Imagine steep hillside roads, narrow such that cars often have to give way for the oncoming traffic. People everywhere on both sides of the road: lorries, cars, safari landcruisers. We are talking about a crowded scenario on the Rwandan roads in the area where the Mountain Gorillas dwell. Now imagine a bicycle. No gears, and - I think but am not at all sure - brakes. The men riding the bikes freewheel down the road - down the middle of the road - at the speed of light - from the higher forest area to the market towns below. They are right in the thick of this traffic of cars and people and they are carrying sacks of potatoes weighing around 250 kilograms each. Yep, kg, not lbs. At the source of this daredevilry is a potato field and the harvested potatoes and their non-helmet wearing carriers are setting off, one after the other in intervals such that they don't run into one another if one person is flying downhill faster than another. Never mind the cars, lorries and motorbikes coming the other direction though! My chat with Fabien was borne of a fascination about these wild rides and, as often happens, ended up covering a lot more than that. Special guests on the conversation are Gervais Twamugize, our guide who translated the conversation for me and James Hutchings, my husband who has worked in agriculture for over 30 years in Africa and has some interesting questions for Fabien too. Enjoy our conversations!

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