Roadside halt to be.

On the way back to the airport at Mbeya I Stopped at Sumbawanga, where Mvimba have a house and the secondary school, (see photos from 20th Jan). This time in true cargo cult style, the brothers offered a good meal, wine and free lodging as I was travelling with the German moneybags who had to placated with rich offerings so that he would keep returning.

One of the projects dear to the heart of the Bro Superior - Nicholas, the bloke in charge - is the construction of a truck stop / service area on the main road heading East. We spent an hour and a half getting there, subjected most of the journey to an excited expose of his concept. In summary, he wants to build a super-loo, (sic), surrounded by a restaurant, motel, rest area, car wash, market and a secondary school for girls with babies. The multi-story loo, though a little potty for some, will be a wind powered, content rich and flush-full of various stimulating and attractive designs to tickle the imagination (at least); thereby drawing visitors to the edifice like flies to its contents.

Attached to the complex is a large agricultural expanse. Capitalising on the output of the former to feed the crops, the range and variety of plants will extend beyond the existing sunflowers and maize to include school dinners and a tree plantation - and raw materials for the superloo.

It all seems so obvious when explained like that; cause, effect and solution all in one facility. Hopefully it will be equally compelling to the 2 buses and 3 cars per hour that use the road currently.

We had fun in the group flying the German's drone around to measure the perimeter so that the architects could mull over Design focussed on Award Winning Colonic Vacation. Someone parked their wheelbarrow out along the road but I could not see any Irishmen so I left it. It was full of holes anyway.

After flight above ground we decided to walk through the ground as the morning rain had loosened the surface nicely and we favoured enhancing by tactile stimulation the architects Vision. Perhaps studying the output of a Great Artist like Twoloos Lautrac might have been more productive, but instead we walked barefoot a couple of km, squidging warm, soggy mud and something else through our toes, down to the shallow lake where we lunched and had a siesta on an artificial hill above the primal ooze.
Work on site has commenced but not very advanced yet, so instead of a visual of the above, be amazed at the at the guards' houses and marvel at the cattle. (Ah! Thats where the 'something else' came from.)

Now don't poo-poo the concept too quickly. This is a country where only 30.2 % of households have, (to use the Governments words,) "improved toilet facilities", ie running water. It may be a novelty but it also fulfils a necessary utility. Remember the words of the sage: "If you can do do do."Read more