Episode 3: Terug na Nairobi

OK, ek probeer regtig om julle op datum te bring... Hoop julle lees steeds! (Ek breek dit gelukkig mooi op vir die wat stadig lees, so Hennie jy kan ook volg :) )

Vanaf Ethiopie suid le die bandits en wille pad natuurlik weer voor... En, soos ek gese het, heng!, Noord Kenya is nie vir sussies nie! Ons het my ouers in Addis gegroet en met die bikes gediens was ons slaggereed vir die uitmergelende 5 dae rit wat voorgele het na Nairobi toe!

The journey gives meaning to the destination. -Ken Duncun-

Die eerste 2 dae in Ethiopie was fine... Die pad was goed en teen hierdie tyd is ons wel-geoefen om te koes vir mense wat nie kyk nie, donkies, perdekarre, klein indiese Bajaj motorfietsies, honde, kamele, kinders wat ons met klippe gooi, bokke en wat ookal nog ons kant toe mag kom. Ethiopie se paaie is waar alles gebeur, hoor!!

Die grenspos was ook peanuts en toe was dit weer tyd vir die groot manne toets - die ware dirtbike rider gaan nou geskei word van die wat letterlik in die stof gaan byt!



As 'n alternatiewe roete het ons toe meer oos getoer, 'n roete wat blykbaar meer sanderig is met minder sinkplaat. Ook 'n roete wat die voertrokke klaarblyklik aanpak. Wel, dalk sou dit beter gewees het as ons wel by hierdie roete kon gehou het... Pas oor die grens en ons ry verkeerd. Die GPS stuur ons toe amper Somalie toe voordat ons dit agterkom aan die einde van die dag! Ja, julle kan gelukkig wees dat julle nie al julle spaargeld hoef optegeoffer het om my en Stav se ransom vir die Somaliese pirates te betaal nie!! (Want een ding is seker, ou JZ sou dit verseker nie gedoen het nie!)

So, ipv 'n 'sanderige' pad slaan ons toe woestyn stof!! Ek het nog nooit so iet teegekom nie!! Die fietse sak skoon weg en ons moes 'n hele paar keer die ysterperde deurstoot! Van voertrokke was daar ook geen sig nie - ons het heeldag nie 'n enkele voertuig op die pad gekry nie! Eintlik was dit ongelooflik!! Jy, jou bike, jou boesem pel en stof!!


Hier is dit dan ook werklik die eerste keer waar ek gevoel het dat my ysterperd effe onbeheerbaar raak - die wille ding het my 4 keer soos 'n vrot vel laat trek!! Kyk, ek is 'n swemmer, maar stofduik is 'n ander tipe skill! (Die foto is na 'n groot duikslag met rooi stof orals!!) Ek kan ook nou se dat die bike 'n ware enduro bike is wat hier en daar deur goeie ou cable ties bymekaar gehou word...


There is more to life than increasing its speed. -Mahatma Gandi-

Ons het nie minder as 3 dae langs die Somaliese grens afgery nie. Die 2 nagte was beide bushcamps in die middel van nerens met amper te min water vir drink. Vuilslaap het 'n ander betekenis gekry! Maar, tenspyte van al die harde bene wat ons gekou het, is ons veilig daar deur met semi-heel bikes en was dit niks minder as ongelooflik nie!! 'n Onvergeetlike ervaring en herinnering en toets van karakter!


Dit bring ons dan tot by Nairobi, wat sowat 4 dae gelede is. En ons is nogsteeds hier. Ons bly by 'n overland kamp waar 'n duitser om goed ingerig het om gebroke ysterperde soos ons sin te ontvang... Ons wag steeds vir Stav se BMTrouble You om ontslaan te word uit die hospitaal voor ons die tropiese ooskus pak! (Ek wil ook net se dat ons nogal baie leer van ons rygoed - ek dink nie meer 'n tapid is 'n zef, greasy, parrow-arrow china met dropped suspension en blou ligte onder sy ryding met die spinners op in die kaap of vir die selfde geld in Voortrekkerweg, pta, nie. Die goed is alles deel van enjins...)

Nou ja, vriende, laat ek groet. Hoop dit gaan goed en mis julle klomp ook so tussen deur die avonture.

Jo(wyk)

Episode 2: Ethiopie

Wat kan ek se… Hierdie land was verseker nog die hoogtepunt van ons trip! Dis heeltemal ‘n ander Afrika. ‘n Kultuur en mensdom op sy eie met baie geskiedenis, interessante etniese groepe en ‘n landskap wat elke avontuurlustige ysterperd ruiter van droom!!


The man who has no imagination has no wings. -Muhammad Ali-

Ethiopie is verseker nie die land van droogte wat jy dalk ingedagte het nie. Eerder een van reen en berge en enjera!!



Eers het ons ‘n week vir vriende van Global challenge in die suide van Ethiopie gejoin vir ‘n uitreik in Jinka. Dis in die lower Omo valley en het van die mees interessante tribes in Afrika. Mense wat hulle lippe sny om borde in te sit en kaal oor beeste spring as deel van huwelik seremonies! Elk geval, dit was so lekker om die groep van 5 hier te join en net goeie fellowship te he en vriende te maak! Die Afrika challenge groep toer al die hele jaar met local transport deur Afrika en was reeds in wes Afrika. Hardcore, ek se julle!!! Hierdie mense is hardcore en heavy cool!!


Ethiopie was dan ook die 1e plek waar ons ander ware ysterperd soldate ontmoet het!! Martin is seker nou my grootste hero!! Hy toer al vir 6 jaar op sy Africa Twin (blykbaar die fiets om te he) om die wereld! In Nairobi, by 'n biking packpackers het ons op hierdie foto van hom afgekom... Ek kan net se dat ek hierdie legende ontmoet het en dat hy vir my biking raad gegee het... :)

Van hier is ons na Addis Ababa om met ons Noordelik Historical lope van 2 weke te begin. En vanaf Addis is dit net berge!! Addis self is soos die 2de hoogste groot stad in die wereld of iets en is 2500m bo seespiel (ek moet wel nog hierdie feit google, maar die mense claim dit!).

Dis dan waar ons die wereld van oerkastele, konings, monarchie en die koptiese kerk binnegegaan het! Ethiopie het van die oudste Christen geskiedenis in die wereld en die mense is baie gelowig en committed. Dit was iets om te beleef!

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. -Albert Einstein-


Ek en Stav is toe deur nog ‘n mannetoets in die Simien gebergtes. In die piek van hul reenseisoen is die twee van ons met ons scout met sy AK47 met die bikes die berge in! Hier het 3 dae se uber harde stapwerk teen 4000m bo seespieel vir ons voorgele! Dit was hard, maar elke uitsig het dit die moeite werd gemaak!! Dis net so ongelooflik mooi daar! Ons was ook gelukkig om van hul skaarste inheemse gediertes hier teetekom – wow, dit was spesiaal!



Lalibela was nog ‘n hoogtepunt!!! 1100 jaar oue kerke uit soliede rots gegiet!! Die koning van die tyd wou ‘n 2de Jerusalem bou! Dit was ongelooflik om te beleef en die kerke word steeds deur die mense daar gebruik om by te aanbid!



Laastens was ons gelukkig genoeg om my ouers vir so 4 dae in Addis te kon ontmoet na die lope. Sjoe, dit was so lekker om hulle te kon sien en die stories te kon deel!! Hier is die fietse ook dan vir oulaas gediens voor die lang pad terug na Nairobi…

Episode 3: Die lang pad terug na Nairobi…. (ek gaan julle maar so effe dan in suspense hou vir die ons 2de tog deur Noord Kenya…) 

Entebbe, Uganda -> N.Kenya -> Ethiopia -> N.Kenya -> Nairobi

Wow! It is strange to have decent internet access again. I’ve just managed to login to our blog page successfully for the first time since the last posting.

Telecommunications in Ethiopia was absolutely frustrating – one would consider the sending of an sms successfully from a roaming cell number to be nothing short of a miracle - no kidding! Internet access was limited to dial up. We ended up buying a local sim card in order to keep family in the loop with our progress. We are in the buzzing city of Nairobi, over a month after our last posting – it’s great to be back where there is running water, flush toilets, warm showers and an uninterrupted electricity supply.

I won’t be able to summarise all of the highlights and lowlights of the last month but I hope that I will be able to give a blended summary of the two.

Let me begin by saying that the journey through N.Kenya to Ethiopia was tough. The rumors of Cattle Rustlers as well as Bandits were slightly unsettling. The environment was also harsh, hot, desert dry and the gravel roads were extreme. The one section of the road was intensely corrugated for a continuous stretch of over 100km, any bolt that was loose on the bike was loosened and the whole tail light of my bike fell off. Fortunately the nuts and bolts were not lost and the repair was easy. The harsh road also provided us with our first opportunity to do a tube change on my back wheel – good times!

This was not the first of our tube issues, between Jo and myself we have now done 5 replacements – we now have our tire repair process down to a T. Although the ride through the north was harsh, the scenery was stunning.

We had made contact with a group of young South African’s doing Global Challenge (a year of missions in Africa, moving south from Egypt to South Africa). We weren’t quite sure where we’d meet with them as they were on a pilot mission with no cemented plans. Initially we were to join them in Sudan. That fell through and it worked out that we would meet them in Jinka, Ethiopia, on our way to the North. The scope of their mission in Jinka was unknown to them and us, until we arrived there. We met with the local missionary who is from one of the tribes. Basically there is an issue in 3 of the tribes where children are deemed ‘mingy’ if their top two fronts teethe appear before the bottom two. In these 3 tribes it is a serious curse and the child is killed, so as to remove the curse - they have recently started a children’s orphanage to rescue these children. The bigger vision is to reach his tribe with the Gospel. Once he has sorted out the orphanage then he will be able to devote more time to evangelism. We got stuck in and started helping renovate the buildings that the orphanage was to move to at the end of this month. We had a really blessed time, working with the Challenge group –

From Jinka, we went to Addis Ababa, not much to see but did manage to experienced some their local tunes (sing and vibrant dance) as well as their spicy food – which always includes their Njera which I would describe as a fermented pancake – definitely palatable.

We then did the historical loop in the Eth highlands. The whole loop took about 2 weeks and was definitely a highlight from both a tourist and a riding point of view – riding the roads with bikes was absolutely phenomenal. Most of the road was not straight and the route of over 2000 km was packed with long stretches of mountain passes which snaked through the highlands, requiring the bike to lean significantly to one side or the other with most stunning views.



We managed to see the Blue Nile falls, visit the 6 ancient Castles in Gondor, the Obleisks in Axum as well as the famous Rock Hewn Churches in Lalibella…all very interesting and I hope to share those experiences in detail when i return to SA. Having completed the historic loop, we spent some time with Jo's folks in Sendafa, a town just outside of Addis Ababa. It was fantastic to catch up with them and find out more about the childrens work they are involved in.

From Sendafa we missioned down to nairobi. Although the total trip was less than 2000km, it took us 6 days of intense riding. We returned via a different N.Kenya road. We hoped that it would be more bike friendly, that is less wear and tear. This may have been so, but it was much more effort for the rider. On two of the days we rode for 12 hours with a break here and there! On both days we didn't make our destinations (this was a blessing in disguise as the destinations we had made were dodgy towns), and so we bush camped. On both occations we rode our bikes a few 100m off of the rode and pitched tent. They turned out to be fantastic settings with a bright canopy of stars overhead.

Die verlore 6 weke - Ethiopie toe en terug!

Almal!

Sjoe, lyk my ons is ook nie so goed met die blog ding soos ons aanvanklik gedink het nie. Nee regtig, ons het probeer, maar party gedeeltes van Afrika is nog donker wat kommunikasie betref!!




Elk geval, julle sal bly wees (die wat omgee, natuurlik) om te hoor dat alles nog goed gaan. Ons lewe, het min beserings, en die bikes se wiele rol ook nog. Die twee ysterperde het ‘n paar skete, maar as ons hulle nie verder verrinneweer nie behoort ons hulle tot by die huis te kan kry, but let me not count my chickens yet!

Tans is ons in Nairobi en het julle ongelukkig ‘n ongelooflike 5 weke van ons trip in Ethiopie misgeloop. Ek weet as te ware nie eers waar om te begin vertel nie. Daar het net te veel al gebeur!! Ons ervarings was regtig ryk gewees en ons prys die Here daarvoor! Hopelik sal ons van nou af vorentoe by internet kan uitkom, so hoop om julle ten minste soortvan op hoogte te bring. So, sien hierdie as fase een van die verlore trip, soos 7de laan net meer spannend, gaan ek met julle gevoelens tooi deur julle in die lug agter te laat tot en met die opvolg 

Maar eers, ‘n volledige status update tot en met Nairobi, Kenya:

-Valle = 6 elk! (Blykbaar het ek en Stav nog nie Afrika se sand kon tem nie. Noord Kenya he tons letterlik neergesit! Daar is die sand stof en raak ons ysterperde soos wille bulle wat alles in hul vermoens doen om die ruiters in die stof te laat byt!)
-Punctures: 5 tussen die twee van ons
- Totale Km afgele = +/- 13 000 kms (Offroad = +/- 6 500 kms – helfte, kan julle glo!?)
- Tyd spandeer op die ysterperde = vrek, hierdie is nou moeilik want ons het nie regtig boek gehou nie (ek weet; swak styl Aktuaris!), maar ek kan wel getuig van ilte (spelling??) op my boude as bewys van menigde ure!
- Tyd spandeer by grensposte = 22 uur
- Siektes en kwale = hier en daar ‘n kneusplek of ‘n enjera (Ethiopiese brood) hardlywigheid, maar niks waarvoor die dokter benodig word nie.
- Huidige posisie: Nairobi, hoofstad van Kenya (26 August)
- Volgende bestemming: Mombasa, kom nou kuslangs terug huis toe! Kan nie glo dis al sulke tyd nie – nog net ‘n maand oor!

Episode 1: Uganda tot by Ethiopie

If you're going through hell, keep going. -Winston Churchill-

Ek dink ek het nog laas almal die skruk op die lyf gejaag met stories van die ‘naughty natives’ en die slegte paaie in Noord Kenya. Ek wil net se dat geen van daardie stories oordrewe was nie! In plaas van die slogan “Afrika is nie vir sussies nie”, gaan ek se “Noord Kenya is nie vir sussies nie!”



Dis baie droog en die mense baklei. Hulle is nie vriendelik nie, hoor! Beide ek en Duane moes maar koes vir ‘n paar groot klippe wat ons rigting geslinger is en mense dreig jou selfs met hulle spiese wat hulle in die lug steek… Die pad is ook hard, kliphard!! Dis ook dan op hierdie pad wat 2 uit 3 motorfietsryers dan ook hulle agter shocks se seels blaas ens ens! Die terrein lyk soos die van Mars en die pad is sinkplaat van die duiwel homself (jammer as hierdie bietjie kras vir party mense gestel is, maar dis regtig wat ek gevoel het). OK, ek dink dis grafies genoeg…

Duane se panniers (dis nou die goed aan die kant van die bikes wat ons besittings huisves, dames) het sy chasis (die raamwerk, dames) stukkend geruk, sy taillight het afgeskuk en sy voorlig is ontwortel! So die BMW was ‘n gebroke soldaat! Die Kawa met die sagte sake het gehou. 1 – 0 vir die Kawa!



Elk geval, toe moes die manne maar swys in die middle van nerens. Dit was ‘n belewenis! Gelukkig het ons ‘n kontak (ongelooflike Anglikaanse priester en sy vrou) hier in die middel van nerens gehad! Net daar los ons toe sowat 30kg se goed om die bikes se werk ligter te maak. As jy gedink het jy kan lig pak, dink weer, want op so trip raak minimaal die antwoord! Met my 2 hemde en 4 onderbroeke kom ek al 6 weke!
(Ons het die ekstra begasie nou weer in Nairobi opgetel.)

So het ons dan moeg in Ethiopie aangekom…

Kigali, Rwanda to Entebbe, Uganda

Hi! I can’t believe we’ve already been on the go for 4 weeks today!
I’ll try to update you on what we’ve been up to since the last update. After our long stop in Kigali, we rode out of Rwanda via the less popular border in the North West. We were only just getting used to the luxury of tar roads, only to find the connecting road on the Ugandan side to be much like what we had experienced on the W. border of Tanzania. Having that said, the road was excellent for biking, packed with hair pin bend turns, as well as dramatic sheer drop-offs. Vegetation was different from Rwanda and we were riding through thick equatorial forests on our way to the prominent Lake Bunyoni, meaning “place of many little birds”. We found a terraced campsite on the edge of the lake and stayed a few days before moving north. One of the biggest attractions in the area is the tracking of the rare Silver Back Gorilla’s to which the Bwindi Impenetrable Nat Park which is home to half of the surviving population, at the ludicrous cost of $500!! Far too expensive. We decided we’d take the 4x4 route through the Bwindi…and just maybe we’d spot one. Well, we weren’t so fortunate but we did see a large primate of some sort briefly, before it scrambled off into the thick forest. The Bwindi route took us to Queen Elizabeth national park, where we joined a public road running through the middle of it. The vegetation changed drastically from the equatorial forest to wide open, flat savannah with straight roads. We rode through thousands of butterflies fluttering all over the show. We also spotted some mammals: a couple of buffalo and a herd of Ugandan Cob, which look very similar to our impala.

Soon after our exit of the Park we crossed into the N. Hemisphere .



This was all on our way to the Magestic Rwenzoris (the highest mountain range in Africa) – Jo’s uploaded a pic below. We didn’t take the time to summit the peak of 5109m…I’ll have to do that on my return to Uganda one day.
We then rode through from the Rwenzoris to Jinja . We thought that the trip would be fairly effortless and quick…but once again were proven to be a little optimistic on our predictions of how quickly we would progress along the route. We had to clear out of the way of mad truck/bus drivers who continue to disregard motorbikes on the road - yikes! We moved well up until Kampala, where we were stalled – we were given directions at one of the petrol stations which directed us right through the middle of the taxi rank. It was absolute chaos, navigating through all the taxis, boda-boda’s (motorbike taxis that are ever popular and unpredictable) as well as people, and then also moving in what appeared to be the opposite direction of everything else…
Finally we got to Jinja, the source of the Nile.


A group a school children watch a local rafter take a grade 4 rapid with a Gerry Can.


We watched one of the locals do a grade 4 rapid on a Gerry Can – Jo was keen to try it out but that didn’t materialize. We signed up with Equator rafting company for a trip down the river. Jo and I were at the front of the raft and hit the first rapid at a bit of an angle, I was sure the raft had flipped! I was hanging onto the safety rope of the boat, but was not in the boat. When I surfaced, I was surprised to find the raft still righted and most of the crew still in position! Adrenaline pumping! We rafted another 30 km before we ended off with a massive grade 5 rapid called ‘The Bad Place’. In really was a blast and pitty it had to come to an end.

We’ve been staying in Entebbe for the weekend with Carl Black and his family, who I know from TWR in Swaziland. He’s now working with another mission, AIM. We’ve been having a good time here, catching up, relaxing and even caught up on one of the big Ice Hockey matches between Toronto and Chicago.
It not all play here, we will spend this afternoon prepping the bikes and planning our route to Ethiopia. There is only one option for the section through Seredupi, Marsabit and Moyale – the isolated north of Kenya. Petrol will most likely be a little scarce, and we are also not sure how active the bandits in the region are, so we might have to join a convoy for part of the route. We’ll appreciate your prayers as we move through this area towards the end of the week.

Till next time.
Adios 

Kibali, Rwanda, na Entebbe, Uganda

Status update:
- Valle = steeds 3 – 2 vir Stav
- Totale Km afgele = +/- 5800 kms (Offroad = +/- 1600 kms)
- Tyd spandeer op die ysterperde = 92 uur
- Tyd spandeer by grensposte = 17.5 uur
- Siektes en kwale = geen (Afrika luiheid het ons al ‘n paar keer getref)
- Huidige posisie: Entebbe, Uganda (13 Julie)
- Volgende bestemming: Kenya, maar oppad na Addis, Ethiopie (die trip sal seker omtrent 5/6 dae neem. Harde ry wat voorle!)


Hoesit oesit! Yip, daar is weer ‘n kort tydjie wat afgeknyp kan word vir ‘n vinnige toer update. Tans rus ons uit vir die volgende rowwe ‘stretch’ by Carl Black en sy gesin wat betrokke is by die sending organisasie AIM hier in Uganda. Dis wonderlik om by ‘n huis verwelkom te word van tyd tot tyd so tussen deur die swerwery en tent opslaan!

There is two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. -Albert Einstein-


Elk geval, dit gaan nog goed, bitter goed. Die afgelope 10 dae in Uganda was regtig wonderlik met asemrowende berge, woude, mere, offroad paaie en avontuurlustige bedrywighede. Ons het die aaneenlopende heuwels van Rwanda gegroet met ‘n agterpaadjie wat verby die land se vulkane en gorilla park verby loop. Die Uganda grenspos was rustig en teen 14:30 was doanne en immigration se ‘officials’ steeds op lunch! Ten minste het hulle ons, soos die res van Uganda, vriendelik ontvang toe hulle teen 15:00 weer deure oopmaak. Die enigste minder vriendelike afdeling van die land is hulle bus en trok drywers teenoor motorfietse...

Motorfiets taxi’s, of eerder Boda-Boda’s soos hulle hier beter bekend staan, is ongelooflik gewild en orals. Die 80-125cc fietsies gebou deur die Indiers dra tot 3 passasiers of word gelaai met vragte van oor die 100kg – wat ongelooflik is want ek is seker met 30/40kg gelaai en voel vrek swaar op my 650cc! Hierdie outjies is die werkdonkies van Afrika en hulle bestuurders sonder vrees! Maar ongelukkig handhaaf hul slegs ‘n maks van 50km/h en word net soos ‘n trapfiets op die paaie deur die groter motors hanteer. Dit beteken dat ‘n motorfiets, ons sin inkluis, geen padregte het nie! Wat beteken, meer direk: “van die pad af of word getrap!”. Ons loop dus lig en kry goeie oefening vir Ethiopie wat blykbaar nog erger is…


Nieteenstaande ons niebestaande padreg, is Uganda nog net ongelooflik gewees! Ons het al ontspan by die feetjie meer, Bunyoni, met die motorfietse gekruis deur die ‘Ondeurganklike bos’, Bwendi (waar oor die helfte van die wereld se berggorillas hulle huisves) en die hoogste bergreeks in Afrika se rante geklouter – dis nou die majesteuse Rwenzori’s! Die mense is vriendelik en verwelkomend en behandel ons 2 vuil bikers soos supersterre. Almal wil ‘n foto he – die dames met ons en die manne met die bikes  Ek voel nogal ‘n bietjie soos Ewan McGregor…

How could drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on. -Antoine De Saint-Exupery-


Ons laaste stop voor die Entebbe was Jinja, die sogenaamde oorsprong van die Victoria of wit nyl. Hier is daar een ding wat almal trek – om die nyl te ‘white water raft’! Dit het ons ook dan gedoen. Die rivier is magtig, die water baie, die visarende volop, die rapids groot en dit alles is ‘n perfekte kombinasie en medium vir die pomp van adrenalien! Dit was vrek cool gewees!

Al mag alles soos vet prêt en wille rondtoer klink, is dit ook meer as dit. Afrika se wildheid en mense raak mens. Die grootheid van sy probleme verstom my en maak my mismoedig. En my eie kleinheid en hulpeloosheid om te beinvloed besef ek net meer en meer… Maar tussendeur die warboel van emosie en geskommelde drome is God. God het lief en is goed. Hy het ‘n plan en roeping vir ons elkeen se lewens en ek glo elke oomblik dat Hy nooit die liefdevolle mense van Afrika sal agterlaat nie! Ek glo steeds daar is lig (en ons moet dit wees) vir sogenaamde ‘donker Afrika’…

Ek sluit eers af. Ons diens vandag ons ysterdonkies en sal more die lang pad na Addis Ababa, Ethiopie, begin aandurf. Blykbaar is noordelike Kenya se paaie van die rofste wat ons kan verwag op die trip en is daar boonop stropers (of Bandit) aktiviteit met gedeeltes. Bid asb saam vir ons veiligheid.

Seengroete!

From Mazabuka, Zambia, to Kigali, Rwanda

Greetings from Kigali Rwanda!

Much has happened since the last posting we made in Mazabuka, Zambia while we were taking a much needed 2 day break , having travelled solidly for almost a week. Little did we know the roads that we had been travelling on up to that point were like a highway compared to the roads further north.

One of the highlights was our 2 night stay, right on the Lake Tanganyika, the place we stayed at (lake Tanganyika lodge) was very remote and we followed a windy 4x4 rocky track which both tested and built our off road biking skills! The lodge is right on the lake edge which gave us the most amazing campsite from which to view the sunset across the lake. At night we had brilliant canopy of stars above ..-and spotted a number of shooting stars which was quite special. This would be our last in Zambia before entering into Tanzania…

The section of road that we travelled on through the western side of Tanzania was particularly tough – both physically and mentally demanding. We saw absolutely no tar for 1000 km, we frequently had to slow down to navigate the sandy stretches of road which were very humbling. Riding through the sandy parts requires skill and is made more challenging with the 2 side pannears that I carry. I’ve come off on two occations , losing balance whilst moving through thick sand...lesson learned and new respect gained for the off road!

We found that the poor road conditions in the west of Tan didn’t put breaks on
the truck drivers moving on our route. Trucks and 4x4’s for that matter would move through at about 100 km per hour kicking up a dust storm– we quickly learned to make way early for the trucks, even if they were on ‘our’ side of the road. Riding after sunset has not been an option on the dusty roads and we had to bushcamp on 2 occations. The 2nd campsite was stunning, we road about 200m off of the main route and set up tent on a hill overlooking a plain of tall yellow grass... for the stretch through Tan which was approx 1000km we saw running water once. As you can imagine both Jo and I were layered in red dust (i’ll upload the evidence)




We finally reached some respectable tar on 30th June, which took us over the Rosuma river and falls, and through the rolling hills of Rwanda and into the capital of Kigali, where we have been resting out and catching up on the recent genocide tragedy which has scarred the Rwandan country – it makes me realise how grateful we South Africans should be with how smooth the changeover of governments was back in 1994..

I better be off, I still need to finish of my packing – we are leaving shortly for the Ugandan border.
Till then take care.