I don’t know whether my host family were a bit sad to see me go or if it was the effects of the Jameson from the night before that made them so subdued looking. I had drunk very little of it so they must have been very hungover.
After exchanging handshakes and goodbyes, I left at about 8am, taking the new city bypass so as to avoid Kampala rush hour and, once I got clear of the smog, it was a gorgeous morning and already in the early 20’s.
These little roadside markets pop up regularly and they are far cleaner and less manic than their claustrophobic equivalents in the cities and large towns. I stopped off to buy a couple of bananas to have during the day and, as has invariably been my experience, I was taken with the friendliness of the people.
It was not long before crossing the equator and I was lucky to meet up with a Tanzanian couple who were traveling in the same direction.
For me they were unusual in themselves in that they are the first African motorbiking tourists who I have ever met. Meeting fellow bikers in Africa is rare and it turned out to be fortunate that I was able to chat with this friendly Tanzanian couple about the route that I was hoping to take through their country in the coming days.
When planning this trip I have always had a niggling concern about the safest and most doable way of getting from Kigali in Rwanda down through western Tanzania to Mbeya in the south. I am comfortable with the route thereafter (with a question mark left hanging over the Zimbabwe leg) but am still a bit unsure about the few days before Mbeya.
When I told them about my plans, my new Tanzanian biker friends warned me against riding the route that I had intended taking, saying that many sections of it were impossible on a motorbike, regardless of what various maps say, and could only by crossed with a 4×4 once south of Kigoma at Lake Tanganyka. They told me that I would have to travel further east before taking one of the better dirt track roads which would link up after a couple of days with the main Dar es Salam to Mbeya Road. So back to the drawing board once more which I will do when I stop off for a few days in in Rwanda.
I moved on through the gorgeous Ugandan countryside stopping off occasionally to take water and have a banana. On one occasion, in the middle of nowhere, two old guys startled me when simply appearing out of thin air and they began touching Simba and laughing uproariously. A bit weird but it must be remembered that I am the one who is the alien in this particular setting.
These particular “horny cows” as I have named them are everywhere and I was later told (whether accurately or not) that they are indigenous to Uganda.
Rudimentary brick making is a frequent sight and I guess that’s why you rarely see the straw/mud hut dwellings that I will be passing as I journey further south.
I eventually reached (after getting lost!!) the approach road to my Airbnb for the night. I was welcomed by a delightful woman, appropriately named Patience, who also started and runs a local primary school. She began in 2002 with two pupils and now has over five hundred along with thirty staff.
By any standard this is a remarkable achievement as it get’s no state funding and is totally dependent on contributions and volunteer helpers. She showed me around the school and I was treated to a recital of some local songs. The headmaster was disappointed to discover that I was not a new volunteer teacher and he looked like a man under a lot of pressure.
(the menu at the food hall where I was the only customer – 1 euro = 4,000 schillings)
Later over dinner in the food hall we chatted about her enterprise and she wondered if it would be possible to set up a volunteer program with students from Ireland (if you are reading this Leah Foyle I will be chatting with you – it’s only half a day away from the hospital where you have just been working!)….
ZIGZAGGING AFRICA BY MOTORBIKE 