Tanzania
25th October
By the evening of the 25th the group was in three parts, and communication had become impossible as three of us crossed into Tanzania and Jono and Jonny remained in Malawi, although 500km apart. In these kinds of situations tensions arise as differing priorities and agenda cause problems.
On the 21st Jonny had to return to Lilongwe to complete a vital interview for the documentary (details in ‘Documentary’ section), but the sensitivity of the issue required 2 more days than expected. The cyclists could not wait at the border for that long, mainly because we simply can’t financially afford to spend too long in one place. So, it was decided that Jono and the vehicle would wait at the border for Jonny and the cyclists would climb into the Tanzanian Highlands with their own luggage. The cycling was very challenging, and for the first time our lungs had to work harder to get oxygen at over 2000m. The first day took us up to 1800m by lunch, back down to 1400m by 2pm, and as high as 2300m by tea. The next day we expected the Land Rover’s splutter to come up behind us, as we were the next day, and the next, and as we pulled on the same T-shirts for the fourth day’s cycling we were starting to get very worried. What made us more unwilling to wait was the fact that at Iringa, half way between Malawi and the junction for Dar Es Salaam, we would meet Duncan, who would be cycling with us for three weeks up to Nairobi. The thought of meeting Duncan off the bus covered in fours days of sweat and dust, with no idea where our driver or cameraman had got to was a little embarrassing.
When we were finally able to communicate with Jonny and Jono, we were relieved that they had been held back by choice and not incident. Jonny had been unwell in Lilongwe and spent another day there and when he caught up with Jono at the border they had remained at Chitembe Beach Lodge to finish some repairs on the Land Rover.
From a cycling perspective, the four days without the support vehicle were enormously rewarding, although we wouldn’t for a second claim that we would have been able to cover so much ground thus far without Jono’s vital support. In the planning stages we imagined that due to our time pressures and restrictions we would do some of the cycling in shifts, perhaps keeping two cyclists on the road all the time. We soon realised however that we were all as keen as each other to cycle every mile we possibly could. Becks has now developed into such a strong and fit cyclist that she is easily able to complete full days, so when we decided to take some time on our own we knew we could cover as much ground as quickly as we could with the vehicle. Three Mzungus arriving in a tiny village in the Tanzanian Highlands on bicycles inspired even more genuine and enthusiastic hospitality than we were used to, and this is something that we very much enjoyed having a chance to experience.
28th October
Having another member of the cycling team has been very revealing. Duncan Brown came with me on a previous trip across Europe for Imperial Cancer Research, where the terrain and climate had not been hugely challenging, but our fitness levels were good enough to cover 1000m in two weeks quite easily. Cycling in Africa, as we realised when Duncan arrived, is far more of a physical ordeal, and I think we had underestimated how long our bodies have had to adapt to the conditions. After the first 90km in 40 degree heat Duncan was worryingly covered in huge quantities of salt, and found his legs drained of all energy. Despite some rest and a lot of salt and fluid replacement, by the third day he had quite serious heat stroke, which involved sickness, dizziness and headaches, as well as bad sunburn. Combined with thin air, mountains, a very strong wind on the second day and terrible roads on the third, this had been a baptism of fire for Duncan. We had taken a lot of precautions, but the conditions here are often so extreme that time is the only answer. Becks, Rob and myself began in a South African winter, then moved slowly into a warmer spring, then Mozambique got gradually hotter until Malawi gave us 35-40° everyday without fail. By now we are so used to the heat and the necessity of taking on 10litres of water a day that we don’t have to worry about it. When we started, all we had to be concerned by was sore bottoms, broken chains and getting stronger legs. Duncan has arrived very fit, but will only really be used to the heat and length of the day in about 2 weeks’ time, when he has to go home! We are very glad to have him here though, and it has been invaluable to get a different perspective on the trip, and also to hear about what it feels like to be cold because we can’t really remember!
29th October
So far we have felt safe and welcome in almost every town we have arrived, and most of us feel that people’s openness and hospitality should be returned with trust and generosity. We are careful not to put ourselves in dangerous situations and understand that cities are a different environment from the country, but at the same time we refuse to give in to the paranoid advice that we receive from many of the local ex-pats. Moreover, the communities within the villages and small towns where we arrive seem to have systems of trust and respect that include us rather than threaten us as outsiders. We feel comfortable lending our bikes to kids in the knowledge that if we were taken advantage of the elders of the village would be mortified that visitors had been treated in this way, to such an extent that local justice would see to the punishment of the culprits.
In one particular small town, a huge crowd gathered and we let some children shoot up the road on our bikes, as we have done so many times. 10 minutes later we thought something might have happened, and after 20 minutes we were keen to get on our way and were beginning to worry whether we might have to finish the last 200km to Dar on foot. Some of the young men in the group were furious, and this small breach of trust was taken extremely seriously. When the boys returned they were to be publicly beaten, which we would have been horrified to let happen. The atmosphere was very tense and what we saw as youthful excitement was interpreted as unacceptable disrespect. We assured the men we weren’t angry and after a lot of shouting at the disgraced boys it seemed to die down, and the boys began to relax. However, this was the lull before the storm. Two men arrived amongst the crowd having returned from looking for the boys, and furiously shouted at them. In an instant the two boys were being beaten around the face. We quickly intervened, but the damage had been done and we felt terrible that this had happened on our account. The boys had taken advantage of our offer of a quick ride, but the violence was a shock to us, as were the distraught and sobbing culprits. We didn’t feel as if we had done the wrong thing, but this wasn’t something that we were at all used to. It did, however, in some ways vindicate our trust, and illustrated the degree to which theft, even from clearly wealthy foreigners, is regarded as a stain on the community, not just the individual.
31st October
We have come out of the Tanzanian Highlands down to 500m above sea-level into a town called Morogoro. As the winds drop and the humidity rises it becomes even more difficult to imagine people at home trick-or-treating in the cold. We have now completed a third of the trip in terms of distance and in a couple of weeks we will be in Nairobi, which marks half way up the African leg. London still feels a million miles away though, and although we are fit and healthy enough to find the cycling increasingly less stressful, the thought of Christmas in the Sudanese desert and another 4 months on a three inch saddle has its moments for all of us.
Morogoro was one of the first really clear examples for us of the Islamic influence in Tanzania, which is particularly relevant at the moment as Ramadan is underway. The difference culturally has also been very interesting, and at times we would have to admit that African food has been at been at best a bit samey! The Sofia Hotel not only gave us a very good price but also gave us our first curry since Cape Town, and a very gratefully received break from daily goat and rice. They also gave us some secure parking, which meant that Jono could take a break from setting up his hammock attached to the Land Rover, which he always does with such dedication.
2nd November
After cycling ten days straight from Lake Malawi to the Dar Es Salaam junction we have decided to take a couple of days off in Zanzibar, which is proving as stunning as we have been told by so many travellers. Zanzibar is also a very interesting place for us to visit in terms of slavery, as its historical importance to the cause is physically and culturally very clear. Spices and slaves were the two main sources of income for Arab traders here and Stone City is full of slave houses and inheritance from those trades. As yet, having spoken to UNICEF and Save the Children, there doesn’t seem to be anybody who knows for certain if human trafficking still takes place in Zanzibar. We do know, however, that in Dar Es Salaam and the rest of Tanzania the problem is still very apparent, and when we return we will speak to an organisation called Angaza, a counselling organisation which deals with the victims of the slave trade, as well as the ILO whose investigations into the problem are starting to gain momentum. Jonny has become particularly good at getting people to talk about a very sensitive and controversial subject on camera, and so we have been able to discover some shocking things about modern slavery, and I’m sure Tanzania will be no exception.
We have all cycled on at times when we clearly needed a rest and made ourselves ill, and this time Becks, having been far healthier than either Rob or myself, has gone down with suspected bronchitis and a stomach bug. Our health problems seem to have arisen from lack of sleep, and just as a week’s very poor sleep pre-empted Rob’s tonsillitis and my amoebic dysentery, so Becks has had very little sleep since the Malawian border. When Duncan arrived he said that the diary didn’t really reflect some of the more gruelling aspects of the trip, so I suppose that if there is an area that has proved very straining it is in maintaining our health. Sleep is one culprit, and on hospital floors and outside schools it can be difficult to relax. It is also difficult to wind down after the day’s cycling and events. Food is the other main cause, and when you burn 1000s of extra calories every day you have to eat so much more, which is made very difficult in underdeveloped areas, and also in terms of time and even money. The kind of things we want to eat, like cereals in the morning, are not locally produced and are imported at huge cost: a packet of corn flakes from SA or Zimbabwe is normally over $US5, and we would have to eat about 10 boxes a week between the group. The alternatives are either inadequate nutritionally or need preparing. Another issue is when to have huge meals – breakfast and lunch come half an hour before getting back on the bike. Proof of our problems has been weight. Although Rob refuses to weigh himself he has become stick thin, and I weighed in at the doctor in Malawi at 12 stone 7 ounces, having left Cape Town at 14 stone 8 ounces. To add insult to injury, Jonny, the skinniest member of the group when we left has actually put on weight since arriving! Although this may sound a bit extreme, it is amazing what you can easily become used to, and we have of course found plenty of ways of getting the right amount of energy during the day. If anything we are getting stronger and more resilient to the bacteria here, and our weight is stabilising, so parents mustn’t worry about fading children!