Day 54 - Tanzania, on the road to Dar Es Salaam

We have been making good progress through Tanzania in the last couple of days. Although there is not too much to write about. However, Tanzania is a cool place. Cool for it's very own reasons. We are travelling on the main road between Mbeya and Dar Es Salaam. And this road is just awesome. It's perfect tarmac, wide and smooth and actually looks brand new. Along the way we visited a few sights of interest. Such as a fallen meteorite, the Kimani Falls, a canyon, an excavation site for stoneage tools or an old war memorial built by the Germans when they were the big guys down here.
I am really surprised how developed Tanzania is compared to our last few countries. The markets are just buzzing with everything you can think of. I-phone accessories, car parts, computer parts etc. Food and drinks are really cheap and plenty which makes Tanzania paradise for me. There is countless brands of petrol stations and fuel is cheap and available in every small town along this main road. I am sure away from this main connection to Dar things will be different. But who knows.
We are on the way to Dar to pick up Martin's girlfriend who will come along for three months. She is happy to buy one of those locally available Chinese bikes to be able to ride with us. Which is really cool. We don't know each other yet but I hope our team of three will get along well.
We plan to go our own ways for a few weeks anyway which is good in many ways. Martin is really keen to visit Kenya and Uganda and come back down to Rwanda to start our Congo adventure. I can't explain why but Kenya doesn't attract me at all. I know what you guys will say, that Kenya is beautiful and wildlife is plenty etc. But somehow I am at a stage where I feel like having a break from sightseeing and try a bit of African life. So instead of going the Kenya loop I will give it a try and stay in a Tanzanian village somewhere I dont know where yet. Stay there for more than just a night and see what's happening. And if I can be useful helping out in a school or a hospital or something. Which would be awesome. One of those things when I don't know what will happen yet. But also when I feel confident that something really cool will work itself out. And if Kenya doesn't raise much interest in me, why not giving it a go to stay in Tanzania a bit longer. I am also sure that Martin and his girlfriend will appreciate some privatesphere for a few weeks. Even if Martin insists otherwise.
So our plan for the nearer future is to look for a nice camping spot on one of Dar's beautiful beaches. Do some of the chores in the city such as getting visas, getting some US$ in preparation for the Congo, some more Malaria prevention pills etc. I also need to organise a new rear tyre somehow. A guy in Mbozi told me about an Aussie expat living in Mwanza who does have a motorbike workshop and can get hold of tyres. So I'll try to get hold of him. By then my good old Pirelli Scorpions will have around 10000km on them. And even though there is maybe another one or two thousand km left on them it should be easier to replace them with good quality tyres on this side of the Congo rather than in West Africa. And if I'm lucky the new ones might make it all the way to Germany.
Once Martin's girlfriend arrives in Dar we'll get her a bike and go to Zanzibar together for a while. And then find our own ways to be reunited again later in Rwanda.

Our journey through the Congo still keeps our minds busy. We met an English guy on a bicycle who crossed the Congo in two months riding the Kinshasa to Lubumbashi route. His stories are surprisingly positive. Lacking all the usual checkpoints or bribes or hold ups. I hope the same will apply to our chosen route from Bukavu to Bangui. We might need some fingers crossed for that one...

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no risk - no fun

Unfortunately that one bloody computer virus that killed my memory stick in Mbeya also deleted some pics before I was able to upload them. But no worries, there's a few pics from the road to Dar Es Salaam here.
We made it happily to Dar where we found a beautiful campground. Full with overlanders and right next to the beach it is a lovely spot to await the arrival of Martin's girlfriend this Saturday.
Dar is a good place to stop and get things done. There is lots of embassies (just handed in my CAR visa application), there is motorbikeshops catering for big overseas bikes too. There is lots of good fresh food. And generally a good vibe throughout the place. Just the traffic, man, what a chaos. No idea how we got around here but somehow it works. Lane splitting (there are no lanes anyway), over the footpath and along the footpath, on the median and down the gutters we went. Same as the other million motorbikes. Good fun but man, I probably aged three years in three days riding here.


The road to Kimani Falls


...the road is getting steeper


Kimani Falls


My little Suzuki enjoying the company of some typical local 125ccm bikes


A canyon along the road to Dar Es Salaam

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no risk - no fun

We are still in Dar Es Salaam where the internet speed is amazing. So I can't miss that chance to upload some more pictures.
Sice the HUBB is a bike forum let's start with some bike pictures.


That's the beautiful new road between Mbeya and Dar Es Salaam. It's a fantastic piece of tarmac, wide and smooth and lined with many huts and shops to escape the heat with a cold Pepsi.


There are many many other bikes around. Most of them are used for transport of goods and people or both around the little towns. You hardly see them in between towns.


A little dirt road through the Pulu forest just south west of Dar Es Salaam. Dirt roads without sand are still my favourite places to ride.


Our latest family member: a 150ccm chinese made motorbike of the mighty brand 'T-Better'. It is a pretty common brand in Tanzania and there is a choice of a 125ccm version and a 150ccm version. We bought our 'T-Better' for Esther, Martin's girlfriend who will join us till end early February. For nearly exactly AU$1000 brand new the T-Better has some really cool features. Such as a remote control, alarm including the engine disabler, a 13 litre tank to reach as far as 450km and additional headlights to see better in the dark. Other things are completely missing such as an oil filter. So the oil needs to be changed 'once a week' according to the shop assistant. There is only room for one litre of oil anyway. Locals use these bikes fully loaded to fly along those same bumby roads that we often struggle through on our heavy bikes. And with a maximum speed of 85km/h the T-Better is indeed better than you think. Should be fine for three months at least. So we hope.

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no risk - no fun

Let's follow up with some pictures of our other favourite activity - camping. Here in Dar Es Salaam we stay on a beautiful campground right at the beach half an hour walk south of the city. Apart from here we always bushcamp. Bushcamping usually gets us some amazing places to sleep and has not ever been a problem so far. Friendly locals don't mind us and are often happy that tourists come to stay. So it is easy to meet local people and to be able to be part of a tiny bit of their life for an evening or so. Although this way it is hard to meet other overlanders.


We found this spot a couple of meters off the main road near Mogorogoro.


Here we camped right on the beach some 30km south of Dar Es Salaam. It was on the grounds of an Isalmic Centre. It is an amazing scenery and you can imagine how the warm humid salty air, the sound of the ocean and the prayer of the muezzin from the lottle mosque behind us adds to the picture.


This picture was taken right from our Dar Es Salaam base - the Mikadi Beach Camp in Kigamboni. It is in walking distance from Dar city and still surprisingly quite. There is a school next door and every afternoon the beach is filled with young people for a few hours before they go home. There is music and an energy I have never seen in western people. There is dancing on the beach, there is acrobatics, there is heaps action in the water, people singing, people laughing and having a good time with their many friends. The water is some 28 degrees warm and you can stay in there forever without being cold. The boat in the background has been built by hand in Zanzibar for one of the other guests in the campground. He plans to use it for low key tourist cruises. Funnily enough he also came here from Namibia on an Africa Twin.

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no risk - no fun

Some more pictures of Dar Es Salaam.


Not unlike Sydney Dar is located around a beautiful natural harbour. However, it has all been built up over time so the impression is rather not as natural as it is in Sydney. Also there is no bridge between the city centre North of the harbour and the suburbs South of it. There is only a ferry service, two massive ferries carrying people and their cars and bikes and other belongings across. These ferries are a masterpiece of chaos, kids playing hanging from underneath the ferries car ramps, there is people everywhere on board. Every little space in between cars and bikes is used for someone to stand. And once the gate is opening a huge flood of everything and everyone overwhelms the landing and the little road coming from it.


Dar Es Salaam city centre as seen from the harbour.


The fish market is right next to the harbour ferry landing on the city side. The big modern tower is the Port Authority overseeing the mix of containerships, little fishing boats and ferries within the harbour.

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no risk - no fun

And the last few pictures for today have been taken on Zanzibar. Zanzibar is a beautiful island not too far off the coast from Dar Es Salaam. Being the old capital of an islamic empire and the the seat of the Sultan of Oman for a while there is a lot of rich history on the island's main settlement - Stone Town. It's incredibly complicated to take our motorbikes across so we rather left them in Dar and used public minibus taxis in Zanzibar instead.


Stone Town


Stone Town


Esther, Martin's girlsfriend and Martin. We enjoyed a nice cold Kilimanjaro Lager here on a little beach in Zanzibar.


Sunset over a beach in Bububu.


Sunset at Fuji Beach in Bububu.

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no risk - no fun

great, keep on riding, great yourney and ride report. Good that you made it into DRC in the end without a lot of problems.

We just arrived in Auckland and our bike will be 10 days late... Already got a car from a friend so we stroll around here a bit.


stay save and keep on riding and this ride report! thumbs up!

cheers Sascha

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Round the world by bike. www.RTWbyBIKE.com

Day 66, near Naberera, Tanzania

Right now, while I am typing this, I am sitting on red soil under a acacia tree in the pale light of the half moon. This acacia tree is one of many around me in this huge flat landscape. I am deep in Masai territory. And while I am typing this, there is not a soul around me, as far as I can see or hear.
Three days ago we started from Dar Es Salaam, going different ways for a month. Martin and his girlfriend Esther will be on their way north along the coast to Mombasa. I chose instead to head inland. From Dar Es Salaam to Morogoro and from there North into an area declared as 'Masai Steppe' on my Michelin map.
I don't mind being on my own for a while. Although it is without doubt more fun with company, I find when travelling on my own I can connect to people better, am more open to them. And after all it is still the people of Africa who fascinate me the most.
The Michelin map says that around 170km along the Morogoro - Dodoma road there is a turnoff onto a gravel road heading north, reaching the town of Kibaya after 132km with the opportunity to buy fuel, then another 156km to Nabarera and another 120km back to the main road between Moshi and Arusha. So far so good. So just before the turnoff I made sure the tank is full, all water bottles are filled completely and there is enough food in the panniers.
At the turnoff there is the usual Police checkpoint. The friendly officer asks where I am going. "To Kibaya". "For what purpose?". Why do they always ask this question? I don't know. Is curiosity purpose enough? I tell him that I would just transit through to the tourist area of Arusha and he lets me go. But not without a warning that the road ahead would be "rough".
And rough it is indeed. If for nothing else but the corrugation. There is nowhere to get around it, these corrugations span the entire width of the rocky road. There is lots of loose gravel too. And the occasional rock surfacing here and there on the road. But nothing my little Suzuki and I can't handle safely after all our training.
At first there are still many villages. And I stop a few times to fill up the water bottles to cope with the heat. And to eat something. It's really cool, you don't need to order anything in these little restaurants. You just go in and sit down. There is the usual ritual that someone will come with a cup of water to rinse over your hands into a bowl. There is always a lot of dust to wash from my hands. Then someone will just bring you food. Whatever there is available. Usually rice with some sort of meat and some sort of green vegies. Standard price for a full plate TSH1500 (=AU$ 0.90). The one-meal-menu. I like eating and am always hungry. So this is just paradise for me.
However, these villages are getting more and more rare on the way North. Until I reach Kibaya. Which to my surprise appears 15km earlier than the Michelin map predicted. And where the only petrol station is out of fuel. Well, if the remaining distances on the map are correct I should be able to make it to Moshi on this tank. A big thumps up to the Safari Tank here.
After Kibaya there is nothing. So much nothingness, it reminds me back to the vast empty spaces of the Westaustralian outback nearly three months ago. It is a huge flat steppe. In some areas covered with a thick shrub of dry leafless thorny bushes, way too dense to penetrate. In these areas the road is usually hard and the surface rocky white gravel. Other areas of the steppe are more open, there is red soil and there are big green acacia trees scattered across the flat landscape. When the bush is open like this you can see some huge basalt rocks in the distance in the North and in the East. The road here is usually red, soft and sandy with two tyre tracks and a mound of soft sand in the middle. But all relatively comfy to ride through. And then there are these bulldust holes. All of a sudden there is a 200mm drop down from either of the usual road surfaces. And you find yourself in a big hole full of superfine red dust. The 'hole' is some 100-200m long and covers the entire width of the road and beyond. So you dig yourself through some 300mm deep dust. It's basically like water, you just sink in and there is good grip on the material below. But man, the dust clouds you leave behind are amazing. Big red mushroom clouds like little nuclear explosions. And you come up the little step on the other end covered in red dust down to your undies.
Roaming this land are massive herds of cattle. They must average 50-100 animals. And are usually controlled by one or two Masai, often children I would guess maybe 10 years old. Many of these animals wear bells so you can hear them as a loud choir of 'Ding Dong' from the distance.
Masai people are of impressive appearance. They are usually very tall and skinny. Dressed in sheets which always have a lot of red colour in them. And they carry a stick as tall as themselves. The Masai's whole life has to do with cattle. And I find it impressive every time one of these herds of big cows crosses the road in front of me and one man with a stick easily parts the huge sea of cattle to let me through. Usually accompanied with a hand raised to chest height to greet me.
I find the Masai culture utterly fascinating and so I'm happy to find a village along the way, not shown on my map. It consists of a few grey rendered brick buildings with iron sheeted roofs. The wind howls in between them and whips up little dust clouds. An ancient Land Rover is parked in front of one building. Masais are scattered around the village like big red spots, sheltering from the wind by covering their heads with the big red sheets. Out of each sheet reaches one hand with a long bright wooden stick.
Fortunately Masai are just as curious as I am. And so the presence of a 'Muzungu' (white man) on a 'Piki Piki' (motorcycle) soon draws a crowd around me. Two of them speak English which makes communication so much easier for us. While we are talking the rest of the crowd sticks with my little Suzuki. They are very touchy and everything on the bike is being touched, almost like a big pussy cat that needs to be petted. Fingers move around the stickers, the levers, the buttons, the tank and the warm motorblock. At no time are there fewer than 5 hands on the bike. But nothing is moved, no button being pushed. Particular interest is diverted towards the Pacsafe steel meshes around my panniers.
I'm in no hurry and so give everyone plenty opportunity to further investigate the surface of my little Suzuki while I am learning my first few words and sentences in Masai language. Whenever I try my new words on someone of the bike crowd it leads to big laughter. Which has to do with the very unusual pronounciation of the language which I guess needs a lot of practice to get right. What is obvious is that the Masai culture involves a lot of respect for their people. There is different words for 'hello', depending on who is addressed. Someone older or someone younger or someone of a higher rank in the hirarchy. The chief usually earns the highest respect, he is the only one allowed to carry a smaller (half meter long) carved black wooden stick as a symbol of his rank. Whereas everyone else has these long bright sticks up to 2m long. Which are used to control the cattle. And as weapon. At the end of our conversation I am presented with a beautiful short black carved stick, the symbol of a leader, as a gift for me. Not sure if it fits into Masai rules that a 'Muzungu' carries this symbolic gift I hesitate. But everyone else is smiling and insisting and so I accept. But I guess I better don't show it round too much while I'm here.
The road is rough enough to make it a slow journey. Also the km on the Michelin map are not correct. The distance between Kibaya and Naberera was a lot longer than shown and there was the big town of Okezimet just 30km or so south of Naberera, not shown on the map at all. People here agree that the distance to Moshi is around 90km longer than the map says. So I might struggle with my fuel tomorrow. But should still be able to just make it to Moshi. If I don't get lost.

On my way to Naberera on a good stretch of road I overtook another guy on a tiny little local 125cc Suzuki. He soon overtook me on a bad stretch of road again when I was riding rather carefully feeling sorry for my little Suzuki's shocks and suspension. We kept playing that game for a while, always smiling and honking when overtaking each other. Till the next village when I stopped to fill up the water bottles and to buy some bisquits for breakfast. The going is so slow here that I will need to spend a forth day on this road tomorrow. Bisquits are the closest thing to breakfast available in local 'grocery' huts.
Shortly after that village I find my companion standing beside his Suzuki on the side of the road. Suzuki riders have to stick together and so I stopped to see if he was alright. His bike has stopped and couldn't be started again. He suspected the problem to be caused by the spark plug. But had no tools to remove and check it. So my tools came in handy and yes, the two poles on the sparkplug did actually touch. No gap - no spark. Easy fix and in no time the little two stroke was running again.
The rider himself was dressed in normal pants and shirts, on his way home from work as a doctor. Interestingly he too is Masai (pants and shirt are merely a work uniform), very educated as a doctor and English speaking. So his tribe elected him chief. Which means on his pants he carries a short black wooden stick, the symbol of chiefdom. At that moment I was glad I had mine hidden. In appreciation of me stopping and helping he invited me into his house in Naberera. Where I met his wife and his 7 children. Each coming first to their father and then to me lowering their head in respect and expecting me to touch their head as greeting. After the greeting wife and kids disappear again to let the two 'men in the house' do their business. Which meant an introduction into Masai life and culture for me. While we were drinking our Cokes and Fantas the chief showed me photos and explained the structure of society and answered all my eager questions. It was really cool to sit and chat with him there. Concluding our meeting he tried to help me by drawing a map, much more detailed than the Michelin map for the rest of my journey to Moshi. There is many more villages and turnoffs than the Michelin map would suggest. All drawn up on a page in my little notepad did lead to a sheet of paper full of scribbles, impossible to make any sense of. Turnoffs to the left were drawn to the right and labelled as 'left' and vice versa. Names of villages were heaps too long for the little page and ended up covering everything. So I guess it's just a matter of luck for me to find my way to Moshi within the remaining fuel range.
Ah yeah, and apparently this section of the road will be much rougher than any section before...

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no risk - no fun

The road through the Masai Steppe - long and straight and dusty.


The surface quality of that road varies a lot, from smooth to rocky to sandy to dusty. But rarely to any extreme condition. So it's good fun to ride along slowly and enjoy the scenery.


It looks bad but actually isn't. The dust in these sections of road is so fine that the bike simply sinks in to some more solid ground where the tyres have good grip. So you just ride through it like through water. However, riding through these sections generates huge dust clouds and you need to be through quickly before the dust cloud catches up with you. I had that happen a few times with tail wind. And seriously, I've never been so dirty in my life!


I even enjoyed the sandy sections of the road. The sand was not too deep and there was usually a bit of hard high ground in between the tyre tracks.


Every now and then a big herd of cattle roamed the otherwise empty landscape. Usually accompanied by two Masai people.


A Masai village. It's a pity the photo cannot show the strong wind blowing in between the small huts and the smell of dust in the air, the chatter in Masai language or the sound of cow bells. It was a somewhat eery feeling to be there.


These Masai showed big interest in my huge 'Piki Piki' (motorbike), everything on it had to be touched and felt. Resulting in many Masai with very dirty fingers and a clean little Suzuki.


These were the white rocky sections of the road, often with nasty corrogation and loose gravel. They mainly let through dense bushland of thorny dry vegetation.


The more open areas featured sandy roads and red colours and taller green Acacia trees.

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no risk - no fun

Still in the Masai Steppe. Cool bird's nests started to appear hanging from the trees.


It got more interesting further North near the town of Nabarera. Previously far distant rock outcrops got closer to the road and big Baobab trees got added to the mix.


Also the 'dust holes' in the road became bigger the further North I travelled.


The reward waiting at the end of the road. After more than 400km through the Masai Steppe Mt. Kilimanjaro showed it's snow capped peak in the evening sun.


A photo I just had to show - my little Suzuki with Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background. The mountain itself is usually only visible in the early morning hours or just before sunset. During the day it is entirely covered in big white clouds.


There is a beautiful 250km road going right around Mt Kilimanjaro which I travelled counterclockwise this Sunday. Mostly good tarmac or well maintained gravel it winds it's way through many corners up to an elevation of 2100m near the Kenyan border and back down on the mountains western slopes. Despite the proximity to Mt Kilimanjaro the mountain was never visible. It's been replaced by a massive column of white clouds on the left of the road all 250km long. This was the first anniversary of little Suzuki becoming MY little Suzuki. So I am glad we found an appropriate route to celebrate.


Just when I though it couldn't get any better I found this - the Kibo Safari Camp. It was Sunday and the last group of tourists had just left the camp. All the staff were keen to get out of the camp and back to their families when I arrived. So without much bother they let me stay in a hut for a night for free and quickly left. The Safari tourists usually pay $300 per night here. Three caretakers were left behind with me. So the four of us had a great evening in an empty camp, finishing off most of the leftover drinks from the tourists and enjoying amazing views over the vast Tanzanian and Kenyan steppe National Parks.

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no risk - no fun

...not just yet. But the biggest obstacle is out of the way and we have our visa.
So the challenge to get through is still on...

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no risk - no fun

Yet this is one of two I enjoy keeping up on. Thanks.

--Alex

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NJ, NR, NBTTN

Thanks Alex!

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no risk - no fun

Arusha, Tanzania

After finishing with the beautiful ring road around Mt Kilimanjaro I headed straight to Arusha, the major town in northern Tanzania. There is one major reason why I wanted to stop over in Arusha, that's the 'School of St Jude'. Maybe a year or two back I watched a documentary on Australian ABC television about the story of this school. I still remember how impressed I was back then. The more so I was now excited to see the school for real. So yesterday morning I made my way down to the town of Moshone and really found the School of St Jude there.
Let me tell you a bit about the concept of the school first. It all started just over 10 years ago with one Australian woman dreaming about making a difference. And so, with the help of friends and their donations she was able to buy a small piece of land in Tanzania and built a tiny school on it. The school should be there to support the brightest little minds in impoverished communities, kids who's parents would not be able to afford the school fees or who would only spend a couple of years at a cheap school and never reach their full potential. The school started with three kids back then, three kids and one local teacher.
10 years later there are now 1500 kids and several hundred local staff on two campuses. Still following the same old concepts. Every year up to 150 kids from the local area are chosen to start with grade one in the St Judes primary school. Kids to be accepted have to meet two conditions: they have to be smart and they have to come from a poor family. Their poor background will be checked by home visits of school staff, some visits as surprise for the family and also by talking to neighbours and other community members. The potential of the kid will be assessed by a simple test, similar to an IQ test. If the little one is accepted they will be able to enjoy some of the best education in the country for free. No school fees will ever have to be paid, all learning material is provided for free. So is the school uniform. And also the pickup and drop of with the school's own buses (all donated). And the boarding. And four nutritious meals every day. End even medical requirements.
When I visited the school I saw libraries stacked with donated books. Computer cabinets full of donated computers, all connected to the internet. And laboratories, sports grounds, clean comfy boarding houses. And all that is based on the initiative of one woman from country New South Wales and her ability to excite others with her dream and to raise funds. From three kids to 1500 in ten years. All financed by donations only. Not bad, hey? Teachers are all locally sourced and paid, every non-tanzanian staff is not paid and helps as a volunteer only.
I was very impressed not just by the big clean and modern school campus. But just as much by the clever concept to help communities by supporting their smartest kids. And the most impressive thing for me still is, that one woman alone had done this. I never met her but she surely has a lot to be very proud of.
Volunteers are only accepted with at least a one year commitment. So unfortunately it wasn't for me. Otherwise I would still be there for a few weeks.

Africa is a strange place. By now I can fully understand people saying it can make or break you. I find myself often in between. Africa extends your range of emotions to unknown limits. And often you go through the whole range within a very short timeframe. I remember many times when I was just ready to keep riding, riding straight home, riding fast and long as to get home sooner. It's those days when every perfect dirt road ends in deep sand. Days when you just keep dropping your bike for stupid reasons. Or days when every step you make you are followed by an army of touts and there is not one quite second. Or when inefficient procedures make you want to cry and keep you stuck for half a day. Or vital stuff breaks or gets lost. But it's hardly ever a full day like this. Because when you feel down the most, ready to fly home the next day, something will come along and pick you up. And make you want to stay. Something simple like a woman walking along the road within her group of donkeys smiling and greeting you with a friendly 'Jambo'. Or the little kid who, with wide eyes and small hands exlores your bike full of wonder. Or the friendly guy in one of the road stalls giving his best to make the best possible Chai tea for you and is proud as when you praise his efforts. There is stories of rain and sunshine, annoying mosquitoes and beautiful sunsets, chaotic cities and wide empty plains. It's mostly the people who cheer you up again and again and make you say 'it's all worthwile'. So suddenly you realise that yes, the traffic is a hopeless mess but what a proud achievement it is to have negotiated a way through. And you find yourself smiling when you're stuck in a group of donkeys on the road because it's actually a cool feeling to be there. And yes, the road is all sand and sand sucks but the landscape around you makes you feel all warm inside. And so I guess it is this wide range of emotions which make us travel, make us explore places like Africa. Because at the end it's emotions which turn into memories and provide us with the fuel to live of for many years to come. And emotions of that magnitude are hard to come by when you stay at home.

Since the day I am travelling alone I find these emotions come along much more intense. The positive and the negative ones.
So I can only imagine what this Australian woman did go through on her way of growing the School of St Jude out of nothing. With her own hard work.

The School of St Jude > Home

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no risk - no fun

Somewhere near Shinyanga, Tanzania

Since leaving Arusha three days ago there weren't really many highlights along the way. Nor did I expect any. In the lack of highlights just let me write about an average day. Like today. No highlights but nonetheless very cool.
Last night I camped at a beautiful spot around 60km west of Singida just off a little maintenance track for HV power lines. It was really in the bush, however the truck traffic on the main thorougfare between Arusha and Kigali was still audible in the distance. I pitched my tent within an area of thorny acacia bushes. To make room for tent and bike I had to clear away a branch or two and these guys really sting you.
Getting up this morning at around 7am, a bit later than usual, one finger on my right hand was pretty painfully swollen and I could hardly bend it. Crap, that's where I was stung badly last night by these bloody acacia thorns. However, after a bit of finger gymnastic it was movable enough to be usable again. Just hope these thorns are not poisonous. So I packed up and had a big breakfast of cooked oats and the leftover half pineapple from last night, still juicy and sweet. It was around 9 o'clock when I started my little Suzuki and negotiated a way along the maintenance path back to the main road. It was already quite hot and should become a scorcher of a day again. At around 10am I felt that I hadn't had a tea yet and started scanning the villages left and right for these little restaurants. Not much later I passed one, one guy sitting on a table with one of those typical flasks full of tea. So I stopped and sat down at his table. Turns out he is the restaurant owner. He spoke no English but we understood each other well enough that soon after I had a cup of hot spicey Chai tea and two delicious 'cibati' (= flat wheat bread) in front of me.
His beautiful girlfriend came along as well and sat down with us. She spoke really good English and was keen to prove it. So we had a long chat. Her boyfriend soon went back to work installing new lights in their little restaurant. But she and myself, we sat there for probably almost two hours. Just talking.
After that I just went across the road to buy some credit for my Tanzanian mobile phone. As usual the first attempt to recharge the account didn't work. So I was assisted by a middleaged guy who also spoke pretty good English. Half an hour later I felt very educated about the village's affairs and the way ahead. And had new credit on the phone. So, as with many others before, we exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. And he insisted to escort me back to the bike. Where we chatted for another 10 minutes or so about my little Suzuki and how massive she was. And then off I went.
Lately I am riding rather slowly, around 70km/h on tarmac. That speed is in perfect tune with the local traffic and quite relaxing really. Although the Michelin map showed some of today's road as gravel it was in fact all recently built tarmac. Easy cruising. There is a lot of people walking along the road. Or pushing fully loaded bicycles. However, there is almost no motor traffic apart from a few buses and trucks. So every person along the road kept turning their head and following me on the bike with their eyes. Some had a really surprised expression on their face, as if to say 'WTF is going on???'. Others just smiled. Some shouted something in Swahili after me. Others even raised their hand for a friendly greeting. But literally everyone stopped and turned their head.
Shortly after 1:30pm I reached the town of Nzega, a rather big dot on the map. Good place for lunch. Don't know why but even after all the good food earlier this morning I felt hungry again. So I stopped and ordered one of those delicious pancakes made of chips and eggs fried in a pan. The guy who cooked them did not understand any English so we showed a lot with our fingers. I ordered a pancake with one serve of chips and two eggs. Ordering food I hardly ever get right. So at the end I got two pancakes. Showing two fingers for having two eggs in my pancake somehow translated into two meals. But no problem, I had one packed in a bag for dinner. And ate the other one there and then. While a couple of kids standing around watching me and a couple of men standing around the bike and discussing various elements of it. After eating I took a photo of the kids. Which is always big fun. They just can't stop laughing seeing their faces on the little camera screen. And soon a big crowd formed around the camera.
After explaining some bits and pieces of the bike I was ready to set off again. The usual points of interest are: the highest number shown on the speedo, the ccm of the engine and the capacity of the fuel tank.
So I kept riding along a beautiful tarmac road. Through endlessly flat steppe. The landscape was very green because we are now in the 'small' rain season. Being so close to the equator there are actually two wet seasons.
It was a very hot day and after a while I needed some water again. I promply reached a village with one shop having a big ad for water painted on their wall. The shop owner spoke English which quickly lead to a short chat again. About motorcycles, their ccm and fuel tank capacities and about Tanzania and Australia. People are very proud when I praise Tanzania but I do so honestly because I like it here. Three kids sitting against the wall was too good a photo opportunity to miss. So I asked and took a photo and quickly had a curious crowd chatting and laughing around my camera screen again. I used the two new water bottles to fill up the old empty ones which fit much better in the bottle holders of my panniers than the Tanzanian bottles. And gave the empty bottles to a lady eagerly waiting to see where I would throw them away. There is always another use for them and she thanked me with a big smile. And I rode on.
The landscape got greener and more and more hilly, really stunning. Just the mix of colours: the blue sky with some white clouds, the green vegetation, the red bricks of the huts, their golden roof of straw and some grey boulders randomly strewn across the area.
Next time I stopped around 3:30pm. There was this massive Baobab tree next to the road. And underneath a couple of old ladies selling mangoes, They spoke no English whatsoever. But I was still able to purchase a beautiful mango for just AU$0.10 and to borrow a knife to cut it in pieces and eat it there and then. We had a lovely chat. They said something in Swahili to me. I replied with a random sentence in English. Which triggered a response in Swahili. And so on. A very relaxed way of having a conversation. All participants wondering what the hell the other one is talking about. Half an hour later I was on the bike again.
Maybe ten minutes after I found some huge rocks near the road. It's always a good photo opportunity to climb up there. And so I did. On my way down I noticed a car having stopped on the same spot. Having a flat tyre. The two guys in the car, Tanzanians but by their looks of middle eastern ancestry, spoke fantastic English and were really lovely fellows. We probably chatted for an hour about our respective lifes and pasts and plans etc. And about 'The Long Way Down'. Really cool. By then it was time to find a spot for camping.
When bushcamping, which happens most of the time, I usually start looking for a place from around 4pm. Usually I find a good spot by 4:30 with some time remaining till sunset at 6pm. That's the time when I sit down, relax, read a bit, write into my diary, check the bike and eat something. And observe the area. If no one turns up with any objections by sunset I pitch the tent. And so it happened today. Still in time to watch the sunset, the sun turning from yellow to orange to red. And the rise of the currently full moon, turning from red to orange to yellow. North of here, in the far distance, there is some lightning. Way better than watching television. I'm camping just a few hundred meters of the main road, some 10km east of Shinyanga in a little depression. A waterhole used by the local cattle owners to let their cows drink. But not after sunset. So I have the place all to myself.

Done 220km today. Pretty good day really. And tomorrow will be another one.

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no risk - no fun