Rather like the night before, we are welcomed and invited to sit in the sitting room whilst Annette disappears into the kitchen. There is a cartoon on the TV which keeps the kids engrossed until Martin breaks out the presents after which the kids play as Woody and Buzz and a Toy Story DVD replaces the cartoons.
Are my jowly temples showing?
Delicious meal over it is only left for Martin to perform the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy whilst trying to encourage Blessed, one of the daughters to do some of the ballet Martha taught her before we are driven back to our hotel for a quick beer before bed.They are the most lovely family and the kids were great company. we manged to teach them how to play 'Uno' before we left.
Thursday.
The plan is a bit of a lay in, big breakfast, pack, check out around midday, stop off at supermarket for aforementioned peanuts, whiskey and headphones before the two hour (we think) ride to Soroti.
The plan works up to the supermarket where we there are no peanuts (cashews substituted) whiskey or headphones. Opposite the Supermarket is an electrical shop and with little hope of success I venture across to try & find some headphones. Meanwhile Martin is guarding the bikes and is surrounded by the usual crowd of guys who want to ask the obligatory questions about the bikes. The bikes look great as we had them cleaned by a lovely guy at the hotel. As I (Paul) enter the shop, the assistant blanks everyone else and asks how he can help. I explain that I need a replacement pair of headphones and show him mine so he can see what I am after.
He immediately reached behind and proudly produces a pair that look like they will do the job in a packet marked "BASS". "These are Bass" he tells me. I feign surprise at which he tells me they are "very superior" and then " Look, they have a R-R-R-Red lead", rolling his r's as if to add extra value. They cost £2, so I figure they are worth a try and buy them.
Full transmissions resumed!
I rejoin Martin and we ride to the nearest petrol station to fill up our tanks and for me to test the headphones.I plug them into my MP3 player as I explain to Martin about the R-R-R-Red lead, and as I play the first track I burst out laughing as the sound is simply amazing; far better than the old ones and more comfortable to wear. I continue to laugh as no longer am I restricted to the Black Eyed Pea - I now have the full pod!
The road to Soroti is notorious for being heinous. The African approach to road works is to dig up the WHOLE road so that every 5 mile stretch is in a different state of repair. Gravel, sand, mud, packed earth, closed lanes they are all there in abundance. The bikes are so fantastic they just soak up the bumps and are so sure-footed. This was not the case for the guy in the Ford Mondeo who went down what was probably the biggest pothole on the road.
TIA!
We stand up on the foot pegs for better balance for most of the 50 mile journey which take 2 hrs plus a stop off. The stop is at a roadside village where there are traditional mud huts with beautifully brushed earth and a ring of crops (potato, maize etc). The guy (Sam) sees us coming after we have distributed sweets to about 50 kids coming back from school for lunch, so he grabs a couple of chairs and puts them under the mango tree for us. He tells us that he needs the rains to come to save his crops and we meet his mother in law and his wife (one of two he says but he is stopping there because he is a christian!).
We make it into Soroti town and after asking for directions (never really helpful in Africa) we find the Akella Hotel where we are now ensconced eating our cashews which have probably been shelled and packed by hand so we may need the Ciprofloxacyn by the morning!
Apac tomorrow...
Martin writes...the ride up to Soroti was challenging but so much fun. The soundtrack of my playlist made it all the more fun as each song reminded me of people and places so far from here yet so real and present as I listened. So great.
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