Pedalling through Tanzania – Ups and downs and waiting out the wind

Posted on 1 July 2009

After our great night in Mbeya, we were off on our long north-easterly haul to Dar es Salaam. Well fed and back in communication with the world we set our course.

Luckily the weather was on our side and there was not a breath of wind. It did get unbelievably hot, but we had full water bottles and kept our hats on. Midday came and we sheltered for a lunch, everything was going well.

We reached Chimala by 15:00, booked into a rest house and sat down to a solid plate of meat and a beautifully chilled beer. Marc watched the SA vs Spain football match and I caught a late afternoon nap.

That night the mosquitoes wanted blood! The room was clear when I checked. I woke up and tried to switch my light on. No light. Reached for my headlamp from under the mozzie net. Headlamp on and all I saw when I shone on the net was a swarm of mosquitoes moving along the net precariously close to the few holes in the net.

Now mozzies aren’t the most dangerous characters outside the tropics, just a pest, but in the tropics, they carry death and having experienced Malaria before I avoid them like the plague!

Another arm reach to my pannier. Bushman DEET spray in hand. I quickly sprayed a protective shield of DEET on myself before braving the dark to find the manager. The nonoperational light would be and was my ticket out of the mozzie trap!

I rolled my bike into the next room. Pulled out the Bushman and sprayed every inch of the room almost asphyxiating myself in the process. While making myself comfortable under the mozzie net I watched the little buggers dropping one by one from the ceiling. I slept well knowing the room was fumigated decently.

We both hit a real low on the way to Makambako. A head wind came up while we were on the road. It only got stronger and stronger the later it got. Marc and I reached Makambako at sunset after eight hours of battling. The last 15 kilometers took us almost two hours. At times we were reduced to pushing our bikes on the flats because it was to risky with the trucks passing us.

Dusty and wind weakened, our first objective was to get accommodation. We found the Usalule Lodge, which was very well priced for its standard. We were revitalised by a steaming hot shower and the fact that we had satellite TV in our rooms just topped it. However luxury became a trap as we had to sit out the wind the following day and I landed up sick with flu which trapped us for the third night.

Thinking of it, a rest was well deserved because Marc and I had been going without a rest day for almost nine days.

With the wind came icy temperatures. It reminded me of the Karoo in winter. The dry, icy and dusty air burns your lungs when you take a deep breath, your fingers feel clumsy and you have a perpetual sniff. We left Makambako in full winter gear. We had donned our waterproof pants, thermal t-shirts, wind breakers and even beanies for the morning start. Never expected that weather eight degrees south of the Equator.

This became ritual for the next few days. It had its upside. Our water bottles stayed chilled.






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