Leaving Tanga there are two ways, by land at least, to Dar es Salaam: the main tar road which runs inland and connects to the main road from Arusha, and a supposedly gravel road that runs along the coast through Pangani, and the Sadani Game Reserve to the town of Bagamoyo from where there is a recently-surfaced tar road to Dar. As some other cyclists have done before me (see for instance:
www.trafalgarsquaretocapetown.com if you are interested), i decided to take the latter route - knowing that in many parts it would be more beach sand than gravel. Why would anyone forsake a perfectly good tar road for the prospect of pushing a 50kg bike through sand in the hot sun? Well, first, i didn't really know what i was letting myself in for. However, in the context of the journey so far it should not be a surprise: if i had continued south from Mombasa, rather than taking the train and starting from Nairobi, i could have been in Tanga within three or four days rather than the 3weeks i ended-up taking via Arusha and the mountains.
Tanga to Pangani (via Peponi Resort)[Distance: 30miles]
Leaving Tanga i had made-up my mind to go straight through to Pangani despite a glowing account (from the forementioned cyclists) of Peponi Resort about two-thirds of the way. However, after some rough and sandy road - compensated for by beautiful scenery travelling through coconut palms and sisal plantations with occasional glimpses of the ocean a few kilometres to my left - i decided to at least take a look. Inevitably i succumbed to the campsite under the palms right near the beach, and the prospect of snorkelling on the reef the next morning followed by watching the Sprinboks playing in the Tri-Nations rugby in the afternoon. I spent the rest of the day swimming in absurdly warm water and lounging under the palms consuming fruit bought from the village nearby. The evening was spent talking rubbish with some other travellers, which was actually rather enjoyable. The snorkelling trip involved going-out on dhow with about 12 other people first to the small reef and then to a 'sand island' (large sandbar) where we lazed for a while before returning. There were some very beautiful small fish, with incredible colours and some with trumpet-shaped snouts, and other than a little excitement with small jellyfish and one British medical student who stood on a sea urchin (for some reason it always seems to be the medics this happens to on my trips) it was very enjoyable. Then South Africa won a slightly nail-biting rugby match thanks to my new favourite player (Brian Habana) and i covered the remaining 10miles to Pangani thereafter in good spirits and without too much pushing.
I stayed in the slightly run-down Pangadeco Hotel, and went looking for food after doing some exercises (these are stomach exercises aimed at taking some of the pressure off my back, but it takes a lot of discipline to do them regularly after a long day's cycling). I was initially unsuccesful until a young man i asked at a street samoosa stand spent the next 45minutes finding me a decent place to eat (pilau with meat, and chai), waiting until i was finished (refusing my offer of food) and helping me find fruit for the next day's long journey. In that time i found out - largely because his English was very good - that he was originally from Mombasa but had decided that he liked Pangani and had met a local woman with whom he was now staying on his shamba a few kilometres out of town. A young man, just like me, trying to make his way in the world. This kind of generosity from people i have experienced at various places along the way and it always amazes me.
Pangani to Sadani[Distance: 57miles]
Anticipating a very long day (92kilometres according to my map) on bad, sandy roads i arrived at the ferry across the Pangani River at 7am. The ferry driver was in no hurry however ('maybe if a car comes then we go') so i took a small wooden motor boat with about ten locals and four other (unloaded) bicycles. It was only a couple of hundred metres to the other side (also called Pangani), and after finding my way out of the small settlement there i set off accompanied by a young teenager on his way back home from buying kerosene in the larger Pangani. We cycled together on the rough roads for about two hours to the village of Mwera where i picked-up a couple of chapatis as a second breakfast and bought him one as well (it seemed like the right thing to do, and they were absurdly cheap - i could have bought 30 for $1). Thereafter he dissapeared at various intervals as he stopped to greet friends, and i eventually left him behind as i tried to take advatange of the cyclable roads whilst i could.
The rest of the day after that was somewhat of a blur of pushing the bike through thick sand in the boiling sun, cycling hard on the stretches of vaguely solid road and stopping at a small village (but with electricity!)somewhere for a cold soda. By my calculations i was on track time-wise after around 60km's when i was passed by a South African couple and their daughter on their way back to Dar - where they are resident - from a weekend away. After a brief chat i discovered that they thought it was another 80km's to Sadani! This disconcerted me, so i took a 4km detour to a luxury safari camp a few miles down the road where i met them again, and bought some cold water at an exorbitant price but managed to find out that it was only 30km's as i had thought. The road deteriorated again from there, and other than stopping to ask once for directions - scaring the teenager as i approached his hut in the maize field [6'4 mzungu in bright red top, shiny blue cycling helmet and dark glasses would freak me out too if i was in an isolated maize field in Tanzania; maybe 'crop circles' are made by aliens on touring bicycles...] - and being passed by the SAns again (who made-up for misinforming me by returning the sarong i dropped on the road) i was alone.
At some point i must have entered the Sadani National Park (until very recently a game reserve) but there were no signs or fences, and other than one ranger i met near what i later discovered was the rangers' accomodation there was no way of telling. After much more pushing, sand, mud (thre had been rain and the road was seemingly being upgraded, forcing me to go through the mud by the sides) and sweat i came to the 'rest house' in Sadani. From there i was redirected to a park official at the nearby Safari Lodge who wanted $20 for a night at the Rest House and another $20 'entrance fee'. Now, to be honest, i had known of the possibility that i might be asked for an entrance fee. But when i realised that the only reason i was having to pay was because i was actually staying in the reserve - if you just pass through there is no way of charging you, and there were some Americans in a 4x4 at the lodge who were going to do just that - i went into righteous mode: why should i have to pay this amount just because i'm on a biycle and therefore unable to get through the park in one day? After much to-ing and fro-ing, and my making analogies about people putting guns to my head and demanding $20, i was rewarded with an informal arrangement that bypassed the said official and allowed me to stay at the Rest House without paying the entrance fee. Although it was still way beyond my budget that was almost compensated for by the location in the Park, with the sea lapping the beach no more than 10metres fom my window. Despite 5litres of water and a Sprite i was still dehydrated when i arrived, and i was glad when i finally got settled in my room almost 11hours after i left Pangani. Despite the fact that there are apparently lion, buffalo, leopard and elephant I only saw a few duiker, some warthog and some baboons and monkeys - which was probably just as well.
Ater chatting with one of the rangers (who was guarding the hotel and rest house that night) whilt watching the sun go own over the thorntrees about his ambitions to become an advocate for the anti-poaching unit, and various other things about our respective lives, i had a supper of rice, beans and cabage prepared by the caretaker/chef and went to bed.
Sadani to Bagamoyo[Distance: 50miles]
This was the day where the impossible was possible but i didn't do it. Despite asking about 8people the previous day and two more in the morning i could not get any consensus on whether it was possible to take the road directly to Bagamoyo. Here is a sample of a particularly aggravating conversation i had in the morning:
"So, it's possible to go straight to Bagamoyo from here?"
"Yes, it's possible"
"But how do i cross the river? River Wami. It is possible to cross the river; there are boats?"
"No, it is impossible."
"So it's not possible to go on the road straight to Bagamoyo."
"Yes, it is possible."
"#*$#!"
After that repeating itself a few times i gave-up, bought five chapatis (to follow-on the two i had for breakfast; i've become an addict) and set-off on the one route everyone thought was 'possible', didn't involve going all the way inland to the main tar road and (perhaps most importantly) i knew had been done before. This was to go inland for about 5miles to the railway line, along which ran (for most of the way) a very narrow dirt track which i would have to follow until i got to a large dirt road heading east to Bagamoyo. The long and short of it is that it was longer than i thought along the tracks, the track disappeared in places or became to sandy to ride so i had to go on the line, it was boiling hot and i had set-off carelessly without enough water. Fortunately there were a few railroad settlements along the way , each of which had a small well. The first i stopped at i made the mistake of asking for 'maji ya kunywa' (water for drinking) and was directed to a bucket of previously boiled water of which i could take 'kidogo' (a little). The only catch was that the bucket had about 20 bees in or on it, but i was so thirsty i barely hesitated, dipping the tin cup in and draining it in two gulps. At the second stop, which turned out to be 5km's before the road, i filled-up all my water bottles directly from the well, adding purification tablets - much to their interest and amusement. This allowed me to consume some more food too - chapatis are great fuel, but a little on the dry side.
Inevitably, the road was under construction but fortunately the only downside to this was the rather large number of trucks whizzing by and blowing sand in my face. Finally i arrived at Bagamoyo (known as something like 'crush your heart' by the slaves who were forced to trek there from the interior, after which they were sold - though it was apparently originally called 'Bwagamoyo' by the caravan porters, meaning something more positive like 'rest your burden/troubles') where i got a little lost because there is no map in my guidebook, but eventually booked in to the slightly pricey Badeco Hotel. Despite an excellnt location on the beach i was unable to get more than 5hours sleep because of squadrons of blood-suckers. I had however decided to say for another day because the town is such an atmospheric place with its sandy roads, crumbling old Arab-built buildings and century-old Catholic monuments (the church in Bagamoyo was the 'mother church of East Africa'), bustling night market and many dhow fishermen made all the more fantastic by the coconut palm sunsets an fiery red sunrises. I moved to the chaper Bagamoyo Beach Resort, but spent far too much time walking around exploring to get much rest during the day so made for an early night but was slightly delayed by the owner of the place who tuned out to be a Frenchman called John Do (which he pronounced like 'Doe'; a little suspicious i dare say) who's passionate - like only a Frnchman can be - about cycle travellers. "Yes, you are ze real people", he said kissing his hand. "Not like these blah, blah", waving a hand at the 4x4s of a recently arrived expedition. He gave me a free beer so i was happy to listen to him, and especially to hear about the the other cyclists (one couple, and a German baker called Petro travelling the world for 12years) who had been through there in the past.
Bagamoyo to Dar es Salaam (Haven of Peace)[Distance: 47miles]
After another amazing sunrise (i'll become clase about them eventually) as i did my stretching in front of my very rustic bungalow, i made a relaxed exit at around 9am - hopin to be in Dar early enough to get some cheap acomodation. It was a fairly unremarkable ride on good road, though my body was still aching from the exertions in th sand and the lack of rest. As always with the large cities, getting into Dar was a little hairy in parts - not quite as peaceful as it once was - and i then got thoroughly lost for about 45minutes before finding the YWCA [so i have the 'YMCA, you got to stay at the YMCAaaay' song running through my head] where all the single rooms had been booked-out a day in advance so i took a double (lucky bike).
That was yesterday. Today i spent sorting out a few things, getting information on my route south (it's sounding promising), buying a bike stand (trying to find somthing to lean it against is such a schlepp) which i hope lasts longer than the bell that i discarded ater two days because it dinged over every bump and indulging in a large buffet lunch (much to the amusement of the restaurant staff). I also changed the chain on the bike - a rather mundane activity or some but the first time for me and i was rather worried, but it seems okay; since i'm hoping to leave tomorrow i suppose i'll find out then. Lucky there was no-on to see what i was doing in that room; what with shaking bike chains in plastic bottles with petrol, bike oil, chain links and tools strewn on the floor and a very dirty bike, i think the receptionist and claining ladies would have apoplectic fits.
Dar is a rather confusing city and i have been lost most of the time, but people have been very friendly and helpful and so far i have not felt unsafe even at night. (Hopefully that will continue with my walk back to the hostel from here).
From here it is down to Mtwara via Kilwa (which could take up to 2weeks) and from there i will have to decide whether to head west to Lake Malawi or south into Mozambique.
Labels: TRIP
