Amboni Caves are among the most historic caves in Tanzania. Fighters used them against German colonisation because of their strong structure and unique features.
I went to a high school that was a few metres from the caves, but I never had a chance to visit them. Five years after graduating from high school, I paid a visit to the caves as a local tourist.
I enjoyed the entire tour; I was particularly fascinated by one of the stories told by the tour guide. “These caves remain largely unexplored; some of them extend to Kenya.” An international tourist had an incident while exploring the caves with his dog. He got lost in the caves, and instead of stopping and finding ways to get help, he kept on going. He was never seen to date; the dog was found in Kenya.” The guide elaborated on the story.
I don’t know if that story was true or made up. I am not sure which part of the story was legit and which one was assumptions. I was impressed by the story’s subtle wisdom. The tour guide said, “He got lost in the caves. Instead of stopping to find help, he just kept going.””
That wisdom stayed with me, and it guided me a few years later. We drove to a nearby beach in Dar es Salaam in our four-wheel-drive SUV. It was perfect for off-road driving. With confidence and experience in driving around the beaches, we assumed it would be a normal day.
It was not; we were stuck in the sand a few metres before reaching our resting spot. I was the one driving. At the first realisation that we were stuck, I stopped and went out to look at the situation. I realised someone else had got stuck there a few days ago. That’s why the sand had a softness and scattered appearance that was not typical. And it seems it had rained to make things worse.
That wisdom from the Amboni caves saved me. I realised that if I keep driving or force the car out with the four-wheel drive, I’ll dig deeper into the sand. This will make things worse. I asked the locals how to handle it. They told me what they usually do when someone like me gets stuck, like the person before me yesterday.
With their help and guidance, we managed to get out in a few minutes. That saved the day and the car. That wisdom to stop and check has stuck with me ever since.
When you find yourself in a hole, the last thing you need to be doing is digging the hole. You need to stop and evaluate how much worse the situation has become and what you should do to get out of the hole.
In our lives, we do things that end up putting us in holes. We overspend our money and we end up broke and in debt. We overwork so that we end up burned out and unproductive. We overcommit to people and things and we end up with no time for ourselves. We get wrong advice that causes us pain, suffering, and losses.
We cannot do much to control finding ourselves in those situations. But the power to stop, evaluate and figure out the best way to get out of the situation is within our grasp. The lost tourist could have stopped and accepted that he was lost sooner.
He might have received help. If I kept forcing the four-wheel SUV to drive through the soft sand, it would dig deeper holes. We might end up stuck there for the night like the guy from the previous day
Learn to stop and evaluate the situation you are in before making any decision or taking any action. Learn to stop digging when you find yourself in the hole.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you find peace and joy.
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Rogers Katuma
Financial Artist, Senior Adventurer, Occasional Storyteller and an Amateur Golfer
