It's Not a Boulder, It's a Ledge.

I have observed that, overall, the roads have significantly improved since my last visit in 2010. Work on the Great North Road, which is the main route from Nairobi to Arusha, was completed in Kenya, and we were only diverted onto side dirt roads three times in Tanzania for roadwork. This is an unbelievable improvement! Coming from Nairobi to Bukoba, I was super impressed by the quality of the roads. We only encountered the occasional pothole, except for when passing through towns, when they became more frequent. My seatbelt was fastened for a bumpy ride (thank you, Bette Davis), but it was quite luxurious- I was able to read in the car and even occasionally nap (not that I wanted to; the scenery was so amazing I didn’t even want to blink!). Of course, these roads were major highways, by African standards. Once you get to the villages, you are driving on dirt roads, except for when you’re driving on dirt paths or are not able to drive at all.

As I mentioned before, Fr. Kamanzi took me to his village, Maziba, to see where he was born. To say that the road was treacherous is an understatement; our driver, Wanjara, is nothing short of a superhero. The road to the village is a recent development. Fr. Kamanzi and his brothers convinced the villagers that the road would aid their homes in untold ways, and they engineered the road themselves. In fact, building the road became a project of the whole community. The government didn’t step in until after the road was completed, and only to do the minimum to assist with maintenance. Armed with simple tools and the wisdom of Fr. Kamanzi and his brothers, the people created a road that snaked down a dangerous, rock-strewn hill to the very heart of Maziba, some 7 km long.

The entire region has an impressive population of rocks and boulders, some of which simply could not be maneuvered around, so they were faced with somehow removing them without the help of heavy machinery or modern explosives. I think their solution was rather ingenious. They placed 10 large rubber tires on the rocks that had to be removed and set them on fire. After the stones became red-hot, they poured cold water all over them and the boulders cracked and shattered into pieces small enough for the people to move them.

Now that’s street smarts! Ziiinng!