Labe - Day 216

Date: March 22nd, 2010
Distance: 10km (around the city)
Country: Guinea
Song of the Day: Lazybones - Soul Coughing

I slept in today, and that was amazing. I really didn't have anywhere to get to except the cyber after 10:00. I just wasn't in a rush. That feels good.

I did get into town and go to the cyber. Got my internet time in. After that I was looking for a couple of things. I wanted a little strip of metal for my water bottle holder. The rough roads showed that the innertube rubber holding up one end just isn't cutting it. It took an hour or so of searching and asking around, but I found what I needed.

My sunglasses (that I bought in Spain) also broke. So I was looking for a new pair of those. What I found was a pair of "Obama" brand sunglasses. They love that guy over here. I also got some (local) peanut butter while I was out.

I also met an american guy on the streets. I guess I am pretty foreign looking. Only white guy in the market. He came up and asked me if I was American and spoke english. It turns out the guy, El Haj, is from Brooklyn and here teaching english. He showed me a good place to get lunch as well. Since I didn't have any real plans, he invited me to talk to his class tomorrow. So we will see how that goes.

With my stuff in town finished, I headed back to the hotel. I then spent the afternoon reworking my water bottle holder. The strip of metal I bought was tougher than I thought though. I was hoping to just pound a hole in it with a nail. Nope. Across the street I could hear the sounds of people working metal. So I headed over there to see what they could do.

It turns out the shop is making hand pumps for water. That is good for me as I always like seeing those along the road. Really I just wanted them to make some holes, but it turned into a whole gathering. I had 4 or 5 guys standing around giving suggestions and trying to do stuff. Eventually I got them to step back a bit and let me handle it. Getting the holes right took a couple of tries, but we got it in the end.

Then it was back to the hotel to put on the finishing touches. I bolted it to the front rack. Then wrapped everything in inner tube rubber. It looks great, and is quite sturdy now. I also cut up the PVC pipe a bit more. I don't need all the weight so I took some panels out of the side. I also made some holes in the top and zip tied in some cheap fabric. I am hoping I can soak the fabric and have the evaporation keep the water bottle cool. Lets see if that works. I am actually quite happy with how everything turned out. I miss working with my hands. Lets see how water bottle holder 3.0 works out.

From there it was out to find a bit of dinner. Then off to bed.

-Dravis