Lifespan of shoes

 

The environment here is difficult on all types of clothes and footwear. The sun, dirt, mud, thorns, you name it, it's gonna be relentlessly torturing your footwear. I recently replaced my shoes after a year and a half and you can see the wear and tear.

I have to give Merrell some props because the shoes were still in decent shape. The sole was beginning to peel a little and the heel was worn down and getting frequently punctured by thorns but otherwise they were in good shape. I probably could have gone on using them for a few more months but as I found myself out of Tanzania, I went ahead and replaced them. The funniest thing about it, it wasn't the Tanzanian environment that finished them off, rather it was a week in the UK rain. After having my feet sufficiently soaked for a week straight of April rains, my shoes had the classic impenetrable wet sock stench. Even when I took off my shoes, my socks were saturated with the stink.

Thus, I was pleased to replace my shoes and even happier to replace them with the same brand and model. The shoes proved to be sturdy and suit the environment well.

Road in the rainy season

 

Mud.

 

In the dry season the roads are dusty labyrinths of pot-holes and corrugation. The rains can transform them to slippery mud with pools of unknown depths scattered throughout. We recently took a road in Pwani Region during the end of the rainy season and after a heavy rain the previous night. The road was actually in pretty decent condition though there was a tree fall that we had to maneuver through. There were also some sections of the road that were under construction and the roller had not yet hardened the dirt. This resulted in some sections of extremely sticky mud. We encountered a bus along the way and it had drifted a little bit off the main road. It managed to muscle it's way out with an impressive kick of the engine and some wild fish-tailing.

We were lucky that the trip was uneventful but as usual we had the tools to address any unfortunate incidents. The first key item is a tow rope. Driving etiquette in Tanzania encourages assisting stranded drivers and thus vehicles are willing to at least try to pull a stuck vehicle out. But often times vehicles lack sturdy ropes and something as simple as attaching a rope to a vehicle turns into a more labor intensive affair. 

If you can't pull the vehicle out, you've got to dig and try to create traction around the wheels, usually by stuffing branches, logs, debris, etc. A shovel is a necessary tool to excavate around the wheels. Another necessary item is a machete. It can handle all the small cutting but a small axe is another useful item to have as it helps to cut branches that may be thicker than the machete can handle. There are different techniques depending on the situation so you want to ensure you have all the necessary tools to give yourself the best chance to dig yourself out!

I've written more about vehicles getting stuck in the mud here...

A palm tree had fallen and we just barely fit underneath.

This is a case where you absolutely, under no circumstance, want to divert from the established path.