Day 259 / 24

Date: 27 December 2022
Sleeping location: Date palm farm 5.257S 29.828E, Tanzania 
Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 71 / 15974 / 1137
Estimated climb (m today/total/total Part 2): 600 / 137200 / 19200
New career path: palm oil entrepreneur
Day in three words: We are Tatu 

After repacking everything that had seemingly exploded out of my panniers over the last four days the three of us set off southwards together. I knew the route to Mpanda was mostly dirt but hadn't realised that the first 20km was a nice cruise on tarmac, so this was a pleasant surprise. We stopped for some sweet tea at the turnoff and of course gathered attention, but some people came and said hello and asked about our journey and there were general nice vibes. It becomes more and more stark how unwelcoming Burundi was. 

The dirt road was bumpy but not terrible or steep and we made decent progress. Lunch was taken in a tiny village where we were directed to a place doing beans and rice and more tea. We got lots of attention from kids but it was pleasant and respectful and at times it was very funny playing games with them. At one point I sneaked up on one whilst he was looking at my bike and gave him such a fright that he ran away. One of the kids was also wearing jeans with “Covid19” embroidered on them in multiple places, which is a bit passé in 2022 if you ask me. I tried to learn the numbers in Swahili and they stuck quite easily, especially the word for three which is "tatu" like the Russian faux-lesbian pop duo responsible for the second best song called “All the Things She Said”. After lunch we went down to the lake nearby and I had a quick dip next to vast nets of tiny fish drying in the sun. Then we stopped for a rest under a tree. This is a slower pace than I've been cycling at, but it's nice and relaxing and the road is quiet and relaxing and encourages it.  

Towards the end of the afternoon we had to take a ferry across a big river, but thankfully we only had to wait ten minutes during which I test out my new number knowledge by buying some random things. By now it was after 5 and hotels were in short supply along this dusty road, so we started looking for somewhere to camp. I spied a big looking building and grounds that looked a likely spot for open space to pitch tents. A quiet older man was here on his own and it turned out that he spoke French, for some reason, so Anne and Charles did the talking and asked if we could camp here. He asked the owner of the property over the phone, which took an inexplicably long time but he did say yes, so we set up our tents and I had a wash in my bib shorts and base layer. 

At this point the owner's wife came and asked us to sign a guest book so they can inform the local district or something (this is a thing in Africa at times), which I had to do in naught but my soaking undergarments, smudging the book quite badly with my wet hand. She then called her husband, ie the owner, and I spoke to him over the phone and explained our situation, still in my soaking undergarments. He explained that this was his palm oil farm and asked if we would like to take some palm oil products to show to people on our journey, and also mentioned that he was looking for investment so he can expand the business. By now I was struggling not to laugh at the notion that I might be about to become some kind of palm oil ambassador/investor, but I managed to stay respectfully demure. It was dark by now so we knocked up some quick spaghetti and went to bed shortly after. It’s great riding with other people, it forces me to focus more on the non-cycling things which are such an important part of the journey.