through hooves and horns. (If you’re wondering about the jersey, after Barack Obama, Michael Jordan is the most popular American here, so it’s a good way to make a connection with people).