Last week I left Korr and travelled southwards
overland. The first few of hours’ drive is on unmade roads and travel is tricky
at the best of times but even more unpredictable in the rainy season. Riverbeds
that are dry for most of the year become soft and muddy and we did quite a lots
of slipping and sliding. We were pleased to cross straight through a major river
that was in flow without much trouble. Soon after, though, it started to rain heavily and we
rolled down the flaps on the back of the Land Cruiser to stop getting too wet!
There’s not much vegetation to intercept the rainfall, the ground
quickly becomes saturated and infiltration rates slow down. We watched as the water
flowed straight over the surface and into channels. Water levels in
these channels rises very quickly to flood the land and roads but fortunately they also go down quite quickly.
We came to a place where the road was blocked by one of these fast moving
flows. Whilst they are not necessarily very deep, they are fast and could easily
sweep a vehicle away. An army truck had
already stopped to wait which was a real blessing as we were able to follow
them as they picked the best route through the water and back onto firmer
tracks.
While we stopped
for the water to go down enough for us to cross we were able to stretch our
legs. You can see a wave of water coming down the channel.
We called in to visit the Form 4 students who were almost
at the end of their final exams and not long afterwards we reached proper
tarmacked roads. The journey in the back of the Land Cruiser was much smoother
after that although it got noticeably cooler as we climbed higher. I put on a
jumper for the first time in three months!
Along the way we spotted an elephant and
ostrich.
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