Djibouti:
Well lets not beat around the bush, this is defiantly NOT the best country to start a cycling journey from. There are very few bikes in the country as a whole and the ones that are around have seen better days. Unless you are starting from here you are very unlikely to actually go here due to its geographical location and politics with surrounding countries. However if you do visit there are a few things you might need to know. It is a French speaking country with very very little English spoken. They use the Djibouti Franc and quite frankly their economy still baffles me now, the cost of goods and services is extremely high and yet it has a very run down African feel to it. Banks only open for a few hours a week but none of them will change any currency unless you have an account with them. The only two ways of changing money are with ‘The Ladies’ in the market square at night or in the change bureau if you can work out when it is open! Shops are only open when the owners want to open them and some big stores are only open for 1 hour a week so don’t stand outside stores expectantly for too long. The true Djiboutians are very kind and hospitable however be careful as the city is surrounded by immigrants and refugees from Somalia and they WILL throw rocks at you as you cycle past. Take a lot of water as the country is predominantly desert and a hammock and mosquito net will be fine for the night.

Ethiopia:
The stretch of road from Djibouti to Dire Dawa is very very sparse so be prepared!!! The road (dirt track) is very bad and water and food is incredibly limited. If there is one part of the journey I would recommend taking water purification tablets, this is it, you will not be able to get drinking water and the only food you will be able to get is bread. Once your onto the main road at Dire Dawa the roads throughout the whole of Ethiopia are very good quality. However if you venture onto a secondary road, the quality deteriorates exponentially, expect a 150km journey to take between 8 and 10 hours by vehicle let alone bycicle!!! Their currency is the Birr and the general cost of living is exceptionally low. Their food is some of the best in Africa, but may take a few days for your stomach to adapt to it. They have a lot of customs you should try to familiarize yourself with asap and respect. The national language is Amharic and as a rule only those who have been educated speak English. This is one of the most spectacularly diverse countries with every kind of landscape you can imagine. There are a lot of mountains so either get a bike with gears or be prepared to push! Unfortunately most of the population believe that it is the DUTY of white people (travelers in general) to give them money! Almost every single child is bought up to beg and as you get closer to the boarders the adults also do it. There is also a huge problem with forced services, people will perform jobs that you often don’t want and then demand extraordinarily large sums for their services.

Kenya:
In comparison to the Ethiopians, the Kenyans have a much better understanding of tourism and so you won’t be hassled nearly as much. As a general rule people are very friendly and despite Swahili being their national language most people speak English. Their national currency is the Shilling and compared to Ethiopia the cost of living is very high. When you cross the border at Moyale you will not be allowed to proceed by bike, the guards at the edge of town will stop you but there are armed escorts that will take you past the ‘danger zone’. Once you are passed this area you have got a 200km cycle along a very bad dirt track before you will get onto tarmac. The country is relatively flat with the exception of 2 mountain ranges. As a general rule the roads are tarmacked well enough to cycle along but they are covered in pot holes so both you and the traffic need to swerve regularly so be careful! Your entry Visa can only be paid is US Dollars, UK Sterling, EU Euro and SW Swiss Francs (they don’t accept their own currency!). On the plus side the visa is valid for 3 months and you can come in and out of Kenya as many times as you like during that time.

Tanzania:
Ah yes Tanzania… The best piece of advice I can give anybody who is looking to cycle on the main roads in Tanzania is DON’T! I have been very fortunate to have traveled a good portion of the world and I have to say that the Tanzanians (especially the bus drivers) are in close contention for being the worst drivers in the world. I heard some staggering figures regarding the annual death toll on Tanzanian roads and I can well believe it. Apart from that small deterrent it has a lot to offer. Their national language is also Swahili but it is a very different kind of Swahili to that spoken in Kenya. I believe it is a considerably more formal and traditional version, although I can’t be sure of that. In any case most people speak English so if it takes you a few days to learn the new version it isn’t the end of the world. There staple food is maize although they have some fantastic additions to their diets including the ‘chipati’. It is only served in the mornings but it makes a spectacularly good breakfast along with the local fruit. There is an impressive abundance of food stalls on the side of the roads were you can buy a huge variety of local goods and bottled water is available everywhere. The national currency is also the shilling however it does not have the same value as the Kenyan shilling. Most people are incredibly friendly however that doesn’t mean to say that they won’t take you for a ride if they get the chance. If you do choose to risk your life on the roads then you should be aware that the road between Dar Es Salaam and Mbeya is bad… not in a quality, but in a driving sense! There are almost no hard shoulders and there is a considerable drop off the road into the grass. As you start to get close to Iringa the hills start and there are an incredible amount of lorries, buses and cars that have rolled over and are on the side of the road burnt out!

Malawi:
This on the other hand is a brilliant country for cyclists. There are some serious hills to climb, most notably in and out of Mzuzu, so I would probably recommend some gears on your bike and obviously there are some serious downhills so good brakes are advisable. The people are incredibly kind, the lake is very very beautiful, the roads are in generally in excellent condition (NB. Be very careful when heading out of Mzuzu down towards Nkater Bay, the road is very steep and suddenly, on a number of occasions the tarmac stops). Despite having quite an absurd number of languages throughout the country most people speak English. Whilst accommodation is plentiful there is a considerable difference in the frequency of food stalls between here and Tanzania. You will find relatively few and the ones you do find sell mostly fish, however the biggest problem is water! Very few places sell bottled drinking water and the quality of the countries flowing water is not very good, so be sure to buy stock when ever you can. I enjoyed almost all my time in Malawi and the only thing that made life difficult were the children! There is a distinct similarity between the Malawian children and the Ethiopian children when it comes to begging. Almost every child will scream out something along the lines of ‘give me my money’ as you cycle past which dampens the whole experience slightly. Unlike many African countries, Maize is not their staple food, instead they grow a crop called ‘casava’ and although an expert in the matter would probably strongly disagree with me, I couldn’t taste much difference. The currency is the Kwatcha and the national obsession with money will mean they will take it when they can, negotiations are an intense affair however as long as you keep the mood light everybody will be smiling at the end. If you chose to cross the border down through Nsanje (highly recommended) then be aware that there is no tarmac until you reach Caia (about 120km into Mozambique).

Mozambique:
Truth be told I still can’t make my mind up about this country. It is a truly enormous place and is predominantly covered in forest. Due to land mines it is ill advised to camp outside of village boundaries and I know I said in my equipment post that you didn’t really need a tent but obviously the second I said that was the moment I was to be proved wrong! I still believe that if you had a good bike and a light load you could do without a tent but I have used it on several occasions now. Accommodation is a little on the sparse side and you should seek the permission of the village elders before setting up camp in a village. The staple food is basically bread and fruit although rice and maize are everywhere as well, and supermarkets are fairly common in the south. As I mentioned before, the currency is the Meticai and is a little confusing when you first come across it so have a good look at the notes and coins and get familiar with them. The most widely spoken language is Portuguese and very few people speak English, so make sure you have at least a basic grasp. With the exception of two stretches so far the road has been very good and flat. Drivers are good at giving you space when they overtake and everybody is very friendly. Apart from the occasional moment bartering is really not so much a part of daily life. Most people are honest about prices right out although it doesn’t hurt to be cautious. As you head further south the road becomes increasingly populated with South Africans and the sides of the roads are absolutely covered in glass from smashed beer bottles so make sure you have good tires or lots of spare inner tubes.

Swaziland: ….. still to come!

The most basic rule to remember is that ‘knowledge is power’! You are usually most vulnerably to being conned and ‘taken for a ride’ when you arrive in a new country. Everything hits you at once; new people, new surroundings, new climate, new currency, new language, new economy…! This advice is aimed at crossing borders rather than arriving at international airports, but I suppose to a certain extent the same applies. Don’t, what ever you do, let yourself be bullied or panicked into doing anything. Most of the borders in Africa are hectic places and that’s for a very good reason, if you hot and flustered you are more likely to make mistakes, and that is what they want. Regardless of what anybody says at the border the only people who are ‘officials’ are the guys with guns (even that isn’t always the case) and the guys sitting behind the passport control desks. So don’t let anybody go through your stuff or pull you over into a quiet lay by etc. and don’t give anybody your passport or other documents no matter how convincing they might be. Some of the bigger borders have got Forex bureaus but most of the time you will be flooded with requests to change money on the black market. The people will vary in their honesty so make sure you know the exchange rate before you get anywhere near the border and be strong, they will usually try and tell you that you are crazy and that you have got the wrong exchange rate. If they can make you doubt yourself and get you panicked, they will push you into a deal you don’t want to make (and they are very good at it). Stand your ground and be prepared to walk away if necessary, they will eventually come up to the proper rate. Just be aware that there are 1001 scams just within this one topic, so to be breif, show them that you have the money but don’t give it to them (have the amount you want to change already ready in your pocket, DON’T go opening up your money belt and showing loads of cash!!!) get them to give you the correct money first, count it all in your own time and only then, when you are happy that you have the right amount in your hand, do you hand over your cash.

Personally I try to get away from the borders as fast as possible. On a bike however, especially Herbert, even at full speed ahead I can never get all that far. So my first night in a new country I try to find a place to stay were the prices are printed. The very fact that the prices are printed means that it’s probably slightly more expensive than where I would usually stay, but at least I have something to work off. Once you’re in the relative comfort of your room, get yourself together, get pen paper and go to the bar/eat house/restaurant and find somebody who, in exchange for a drink will sit with you and teach you some vital words in their language. Some of the most important and useful word are the numbers.  The better you can communicate with the people the less likely you are of ‘being taken for a ride’. Also while you are at it, ask about the general cost of everyday things that you are going to be needing/wanting. The chances are that the bank notes you now have are quite large in relative to the cost of local goods so make sure you change them as soon as possible for small denominations.

In western culture bartering is a bit of a taboo and is frowned upon in many respects, after all how many times to you go into your local supermarket, pick up a chicken that costs £3.50, go to the till and start trying to pay £1 for it? As such we are not all that good at it and when we get to a part of the world were bartering is part of everyday life we get walked all over. Again for me the ultimate bargaining weapon is knowledge! If I know how much something should cost then I at least have a chance of paying the ‘right’ (by local standards) price for it. There are a million and one ways of achieving the same goal here and I’m sure everybody has got great techniques but mine are very simple. The first way is to simply be very British about the situation and queue! Yup just queue. The great thing about Africa (and indeed quite a large proportion of developing countries) is that the concept of queuing is  not part of their culture. Subsequently people will push, barge and fight their way past you so they can get served first. As infuriating as this can be at times on this particular occasion it can be very useful as you can watch patiently and see what everybody else is paying. When your sure, you can jump in and get your lot. The other way is to find somebody completely neutral who has no vested interest in lying, to you to tell you how much something costs. Of course using this technique alone, run’s the risk of asking somebody that just felt like upping the price for his mate.

Of course just because the person in front payed XYZ for his eggs doesn’t mean for 1 second that they will offer you the same price straight out. In some countries they will use every excuse under the sun to convince you that there was a special reason why he got that price. Have faith in yourself and remember that there are no hard feeling when you bargain, if your price is too low for them they simply won’t sell it to you, so don’t feel bad fighting your corner. Sometimes you will inevitably come up against a situation were you simply can’t find a reliable reference price and you need to bargain blind. Again if you do get yourself into this situation don’t panic!!! Get them to give you their starting price, (Now this next number will depend on the country) NO matter what they say divide it by 4. They will usually let out a gasp and shake their head violently with some disapproving sound added in for good measure. The chances are that you have gone too low but seeing as you are going to have to meet them half way you need to give yourself some starting ground.

There are a few other ground rules you should be aware of; ALWAYS agree a price first for the service and NEVER pay until the service has been delivered. If you make people look you in the eye when they are quoting you a price they will find it harder to lie, if they start looking around and avoiding eye contact, you know something is up. Never ever lose your temper, no matter how bad the situation gets you have got a much better chance of resolving the situation successfully by keeping the mood light. Keep a close eye on all your stuff, your equipment is most at risk when you are distracted. If you unequivocally know the price of something (ie. Coca Cola) then just had over the money rather than askinghow much, to save any negotiating.

This is such a huge topic that I could go on forever but the long and the short of it is that knowledge is the key. And no matter what happens never lose your cool, if you feel panicked just walk away.

So what would I consider to be indispensable equipment when cycling through Africa? Well the truth is I would only say that you actually need 4 things: A bike (and I think that Herbert has proved that it can be pretty much any old bike), a set of cloths (as much to protect you from the sun as for common decency), your passport (with any relevant visas etc.) and money. Thats pretty much it. Of course there are a number of other items you can bring that will aid you on your journey but that is actually all you NEED.

The items that will make your life more comfortable and considerably easier are actually pretty limited as well. A map is a huge help and I would recommend getting a waterproof one even if its going inside a waterproof pouch. A waterproof bag that fits onto your handlebars to put everything in that you can take off easily and carry around with you. A first aid kit is an excellent idea but you can buy most basic drugs in towns and cities so don’t go OTT with a medi kit that will allow you to perform open heart surgery on the side of the road!!!! Most importantly make sure you have what you need to clean cuts and cover them up. Malaria tablets are a good idea and although they are considerably cheaper out in Africa they have a huge problem with counterfeits so be careful. A tool kit, the reason this isn’t on the essential list is because no matter where you go, no matter how small the village, somebody will have enough tools and knowhow to fix your bike. That said I give you about 5 days before they drive you completely crazy with their ‘African Way’ of fixing things so I would probably recommend taking a good multi tool with you, a few spare parts such as an extra inner tube and a pump. Incidentally something that we never found written anywhere in any of the ‘Cycling Africa guides’ before we left, was that African pumps are designed exclusively to fit to their special African valves and they wont fit on standard European valves!!! Depending on the countries your planning on cycling through, a helmet is also not a bad idea. I was torn between putting the next item in the essential list but decided that it was in fact just a very useful item and not critical for success… a bell (make it as loud as possible). Something that I never really used until reaching Malawi were water purification drops (iodine). Up until Malawi you could buy drinking water on the side of the road every few kilometers (its relatively expensive but worth it) but its a real rarity in Malawi so I would just check with somebody that has been to your destination before deciding whether to take any. A cycling computer can be both your best friend and your worst enemy but in the long run is probably a good thing. Not so you can gloat over how far you have cycled but so you can get an idea of distances between towns and villages. Unfortunately on a bad day you stare at it every 2 minuets and painfully watch the kilometers creep by.

No trip is complete without it’s luxury items. My luxury items constitute about 70% of all my equipment amazingly. This is predominantly cameras, batteries and chargers. When ever I look in other peoples equipment they have the most obscene amount of adapters to convert plugs for one country to another, which take up vast amounts of space. If space and weight is a premium, as it is on a bike, then cut out the middle men. At almost all borders you can buy plugs for that country (just the plastic housing with the relevant contacts), if you take your one off and give it to them, they will usually exchange it for the next one you need. Aside from all my electronic equipment that I use for filming, taking photos and writing posts my most useful luxury item is my ‘Panga Knife’ (It’s basically a 50cm machete). On top of acting as a generally very useful tool (for opening coconuts or cutting pineapples etc.) it is a good deterrent and protection against animals. You can pick them up pretty much anywhere for about $3 to $5.

One of the things that I have deliberated over quite considerably is my tent… To take a tent or not to take a tent? In conclusion I would have to say that there is no real need for camping equipment (tent, mattress or sleeping bag). Almost every single village and town has rest and guest houses that cost between $3 and $7. In your room you usually get a towel, a shower, a bed and a toilet. They are designed for truckers to stop at and so some are slightly on the noisy side and prostitutes are no rare sight but they are perfect for a traveler needing a rest and a wash. The reason I have started to prefer these to camping is that the room is more spacious than a tent, cooler, they have plugs and all your kit is together and out of sight. On top of this tents are usually soaking in the morning from dew, condensation or rain and if they are designed to be animal proof then they will probably weigh in excess of 10kg.

Of course it is going to depend on the purpose of your journey as to what equipment you will take and you will have to make the decision to balance up what you are going to take versus the amount of effort you will need to peddle it along. However I hope that you will see from what I have put in the indispensable list that actually you really don’t need much kit at all. Africa is pretty much designed to accommodate its own people and by extension if you can live like them it will also accommodate you.

One thing you cant get away from in any language is numbers. Whether I’m asking the time, how far it is to the next village or probably most frequently, how much something costs. They all need a vague grasp on numbers.

1.Moja
2.Mbili
3.Tatu
4.Nne
5.Tano
6.Sita
7.Saba
8.Nane
9.Tisa
10.Kumi

100. Mia (Easy as thats my sisters name)
1000. Elfu Moja (2000 is Elfu Mbili and so on)

As a general rule the people of Tanzania have been incredibly friendly and so quite a considerable amount of the day is spent greeting people as I cycle past. Not only is it considerably nicer being able to greet people in their own language, but there are less English speakers in Tanzania than there are in Kenya (They also speak Swahili in Kenya although it’s a very different kind). So the basics of every greeting are:

Hello – Jambo
How are you? – Habari
(If you are speaking to somebody younger than you you can use the word Mambo which means – Hi how are you? but it should never be used to one of your elders!)
Welcome – Karibu
I’m great – Safi
Cool – Poa
No worries everything is fantastic – Sowa Sowa
Good buy – Kwa eri
Thankyou – Asante
What is your name? – Jina Lako Ninani
No Worries – Hakuna Matata

The word for ‘very’ is Sana and can be put on the end of other words ie. Karibu Sana – you are very welcome etc.

Unfortunately knowing a few words means that people assume I can speak the language well and rabble sentences off that are still a complete mystery to me. When this does happen I have to jump in with a very useful sentence:

I don’t understand! – Ona Taka Nini!

Foods are hugely important but as a general rule people only eat local produce so there is a relatively limited vocab to learn to get buy.

Banana – Endizi
Pineapple – Nanas
Mango – Embe
Coconut – Mnazi
(These make up the bulk of my diet at the moment)

Oogali is the staple food in quite a large proportion of Africa and although it takes on different names in different countries it is always the same. It is a maize paste that is probably best described as a bland version of mash potato. It’s not great to eat on it’s own but thankfully it is usually served with a sauce of either:

Vegetables – Maiza
Chicken – Kuku
Beef – Ngombe
Goat – Mbuzi

Some of the other foods that turn up that I was slightly surprised about are chips!!! For some extraordinary reason they have attributed the chip to Ireland and are always calling them ‘Irish Potatoes’. It makes me laugh that served up next to all the African fruit and Oogali is a dish they seem particularity fond of, the ‘chippi omlati’, I will let you deduce for yourselves what that might be!!!

A few other useful foods are:
Egg – Yai
Potato – Kiazi
Bread – Samaki
And probably the most important thing is water – Maji

The good news is that once you get the basics right Swahili is actually quite a simple language to learn. The bad news is that in about a week I will be crossing over into Malawi and all my hard learned Swahili will be of no use what so ever and I will have to start all over again. Oh well!!!

PS. Thank you all so much for your messages, they are much appreciated. I am slowly getting round to answering them all but my days are a little full at the moment so please be patient.

Incidentally Ben (Saunders), if you want to do some ‘real’ training you can forget racing around London on your 500g carbon fiber bike. Get yourself a rusty old bike (about 10kg) with no gears that is too small for you, load it up to the point of destruction and then ride 60km uphill with a semi flat tire into a head wind on a road with melted tar… It’s one of those moments when you should really admit defeat, get off the bike and push. But instead you get this irrational rage, refusing to give up and challenging the road to throw even more at you, in a kind of ‘is that all you’ve got?’ way!

A few days ago I developed a high fever and fearing the worst I counted my malaria tablets to make sure that I hadn’t missed any. Not being an expert on African diseases I thought it best to visit the next Malaria clinic on route at Same (pronounced Sah-may). The great news was that the malaria test came back negative, the not so great news was that it was going to take a whole day to try and work out what was the matter. After exhausting every possible option two doctors finally managed to agree that it was probably due to untreated water. Normally all the water that I drink is either bottled or iodized but when I went to the orphanage I was offered a glass of water and in a moment of empathy for the children I drank it without thinking.

I think more than anything else the prospect of the Huruma children having to drink that water day in, day out has spurred me on even more to try and help them get a water treatment facility installed. I suppose at times I am just as culpable as the next person, when I am at home I take for granted the fact that clean drinking water flows freely from every tap. The most alarming fact is that still in the 21st Century, with all our technology, the greatest majority of the worlds population still doesn’t have access to safe drinking water!!!

On a related, but not quite so serious note (well actually just as concerning but in a different way) I read a shocking statistic recently, that more Coka Cola (products) are consumed everyday around the world than water! I have to say that I was very sceptical about this at first and would appreciate it if anybody has any hard data to back this up. However having spent the last few months in Africa I am starting to believe that this might actually be true. Coka Cola products (I.e. Fanta, Sprite etc.) are consumed at a frightening rate. The cost of a bottle of coke along this trip has been between 10 and 20 pence (sterling) whilst a bottle of water has averaged out at about 50 pence (sterling)!!! I have watched people consume Coka Cola products with breakfast, dinner and every hour in between. As much as the statistic may be disturbing (if it is indeed true) you have to admire the marketing of a company that has such a global domination.

I haven’t forgotten you Hector! I know I promised you that I would take photos of insects and unusual wildlife, but by the time I have stopped the bike (anything up to about 100m without brakes) and got the camera out, most of them have run into the undergrowth. I did however manage to get a photo of this chameleon for you and I will keep trying.

]]> http://www.primaljourney.com/archives/778/feed 2 http://www.primaljourney.com/archives/773 http://www.primaljourney.com/archives/773#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:38:23 +0000 Tarka http://www.primaljourney.com/?p=773 Katie’s sudden departure left us with a spare bike and I really couldn’t face dragging it all the way down to South Africa with me. Seeing as how Herbert was the original starter and began the journey back on day 1, it felt right that I should continue on him and give Flashdance away to a worthy cause.

After considerable searching we stumbled on a tiny little orphanage just outside Arusha. They receive almost no support at all and after a short conversation with Father Zacharia I felt that this was a good home for Flashdance. She was bought down from Nairobi on the top of a car and yesterday I went round to the Huruma Orphanage to give her away.

It was a twenty minute drive out of Arusha up a long dirt track to reach the tiny little building that housed the children. Abdul, the director of Abrojaley Africa Ajabu Ltd. has very close ties with the orphanage and kindly offered to drive me up there. Although the building was in need of some considerable love and care the setting was absolutely breathtaking. There was a spectacular view out the back looking up at the mountains blanketed in foliage. There was a small old swing and a tiny little football pitch set in amongst the banana trees. From what Farther Zacharia explained the children lived primarily off bananas (which they grew themselves) and from milk that is produced by the two cows that has been given to them. As it stood the single building could only accommodate a maximum of 22 children, some of which are HIV orphans others have simply been left at the gate with no explanation. As we walked around meeting the kids I was told all about the dream of educating each and every one of them and I listened intently as he meticulously explained how he planned to achieve this right down to what crops he was going to plant where and how big each classroom was going to be.

I am no psychologist and I have not visited enough orphanages in my life to create a convincing case study but I have found that children with the least often have the most to give. I have no idea whether the unlimited levels of affection that they display is a way of compensating for the lack of love that they have received or whether it is simply a natural human emotion that manifests itself in times of need. Despite all this outward display of affection I couldn’t help but be left with a sense of emptiness as I looked around.

I asked Farther Zacharia what the bicycle meant to them and whether it would be of any use so far up this dirt track. In truth I was partly expecting him to say that it was a very kind gesture but that it would probably be sold to help feed the children. As it turned out he told me that the children had been praying for a bike for some time now. It is more than a 2km walk for them to collect water each day and on occasions when they could buy supplies it was a long an arduous walk back to the house and the bike would make their lives considerably easier. As I watched the kids race around on the bike I also suspected that it would provide them with a little entertainment from time to time, in between the daily chores.

After a healthy amount of hugging it was time to continue on my journey and as we pulled away down the hill I caught sight of the children racing around on Flashdance back in the distance. I have to say that I have had my fair share of disagreements with Flashdance, I’ve even come close to quietly pushing her off a cliff, but seeing how useful she really is to people in need made me forget all the quarrels we have had.

With it being low season on the mountain and Katie picking an exceptionally beautiful and less frequently used route we have not, until now, seen a single other person on our entire journey. Yesterday evening we were joined at camp by another team compromised primarily of French people. Sebastien turned out to be a water purification engineer in Dar Es Salaam and I have arranged to try and meet up with him as I cycle through.

This morning we left camp at 07:15 just in time to see the other team emerge from their tents, only to be overtaken 2 hours later as they came almost running past us. It was no real surprise given their excessive speed that when we finally arrived at Kibo Hut they were all tent bound with splitting headaches! Unfortunately Sadie has lost her appetite this evening and has a bad headache, not a good sign considering we are making our summit attempt in a few hours! We are due to get up at 23:00 this evening and walk through the night so we have had an early dinner and we are trying to get a few hours rest before the walk.

Day 5

After a few measly hours dozing we woke up at 23:00 to find the landscape blanketed white with a thick carpet of snow. It was still snowing heavily at 23:30 as we set out after our cup of hot sugary tea and a few biscuits. Sadie’s headache has got considerably worse and after 40mins of walking she informed me that she had vomited prior to departure. She insisted on carrying on for a short while but at 5200m she began suffering from ataxia and extreme fatigue. If your read any high altitude medical book the primary symptoms of AMS are usually described as:

Headache, Loss of appetite, Extreme fatigue and Ataxia

It was very sad that she had to turn back but given her condition she made an excellent decision to turn back and in my opinion it takes a very strong person to accept the situation and make the right decision. Gerrit, John and I continued on after Sadie and Antonio (Our latest addition to the team and assistant guide) returned to BC and by 06:00 we had reached Gilmonds Point marking the end of the steep climb. After watching a spectacular sunrise we continued along the crater rim to reach Uhuru Peak (I believe this is loosely translated as Freedom Peak from Swahili) at 07:30. After a succession of photos and some filming I called Katie to let her now we had safely reached the top before turning round and heading back down. As is always the case with mountains the elation of reaching the summit if quickly overcast by the fact that you are only half way and you still have to get back down.

On the way down I spotted a man staggering around and after a short discussion with him it was blindingly evident that he was in no fit state to be were he was. It turned out that his guide was incredibly inexperienced and believed that people were paying him to take them to the summit no matter what. We finally arrived back to camp at 11:15 after almost 12 hours of walking and found Sadie curled up in her tent feeling very despondent but safe. I has also very relieved when the man whom I had spotted staggering around poked his head through the tent door to thank me. We had a few hours rest and a big hearty lunch before packing up camp and heading down the mountain again.

I have had a fantastic time on the mountain, and having spotted a few other additional challenges that the mountain holds, I am excited about the prospect of coming back with Katie. Kilimanjaro is one of the few extraordinarily beautiful places that is at the same time a great challenge, but also achievable for anybody (from a physical point of view). Whether you are looking for a first time challenge or the next one on the list then it is well worth the time. The only advice that I can give you is to pick your guide and company wisely!!! Easier said than done I know, but a good guide will make your trip whilst a bad one will not only break your trip but may put you at considerable risk at the same time.

Well Herbert is quietly calling me again and my journey must continue. I had almost forgotten that this climb was a break from the exhaustion of cycling. I will take a day to get back to Arusha now and sort out my equipment before getting back in the saddle and heading off on the road once again.

Day 1

We met John (our Guide) in Arusha and after a succession of stops between there and the mountain we slowly accumulated all the members of our team. I think it was very much a case of picking up friends and colleagues with whom he has worked before. Once the Land Rover was uncomfortably overloaded (11 people in a car designed for 7) we merrily made our way to the main Kilimanjaro National Park entrance to sign in before heading to our star point. I wish I could say that this was all as smooth as the guide book in the pouch on the back of the seat in front described it:

‘The Rongai Route:

On the first day clients usually sign in at the main gate between 8 and 10 in the morning before continuing along the scenic route around the mountain to the Rongai Forest were the trek begins. Beginning shortly after lunch there is a short leisurely walk through the pine forests to first camp.’

If I had to write a description for a guide book based on our experience it would go something a little like this:

‘The Rongai Route:

On the first day you will be due to be picked up at 08:00am but all things being African, it will be closer to 08:45am. After a little delay at the main office, the journey to the main national park gates will take approximately 3 hours (allowing an extra hour for detours). After signing in the real adventure begins… You will spend almost 6 hours digging out various vehicles (including your own) from mud up to your knees in the poring rain (Incidentally Alex, our driver, was an exceptionally good driver). Arriving a few minutes before sun set means you will delay the short walk through the pine forest until the following day.’

Despite the slightly unorthodox procedures it was actually remarkably enjoyable. Our team is a fantastically eclectic mix of characters each with a slightly quirky twist to their story. In any case we get on very well with everybody. Having had to camp at the base of the route means we are camping at 1950m.

Day 2

Provisions are very tight as the logistics was carefully (or possibly not) choreographed so that we have the right number of porters and food to last us the 6 days we will be on the mountain. In light of this we have to make up the ground that we lost yesterday and have to walk all the way through to camp 2. The walk is only around 12km but we need to climb from 1950m to 3500m, so we will spend most of the day walking very very slowly, or as the locals say ‘poly poly’. As you would imagine the scenery made a dramatic change as we ascended, going through the pine forest we were meant to do yesterday, before crossing into the indigenous tropical forest, then in into the shrub land and finally into a relatively sparse grassland.

The team of cooks have managed to produce some pretty spectacular meals given the rudimentary utensils and equipment they have. For breakfast every morning they are proving us with porridge, fresh fruit, sausages, eggs and vegetable omelet. For lunch we get a small goody bag with all sorts in it and in the evening we get another fully garnished meal including soup, chips, vegetable stew, meat and a fruit salad for desert. The walking was relatively easy going and we took regular breaks filled mostly with a lot of drinking. For those of you unfamiliar with altitude one of the most important things to remember is to stay hydrated. I’m glad to say that the temperature has also dropped sufficiently and I slept like a baby (The first time since I was at 4200m with Katie back in Ethiopia).

Day 3

The other great rule of altitude is ‘get used to doing nothing!’ 90% of all your time at altitude is spent doing absolutely nothing. To be more specific you are actually acclimatising but in order to do that efficiently, you need to do as little physical excursion as possible. In a bid to keep to this theory we have covered an enormous 4km today and since arriving at 4200m we are sitting around in our tents doing very little. I have spent much of the morning filming and typing up this post, whilst Sadie and Gerrit are doing… errr not entirely sure but they are in their tent.

Every morning the weather is absolutely beautiful with crystal clear skies as we look out over the top of the clouds covering the Amboseli National Park down below. I try to do as much filming as possible at this time of day because by mid morning the clouds start to role in and a thick fog prevents you from seeing very much. In fact yesterday afternoon we heard a light aircraft flying incredibly close to us and this morning we heard via phone that it was on the news that a light aircraft carrying 4 passengers crashed into Kilimanjaro at about 16:00 yesterday afternoon because of the cloud.

We are due to make our summit attempt tomorrow night and I’ll write a short post from the top.

In the mean time I thought I would tell you about the ‘African Way’!!! So what is the ‘African Way’? Well it would be slightly presumptuous of me to generalize all of the following as endemic to all of Africa but I can certainly say that they all have happened in varying forms along the journey so far!

The first of these phenomenons is that everything is done in ‘African Time’! African Time is a concept that was specifically designed to drive you completely crazy if you let it. In England if you happen to be one of the ‘cool’ gang you turn up fashionably late to events. Personally I find it discourtesy to turn up late (even if it is cool) but I can understand arriving half an hour late or so to a function as that is your prerogative. Over here however the meaning of ‘fashionably late’ is taken to a whole new level, in fact I would go as far as to say it is just plain ridiculous. If you arrange to meet somebody at a given time (as we did a short while back) you would expect them to turn up some time vaguely resembling the agreed one… not a bit of it! Everything happens at least 1-2 hours late and if you make provisions for this, it will turn into 3 or 4. It’s truly unbelievable that people turn up to meet us 5 hours late without batting an eyelid!!!

The next ‘African Way’ I would like to introduce you to is the law of subtraction! This is the simplest of all rules and it dictates that by African standards it is always better to remove parts (or modify parts) rather than add them. OK so this doesn’t sound too bad on the face of it but let me give you a small insight into the kind of thing I am talking about. A few days ago a nut fell of my bike (again) and I had to push it to the
nearest village (again) to get a spare. I went to a bike repair shed, pointed out the problem, asked for a replacement nut and went to the shop next door to buy a bottle of water. When I came back I found the man hitting my bike with a hammer! I let out a yelp and rushed over to find that instead of simply adding a nut like I asked he had hit the end of the bold with his hammer so hard that it had splayed out and jammed itself into its slot never to be removed. He then sat open handed with his toothless grin waiting for me to pay him for his ‘fantastic service’. My burning desire to hit him was increased exponentially as he tried to charge me for the use of his hacksaw when I tried to cut the bold out! This rule is basically true for all things. I have seen fixes going on in workshops that would quite literally make you stand and stare a gasped! I was discussing this phenomenon recently and I was told a story about a man who’s brake pads (on a car) were completely worn down and instead of getting new ones he simply padded them out with cardboard and was upset when he was pulled over by the police with flames pouring out the side of the wheel!!! They start with the smallest of problems and instead of fixing it properly, they make the problem exponentially worse with each ‘fix’!

Whilst I am on the topic of mechanical fixes I thought you might like to have a short run down of all the parts we have been through since we started our journey one month ago. This is partly due to the fact that in order to make the parts affordable for local people they are produced in China at a less than perfect standard. The other day when we were repairing her rear wheels first puncture we were amazed to find 5 other repair patches on the inner tube! Quite amazing considering we bought her brand new wrapped in bubble wrap and card board!!!

Inner tubes x 3
Puncture Repairs x 9
Chains x 5
Brake cables x 2
Brake cable sheaths x 2
Brake pads x 4
Wheels x 1
Steering column x 1
Saddle post x 1
Rear sprocket x 1
Peddles x 2
Whole bikes x 1
And counting….

The next ‘African Way’ is the statement ‘I think this is not possible’. I have now heard this statement so many times that it has begun to make me laugh. In retrospect I think this statement is trying to say one of three things; either ‘I can’t be bothered because it sounds like hard work!’, ‘I have no idea’ or ‘I genuinely don’t believe this can be achieved’. The latter of these meanings is only used, I think, when ever I tell anybody what I am doing. This statement seems to be a standard default statement when ever I ask a question that requires a person to actually help. Just a few days ago I tried to draw some money out of an ATM but was faced with a message on the screen saying that the machine was currently out of service. So I asked the security guard where the nearest ATM that worked was. He looked at his watch, made a deep and purposeful noise as he sucked air through his tightened lips and promptly said ‘I think this is not possible for you to get there today’. Being only 9 am on a Tuesday in a major city I was perplexed by the statement. The only rational reasoning I could conclude to this when I found the next ATM no more than 250m away, was simply that he couldn’t be bothered to get up out of his seat, walk to the street corner to point to it.

Of course the ‘African Way’ drives me completely crazy but it does have a certain charm in its own special way, you simply have to accept it and let it go over your head.