31 August, Dar Es Salaam – Mafia Island (Tanzania), by plane

 Right at the start of our trip, Alessandra’s dad generously offered to give us, as a present, a few days’ break on one of the islands of the Tanzanian coast. Since he has a friend whose daughter works for one of the resorts on Mafia Island, it was a natural choice to visit this much less touristy, yet equally beautiful island. Little did we know at the beginning how nice it would be to have a little holiday within the holiday and also to experience a bit of luxury for a change!

This means that this morning we have to be ready for our flight to Mafia Island at 10 am. First we have to drop off Orphea at Simonetta’s (the daughter of Alessandra’s dad’s friend) house. She was quite worried that we won’t find her house because “it’s not like Europe, here there aren’t any street names.” Well, we’ve noticed that by now! However, with good directions and lots of asking around you eventually find your way around in the end.

Simonetta lives in a very smart, pleasant residential area on the peninsula to the north of Dar es Salaam. The road leading there goes right next to the beach front and it is clear that this part of the city is inhabited by the more affluent Tanzanians and of course lots of expats! We find Simonetta’s house quite easily and finally meet her for the first time after many phone conversations and emails. She gives a very good first impression, one of a very friendly, warm and helpful person and she is of course very enthusiastic about Mafia Island. In the end we are quite sorry that we can’t stay longer for a proper chat, but the taxi is waiting! So, with Orphea parked in a nice peaceful corner of the garden for her holiday, we pack our small bags in the car and set off for the airport!

 Arriving at the airport we pick up our tickets from the Tropical Air desk and after quick security checks, make our way to the departure hall. After a bit of waiting we are approached by an Italian lady asking if we are going to Mafia Island Lodge. The answer is of course yes to that and it turns out that she is Milena, the manageress of the Lodge! After a bit of chatting and a visit to the bookshop, it is time for us to go out to our plane. The plane turns out to be a small six-seater affair and is by far the smallest plane either of us have ever been in! Luckily we don’t have much luggage, and after us, the pilot and three locals are bundled in, it is time for us to taxi out to the runway. After a bouncy, noisy take-off (past the burned out wreck of a large plane!) we are finally airborne, passing over the green outskirts of the city and towards the coastline. This means of course that on this trip of ours we’ve travelled on land, water and now in the in the air!

 The 45 minute flight must surely count amongst the most beautiful we’ve ever had! Since we are flying at a much lower altitude than is normal in a passenger jet, we can see the colours of the sea below much better. Dark blue makes way to light green where the water is really shallow with the occasional small island dotted around.

 As we stare open mouthed out the window, Heino notices the small wheel of the plane. Apart from the fact that the thread pattern of the wheel is almost gone, he also notices that the wheel has the same brake-disc-calliper braking system that Orphea has. And not much bigger! Not a very comforting thought when you know that the plane has to land in minutes! However, this can either mean that Orphea has a very good braking system or that not much is needed to brake such a small plane!

 The landing at the small Mafia Airport goes without any problems and as we approach the airport building, we notice a smaller building next to it. This turns out to be a Waving Bay, complete with some locals waving at us in a very welcoming way! Surely there can’t be many airports in the world that can boast having a bay where your loved ones can wave you off into the distance!

 A half-hour drive in a Safari-style Landrover brings us to the Mafia Island Lodge. Here we are welcomed by the assistant manageress, Nadia, complete with two coconut juice cocktails, just like in the movies! The lodge itself is completely build by wood and with a thatched roof, consisting of a lounge, restaurant and bar area where you can have a drink overlooking the huge gardens, leading all the way down to the beach! The beach itself is of the typical white sandy variety, complete with deck chairs and a beach bar!

 The rest of the day is spent getting familiar with this beautiful, relaxing place. We find out about the various excursions to nearby sandbanks and islands, snorkelling,  as well as some daytrips deeper into the main island itself. We just know that we will enjoy our time here. Luckily Orphea, where she is resting in Simonetta’s garden, is blissfully unaware of the extra weight on the way because of the 3 daily inclusive three-course meals we will be having!

30 August, Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania)

 We’ve got a fair bit to do today. We need to sort out a few organisational things before we leave for Mafia Island (and no, nothing to do with the Italian word!) tomorrow for a well deserved few days’ break on the beach!

Dar es Salaam, or as the ever colourful Pikey called it: Dar is a Slum, is a waterfront city and therefore more pleasant than the usual description you’d get from people beforehand. Whether it is closer to its real name of “haven of peace” is debatable, but whichever way, the city is home to a really diverse, colourful mix of people!

 First on our list of tasks is to find a dry cleaner’s for our oily sleeping bag. Also, we need to find an internet shop to check on the progress of our replacement shock. What we find, to our biggest surprise, is a dry cleaner’s and internet shop all in one! We found it even more surprising that the world is not full of dry cleaner’s or laundrette/internet shop combinations! It makes so much sense that it really struck us as genius in its simplicity. Needless to say, we spend quite a bit of time here.

Next we need to arrange for accommodation for Orphea while we island hop. We’ve been in contact with Simonetta (a friend of Alessandra’s dad) who is organising our stay in the Mafia Island Lodge (kindly sponsored by Alessandra’s dad), a company for which she is the marketing manager. So, it is Simonetta we call today to find out if she has a sleeping space for Orphea. This turns out to be no problem and we arrange to drop off the bike early tomorrow morning before our flight to the island.

As evening is already approaching, we have to hastily look for a mobile phone shop in order to buy a local sim card. This will make arranging the various bits and pieces a lot easier, as well as cheaper. As the sun is already starting to set, we start to make our way back to the ferry port. We haven’t managed to find a bookshop or the socket wrench extension that was also on our list, but that will have to wait for later!

Making the ferry trip across, we realise exactly how inconvenient our campsite’s location really is. In fact, Simonetta also confirmed that it is a nightmare for the people living on the south side of Dar to have to make the journey across everyday. We therefore decided that when we come back from the islands, we will look for accommodation on the mainland.

After catching a dala-dala (the Tanzanian version of a matatu, or minibus taxi) for the 8 kms to our campsite, we enjoy dinner and decide to have a really early night before our early start in the morning. We are really looking forward to our holiday on the island!

29 August, Tanga – Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), 398 km

It is the first time that we really hope and pray that Orphea will make the day’s destination! There is the dirt road to make back into Tanga, and from there it is still a good 350 km to Dar es Salaam where eventually we will be able to put a new shock absorber on Orphea.

Despite all our fears the dirt road provides no problems whatsoever. With Alessandra and the big yellow rollbag in the Landrover with Dennis, the campsite owner, the bike is much lighter and not so bouncy at all. It is still slow going, but still much faster than on the way in, and more importantly, much less tiring!

Once back on the main tar road, it is relatively easy going again. On the way back to Serega where we join the main highway to Dar, we get stopped at quite a few of the police roadblocks. It is also here that, for the first time, we are asked for a driver’s licence! Normally we avoid getting asked for anything by immediately starting a conversation with the policeman. We found that if you bombard them with questions, they get so into the conversation that they completely forget to ask you what they were supposed to! In this case however, the policeman didn’t speak enough English, just enough to insist that Alessandra get off the bike, open the rucksack and hand over the licence!

After passing through numerous little villages and quite flat, unimpressive landscapes, we enter the city of Dar es Salaam (meaning haven of peace). We stay on the main road through the city that eventually leads to the seafront. We need to get to the ferry port in order to cross over to the beaches south of Dar. During this whole process we can’t help noticing how similar this all is to our experience in Mombasa where we also had to take do a ferry ride scarcely 2 minutes long to reach the other side and Tiwi Beach, south of the city.

Apart from the ferry being really overcrowded, it all goes without a hitch and once on the other side, we head out on the main road to Kipepeo Resort about 8 km further on. After our whole routine of registering, offloading the bike and pitching the tent, it is time again for a swim. Alessandra, in order to give here eyes a rest, stayed the whole day with her prescription sunglasses in stead of contact lenses. As we splashed about in the waves, a quite big one sneaks up behind us and almost completely knocks us over! Within seconds her sunglasses are off her head and have disappeared in the foamy water!

No amount of searching can retrieve her glasses. The sea finally came to collect his reward for all the joy he’s given us!

28 August, Tanga/Peponi Beach (Tanzania)

Since we left Tiwi Beach in Kenya, we’ve travelled more than 4000 kms, just to now arrive at this spot 200 km south of it! This of course is what happens when you travel with Alessandra as her mantra is to “see everything, miss nothing!”

It is very easy to compare Peponi Beach with Tiwi Beach as it is in a very similar setting. Long sandy beaches (both suffering from huge low tides), green palm trees and of course, the blue of the ocean, and both campsites are virtually on the beach. It is however, the facilities that set Peponi apart from its Kenyan rival! Piping hot showers, electricity in the campsite itself and even a swimming pool to keep you cool during the low tide will make it difficult for most campsites to compete!

 As happens almost everyday now, we wake up just before sunrise to the usual spectacle of amazing colours. The sky, complete with dramatic clouds (never a good sign for a beach day!) is first painted in stripes of pink before the sun completely whitewashes it as it makes its full appearance.

 

 Despite the early clouds, it turns out to be a good, sunny beach day. We spend most of the morning by the swimming pool waiting for the high tide to come back in. The campsite also has a book swap where we can stock up on reading materials. In the afternoon we meet some Irish travellers who just arrived and after exchanging the usual information the conversation turns to rugby, something for which they have a big passion!

In the early evening, we are entertained by the biggest, fullest yellow moon we’ve ever seen! We can’t believe our good luck as we watch the moon rising over the ocean, casting a beautiful soft light over the small dhows on the water.

For dinner we meet up with Graeme and Claire, an English couple also doing the London-Cape Town route by 4×4. It is interesting to find out that they suffered abnormal heat in Sudan (upwards of 50 degrees Celsius!) even though they were not there in high summer. They also accompanied two bikers for a while, one of whom broke his collar bone in a bad fall in Ethiopia! We also learn that they’ve spent some time working in Hong Kong, something that Heino and Alessandra have been dreaming about for a while. Their enthusiasm for that part of the world really inspired us to explore this option further!

After dinner we are joined again by the Irish, although they are by now more than just slightly drunk! Amongst the slurring we get some bits and pieces about the shark diving and white water rafting they have done in the Southern African countries.

And so another beautiful day comes to an end. Tomorrow will be another early start as Dennis agreed to give Alessandra (and some of our luggage) a ride into Tanga, and hopefully this will make the 30 kms of dirt road much easier!

27 August, Lushoto – Tanga/Peponi Beach (Tanzania), 204 km

 We’ve decided that instead of going straight to Dar es Salaam in one day, we will break up our journey by stopping over in Tanga. Besides, we’ve heard that Peponi Beach, close to Tanga, is magical, and after our big loop inland, we are really in the mood for some beach-side action!

So, back it is onto the mountain road for the 32 km stretch to the main Arusha-Dar highway. By now Heino has learned how to control some of Orphea’s jumps by stabilizing the bike with the breaks. This means that sometimes we can get up to 70 km/h, but on the whole it is still slow going! At the town of Segera we turn east towards the coast and reach the town of Tanga just in time for some lunch.

With lunch done and feeling somewhat stronger, it is time to take on the 30 km dirt road to Peponi Beach. Compared to some of the other dirt roads we’ve been on, this one can be classified as a good road. However, because of Orphea’s condition it is a complete nightmare! 

Even on stretches that look really smooth, Orphea will find something to make her backside go crazily up and down, almost making us seasick on dry land! As we experiment for ways to calm her down, we find out that if one of us stands up, the weight is distributed lower and therefore it stabilizes her somewhat. We take it in turns to stand, but as it is easier for poor Alessandra to manoeuver around, she has to take on the bulk of this thankless task!

 

 Finally, completely exhausted after more than an hour, we arrive at the Peponi Beach Resort. The owner, Dennis Roberts, welcomes us and as he shows us around we find out that although he was born in England, he grew up and has lived most of his life in East Africa. After moving around a fair bit, he eventually settled here in Tanzania with his wife to create this very beautiful place .

 

 With the tent pitched in what must be record time, we head straight into the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. It is fantastic to be in the sea again and as many times before, it is only the setting sun that manages to get us out! A very nice hot shower later, we walk through the palm trees to the restaurant, guided by the huge, almost full moon.   

26 August, Arusha – Lushoto (Tanzania), 334km

 Bouncing around, we take to the road again, direction Lushoto, a small mountain village just off the main Arusha-Dar es Salaam highway, about 330km away.

The road is fabulously smooth, yet our top speed is only 60 km/h before Orphea starts to do her mad dancing again! It is like riding on a trampoline!

 

 We don’t mind the low speed too much as the surrounding countryside is stunning. We are really disappointed with the weather though, as it completely overcast. This of course means that there is not even a glimpse of the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro. Instead we stop at one of the numerous police checkpoints to ask where the mountain exactly is. An outstretched arm pointing in the direction of mountain slopes covered in clouds confirms our suspicions: Kilimanjaro will have to be relegated, along with Mount Kenya, to the “next time” list!

And so the road continues to weave its way down south, on one side flanked by high mountain ranges, on the other endless African savannah! From our map we find out that the mountain range on the left is indeed the Usambaro Mountains, home to Lushoto, our destination for the day. This doesn’t mean that we are close to it though, and it is only a good few hours later that we arrive at Mambo where the road to Lushoto turns off to the left! 

We expected the 32 km from the highway to Lushoto to be unpaved, but thankfully it is asphalt all the way. The degree of beauty of the landscape is raised yet again as we make our way upwards into the mountains! Passing waterfalls and mountain streams, we have to negotiate tight corners with sheer drops on one side and the high mountain wall on the other. It is as beautiful a Sunday afternoon ride as we could ever wish for!

 

Arriving in the town of Lushoto, we decide that if we didn’t know that we were in the heart of Tanzania, we could easily have thought that we were in Switzerland! Called Wilhelmstal during German colonial times, Lushoto was a popular holiday destination for the Germans during this time! In fact, so popular was it that it was even contemplated making this town the colonial capital. This of course adds to the confusion that is the capital city situation in Tanzania: 1. Bagamayo on the coast used to be the capital city during German times, 2. Lushoto nearly became the capital city, 3. Dodoma today is the capital city, but only in name as 4. Dar es Salaam is seen by everybody to be the true capital of this country!

 

 Back in Lushoto though, we find our hotel and quickly drop our things in the room. Hastily we make our way into town to find the path that leads to the Irente View Point, a hike of around 7 km. We set off at a brisk pace as it is already 5 pm but this doesn’t stop us from making photo stops along the way to capture the breathtaking scenery! About an hour later we arrive at the viewpoint, just in time for sunset. We are extremely lucky as the clouds of earlier today opened up to entertain us to one of the most dramatic sunsets we’ve seen so far!

 

 On our left, the highest mountain peak in the regiontowers over us (reminding Alessandra of the Andes). In front of us, the plains stretch away down below into the horizon where the sun is finally sinking, painting everything first yellow, then red and finally a soft shade of pink!

 

It was an amazing spectacle. But now the sun is gone and we are up in a mountain 7 km away from our hotel! As we start to make our way back, a huge, almost full moon, starts to appear from above the trees. This is extremely helpful as at least now we can see where we are stepping! We are still worried though, and we immediately realize that we’ve been really stupid and irresponsible to come this far out with the sun setting! To make matters worse the mountain path is quite busy with lots of locals making their way home. We can’t help thinking that it takes only one bad person to come our way and spoil what has been a beautiful day!

 

Thankfully our fears are unrealized and we reach the town without incident. On our way to the hotel we stop at the (only) restaurant in town for dinner. We can’t help to talk again about the amazing sunset, and of course the walk afterwards. Luckily, all’s well that ends well!

25 August, Singida – Arusha (Tanzania), 334km

 The shock absorber didn’t make it! As per Murphy’s law, with only 100 km to go before we reach tarmac road again, it started to leak all its oil out again.

Having been woken up by yet another Muslim muezzin, we get off to quite an early start. The first part of the road to the next town, Babati, is about 170 km long and as usual it contains a bit of everything: sand, rocks and corrugation. It is however, nothing like the horror roads of Northern Kenya! Next to the road we often see farmers tending to their animals, ranging from donkeys, goats and sheep all the way to long horned cattle. They are all traditionally dressed in clothes not too different from the Maasai people we came across in Kenya.

Arriving in Babati, completely covered in dust, we decide to stop for lunch. Some skewers of meat later, we fill Orphea up and also enquire about the road ahead. Just under 100 km of dirt road left, after that it is glorious asphalt to Arusha and all the way beyond! Even the dirt road from Babati is much better and we manage to get up to some decent speed (that being around 30-40 km/h). It must be around 10 km after Babati that Heino feels something is wrong with Orphea. As we stop and Alessandra gets off to inspect the bike, our worst fear is confirmed: the shock absorber is leaking again!

This means that from now on it is going to be extremely slow going or pole pole as they say in Swahili! Even though Shazar and his dad assured us that Hagon used such a strong spring with the shock absorber, our fear is still that with all the weight and rough roads, we might snap it.

 After what felt like an eternity, we finally reached the end of the dirt road and the beginning of beautiful, black tarmac! Our relief is immense as it was torture going so slowly and being afraid of every little stone. Soon we realize that despite the nice, smooth tarmac road, we will not be able to do our usual speed. As soon as we get up to 50 or 60 km/h, the bike becomes immensely sensitive to any little bump that you would normally not even notice. This is of course because there is no shock absorber to absorb the shock, but just the spring that bounces us up and down rodeo style!

 As we approach Arusha we can see the majestic Mount Meru, second in height in Tanzania only to Kilimanjaro! Stretching upwards all of 4566 metres, it towers over the town and make us really look forward to seeing Kilimanjaro in the morning!

Making our way bouncing-bouncing through the pretty town of Arusha, we arrive at the Maasai Campsite just before sunset. Opening our big yellow roll bag to pitch our tent, we discover that our spare oil leaked all over the contents inside! Further inspection reveals that the damage is not too serious, apart from our sleeping bag having big oily patches. We try to give it a good scrubbing, but it needs either a washing machine or a professional dry cleaner, perhaps even both!

We’ve been discussing our options all day regarding the shock (the only advantage of going at 20 km/h is that we can actually have a conversation!). So, we make a phone call to our friend Dirk Lottering (Charles Mayne can’t help us on this one as he is on the road to Africa as well) in London. We’ve decided to do what we probably should’ve done in the first place: bite the bullet and buy a new shock! Dirk agrees immediately to help us out and offer to phone Hagon as soon as they open to order a new shock for us and again DHL it to us, this time to Dar es Salaam. As it happens it is not a bad time for this to happen. We plan to spend a bit of time on the islands around Dar and therefore we don’t have to waste any time waiting for the new shock.

With everything arranged we enjoy a good dinner and relax a bit after what was another tough day. Soon our drooping eyes are telling us that it is bed time and we head out to our well oiled tent. Hopefully tonight will not be a cold one, but something tells us that we will miss our sleeping bag!

24 August, Singida (Tanzania)

 As we’ve been on the move for a few days on the trot now, we’ve decided to declare it a rest day today!

Singida is as good a place for a rest day as any since there isn’t that much to do (apart from resting of course!) but has a nice welcoming feel to it. It is quite a colourful town full of ladies in colourful, traditional African dress, complete with babies on the back! The town originated from being on the old trading route linking Lake Tanganyika with Zanzibar. Therefore, the population of this busy little town is an interesting mixture of Christians, Muslims and we even saw a Sikh Temple as well!

The town itself is quite attractive considering that it is located in quite an arid area. The streets are tree lined, the lake surrounding it on two sides and the big granite boulders around the town complete the picture our guide called “pretty Singida”.

We while away the morning catching up on various bits and pieces we couldn’t get to over the last few days. After lunch we decide that we’ve deserved the luxury of an afternoon nap (it’s a tough life this!) but as usual it wasn’t long before Alessandra’s itchy feet started to play up again. Unable to move Heino from the bed, she decides to go for a stroll with the camera around town to take some pictures. So it happens then that Heino gets a very rude awakening from a shaken Alessandra half an hour later!

 Wanting to take a closer picture of the granite boulders, she walked to the edge of town close to some small houses. As she got ready to take a picture, a guy jumped from a bush and tried to grab her camera. Big mistake! With lots of ear piercing screams that must’ve damaged his ear drums, she clutched the camera to herself at which point the guy realized that he approached the wrong muzunga! With Alessandra still screaming at the top of her voice the guy ran off empty handed.

Thankfully this was only a minor incident with no damage done, apart of course for a big scare! It is still a good reminder to us to be vigilant at all times and not to take any unnecessary risks.

 During the afternoon we set ourselves the unlikely task of finding an oil can! We try to oil Orphea’s chain every day before we ride to prolong the life of it, but doing it from our big oil bottle always results in a big mess. Therefore we are now on a mission, one that is taking us from shop to shop, to find this apparatus that will make our lives a little easier and cleaner. It turns out to be a good way of exploring the town and also to interact with the locals a bit more. It is clear to see the towns’ trading history as there are hundreds of little shops selling everything under the sun. Apart from, of course, an oil can!

Unsuccessfully we decide to give up and instead go for dinner at Florida Snack. A rare bilingual menu gives us the opportunity to improve our Swahili, finding out that kuku is chicken, wali is rice and putting the two together gives you kuku kwa wali!

It’s been, as usual, a very interesting and quite full rest day. Tomorrow, though, it is time to take on the last of the rough roads of this trip!

23 August, Kahama – Singida (Tanzania), 330 km

 We are greeted by the biggest, bluest sky we’ve seen in a long time. A good day for drying laundry is our first immediate thought!

 In very good spirits, we leave Kahama around 8.30 am. The landscape around us is quite arid and every now and then a great baobab tree dominates the skyline! We are really enjoying this part of the ride as we know that the smooth asphalt road will end soon. 

 And so it does after about 120 kms. We are deviated onto a side road running parallel with the new, still under construction asphalt road. It is slow going and after about an hour of this we arrive at the foot of a steep mountain pass. Gradually it becomes sandier and about a quarter of the way up, we arrive at the end of a long queue of trucks. From our experience in Kenya, we now know that a queue of trucks means no good news! (or of course a border post!)

 

 With the drivers not being able to speak English, it is difficult for us to find out why they are held up in a queue. We find it a bit strange to think that they are stuck because of the sand (we are not in the Sahara after all!). From a lot of arm waving we get the message that it is possible for us to pass on the side or through the trucks. So, for the second time in two weeks, Heino squeezes Orphea between a line of trucks while Alessandra has to follow behind on foot!

 

    Reaching the top of the pass, we realize what the problem is: a huge truck overturned around a very tight bend, meaning that the trucks have to pass this point one by one, causing the queue. This is made more difficult by the sand being quite soft and deep on the way up as well! We find out that the truck has been lying on its side for a week while they are waiting for a crane from the Chinese road company to come and lift it up.

 

 Well, we are very happy to pass this truck in an upright position and continue our way on the mountain track! The road from this point onwards continues its way next to the one under construction. At some points we are allowed to go on the half built road, giving us some relief from the bouncing around on the dirt road!

As we approach Singida we cross over a dry river bed, just to turn the corner and see the town flanked by a huge lake on both sides! All around Singida there are these huge piles of big granite boulders, giving the town a very particular appearance.

 Stopping at the first petrol station in Singida, we can’t help nervously glancing straightaway at the shock absorber! It seems to be in good order still, and apart from feeling harder when going over bumps and rocks, we can’t really complain about the job that Shazar and his dad did for us. There is however, another 220 km of dirt road to do before we reach asphalt again! 

22 August, Kigali (Rwanda) – Kahama (Tanzania), 464km

 Armed with a map from Daniel the receptionist, we set off to leave Kigali. He’s done an excellent job of it and it turns into one of the easiest exits of our trip!

It is quite pleasant cruising through the green hills in the early morning air. Although still hilly, the vegetation is getting less dense, telling us that we are now leaving the more tropical part of the country. The road is beautiful, pothole-less asphalt and before long, around midday we arrive at the border post of Rusumo on the Rwanda side.

There isn’t really a border town to speak of and it is the long line of trucks that let you know that you are now approaching a border post! This time the Rwanda side of things goes smoothly (which is just as well since it is a long way back if something goes wrong at this border crossing!) and about 20 minutes later we cross a bridge over the Rusumo falls, marking the border with Tanzania.

As land borders go, this is probably the most beautiful one we’ve crossed so far! Going up a steep hill we arrive at the Tanzanian immigration building where again things proceed smoothly. However, things grind to a halt halfway through the customs process as the official declares it lunch time! Please come back in an hour.

Well, there is no use trying to explain to an African official that we still have three hundred kilometres to do, so we wait an hour. We pass the time playing the moneychangers off against each other in order to get the best rate. With reasonable success we clinch the deal just as the officials make their way back to the customs office.

Now it is impossible to let us in without scrutinizing our carnet in minute detail. For 20 minutes! After finally stamping it, he checks first if there are any road taxes to be paid by us (luckily none for motorbikes) and finally we are cleared to enter Tanzania!

 We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the road is paved all the way to our destination for the day, Kahama. We’ve expected to encounter some dirt roads on this stretch, but thankfully we are spared this! Straight away we notice that we’ve definitely left the tropical forests behind. Instead we now pass through much more arid, bushy, savannah landscapes. The star of the day is the sky though: endlessly turquoise decorated with puffy white clouds almost touching the earth. Stunning!

 Passing through the little villages, we are now not surprised anymore that our trusted guide had no information on them! Nothing more than just a collection of a few houses, there is not much to give information about. Luckily we managed to find a petrol station in the first village after the border. After the guy had to start the generator first to power the pump, we decide immediately to fill up our little 5 litre back-up can as well!

 With the sun setting behind us, we enter the town of Kahama. We enquire about the accommodation possibilities and finally settle for the truckers’ favourite motel. With Orphea settled in for the night between the big trucks in the courtyard, we join the locals and truck drivers for some dinner in the restaurant.

We soon realise exactly how untouristic this part of Tanzania really is! The majority of the locals speak NO English at all (not even being able to understand basic words like food, chicken, water etc.) and are genuinely surprised to see mzungus in their restaurant!

The up side of this is that everything is really cheap! Apart from that, we are also treated in the most friendly and welcoming way. This then means that the truck drivers were all very keen to give us information on the state of the roads ahead. It is a mixed forecast. Part of the road is still under construction, meaning that tomorrow is definitely a dirt road day.

It seems that all our questions about the durability of the shock absorber will be answered by tomorrow night!