Day 234
Sleeping location: Bukoba Coop Hotel, Bukoba, Tanzania
Distance (km today/total): 109 / 14822
Estimated climb (m today/total): 600 / 118000
Max speed: 81kph
Distance (km today/total): 109 / 14822
Estimated climb (m today/total): 600 / 118000
Max speed: 81kph
Day in three words: First steps home
The slow journey home had an inauspicious start when the stove was accidentally left on after the coffee was done, leaking petrol everywhere. This made the whole room stink of it and it gave you headaches if you stayed in there too long. Then my flip flop broke again, after multiple failed repair jobs, and I finally decided to ditch them.
To start we descended off the ridgeline that we’d been on for the past few days and zoomed down a very steep and straight section of road to the plains 400m below. I hit 81kph (possible trip record) and did 10km in little more than 10 minutes. Down on the plains it was hot and sunny and very quiet. There was hardly any sign of humans, it was all wetlands and timber forests for the most part. The road was also flat and quiet and had a decent surface, so progress was serene, even when a light headwind appeared later on. When people were around their reactions continued to be a confusing mix, some seemed wary but others were friendly. I still don’t know what Tanzanians are actually like. Towards the end we went up and over a chunky hill then descended into Bukoba, a decent sized town on the shore of Lake Victoria, which we hadn’t seen since Kampala.
On the way into town Rebecca was greeted by an Austrian man who said a brief hello and recommended a hotel on the lakeshore, which we then went to. As she left Rebecca spontaneously asked if he wanted to go for a drink with us and took his number; this turned out to be a huge stroke of luck. The recommended hotel was fine and good value after a bit of haggling. We found a restaurant next to the lake, which was a lovely setting apart from the astonishing number of lake flies that were swarming on and around anything bright or white. We had a few beers and some food then the Austrian man, Philip, came to meet us. He was a good egg and we had a long conversation about Tanzania, our journey and his life out here. He’s been here four years, helping with agriculture programs as part of his job, and has no plans to leave. Towards the end of the evening some fisherman landed their boat in the middle of the restaurant’s beach and pulled their net in, which was huge (15m x 15m apparently), but they didn’t get a good catch so they went straight out again. By this point it was well after 11pm and we noticed a few more boats out on the lake. Must be a hard life.
Back at the hotel I found a tiny adorable yellow frog living behind our toilet and marvelled at it for a while. How had it got here? What did it eat? (If it had any sense, lake flies). Went to bed a little squiffy after several beers.
The slow journey home had an inauspicious start when the stove was accidentally left on after the coffee was done, leaking petrol everywhere. This made the whole room stink of it and it gave you headaches if you stayed in there too long. Then my flip flop broke again, after multiple failed repair jobs, and I finally decided to ditch them.
To start we descended off the ridgeline that we’d been on for the past few days and zoomed down a very steep and straight section of road to the plains 400m below. I hit 81kph (possible trip record) and did 10km in little more than 10 minutes. Down on the plains it was hot and sunny and very quiet. There was hardly any sign of humans, it was all wetlands and timber forests for the most part. The road was also flat and quiet and had a decent surface, so progress was serene, even when a light headwind appeared later on. When people were around their reactions continued to be a confusing mix, some seemed wary but others were friendly. I still don’t know what Tanzanians are actually like. Towards the end we went up and over a chunky hill then descended into Bukoba, a decent sized town on the shore of Lake Victoria, which we hadn’t seen since Kampala.
On the way into town Rebecca was greeted by an Austrian man who said a brief hello and recommended a hotel on the lakeshore, which we then went to. As she left Rebecca spontaneously asked if he wanted to go for a drink with us and took his number; this turned out to be a huge stroke of luck. The recommended hotel was fine and good value after a bit of haggling. We found a restaurant next to the lake, which was a lovely setting apart from the astonishing number of lake flies that were swarming on and around anything bright or white. We had a few beers and some food then the Austrian man, Philip, came to meet us. He was a good egg and we had a long conversation about Tanzania, our journey and his life out here. He’s been here four years, helping with agriculture programs as part of his job, and has no plans to leave. Towards the end of the evening some fisherman landed their boat in the middle of the restaurant’s beach and pulled their net in, which was huge (15m x 15m apparently), but they didn’t get a good catch so they went straight out again. By this point it was well after 11pm and we noticed a few more boats out on the lake. Must be a hard life.
Back at the hotel I found a tiny adorable yellow frog living behind our toilet and marvelled at it for a while. How had it got here? What did it eat? (If it had any sense, lake flies). Went to bed a little squiffy after several beers.
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