days ago we have put in many hours in the saddle as we cycled to Fort
Portal below the Ruwenzoris, down across the equator and through Queen
Elizabeth National Park to the border with Rwanda near Kabale, wound
our way through the valleys to the Rwandan capital Kigale, drank loads
of Primus beer, climbed up the hills to Butare before descending
slightly into Burundi and then starting an upward slog (with an
exhilarating descent at the end) to Bujambura on the shore of Lake
Tanganyika. From Bujambura we followed the shoreline south eastwards.
The road was mostly flat and the setting was amazing. The green
mountains hidden in mist on our left with the waters of Lake
Tanganyika on our right. The road wound through villages and towns
full of smiling faces while at other times we were alone in this
tropical paradise. Our overnight spot was Nyanza Lac where we found a
top notch hotel for $15 and it even had hot water. It was actually
too hot!
From Nyanza Lac we headed inland to tackled a massive climb in searing
heat to 1600m and the village of Mabana where we were stamped out of
Burundi (a whole country is less than three days!). From there we had
22km of undulating (okay more like a series of climbs) dirt road to
the Tanzanian border. Along the way we sampled some sosaties from a
local grill. They were not that great. Mine had a chunk of meat, two
chunks of fat, some liver and then a kidney on it. At the border the
dirt track gave way to nice and shiny tar. From here it was 60km to
Kigoma. Relatively easy on a good day but after our climb out of
Burundi and nothing but bread and some animal parts to eat, it was
painful. A few big climbs did not help either. But the mountain
scenery on the border, free of human habitation, was phenomenal and
got us through it. This is a place I want to come back to explore but
I will drive there and then walk! We got to Kigoma somewhat exhausted
and dehydrated. Just before we got to the town, a mini bus screeched
up behind us and Heinz put his head out the window and threw us a
bottle of water. He had caught a lift for the last section. I would
have done the same if I was on a Brompton and 72 years old!
Today we met up with Andy Blake who runs the Helper charity in Kigoma.
I met Andy via email a year or so ago when we were raising money by
doing the Cape Epic mountain bike race. It was great to actually meet
him in person! Great guy! Helper (helpertanzania.com) runs a school
for orphans and disadvantaged children in the Kigoma area. The
curriculum focuses more on problem solving and teaching the children
to think for themselves rather than the official Tanzanian curriculum
of learning by wrote (hope no Goverment officials read this, our visa
may be revoked). The school is ably led by Beryl (a teacher with many
years of experience from England) with support from two young local
teachers, Elisa and James. We spent some time with the children and it
was really inspiring to see the work Andy and his team were doing.
This is not your typical charity, NGO or Aid organization with its
hand outs, its a charity with a different, more effective approach to
things, teach someone to fish rather than give him a fish if you will.
Helper hopes to make a long lasting difference and help eradicate the
problems that Tanzania (and Africa) suffers from. Its small but
something like this should, and with Andy at the helm, will grow and
will make that difference. In addition to the school, Helper also
provides medical, legal and family support in the area.
As mentioned in a previous blog, we are taking the MV Liemba ferry
south on Lake Tanganyika to a place called Kasanga. This is to avoid
a nasty road which is currently a mud pit but also to experience the
ferry. The MV Liemba is German built and 100 years old. Lets hope it
gets us there! Thanks to Andy we have our tickets already. First
class cabins (think first class on an Indian train...)! Heinz also
managed to get a ticket. We depart tomorrow at 4pm and hope to arrive
at 4pm on Friday. We are getting closer and closer to home. Isobella
Im nearly there'! Can't wait to see you!
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