Day 306 / 71

Date: 12 February 2023
Sleeping location: Ubuntu Hostel, Mutare, Zimbabwe
Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 106 / 18928 / 4091
Estimated climb (m today/total/total Part 2): 1100 / 164000 / 46000
Mario character of the day: Boo
Day in three words: Road to recovery 

Whilst packing up it became clear that half of my kit was either misbehaving, sodden or mud-caked and that my body was aching from the efforts of getting through the quagmire and gulleys yesterday. Maggie and I limped along the road to Juliasdale, then went 6km out of our way up and down lots of hills to a nice cafe. The detour was justified by this being a great decompression spot, and over some nice coffee, a bacon and egg roll, a milkshake and a pot of tea I set to restoring things. This mainly involved cleaning and re-lubing my chain - the cleaning was carried out by putting it in an empty beef and onion soup powder packet with some petrol - reinstalling my cleat and drying things out on the grass. Whilst here I briefly bumped into Hannah and crew from the day before, picking up some flowers, but I was too zombified/on a mission to have a proper conversation. After all of this, feeling restored mechanically, nutritionally and spiritually, I set off towards Mutare. 

The road was immediately very alluring, a big empty landscape of rolling pine forest and rocky peaks, still reminiscent of the nicest parts of the UK and very beautiful. The weather was dry and bright, it was a nice temperature, the road was smooth* and quiet and it was beautiful cycling. There was almost no sign of human activity, other than the occasional passing car, the occasional dirt road and one or two stalls selling fruit and jams. In fact it was so quiet that I could usually afford to take left hand hairpins on the wrong side of the road to flatten the gradient. After 30km of this deliciousness came the best part of all, with the final climb out of the Nyanga NP area presenting absolutely stunning views through 180 degrees to the right. 

After this things became less remote but still beautiful. I started descending gradually, and at times not so gradually, from 1600m down to 1100m, and there was a slow transition to a sort of Mediterranean style small tree and rock landscape with some very impressive and big rock formations, then on to savannah again. On the way down I had a couple of odd experiences with clouds. Firstly, I stopped in a village for drinks and snacks and then sought shelter from the massive storm that appeared to be rolling in, but it was actually just a huge cloud bounding over the land with gay abandon. Secondly, one long straight section of road was sunny but also populated with hundreds of tendrils of thick white cloud, so the visibility was very disconcerting. 

The final landscape was farmland with steep and thickly wooded hills dotted around it. This was the point where the road finally lost its allure, but for 75km or so it was an absolute wonder and one of the best stretches I’ve ever cycled. Coming into Mutare we joined the main road from Harare, a dual carriageway which thankfully had a wide shoulder, and began a pretty chunky (250m) climb over “Christmas Pass” into the city. In the last village I had downed 500ml each of a milk/maize drink and a fizzy lemon drink, the combination of which was causing some kind of fermentation in my stomach during the climb. Once over the top the road zipped down into town along Robert Mugabe Road, and the view over the city was beautiful. Mutare lies in a valley with a huge rock formation right in the middle and is a pleasant place, with wide streets and big views in every direction. 

I rocked up at nice hostel recommended by both ioverlander and Hannah and friends. This is run by Takunda (“Taku”) and Hannah, a Swiss girl who herself bike toured around Southern Africa, met Taku on the way and fell in love. We talked cycling and other things for a bit, then went out for a tasty BBQ meal then popped briefly into a bar. Both things were nice and for locals (rather than tourists/expats) in a way not seen much so far in Africa. So far I really like Zimbabwe.

*Although one of the few bumps caused my carton of milkshake to fall onto the road, where it was almost squished by one of the few passing cars in a moment of high suspense

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