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Egypt! Excited to exit

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:18:13 +0100

21 December 2011

Wow, we're here. Nine months of travelling. 11500Kms cycled. Memories that will last a lifetime.

I can remember the 22^nd of March as if it were yesterday, and now today I sit on the end of the continent typing this blog. Its been one helluva ride. But before I get all sentimental lets take a look at our experience in country number ten, Egypt!

We left Aswan and basically followed the Nile on its course north to Cairo. In between we stayed in several towns, both small and large, and had experiences both good and bad.

Egyptian Hospitality

Leaving Aswan I really hated Egypt, or rather the modern day Egyptians. Let me recount a little experiment I tried whilst in Aswan: After noticing that many Egyptians assumed I was local, up until I spoke that is, I decided not to speak at all when buying stuff from a shop. And so I went to shop down the road, picked up a Mega ice cream (which up until that point we thought was a standard price of EP5), paid the man EP5 and left. After leaving I heard the shopkeeper say something to me in Arabic, I turned around and realised that he wanted to give me change – turns out the Egyptian price for Mega ice creams is EP4! The very next day I returned to shop to buy another ice cream, only this time I came with my loaded bicycle (we were on our way out of Aswan), and this time she shopkeeper tried to charge me EP!0 and insisted that I was wrong in saying it was EP4 – I swore him, took my money and left. And this basically been our experience with many Egyptian shopkeepers. In fact, we've discovered that they even have Arabic and English menus with the Arabic prices a lot cheaper than the English menu ones! We've worked out how to read Arabic numbers and now play the game a little smarter with these thieves.

Cairo: Shopping was often an exhausting process

But then Egypt isn't all bad, it does have its amazing history that surrounds you as pass by along the Nile. The modern day Egyptian is indeed most fortunate and should be very grateful to their countrymen who built the pyramids, temples, and tombs – if it weren't for these attractions I doubt many tourists would visit a country where hospitality is still a concept that many have yet to learn.

Edfu Temple - breathtaking in its size

Damn, I was trying not to be negative, but it really is hard. Ok, we did meet a few really good people. We found the Nubian communities (southern Egypt) to be friendly and extremely hospitable. We also made friend in a really good guy called Mohammed Samy. We first met Mohammed on the ferry from Wadi Halfa to Aswan, he's an Egyptian who hails from Alexandria. We ended up visiting him in Alexandria where we were hosted by Mohammed and his mother – who spoilt us fantastic food. In fact Alexandria as a whole was a great town to visit and for the first time we felt that shopkeepers weren't trying to rip us off.

Nubian Hosts Alexandria: Mohamed and his mum

Anyway, I'm losing myself here. Back to the trip. We left Aswan and travelled north along the tarred road hugging the nile. It really was good cycling with some really special scenery, for example, on several occasions we passed by mountains with stunning man made caves that must date back thousands of years. It was a pity that we didn't get a chance to visit these caves as more often than not we had a police escort! After Aswan our next big town was Luxor – a town full of history with the breathtaking temples of Karnak and Luxor, the lane of sphinxes linking the two temples, and of course the many other including the Valley of Kings on the west bank. Fortunately we found a cheap good hotel in the not so tourist part of Luxor, and had a great couple days in this little town.

In Luxor - In front of the Karnak Temple

From Luxor out next big stop was Asyut – not much to do in this town but given that we were doing great time and kilometers (thanks to the police escorts) we decided to stay for a few days in Asyut and did nothing more than eat pizza (at a little takeaway which has the best pizzas in the world!), ice cream, and sit on the internet. It was a nice break from the cops.

The Egyptian Police

Its hard to place judgement on the police. Their insistence on escorting us was usually annoying and unwelcome. But then, it couldn't have been too much for them either having to drive at 15kph behind three cyclists! There were times where they were extremely good to us, once even letting us sleep in a cell and getting us supper, and there were times when all they wanted to do was get us out of their district. We were once moved three times at night, they were times when they lied to us and forced us to keep cycling after dark, and then there were times when they gave us tea and a place to rest. And of course, we weren't killed by crazy extremist so maybe they were useful.

Cairo: Night cycling Cairo: Khalili Bazaar Mosque

The End

A few days after Asyut, we arrived in Cairo. Eight and half months, 11 500kms, 10 countries... and on Monday morning, the 12^th December 2011, we cycled into Cairo. First stop was the South African Embassy (the embassy is in the southern part of Cairo and so it made logistical sense to visit them first) – oh how good it was to hear South African voices again. Being our last embassy visit (we tried to visit the SA Embassy in the countries we'd been through), it was a bit of a surprise when we were told that the Ambassador would see us. And so we ended up having juice with the Ambassador. Our embassies abroad are just another example of what a great country we come from.

With Ambassador Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya in Cairo

We left the embassy with lifted spirits and made headed straight for the pyramids. Not being allowed to take the bicycles into the pyramids area was a bit disappointing, so instead we hung out in the car park and took loads of photos with the great Khufu Pyramid in the background (the largest of the three famous pyramids in Giza).

Excitement outside the pyramids

What's next

The real world unfortunately. As I finish this blog its Wednesday, the 21^st December 2011, tomorrow will mark nine months since leaving Cape Town on that cloudy day in March. What then seemed like an enormous task is now over. We've all had a really great experience, one that probably has changed our lives, and hopefully has made us made us better people. The latest figures put the Hear Us donations at just over three hundred thousand rand. Not much in the greater scheme of things but still hopefully the start of something that will make a difference in the lives of our fellow human beings.

Thank you

A great big thank you to every one of you. There's so many people to thank: friends, family, donors, strangers who took us in, new friends who shared homes and lives with us, supporters, Fine Young Africans (who sponsored our successful summit up Kilimanjaro), Nature Fresh (who kept us supplied with herbal meds throughout our trip), the embassy officials who genuinely cared, the countless smiling faces and waving hands of the locals who make a travel across Africa a truly memorable experience, the government officials who helped us through and encouraged us in every country (contrary to what many people expected, we weren't asked for a and didn't pay a single bribe), the media who've given us coverage throughout the way, the facebook messages, the guest entries on the website, the sms's, emails, and phone calls, and even those who thought we wouldn't make it.

Its been one helluva ride!

Ria

Simply Sudan

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:23:40 +0100

What an underestimated country – beautiful desert landscape, magnificent sunsets then night skies and roadside cafés bubbling with friendly, humble and generous folk.
Exiting Ethiopia was somewhat of a relief; we were at breaking point after dealing with stone throwing kids, jippo guts and constant mountain passes..

Last of the mountain passes in Ethiopia

Border crossing was a breeze, similar to all other countries on the journey, however the Ethiopian / Sudanese border is poorly signposted (if at all) with not much of a structure so I can imagine why some over-landers have troubles. At times you not sure if you dealing with officials or just curious locals. Customs is literally a 5 X 5 metre tin structure!
In Sudan the discrepancy between the official bank rate and the black market exchange rate is massive. Bank: 1USD = 2.5 Sudan pounds (SDG) Black market: 1USD = 4 to 4.5 SDG

Sudan did not come without its difficulties though! The extreme heat and relentless head wind prove to be a challenge. We altered our cycling routine: start at 4am, cycle till 9am then chill the entire day at a roadside rest stop with beds made of weaved nylon string for better ventilation. We then cycled again from about 4pm to 8pm. As the full moon waned night cycling became more difficult with poor visibility and bumpy roads in sections – that’s when my 60 lumen headlight came in handy.

On 12 November we hit a record 57 degrees Celsius at midday – at first I thought my cateye is incorrect so I had a look at the mercury thermometer on my compass – the mercury only goes up to 50 degrees and it was off the scale!! Its too hot to do anything, even just breathing is exhausting and your face feels like its melting in the shade!
As much as we rehydrated on flavoured malt drinks, urination was limited to once daily and it looked like Oros ( just in case you wanted to know)

Cateye temperature - middle right 55 deg                                  Roadside rest stops and restaurants

Early days in Sudan we met Franscoir and Tanya Steyn who have been riding their 200cc Moto Mias from Cape Town – what an amazing achievement! It was great to speak to fellow Saffas but it did put me on a downer, as from that day for the next week I started making motorbike noises and rotating my right side bar grip while cycling but all to no avail.

Franscoir and Tanya with their 200cc bikes

Food in Sudan is as bland as can be, with Ful (boiled chickpea / bean) being the staple for breakfast, lunch and supper, seasoned with just salt. If you lucky you got a drizzle of grated cheese – mmmhh cheese!! who moved the cheese?
More traditional food included Weke – the Sudanese version of curry – but this is actually dried Okra ground into a powder and added to a few herbs, giving you a slimy, spit like consistency – just like the white of a raw egg, and it did not taste much better!


Diving into lunch - yum!                                                                One of the many roadside, free water points

Our approach of walking into a restaurant and asking for “food” soon changed to physically going into the kitchen and looking into the pots as the locals kept on thinking we asking for “Ful” On one unforgettable lunch, starving I glanced into a pot – thinking its meat, potato and cauliflower I said Yes, I will have this! Only to find out later it was liver, omental fat, sections of small intestine and tripe / rumen! Driven by hunger I gagged with each bite and bolted most of it.
So next time you in Nandos and they ask you what flavour would you like, take some time and appreciate the fact that there is a choice :)
Its not as bad as I make it out to be, food more familiar to a western tongue is available at a premium (well over our budget) but in Khartoum we broke the bank and went to Steers – 2 burger meals later, short of an arm and a leg it felt like I had only had starters.

Bush camping in the middle of the desert was definitely a highlight for me – fiery red sunsets then stargazing with a crescent moon undoubtedly made for some of the best night skies I have ever seen.

Setting Sun                                                                                Rising "Moon"

Jiten has an uncanny ability to fall asleep every time we take a cycle break, be it under a tree, with locals or even in a busy café – I think he has African Sleeping Sickness – however its one of the two skills he has that I am envious of, the other being his ability to clap with his feet :)

G6 - lights out!   Dreaming......                                                  Chilling at a rest stop......Baking

Some homeless dude, begging                                                 Half of G6's dream coming true - one massive melon

13 November – Ria's birthday, he awoke to a surprise present of 6 punctures, only finding a few at a time then cycling on it took a few hours and lots of flowery language before he had them all fixed – by this time it was 8am and 42 degrees so we stopped after having only done 9kms.

6 gifts in a row!! Take notice of how Jiten and Imraan are helping. Ha

The hospitality of the Sudanese is a well known fact but one has to go there to experience the warmth and generosity of the nation.
Everyone is willing to help and give, none of them have any ulterior motives or expect / want anything in return. Even if you offer to pay for a favour or meal they will adamantly refuse.

Hibiscus tea (karkade) is constantly offered by locals and strangers took us into their homes, giving us a much needed shower, dinner and beds that we much appreciated!
A huge thank you to Hassan of Al Hayat Org in Khartoum and yaseen from El Tekina for their hospitality!

Hibiscus tea                                                                              Dinner, Bed and Breakfast at Yaseens home

Every foreigner entering Sudan needs to register with the police when in Khartoum – costs 40 pounds and you also need a travel permit / permission to head North – both of this happens at different locations and is a mission to find with our poor Arabic communication skills. Fortunately we found an agent to sort out our (for a fee) and have it delivered to our accommodation, but apparently both of this can also be done at the Airport!

From Khartoum we took a bus to Dongola, laziness had a lot to do with this decision, we were hoping to get a train but the service is currently disrupted and unpredictable.
On the bus I was wearing a pair of shorts and one of the locals gave me a baggy ¾ pair of pant to wear as it is apparently shameful to wear shorts in the presence of woman – hence the pant has been named “The Shameful Pant” that you will see in many a photo. In the bus wrestling was the channel of choice with speedos highlighting the crotchular region of the contestants - if only I carried my red one with it would have been acceptable!

Shameful pant                                                                              Bus to Dongola

Lots of our daily cycling conversation centres around food, sometimes even as random as “how Lunch Bar is such an under rated chocolate” when it has everything you want in it and yet its still in the class of “average chocolates” unlike Flake or Galaxy. (you must think we have totally lost the plot by now)

Jiten once told me he is going to message his mother daily for 10 days – I thought to myself wow, that is nice of him, giving his mother peace of mind knowing he is safe. However he had a plan of putting in 1 of his favourite food items in each message, so his menu on return home would be set, haha

At Wadfi Halfa (port town in Northern Sudan) we met up with the Voetspore team who have been driving from Cape Town and filming a documentary for SABC. We camped together for a night and enjoyed a hearty dinner provided by them – many thanks :)

Camping with Voetspore                                                           Desert cycling

Ferry from Wadi halfa to Aswan leaves once a week on Wednesday at 5pm.
2nd class ticket – 104 SDG, Port tax – 21 SDG, Bike cargo – 26 SDG.

We boarded the ferry on 23rd November pumped with anti emetics for our 19 hour journey to Aswan. 3 hours into the trip we saw Abu Simbel at night, a real spectacle and also crossed the Tropic of Cancer.
It was cold on the deck of the ship and I slept with all my clothes, except my technical thermal sweater that was stolen in Malawi by a little German girl – who would have thought!
Getting off the ferry was chaos, we sat back and watched the drama unfold while everyone jostled and pushed to get out only to wait in another police scan and check. There is no system / order or such a thing as a queue!

Last 1km in Sudan before boarding ferry                                  Ferry in background

Heloo Aswan – On a high having just entered our final country my jolly spirit was soon broken by the arrogant, conniving and deceptive attitude of the Egyptians.
Starting off my rant was teller Ahmed at Commercial International Bank who was suffering from PMS!
I then went into the market to buy a coke (knowing very well it costs 1 Egyptian Pound)
First stop – 5 Pounds, I did a handbrake turn and was out of there; 2nd stop – 6 Pounds, I was stunned and lost for words; 3rd stop – 7 Pounds, that is when the dormant Negri Bodies in my brain started to fire and I pranced the streets spewing out my utter dislike of the Egyptian exploitation towards tourists – before long a barber sat me down and bought me a free drink!!! It does not end here, at every shop they will try to rip you off, first with the price, then the quantity/number, and then with your change – it just gets so frustrating. Egyptians have the perception that all foreigners are rich and charging you a few pounds more will not make you poor.
I'll calm down, we're nearly there, time to think of work/ buying a car/house – getting back onto the grid.

Most of the unrest in the country seems to be contained around Tahrir Square in Cairo, however there was an explosion in Aswan two days before our arrival.
Some cyclists that we met in Ethiopia making their way down to S. Africa had a police escort in Egypt, that said we have so far heard 3 reports of police robbing tourists!

See you all soon....

Imraan

Addis to Sudan:

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:31:30 +0100

With the help of the Sudanese Ambassador in South Africa we got a 2 month tourist visa in Addis, whereas normally only a 2 week visa is available. There was some palaver and stress but everything worked out in the end. After 10 days in Addis I'm still unsure if I like the city or not and was glad to finally be on the move again as we headed out to Bahir Dar, source of the Blue Nile.

On the 3rd day out of Addis we hit the Blue Nile gorge, a shear 1300m drop from the plateau and another 1100m rise on the other side. The sweeping landscape from the top as you look down from this dizzy hight is breathtaking, so is the realisation that what goes down must come back up as you look across to the opposite mountain. One would think that the beautiful descent must have been one of the best of the whole trip but in fact it was by far the worst. Free-wheeling down the steep slope takes you to 50-60km/hour. The road was too steep and way too undulating and potholed (from all the descending fully-loaded trucks constantly breaking) that hitting even a small bump at this speed could send us over the edge. We had to slow our descent to about 20-30km/hour and the rims heated up so much from all the breaking that we could barely touch it without burning our fingers. Frequent stops were necessary to cool the rim as overheating could cause our tubes to burst, the 47 degree temperature also didn't help. What made matters worse for me was my fever, despite the heat I was still wearing my jacket because I was freezing.

We eventually reached the bottom and crossed the unimpressive Italian bridge over the somewhat disappointingly small Blue Nile. But we all arrived alive, making it a successful descent. We could not linger though as we still had to get to the top of the other side by nightfall. The 25km ascent is too steep to cycle so we had 2 options: either push the bike up or catch a truck. Imraan and Ria stopped at the bottom of the gorge and waited for a slow, fully-loaded truck plodding up the mountain pass. I decided on pushing and if a truck happened by I'd catch it. Pushing the whole 25km at 3km/hr would take 7 hours. I started pushing and as trucks came past I'd get on the bicycle and try to catch them. Unfortunately I was sick and the slope too steep for me to get enough speed to catch a truck. After about 2-3 hours as I rested in the shade of a tree eating sesame seeds from a passing farmer, Ria and Imraan rocketed past me while clinging onto a truck. This gave me some motivation and the next truck that came by I cycled hard to get and finally grabbed it. But I was so tired by the time I caught it that I could only hold on for a few seconds before I retired to the side of the road, sweating and panting.

I carried on pushing up the hill and as the sun set, knowing I would not reach the top, started looking for a place to sleep. An old local farmer seeing my exhaustion even started pushing my bicycle from behind to help me get up the never-ending hill. I spotted a church and asked to sleep there for the night but was not allowed on account of me being a 'faranji' (foreigner). So I plodded on and found a small village in the dark. A partially deaf and blind old man (93 years, as old as Madiba) offered me a place to sleep. He led me to his house, along a rocky path and showed me to his bed and insisted that I sleep there. I obviously refused and laid my mattress down on the floor at the foot of the bed. The family then came in from the fields and I explained my trip to the son who could speak a little English and relayed the story to the rest of the family. They invited me for supper, which was a simple farm meal consisting of injera and kai wot (a red curry). Unlike restaurant food, this had no meat and the dollop of kai wot was just enough to lend a little flavour to the copious amounts of stale injera. The highlight though was the coffee ceremony. It started off with the roasting of coffee beans over the fire and when ready were brought to my feet so I could take in the rich arouma. After I displayed my olfactory appreciation the beans where crushed with a pestle and mortor and added to a traditional clay pot that was put on the hot coals. Once done the coffee, dark, thick and unsweetened, was served to the whole family. I was woken up twice during the night to the sound of the old man using a piss pot (also available in all 'hotels' for guests)

I joined up with Imraan and Ria the next day but Ria and I weren't feeling well and so we both had a malaria (Plasmodium falsiparum) snap test performed that evening that came up negative. Unfortunately this did not test for the milder, less lethal strains of malaria but did allow us to carry on to Bahir Dar confident we weren't dying.

Resting for the next 2 days at this laid back town, situated on the shores of Lake Tana, source of the Blue Nile, was to be our reward after a week of hard cycling. We cruised the lake shore in a boat and visited the remove Lake Tana Monasteries. The frescos on the inner walls of the buildings were stunning, but the high entrance fees and the monks demanding payment mars the sanctity of the temples. My 2 nights of fever and 4 nights of night-sweats finally broke in Bahir Dar and life looked brighter again. I suspect I had a milder strain of malaria but it could have been anything.

The next day we trekked to the Blue Nile falls, the 2nd largest waterfall in Africa before the hydroelectic power plant sapped most of it's thunder. It was during this walk that Ria noticed a pussy discharge from his ankle, the site of a orthopaedic screw from an operation 2 years back and what probably accounted for his nausea and fever.

I left Imraan and Ria, keen on seeing the famous Gondar castles. Ria saw a doctor in Bahir Dar and got a course of antibiotics along with a sense of relieve at being told that the abscess was only superficial. A deeper abscess effecting the screw or the bone might have put an end to his Cape to Cairo dream. Imraan stayed in Bahir Dar for Eid as over the next 2 days it was unlikely that he'd find a mosque in this predominantly Coptic Christian area.

Over the next 2 days to Gonder I got more stones thrown at me than in the whole preceding trip. Needless to say I was getting more and more weary of cycling through Ethiopia and wanted nothing more than to get out. I met up with Ria in Gonder the next morning who had cycled in with a German couple cycling a similar route to us and a South African cycling from London to Cape Town. We toured the grand ruins of the Gonder Royal Enclosure where the Kings and Queens ruled.

On our cycle out of Gonder we happended upon the Dashen Brewery beer garden. Ria and I sat down for a well deserved beer. Before we knew it, a local had organised a free tour of the brewery. The personalized tour was the best tour we've been on in the whole trip. A microbiologist took us through the whole process from barley to beer. The different beer types, the cellar draught (unfiltered, unpasturised and only consumable within 24 hours), the draught (pasteurised at 67 deg for 60 sec then put in a keg) and the bottle (bottled then pasteurised for 1 hour at 66 deg). We saw the lab and the effluent treatment plant. The sun was setting and we needed to find Imraan and arrange a place to sleep for the night so decided on just having 1 more beer before leaving (it would be wrong not to after such a comprehensive tour). Matters were not made any easier as some locals insisted on buying us beer. Before we knew it, it was dark, we were eating meat and dancing with locals in the classical shoulder shaking Ethiopian dance. Communication in Ethiopia is hopeless but luckily Imraan had my Ethiopian sim car and we were able to meet him in town a little further down the road were he had gotten rooms. We cycled, or meandered rather, in the dark towards town as one of our new found friends drove slowly behind us to light the way.

From Gonder, another 2 days of cycling took us to the Sudanese border town of Metema. Imraan and I lost Ria along the way and met him again at the border. We were surprise and impressed that he'd done 155km in hilly terrain but knew he couldn't get far as he had no Ethiopian money left.

A typical local Ethiopian hotel (or at least typical on our budget) - R10

We were glad to finally be out of Ethiopia. It is a beautiful, unique country that should be visited, just not on a bicycle. There are the Simien Mountains with Walia Ibex and Galadia baboons. There are the highly endangered Ethiopian wolves. There are the impressive rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and Tigray and remote monasteries. The monastery of Debre Daom is built on a cliff top and only asscessed by an old, fraying rope. There are the tribes of the lower Omo valley with the famous Mursi lip stretchers and various other tribes that decorate their bodies with elaborate scars. There are the laval pools and camal treks that can be done with the notorious Afar tribes. On a bicycle and on a deadline we could do none of these. Instead we got stones thrown at us, tough mountains to cycle up and constantly witnessing how foreign aid saps the dignity from a once proud people. These were the same people who resisted colonization, the only African nation to do so, yet now it struggles. The older generation are kind, generous and tough. While the younger generation are used to hand outs and expect something for nothing.

What happens when you don't use sunblock (note the sandal and glove tan and the typical expression of a cycle tourist in Ethiopia)

Like the orbits of celestial bodies, cycling followed the same eternal pattern:
- Wake up at dawn and scratch the numerous flea and bed bug bites
- Need to dump but decide to hit the bush while cycling after seeing the writhing mass of maggots in the toilet
- Cycle till the next town
- Look for the elusive bush, but fail to find it
- Get breakfast (either fool, shiro, egg or tibs and a machiato - see below for explanation)
- Cycle a few kilometres up a hill
- Try to ignore some kids who threw stones at you
- Cycle a few more kilometres up the same hill
- Put iPod in ears to drown out the children shouting “you, you, you, you, YOU”
- Start pushing up the same hill as it becomes steeper
- Turn iPod up
- Try to figure out why EVERYONE asks the exact same phrase “where are you go?” when you know no-one even knows what it means
- Try to hold onto a truck going up the hill
- Hit a pothole while holding onto the truck and get cheese-grated on the tar
- Still looking for the bush to use for the call of nature
- Stop for lunch at top of the hill (pasta, tibs, bayanetu and a machiato - see below for explanation)
- Cycle a few more kilometres and realise that was not the top of the hill
- Chase some kids who threw some stones
- Realise you can't catch them as they dissappear into the fields
- Start swearing
- Start cycling with a stick to hit anyone who gets to close and starts pulling on the bicycle as you cycle
- Smack a kid in the face who gets too close
- Find a small isolated bush, surrounded by open fields but use it because you can't wait
- Wonder where all these children came from and why they are staring at you as you still squat behind the bush
- Cycle a few more kilometres
- Can't camp because there are no isolated spots, so stop for the day in a village
- Find a cheap room in a 'hotel' and get the option of taking it for the night or by the hour
- Realise it's a brothel and it's pointless looking for something else because all the 'hotels' are the same
- Start scratching as the bed bugs and fleas start feeding
Over a month! We followed the same pattern for over a month!

Food:
Injera: a sour, fermented pancake eaten with most meals
Fool: a chickpea dish eaten for breakfast
Shiro; a chickpea putree
Tibs: Fried meat cubes
Kai Wot; a spicy red curry
Misto: stewed meat cooked till tender
Dubo Firfir: Pieces of bread mixed with wot
Fruit juice: Fresh thick juice served in colourful layers (usually avocado, mango, guava, pawpaw and orange)
The Italians came to Ethiopia and introduced pasta and coffee. Even back end villages and tea houses have fancy coffee machines that churn out expressos and machiatos)

From the Desert to the Highlands, hello Ethiopia!

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:21:36 +0100

19 October 2011

Howzit! I write this not from a stunning beach, but a crumby “hotel” in Addis. The past two weeks have been rather interesting, and pleasantly surprising.

Lets start off with the end of the Kenyan leg, Marsabit to Moyale. You might have heard stories of terrible road conditions, or perhaps, banditry as the reason for us taking a truck on the last 250 odd kilometres in Moyale. Both partially true. The road is no doubt atrocious, and cycling across it would have been tough, but no tougher than the previous stretch from Merille to Marsabit. And as for the banditry, well lets just say we did cycle the really dangerous part (unknowingly) and it was before Marsabit. So why take a truck you might ask? The real answer was time. Time wasted on several prior occasions put in us in a situation where we would be cutting it close with expiry of our Ethiopian visas. So we took a truck. Was it the easier option? I'm not so sure. You sitting in the back of truck on a 20 hour journey as it bounces its way across the landscape isn't really fun. Its especially terrible and downright painful when you have to balance yourself across the tops of steel bars so that you don't actually make contact with the goods (boxes of milk) being transported. But this is what we did. And so on the afternoon of Thursday the 6^th October 2011, we reached the town of Moyale and promptly crossed the border into Ethiopia. Moyale is a big town and is odd in the fact that it lies between to the neighbouring countries – one half in Kenya and the other in Ethiopia. After another uneventful border crossing we found accommodation in a cheap “hotel” in Ethiopia's Moyale. A decent place and at 50bir (about R25) for a single room we settled in for the night.

For the second time in my blog writing history on this trip I'm going to change the format a bit. For those of you who want to know the daily itenary it was as follows:

Friday 7^th October 2011 – Moyale to Mega
Saturday 8^th October 2011 – Mega to Yabelo Junction
Sunday 9^th October 2011 – Yabelo Junction to Finchawa
Monday 10^th October 2011 – Fincahawa to Gedeb
Tuesday 11^th October 2011 – Gedeb to Dilla
Wednesday 12^th October 2011 – Dilla to Aawasaa
Thursday 13^th October 2011 – Aawasaa rest day
Friday 14^th October 2011 – Aawasaa to Bulbula
Saturday 15^th October 2011 - Bulbula to Koka
Sunday 16^th October 2011 – Koka to Addis outskirts
Monday 17^th October 2011 – Enter Addis city centre
Tuesday 18^th October 2011 – Addis
Wednesday 19^th October 2011 – Addis

Ok, so if you want, check out the map on our website and you can follow all of the above. But for the rest of this blog I'm just going to relate a few experiences.

Ethiopia... Exceeding Expectations

Before leaving Kenya I posted on our Facebook page that we were about to enter Ethiopia, a comment that followed was “Pack a lunch”. For some stupid, or rather ignorant reason, I too expected to find a country in poverty. A country that “needed” outside aid. And of course if one thinks that food is the problem one would expect to find a country that was not fertile. How wrong I was. Yes, the on the first two days I saw more dead animal carcasses on the side of the road than I had in all the other previous countries combined. But this that being said, we had rain on an almost daily basis and no doubt that if this region had been in drought than the situation was quickly improving. If I had to describe Ethiopia in one word – the word “green” comes to mind. Lush rolling hills and fertile plateaus. In fact this greenery together with several lakes and very green mountains make this one hell of a scenic place! In fact its this scenery that helps lift one's spirit when struggling up a never ending hill. Make no mistake this country is fertile. As we got closer to Addis the road became busy with trucks hauling of the latest batch of produce for export.

Proudly South African

Last Sunday, we decided we would leave a little late so that we could watch the Boks take on the Aussies in the quarter finals. There we were, sitting at a roadside restaurant on a cold Ethiopian morning, flags flying proudly off the bikes in the background, having a Sunday breakfast and watching the game like thousands of other South Africans back home. That was cool. Funny how you become more patriotic when abroad. After the the singing of the national anthem Jiten remarked “I just felt shivers listening to that”. Although we lost I still spent the day listening to South African music and feeling very proudly South African. In fact, the more and more we're not in SA, the more and more proud I become of who we are and where we are today as a country. Still, a win would've been nice.

Stone throwing kids

Ask any cycle tourist on their thoughts about Ethiopia, and you're bound to hear stories about the stone throwing kids. In fact we've heard of cyclists giving Ethiopia a complete miss for this very reason. We were warned several times. I really was not looking forward to Ethiopia - not only having to deal with steep mountain cycling but then add in some little snot nosed six year old who's determined to smack me in the face with a bloody stone! No, I really was not looking forward to Ethiopia.... and again I was wrong. Yes the kids are there. In fact they're there in numbers, all screaming “you you you you you” as you pass by, but really, most of them just want a wave of hello. You are after all a novelty for them and lets be honest, there cant be too much of excitement in these parts. During the first couple days I did get a bit annoyed with them, one little brat took off her shoe and threw it at me as I cycled by (amateur move – I just stopped, picked up the shoe, and cycled away with it – in hindsight I now regret this – anger can drive you to do regretful things), and some other little brat ran behind me and gave my bicycle a big shove! The nerve!!!! But if I'm not mistaken it was the teachings of Sun Tzu (The Art of War) that say that when things wrong, there's a way to turn them into you favour. And that's the attitude I decided to take when leaving the town of Finchawa early on Monday morning, faced with an agonisingly steep and long uphill I really was not in the mood to cycle (also the fact that all three have us had been experiencing a mild but consistent bout of diarrhoea since Marsabit). And then came the little monsters who quickly surrounded me and became my annoying little entourage as I struggled pushing my bicycle up the never ending hill. And then I thought Mr Tzu and the idea struck me: all these kids really want is to be part of the excitement of this journey, so why not let them have a bit of fun? And why shouldn't that benefit me? With hand gestures (the local language of Aaramic is rediculously difficult to learn, we still know very little) I indicated to one of the little kids that she should feel free to take my bicycle and get it up the hill. Poor kid, happy as she was to take on the task, she almost fell over with the weight of the bike. So I tried a new approach – I took over the handlebars and steered, whilst the many little hands together bushed the bike from the back. It worked! I was virtually running up the hill with the energy of these little, dare I say it, angels! You might judge me, but I don't really care. The fact is that the kids went from annoying little stone throwers to being part of the “team”. From that moment on I looked forward to the kids (especially on the uphills). The truth is most of them just want your attention, a hello. Sometimes we (all three of us have since used the kids to get up several hills) rattle off entire stories which we know they cannot understand but still they love it. You're talking to them. They talk back, but we don't understand, and everyone is happy. We have had a couple stone's thrown out way, but its the odd idiot who does this. And for the most part the kids have done more good than harm and I hope to make use of many more of them on the upcoming mountain passes (again, feel free to judge, you're there, and I'm here). So to all you cycle tourists considering an Ethiopian tour, do it! Though if you want solitude and don't want to interact with the kids as you pass by, I suspect you could expect more stone throwing. Anyway, that's been the experience with the kids so far. We'll let you know if it changes on the second half of our Ethiopian crossing.

Fresh fruit juice

This has really blown us away. Freshly squeezed juice. It comes in a thick pulp like juice that you can either eat with a spoon or drink. Avocado, orange, banana, guava, papaya, and mango have been some of the mixtures we've had so far. Simply delicious! It costs about 10bir for a 350ml glass of goodness.

Good people

I've told you much about the kids. But the rest of the people are also pretty good. We've felt pretty safe and welcome in all the towns we've passed through. In Aawasaa we even met a a really good guy named Gabrielle. Gabrielle had seen us on the road a couple of times on a recent visit he made to Moyale. When we got to Aawasaa late in the evening we met Gabrielle on the side of the road, a pleasant gentleman who offered to help us find accommodation for the night. He took us to a reasonably priced hotel, we said thanks, and said our goodbyes. Twenty minutes later Gabrielle was back at the hotel and treated us to dinner. We now have a new friend. I really hope I do not become jaded when back in the “real” world and am able to show this kind of hospitality to total strangers, as Garbrielle has done to us.

Lost and found

In Kenya, after 7500kms I made my first tyre change. Though there was still plenty thread left on my rear tyre I changed due to an significant hole in it caused by a nasty puncture a while back. I've been carrying a spare fold up tyre since the beginning and used this to replace the old one. I'm now keeping the old one as a spare but due to it not being a fold up tyre, I drape it over the back of my luggage on the back pannier. Whilst cycling down a particularly long, steep mountain downhill a few days ago I lost this now spare tyre – it flew off (my own fault for not securing properly in the morning) and I only realised this at the bottom of the hill. And so with great frustration I turned around and started back up the mountain road. After a while the locals seemed to be encouraging me to go up quickly but due to the language barrier I couldn't understand a word they were saying. However some kids did run ahead in front of me and up the hill, they were too fast for me. After a while I met Imraan who was on his way down, left my bike with him and then ran up the hill (it must be said that our fitness has increased dramatically over the past six months). Not long after Jiten came cruising down, I explained what had happened, and was just about ready to give up when he said that he saw someone carrying a tyre and walking up not too long ago, I kept running up. After what felt like an eternity I ran all the way back to the top of the mountain and into the town. From a distance I could see that a big crowd had gathered and there was big commotion going on with some of the men shouting. However as I got closer, the crowd opened up and there stood an elderly man my tyre in hand and a smile on his face. From what I could gather, I think the following occurred: someone had picked up the tyre and meant to keep it, the kids had run ahead to retrieve the tyre, the guy did not want to give up his find, the people of the town realised this, took the tyre away from him (with several choice words expressed to the finder, for taking what obviously did not belong to him and was that of a visitor), and returned it to me. I tried to express my sincere thanks to all who helped, shook hands with many of the friendly faces in the crowd, and then ran back to fetch my bicycle from Imraan and Jiten and continue the journey ahead. I highly doubt this scene would've played out in the Cape Town CBD.

Visit Ethiopia

I dont think that I'm the only one ignorant about the situation in Ethiopia. Come here. Visit this spectacular country. It really is a wonderful place and getting better. The road infrastructure is good (what a pleasure to be riding on tarred roads again since leaving Kenya), the people are friendly, the prices are excellent (8 birr for a draught!), the history unbelievable, the food excellent, and the weather great... just come and see for yourself. Oh yes, and Addis is a very modern city with impressive buildings, restaurants, and even bus lanes.

Leaving Ethiopia

[edited 25 October 2011] Its Tuesday, the 25^th of October 2011, we've changed hotels and now in a somewhat nice place – they have hot showers! Yesterday we received our Egyptian visas and today the Sudanese Embassy approved our visas in a matter of hours! From what we hear this is certainly not the norm. A massive thank you to the Sudanese Embassy in South Africa – they really did go out of their way to help us and we now have a two month visa for Sudan! Although our stay in Addis has taken longer than planned, tomorrow we will hit the road again and make haste for the border. Addis has been fun, lots of good food, salad, and fruit juice but its time to keep moving. We secretly hope to be somewhere decent for New Years – hopefully Cairo!

Hot Showers

Just a quick one on this: for some odd reason the concept of a hot shower is still take off in Ethiopia. Its not because of a lack of facilities – they have running water and electricity but for some reason, apart from tourist hotels, cold showers are the norm!

Before I leave you, the second half of the trip has been the most difficult so far. Since the desert dirt roads of Kenya, through the energy sapping hills of Ethiopia, we've all been thinking a little more about the good life we have back home. The list is some of things we look forward to:

Opening a tap and drinking clean water
Opening a fridge, and drinking clean ice cold water
Not having to get up and cycle 100kms with a fully loaded bicycle, up mountains, and with diarrhoea that's been going on for several days.
The ability to eat a variety of different foods (which include but is not limited to the following: Nandos (yes, grilled chicken and in a range of different flavours), sushi, breyani, bunny chows, all other Indian dishes, steak, ice cream, and salads). NB. I really could go on with an item by item listing of the many foods we will not take for granted ever again!
Not having a stone, shoe, stick or any other object thrown at you
Not having diarrhoea
Clean toilets
Sitting on top of Lions Head and having a beer at sunset
Sitting on the grass outside Blue Peter and having a beer at sunset
Falling like a brick
Flying like a jet
Chilling and having fun with the many friends we have
Having a cold coke from a fridge and not a warm one from the shelf of a little shop on a day when the temperature is 47 degrees celcius
Sleeping in a bed without fleas
Having a shower
Having a shower with hot water

Now at this point you must think that we've had enough. Not quite, for as there are many things we may miss right now, we know that there'll be many things that we will miss once this is over. Such as:

Cycling on the road, in the quiet cool of the morning, watching the sun rise over the a nearby lake, mountain, or other spectacular piece of scenery that surrounds us on a daily basis on the road
Sunsets with boabab trees in the foreground
Sunsets over lakes, mountains, ….
Having a dozen little smiling faces helping push your bicycle up a mountain
The kindness of strangers
The smile that lights up on a wary strangers face when you greet him in his local language
The sense of achievement when you look back into the distance and think to yourself, I covered that distance today with my own strength
Sleeping under the stars in the African bush
The respect given to you by a Maasai warrior after he's realised what you have done to get here
The many many friendships made on a daily basis
Cycling in the cooling rain on a hot day
Cycling alongside the tracks of a lion in Kenyan wilderness
Seeing a wild elephant on the side of the road not in a National Park
The thrill of cycling in Africa where one has to consider the real possibility of attack by a wild animal
Smiles, smiles, and even more smiles by people of different ages, colours, tribes, and backgrounds
The encouraging hooting and waves of support from passing truck drivers
The happiness evoked when meeting a dutchman on the side of the road who says the word “lekker!” like only a dutchman can
Sitting under the shade of an Acacia tree and really appreciating it being there for you to sit under
Visiting islands, swimming in lakes, and watching the sun rise from below you at the top of Africa's highest mountain
Sailing on a dhow
Eating export quality fruit given to you by the farm owner
Having the time to read (I've since read more than fifteen books from the start of this trip)
Having the time to think, reflect, and hopefully improve as a human being
Not knowing what tomorrow will bring
Living the dream

Have a very happy day (we are)!.

Stay safe

Ria

Marangu to Marsabit

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:43:33 +0100

7000km and country number 7 (Kenya)

With our quads still feeling the deep burn from our Kilimanjaro hike, we crossing into Kenya back on the road and climbing into Kenya. Lodging close to the border at what we thought was affordable accommodation we realised the next day it was probably for good times :)

Border crossing into Kenya

Border crossing into Kenya was a breeze with friendly officials and a 1 month free visa on arrival, however this was the first time each of us had to open one bag – it was more of a formality, likely to be induced by Jitens dreadlocks

                                                View of Killi from Kenya

Entering the country from Oloitokitok the road is bordered on the east by Tsavo and on the west by Ambosili national parks, no wonder the locals warned us to be careful of wild animals as fences are unheard of
We spent our first night camping in a vegetable garden belonging to a Masaai youth – Kivo, who shared stories of animal encounters and cultural traditions with us. I take my helmet off to these pastoral herders who look after their cattle in the midst of big 5 – they have balls of steel.

Vegetable garden and Kilimanjaro in background                Sunset at the garden

We were awoken the next morning by the frantic barking of dogs at 5am, but it was only a passing giraffe. It is not uncommon for elephant and lion to come drink from the farms water source.

At Emali we joined the notoriously busy Nairobi – Mombasa highway and cycled towards Nairobi via Sultan Hamoud and Athi River; staying over on route this time with a Samburu man – Ebrahim, who treated us to dinner and kindly gave us a sheltered porch to sleep in as it was pouring with rain.
Here we had our first and last taste of Miraa – a bitter leafy twig chewed by locals to pass time and contemplate life.
Arriving in Nairobi we were met by a family friend of Jiten – Adash from Statpack who kindly gave us a much anticipated, hearty home cooked meal and a place to stay.

Nairobi is a bustling city – by far the largest we have passed so far, with traffic worse than Dar Es Salaam, multiple tourist attractions, a thriving Indian community (spicy food), fancy malls comparable to S. Africa where you can find anything besides bicycle spares!!
Our anticipated 3 day rest turned into 7 as we searched for spares and waited for our bikes to be serviced. Ria and I put on a new rear rim and Jiten changed his bottom bracket and crank.
Making the most of our extended stay we explored the city and visited the ever popular Carnivore.

Carnivore Grrrrr

As planned we met Daniel (managing director) from ANAW (Africa Network For Animal Welfare) with whom we had organised our veterinary volunteer work with. The ANAW charity has an impressive set up with an efficient and organised team co-ordinating multiple projects relating to animal welfare. Check out their website at www.anaw.org
We were hoping to go out with armed rangers on a de snaring and rescue project but ironically needed more time.
On 21st September we went to Dagorette district where we were welcomed by the councillor and chief, followed by our vaccination and treatment campaign organised by ANAW. A very productive day as we treated 206 animals in need!

Vaccination campaign ANAW field team

Before leaving Nairobi we were fortunate to get an interview with Raabia from East FM, and also get into the local paper and TV news – all in an effort of increasing publicity and driving donations.

On route to lake Naivasha the views of the Rift Valley is breathtaking, we cycled along the escarpment with the Rift dropping hundreds of metres below, across which Savannah grasslands reach out beyond the horizon.
At the lake we feasted on a Goat leg that we grilled to perfection – a great improvement from our previous, failed attempt at braaing a Catfish..

Rift Valley

Sunday 25th September our plan was to cycle through Hells Gate National Park, before heading further North, but things did not pan out this way......just before departure I noticed Jiten had a Mavic rim on his rear wheel, and this was not previously the case? The bike shop in Nairobi had stuffed up and put Ria's cracked Mavic rim on Jiten's bicycle!!
While Jiten tried to contact the shop and sort things out I decided to tighten the screws on my bike rack and ended up breaking the head of a screw adding to the drama! Thank god for cable ties from Asmals hardware that is now keeping my front rack in place.
Jiten managed to get his wheel to Nairobi, fixed and couriered back to the lake. In this extra day he hired a bicycle and we did finally get to cycle through Hells Gate, where we saw lots of wildlife including buffalo. Your senses are always on high alert while being back in the food chain as the National Park is teeming with wild animals. Massive geothermal power plants in valley of Rift pushing out clouds of steam.

Hells Gate National Park Geothermal power plant

Next stop lake Elementeita – tranquil / calm uninhabited setting around this soda lake scattered with flamingos and other bird-life. We cycled around a portion of the lake and one would swear you in a dream or a character in a computer game!
This alkaline lake which is warm in parts provides the perfect environment for growth of blue-green algae which feeds lesser flamingos and crustaceans, the latter serve as a source of food for the greater flamingos.

Lake Elementeita

Back on the road all jolly, crossing the equator was a real highlight where we took multiple pictures and defied the Coriolis effect.
Goodbye southern hemisphere or so we thought: with our budget tight and the road seeming pretty straightforward we decided not to get a map while passing Nairobi! We regretted this decision on 29th September when we cycled 70 km in the wrong direction and back into the Southern hemisphere! To save time we then took a dirt road for 20km that was a short cut to Naro Moru.
While on the gravel it started to rain lightly, turning the road into a clay like mud that began to cake up on Jitens tyres, locking the wheel against the mudguard – it was impossible to even push the bike – it was a sore sight yet somewhat hilarious :) He was eventually forced to catch a lift on a passing army Land Rover for the last few kilometres.

Equator

From Naro Moru we had a 145km cycle past Nanyuki and Isiolo to Archers Post, on route cycling past the western slopes of snow capped Mount Kenya.
At the top of the pass (2600m) exhausted from the relentless climb, all it took was vinegar chips to make my day.

Mount Kenya

Isiolo is a true frontier town, a place on the edge, torn between the cool, verdant highlands just to the South and the scorching badlands, home of nomads and bandits to the North
Passing Isiolo we spoke to the commanding police officer to seek advice on the current security situation as Northern Kenya is notorious for highway muggings and violent inter-tribal conflict. Although the situation has improved vehicles still drive in convoy and always with armed soldiers.

From Archers post the next 100km, up until Merille is on brand new road tarred by the Chinese.
As smooth and flat as the road was the toasty 47 degrees made cycling somewhat uncomfortable. As much as we perspired, we were always dry. By the evening your brain is fried and your world slips in and out of focus, we looked at each other laughing, powdered with dust like ghosts!
From Merille the worst possible corrugated road starts that shook our guts!
We spent the next 2 days cycling 9.5hrs a day to Marsabit, braving the appalling roads, searing heat, clouds of dust, relentless wind and armed shiftas. To top things of, the large armoured biting flies are determined to accompany you for the entire day.
On the upside we got to see a elephant browsing some 30m from the road; heart stopping moments as the majestic beast turned towards us and lifted his trunk to smell – I lifted the front and spun the rear of my bicycle taking of in a cloud of dust!

Road on route to Marsabit

The luxury here in Marsabit (electricity and cold drinks) has prompted a rest day.
As this journey enters its 3rd trimester we find ourselves complaining less and now starting to appreciate the little things we previously took for granted!

Today (18 October) we in Addis Ababa, attempting mission impossible - getting a Sudanese visa!

Salaama
Imraan
.

Part 2 of 2: The Kilimanjaro ascent

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:59:13 +0100

We got back to the Marangu Hotel on Friday 2nd and eagerly awaited the arrival of Donna (my girlfriend), Ashley (Ria's cousin's husband) and Kenneth (Ashley's friend). With the ascension team finally assembled we spent a day at the hotel resting and getting kitted out. Because we are cycling we were unable to bring any gear from home and all our gear was hired through the hotel. Ria managed to acquire a clown's top which we dubbed the 'happy jacket' as whoever looked at the yellow, red and blue top with pink silk trimmings could not help but smile. Imraan picked out a prospector's outfit and looked like he was ready to pan for gold in the Klondike.

We left on the morning of the 4th upon our 'FINE YOUNG AFRICAN' sponsored ascent of Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. The mountain is volcanic in origin and is made of 3 peaks. The oldest, but now almost completely eroded Shira peak, Mawenzi peak and the youngest and tallest peak Uhuru at 5895m, our challenge for the next 7 days.

There are various routes up Kilimanjaro, but the longer routes generally have a higher success rate as it allows more time for acclimatisation. We decided on the Machame 7 day, tented option the more scenic and longer of the various commercial routes. Time plays a crucial role in successfully reaching the peak and to put this into perspective it takes10-14 days of trekking to get to Everest base camp which is lower than Uhuru peak. Apparently this is one of the reasons that Kilimanjaro also experiences one of the highest failure rates for summitting.

It may sound ridiculous but our small party of 6 required 19 porters: 1 lead guide, 3 assistant guides, 1 cook and 14 porters. They carried all our gear, their gear, tents and food (totaling 25kg each) for the whole week. All we had to carry were our clothes for the day, water and snacks (about 6-10kg). That's just over ½ ton of stuff!

The 1st day began with a late start and saw us climbing through the cool forest, led by the jovial and charismatic Reggie with the stoic Steven as our rearguard and reaching the Machame camp (3000m) in the moonlight. Something that is characteristic of the Kilimanjaro hike are the guides constantly uttering 'pole pole' (Swahili for slowly). We took this to a new level and not once during the entire hike did the guides ever tell us to slow down, in fact they told us to speed up quite a few times. I'm unsure how much this really helped but we were very conscious of the high failure rate of reaching the summit and usually in a group of 6, 2 don't make it. In Zanzibar, I met a German group of 6 people and only 2 made it to the top. Another added bonus of going slowly is your group ends up at the back, you then have the trail all to yourself and can really start appreciating the stunning scenery and solitude of the mountain.

Although the walk though the forest was beautiful the really stunning vistas opened up on the second day as we headed through the heather zone and out of the forest. We also caught the 1st glimpse of Uhuru peak in the distance as we climbed out of the cloud line. To the casual traveller Kilimanjaro is usually hidden in cloud but from our new vantage point it was easy to see why. Below the 3000m line the clouds form a huge ring around the mountain, but once you climb out of the clouds not only is the peak clearly visible but you also see a blanket of clouds extending from the base of the mountain to as far as the eye can see. We spent the night at Shira camp at 3600m and were rewarded with a stunning sunset of Uhuru peak glowing red and the ever present carpet of cloud a subtle pink down below us.

The 3rd day was to be the most challenging and this is when our head guide, Goudance, started leading us. A man of few words, this veteran of the mountain had a quiet strength about him, a mere look would send the rest of the guides and porters off to do his bidding. How they knew just what to do we have yet to figure out, but things got done. Getting us used to the altitude, we started the day at shira, ascended to 4400m and finally descended to 3850m at Baranco camp. At these altitudes there is little vegetation and the dusty path heads upwards, winding around small boulders. Despite the hiking being relatively easy thus far the altitude finally got to me. Ordinarily I never get headaches but the higher we ascended the worse the throbbing in my head got. From a dull ache at the back it soon spread, finally reaching the back of my eyes. When we finally stopped for lunch at 4400m I could barely eat our packed lunch (although this could be due to the food, a weird peanut butter/beef sandwich). Even popping a mipradol did not help and as we descended every step and every thud of the walking stick against the ground reverberated in my skull. Descending back to a reasonable altitude finally calmed the pain and I could once again appreciate the luxury that comes with having so many porters.

The next 2 days were ½ day hikes taking us to Karanga (about 3950m) and Barafu (about 4700m) respectively, allowing for rest and acclimatisation prior to the big push to the peak. As with all our days, it started with a washing bowl of hot water outside the tent and a hot cup of tea. Breakfast was served in the mess tent and consisted of a helping of fruit followed by porridge, muesli and cornflakes and topped off with eggs and bread. Maintaining hydration is vital to reducing the effects of altitude sickness and as per the advice given during the pre-hike briefing, we drank 4-6 cups of tea/milo/hot chocolate during all meals. Lunch initially started off as packed lunches but then turned to stews when we reached camp early. The highlight of the day was the supper though. Despite not having much of an appetite some days, we relished the soup and bread for starters, the chicken, various stews and lasagne for main and the bits of fruit to wash it all down (with all the food we ate I was surprised we did not need more porters). With 4 Indians finally in attendance, games of Thunee were held in the mess tent, complete with the obligatory flights and heated arguments going on late into the night while the rest of the camp slept (or tried to).

With only a short hike to Barafu, we arrived early on the 5th day, had a quick lunch and supper and went to bed to get as much rest as possible before starting the midnight ascent. We were woken up at 11:30 with a cup of tea and biscuits and left at midnight dressed in 3 pairs of socks, 4 pairs of pants, 7 layers on the torso and a balaclava, beanie and buff. A full moon shone above us as we made our way up to the summit, reducing the need of the headlamps we all carried. Although starting with high spirits, this soon dissipated as we headed higher into the mountain and the altitude started taking it's toll. With temperatures well below zero, water bottles had to be kept against the body to prevent them from freezing. Breaks were minimal, lasting 1-2 minutes as anything longer dropped the body temperature. As the moon set, it got darker and the mood deepened. Without being able to see the peak, we just concentrated on the feet of the person in front of us and occasionally glanced up at the lights further up the slope as other climbers struggled up. Goudence led us is his usual silent manner and the higher we climbed the colder and more miserable it got. When our morale faltered Reggie was there with a beautiful song to lift the spirits. Scrambling us scree is a mind numbing and morale breaking exercise as with every step up, you slide back down. After a head-splitting 6 hour trudge, towards 6am a slight glow appeared in the East. The slight alleviation of our depression was negated by the biting wind that picked up as we neared the top, freezing the snot on my nose. We crested the crater rim at Stellar's point as the sun peaked over the horizon. We had finally made it and were rewarded with spectacular views of the early morning sun glistening off the ice fields. Because we were climbing in the dark, only concentrating on the feet in front of us, it came as a surprise to discover Ashley missing from the group. Unsure how far he was behind and whether he was going to make it or not we carried on, secure in the knowledge that Steven (one of the guides) was with him. We walked along the crater rim to the highest point, Uhuru peak another 120m higher and 45 minutes walk away. With the crater on the right, the ice fields to the left and the sun rising above us the views were spectacular and all the better for the effort it took us to get there.

Up at the peak we were only allowed to stay for a few minutes and after the victory photo at the sign and a quick cup of tea we headed back. The headache re-surfaced after the euphoria ebbed and the long trek to base camp began. With the sub-zero temperatures, taking off our thick thermal gloves, exposing the hands to the biting cold limited our desire to take photos of our stunning surroundings. As we made our way back along the crater rim we bumped into Ashley making is way to the peak. Despite experiencing the worst altitude sickness of all of us, he powered through the pounding headache and bouts of nausea and made it to the very top.

We regrouped at Stellar point and made our way down the scree to base camp. In contrast to the 7 hour ascent, the descent to Barafu took 3 hours. Everyone says how difficult the ascent is but they fail to mention the 10 hour knee-breaking descent (which I personally found more difficult). After a hour lunch break we continued the descent. The 4700m at Barafu is still a dangerous altitude and the safest thing to do is to go down as much as possible. We continued down via a different, more direct route and arrived at Mweka camp (3000m) 4 hours later, (punctuated only by a 15min break), exhausted. The total ascent and descent took 14 hours, 13 hours of which we hiked, ascending 1200m and descending 2900m. We had another grand supper and quickly hit the sack, but celebrations were limited after the marathon hike.

We awoke the next morning elated that every member of the team had managed to reach the very top, barely able to contain the smiles. The atmosphere in camp was light yet subdued, while happy about the prospect of a hot shower at the hotel, this part of the adventure was coming to an end. As we walked through the forest towards the exit point, a light rain started to fall. For the whole hike we had perfect weather and the slight drizzle on the final day was a welcome blessing, despite making the path dangerously slippery.

After a hot shower back at the hotel, a little ceremony was held with the guides and porters where we were presented with our certificates. The next day we awoke with stiff quads. Barely able to bend our legs, climbing up and down stairs was a painful and slow experience. Pushing someone down the stairs and watching them trying not to bend their legs on the forced descent was a popular game. The euphoria of the ascent was short lived as the realisation that my girlfriend was leaving suddenly dawned.

This was one of the highlights of the whole trip and marked the ½ way point. The beautiful hike through Kilimanjaro National Park as we hiked through various vegetation and climate zones culminated in the summiting of the highest mountain in Africa. For his a big thank you needs to go to 'FINE YOUNG AFRICANS', a medical supply company based in Gauteng and our sponsors for the Kilimanjaro ascent, without whom this trek would not have been possible.

Coast to Kili: Part 1 of 2

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:17:33 +0100

This blog is written in 2 parts. The 1st is the trip from Pangani to Marangu (at the base of Kilimanjaro) and covers our safari. Part 2 is the longer and more detailed account of the Kilimanjaro ascent and will follow in a few days.

We left Pangani well rested and ready to tackle Kilimanjaro. We passed through sisil plantations and camped in one of these when it got too late. These tough, spiky plants, when not puncturing Imraan's hands with its steel tips are, are harvested for the tough fibres found in its succulent leaves. These fibres are then dried, separated and spun into heavy duty ropes. Sometimes so heavy duty that they are used to anchor ships. They got the 'Jiten's thumbs up' stamp of approval for sustainability and being an alternative to plastic based products.

The 350km cycle to Marangu, at the base of Kilimanjaro was uneventful but did surprised us with the sudden change in scenery. One day we were cycling in sisil plantations and rice paddies and within a few kilometres were surrounded by a semi-desert landscape. The flat semi-desert landscape is difficult to camp in as not only are you visible from a distance but our green tents stand out in the brown barren landscape like Imraan on a PanAm flight.

We arrived at the Marangu Hotel on the 28th a little earlier than expected and camped there resting and waiting for the arrival for the rest of the Kilimanjaro ascension team, due in on the 2nd September. With a few days to kill we decided to do a small tourist run and organised a short safari. We left in a modified Toyota landcruiser on Wednesday and headed for Lake Manyara, set in the shadow of the Western cliffs of the Rift Valley. This lovely national park has a variety of different biomes and is renowned for its bird life. What made it special for us was the 'touristic' ride through the park in the landcruiser with it's hydraulic, game-viewing roof, getting out of the car to watch the hippopotomi wallow in the shallow pools and catching a glimpse of the elusive Manyara tree-climbing lionesses and cubs.

The next day we headed for the famous Ngorogoro crater, the highlight of our little safari. After a long climb up to the crater rim, beautiful vistas of the crater wall and surprisingly flat basin awaited us during the descent into the caldera (collapse volcano). With the Masaai having grazing rights in the wider Ngorogoro conservation area and the crater itself, sightings of these tall majestic people, dressed in their red nangas (traditional draping cloth worn in layers), dyed red hair, covered in numerous shangas (beads) and armed with spears and belt knifes are common. We even saw small children, either alone or in groups of 2, tending goats and cattle alone – in lion country!

The drive in the crater was beautiful, with sightings of numerous animals. Unfortunately we were about an hour late for both the lion and cheetah kill, but saw these big cats chewing cautiously while on the lookout for the ever present spotted hyena. The 3 day trip cost us each 35 times our daily budget. Expensive but worth it since who knows when we will be back in Tanzania.

Be sure to catch Part 2: Climbing Kilimanjaro

Chappatis and Chai with the Maasai

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:05:38 +0100

21 August 2011

Hey Raffikki!

Yet again I find myself sitting on the shores of another stunning beach, this time in a place called Pangani, a relatively quiet little town north of Dar es Salam. Yesterday we left the island of Zanzibar in style, but more about that later.

We arrived in the town of Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, the 10th of August. With the veterinary volunteer work done with, we decided to stay in the capital city for just a couple days. In this time all three of us discovered cracks in our rear wheel rims. Imraan and Jiten opted for having a local “bike” shop replace their rims with other second hand rims. The shop only had two 26inch double walled rims and with the little faith I had in their abilities I decided to stay with my current rim – the crack is hairline and on the outer wall, I'm hoping with reduced pressure that it will make it to Nairobi where we've been told there is a real bike shop that would be able to supply quality parts. You might be asking why the cracked rims? I can only assume it had to do with us inflating the tyres to almost their maximum pressure rating, add do that a few nasty bumps over the course of 6500kms and we might have an answer. Still I'm no expert so maybe some of you who know more might be able to shed some light on this (feel free to post comments below).

In Dar we were happily surprised by our visits two different High Commissions. First the Kenyan High Commission where we went to apply for visas but were told that being South African meant that we could enter Kenya for a period of 90 days without a visa! Great news indeed!!!! Then we cycled onto the South African High Commission in the upmarket suburb of Misaki where we met a wonderful proudly South African lady by the name of Joymare who not only invited us for dinner but also offered to give all our clothes a wash in the machine – naturally we accepted both these generous offers without thinking twice. And if that weren't enough, she also gave me a new South African flag which I now fly very proudly on the front corner of my handle bar bag – kind of like a state vehicle would – it looks very cool.

On the Friday we caught a ferry to Zanzibar and arrived in Stone Town shortly before sunset after a three hour boat ride. I must say that prior to this trip, I'd done very little research into the places we're visiting, as such I had no idea what to expect of Stone Town. And this was great, for when the densely built-up little town came into sight, it was not what I expected. Stone Town, is a world apart from the rest of the African towns we've been through. With its old churches, mosques, palaces, and other old buildings its easy to see why this town is a World Heritage Site. Cycling down the narrow paved lanes, in-between buildings with ancient hand carved wooden doors, passed castle ruins, gardens alive with night time trade, passed little shops, dodging people, other bicycles, and scooters... I felt like a kid. This was the most fun town I've cycled in. In fact exploring by bicycle is a very fun way to see Stone Town. Alas we would only spend the night here before heading to the northern part of the island, to a place called Kendwa Rocks.

Kendwa Rocks is very much a tourist beach spot. Very busy, with several resorts, the reason for our haste to this town was that not only was it a Saturday night, it was also full moon party night. Party we did, until the early hours of Sunday morning. Needless to say Sunday was a write-off but given the rainy weather it was a good day to spend in bed reading.

On Monday it was time to head back to Stone Town. Naturally our previous visit was way too short so we had to go back. Jiten and Imraan opted to rent a room and leave their bikes in Nungwi (the town next to Kendwa Rocks) but given that cycling around Stone Town and the rest of the island was such a positive prospect, I opted to keep the bike with me and cycled the 55kms back to Stone Town. The first reward of this decision was visiting the Mtoni Ruins along the way. A former palace and birthplace to Princess Salme. A local student by the name of Juma gave me tour of the ruins and related the story of the princess who eloped with a German businessman in the 1800's. The ruins are now being slowly restored and one hopes that in the not too distant future the complete restoration of the palace will be a major drawcard for tourists. Though, being there and the only tourist around was in itself a rewarding experience.

By the afternoon I met up with Jiten and Imraan again on the streets of Stone Town, where we would spend the next few days exploring, visiting historical places (such as the Palace Museum, House of Wonders, the Church built over the Old Slave Market, etc.), and eating. Islam is the dominant religion in Zanzibar. And being the month of Ramadaan means that night time food is plenty and, well just an all round feast all over the town. One could visit the night market at Forodhani Gardens – very much a tourist place but even at tourist prices it was still affordable to splash out on things crab, pizza, grilled cubes of meat, lobster, prawns, chips, and more. For a more local experience we would visit the roadside stalls in the inner part of Stone Town. For when the days fast had come to an end these stalls served a variety hot fresh delights. It was at one such stall that we found the most amazing burgers – there weren't very big, and neither was the patty, but together with fresh warm rolls, salsa'd tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, pepper, lettuce, maybe red onion, and chilli sauce, these little burgers delivered explosions of flavour with every bite. We ate them every night. Then for a mere Tsh300 (R1,50) we would buy a glass of freshly squeezed sugarcane juice. The juice extracted in front of your very eyes by running the sugarcane stalk through hand cranked rollers. To my delight there were also cucumbers, skinned and cut in thick slices served with a mixture of salt and chilli powder... what a winner! On this note I'd like to expand a little on our culinary experience thus far.

For the most part roadside food has been pretty bland, especially so in Mozambique and Malawi. However, from our first day in Tanzania I had a suspicion that things were going to be different here. And as we made our way closer to the coast the Tanzanian roadside stalls did not disappoint. Fresh chappatis (or rotis to my Durban friends, and rooti's to the Cape Town ones) and chai (tea), samp and beans, their own version of bhajias served with a spicy chilli relish, potato curry, samoosas (real samoosas with mince and greens in it, not rice as they have in Mozambique and Malawi), hashbrowns, grilled meat, water melon slices, and even green mangoes with chilli powder and salt.. Now this is the kind of food we've been getting at the local spots.

Anyway, back to Zanzibar, but still a little more on the food situation. Being the month of Ramadaan means that Muslims don't eat or drink anything the whole day (from a little before sunrise to sunset). Now being in Zanzibar, means that the locals also don't serve food during this time (with the exception of the tourist restaurants and hotels) and its also expected that those not fasting will not eat or drink in public. What this essentials means for the cycle tourist is that we end up “fasting” ourselves, and very much look forward to the sunset and call of prayer which heralds in the start of the feast. That's not to say we didn't eat or drink anything the whole day, just very very little. The other day I went to a shop to get a coke, knowing full well that they would not let me drink it there, I told the lady behind the counter that I understood that it was Ramadaan, but could I please buy the coke and drink it behind the shop where nobody would see me... she said that seeing as I knew this she would do me a favour and let me drink it in the store room, and so the into the storeroom I was lead and with the door closed was able to have in ice cold coke... it was worth the effort!

We stayed in Stone Town up until Thursday and then made our way back to Nungwi in the north. On the Saturday we were lucky enough to get a chartered speed boat to the mainland town of Pangani. I say lucky as it's quite pricey to charter a boat for the trip, however some rather affluent Americans did this on Saturday morning leaving from Pangani and arriving at Kendwa Rocks, we caught the boat on its return trip and so got a rather good deal.

And so it is here at Pangani that we find ourselves, lying on the beach with a setting sun to our backs. Its not too touristy (I suspect this will change in the next few years), and the beach has but a handful of of us milling around. We were meant to take just one day off, but seeing as we're 350kms from Kili, and we're only climbing on the 4th September, we're likely to take the day off tomorrow as well and spend just one day lounging on the shores of the Indian Ocean. This is the last we'll see of this ocean and the next time we meet the endless mass of salt water again will be the Red Sea in Egypt.

Speaking of Kili, in exactly two weeks time we'll be setting off on one of the biggest highlights and challenges of the trip (if not our lives). Many thanks go out to our sponsors for this leg of the trip, a fine company called Fine Young Africans based in Johannesburg. I think we're all just a tad bit nervous as the time draws nearer, given that we've done no hiking since... since well before the start of this trip! We are however quite fit so we're fully confident of a successful summit. Time will tell. We'll also be joined by three other fine young Africans – Donna Riley (yes, the artist who wrote and sang the SiyaShova song, which if you don't own by now you can do so by ordering a CD from the website), and a pair of FNB's executives – Ashley Mathura and Kenneth Mooi. And now that FNB has jut got a plug in this blog we hope that the banking giant will inject some of its funds into our initiative.

Lastly, today I visited a private library. Not a fancy one, not a big one, not one that you would expect to find in this town. It belongs a local tour guide here. A young man who goes by the name Rasta Ally. He's about our age, and has started a library for the town. Its a two room place that he rents and provides books for free. Yes, free. Local kids are able to come here and read books. I was quite impressed by this. We're used to libraries being provided by the government, and of course the libraries of other institutions and typically well off individuals. Having no books to donate myself at this point in time, I know that every one of you reading this blog does. It can be any book – for little kids, adults, fiction, non-fiction, old, or new. Now I suppose that sending a physical package is also something that you don't do too often, so I urge you to send just one book (more if you want) to this much deserving library in Pangani. I assure you it will not cost much if you send it using standard mail at your local post office and well, this is a good cause. Anyone is able to borrow books from the library.

Rasta Ally
Box 74
Pangani
Tanga
Tanzania
East Africa

Stay safe
Ria

Malawi Border to Dar Es Salaam

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:07:22 +0100

Ham Jambo - Greetings from Tanzania

Its been just over 4 months since we set off on our epic journey, and we loving every moment. We haven’t encountered a single negative experience and have no regrets; with each day bringing new challenges and rewards we just growing in strength and character.

To date we have cycled 6285km and our ascending altitude is 48112m.

Hello Tanzania ( country number 6) known as the birthplace of humankind Tanzania has an area of 943000 square km and a population of 38 million, 1 million of which reside on the Zanzibar Archipelago. 1 South African rand will get you 200 Tanzanian Shillings – with a litre of petrol and a coke costing 2000 and 500 Shillings respectively.
Jitens 3 year stint of learning Swahili for this trip, has finally become a reality and a necessity as very few of the locals speak or even understand English – compared to Moz and Malawi.
As Tanzania is bordered on the West by the deep lakes of the Great Rift Valley, cycling out of Malawi and into Tanzania has been challenging.

On our first night in the country we lodged at a Mosque, where the very accommodating Imam gave us a separate room with straw mats on the floor. Mosques have been a fantastic overnight rest stop thus far as we don’t have to pitch tents (becomes tedious after a while – although we can do it backwards in the dark by now) I get to catchup on prayers and you guaranteed an early start the next day as the first prayer is just before sunrise. Being 1hr ahead of SA, it only starts to get bright by around 7am!

Heading up to Mbeya via Tukuyu was a climb on note (around 2450m) – legs tired and jelly like you learn to embrace the deep burn and constant dripping of sweat from my massive wild beard!
Passing the Rungwe mountains at almost 3000m was spectacular, and its only half the height of Kilimanjaro – I cannot wait for our ascent!

My feeling of trepidation and uncertainty about the country was drowned by the overwhelming hospitality and friendliness of the locals when we were welcomed by a random stranger (Ebrahim) into his home (mud structure with thatched roof), where we ate and stayed for the night. We were fortunate to get shelter for the night as it was very windy and temperatures drop down to single digits in the Southern Highlands.
Even the traffic police stop you for a friendly chit chat and also have a sense of humour.

For the 900km between Mbeya and Dar Es Salaam we had a constant headwind everyday, making the cycling physically and more so mentally draining – this combined with mental bus drivers and a non existent road shoulder just made matters worse.

Its definitely worth a mention that the Nature Fresh Olive Leaf and Parasite remedy capsules we have been taking, have been brilliant so far in keeping our health and immune system in prime condition. Casa Castile - Petes bum cream is keeping our bottoms saddle sore and chaff free – all round amazing stuff!!

50km before Iringa we stopped at the Old Farmhouse where we took a days rest, had a much needed shower and bumped into fellow RSA travellers (Tobie and his wife) who prepared delicious dinner for us followed by hot coffee and Choc Kits biscuits; yes Choc Kits biscuits – what a winner!! Its the small things we took for granted that we miss the most.
Rest days are lazy days – just as they should be – catching up on washing I have been procrastinating since Malawi and walking to the nearby borehole to fill up water. Now I just need to learn how to balance that full bucket on my head.
Nicky the owner of the Farmhouse treated us to 3 huge T bone steaks that Jiten braaied to perfection, while I made a potato curry on the side just to spice things up a little.
The variety of food in Tanzania has been the best so far, and as one gets closer to Dar Es Salaam the Indian influence is very prevalent with hot Chapatis, Potato Bhajyas, Samoosas and Masala Chai in the mornings I feel right at home.
Our daily lunch consists of Rice, Beans, 2 small pieces of Goat meat and very often bitter pumpkin leaves all for just 5 Rand!
The staple Tanzanian starch is Ugali (a thick, filling dough like pap made from Maize or Cassava flour)

Our next 2 stops was Rivervalley camp then Baobab Valley where we were spoilt with running water, electricity and a TV room – Whoa

From Mikumi town we got a lift for 50km through the Mikumi National Park – with big 5 present I was not prepared to take the risk of cycling through.
Next stop Morogoro where we stayed with Daniel and Simone – they cycling from Germany around the world and currently stopped in Tanzania do some work before continuing to Cape Town.
Daniel is very clued up on bicycles and gave us lots of invaluable advice about our bike maintenance.
On the bike front, I ran into my first technical difficulty a few days ago – after increasing the pressure in my back tyre from 3 to 4 bar the tyre started to rub against the frame!! This caused the rim to become slightly untrue which further aggravated the problem. The gap between the tyre and the chain-stay is way too narrow – and I’m only using a 26 inch X 200 which is not a huge tyre. Du Toit cycles, professional frame builder my ass!
With our 3 heights and in-seams almost the same, the discrepancy between our frame sizes, designs and posture is massive; so much for a custom built frame – rather get a Surly Long Haul Trucker, Kona Sutra or Thorn frame.

2 days before Dar we got caught in a heavy downpour and got soaked to the core – the following day I needed to cycle barefoot while my shoes dried – now I feel weak in the knees from all that overextension.
We currently 15km before Dar at Kimara Matangini, staying in a hostel and volunteering at TAWESO (Tanzania Animal Welfare Society). Our reception here by Dr Kahema and his team has been amazing.
As part of the volunteer work we went out to multiple plots vaccinating dogs, and treating multiple Goats and Cattle. I had to jog my memory to remember university notes as some had East Coast Fever, Anaplasmosis Babesiosis and photo sensitivity.

Dar Es Salaam ( Haven Of Peace) is a crazy busy city, bustling with people, mental / maniac drivers with no road courtesy and extremely humid.
I’m personally looking forward to Zanzibar this weekend – Its apparently very commercial and expensive but a once in a lifetime opportunity to cycle around the island; and with over 90% of the island population Sunni Muslim, the selection of delicacies to break fast with is mouth watering.

Aweh Ma se Kinders

Kwaheri
IS

Lilongwe to Tanzania

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 08:22:12 +0100

And so the journey continues forward, ever northward.


                                                           Imraan performing a castration in Lilongwe

From Lilongwe, an internal combustion engine took us East back to the lake shore town of Senga Bay and to our bicycles which were safely tucked away at 'Cool Runnings', a lovely backpackers run by Sam. Transportation at this point in time in Malawi is quite a contentious subject and highlights some of the problems facing the country. With little background and no experience in international relations or trade, I will try give an account of what I think is going on.

Malawi is currently experiencing a fuel shortage, not just in isolated pockets, but countrywide. It seems that the lack of international currency in the country is limiting purchases of petrol and diesel. Because the Malawian currency is so weak ($1 to 190 Kwacha), small fluctuations in international currencies results in large discrepancies in kwacha and kwacha cannot be used to buy fuel. This has caused major disruption in all sectors of the economy and the people are not happy. The president, Bingu wa Mutharika, also got hold of an internal correspondence that the UK High Commissioner (Ria found out that Commonwealth countries have High Commissioners and Non-commonwealth countries have Ambassadors) to Malawi wrote, commenting on the bad governance of the country. Bingu wa Mutharika then unlawfully expelled the UK High Commissioner from the country. The UK responded by expelling the Malawian High Commission, un-invited Malawi to the royal wedding and froze budgetary aid to the country (totaling $30 million last year). In a country heavily reliant on foreign aid this could spell disaster, to make matters worse other big donors have joined the band wagon of retracting aid if the President doesn’t apologize for the unlawful expulsion of the UK High Commissioner and re-instate him.

From Senga bay we did a long stretch of 140km to Nkotakota and overnighted in a place called Pick 'n Pay where single rooms go for 500 Kwacha (R20). Another long stint of 140km took us to Kande Beach where 2 days were spent as we were ahead of schedule (we planned on averaging 70km/day while in Malawi). We cycled a short 60km to Nkata Bay and spent another 3 days there.

                                Kande Beach                                             That's how you know the meat is fresh

The political problems culminated in an initially peaceful nationwide protest on the 20th July, which turned into a riot in Mzuzu leaving 9 people dead (of all the places were safety was an issue, Malawi was not one of them). Having sent 3 nights in Nkata Bay allowing for the tension in Mzuzu to abate, we ran out of time for our 30 day visa and had to get to the border as soon as possible. The quickest way there was to catch the Ilala, the weekly ferry that traverses the lake, and got a lift to Chilumna (saving 250km, 4-5 days cycling and going through Mzuzu). Arriving at the border just before closing and having done another 130km stretch, we were exhausted and slightly apprehensive as our visas had expired 2 days prior. Luckily the immigration officer saw us on the national news 3 weeks earlier and stamped us our without a problem. Now in Tanzania and the looming giant that is Kilimanjaro.


Above is a picture of Chanda. Chanda spends hour upon hour breaking those big stones in front, into the little pebbles you see in the background with nothing but a little hammer, all the while looking after her little baby. There were many such piles as we cycled up along the coast of Lake Malawi. So the next time you think you are having a bad day at work, think of Chanda.

Jiten