Tukuyu to Rungwe/Kiwira (Mapelele Lodge)

August 22, 2022

I rolled about 11 miles down the road with some nice downhills for me. Most of the uphills I had enough sped from the downhill I could roll right up the other side. That's the best! Still had a few little ones to climb though. Found the place, Mapelele Lodge and met Wilfred, a very kind and helpful guy. I had lost a screw to my pannier yesterday and he took me to a couple of shops to get it fixed. It's now a rivet or something that can never be removed. Solves that problem I guess.

I did the short ride intentionally to get to this junction. I figured it would be easier to catch a bus or a ride out of the mountains. Otherwise, I'm still faced with tons of climbing and climbing is not my specialty.

And, since last I checked, I don't speak Swahili, sometimes it pays to have a local with you. Wilfred also helped me get a local SIM card and data. Yay! (Although in the coming days, I see my data ran out pretty quickly, so ya, I/we got ripped off anyways and ended up having to buy more.)

It's also worth mentioning that I have my seat/rivet issue figured out. I needed to tension the saddle. A guy in a group of cyclists figured it out. REI couldn't, bike shops couldn't, bike guy in Lusaka couldn't. At least now I know and my seat is finally pretty comfy again.

There is a census happening tomorrow. (I saw the people yesterday) so I will be delayed a day because Wilfred is going to give me a ride to the top of the mountain!!!! I'll enjoy the downhill. That IS my specialty. Will work on some routing options, but basically, I only have two weeks left. My guess is I will head to Mbeya and take the 24 hour train to Dar es Salaam and enjoy Zanzibar. (That didn't work out.)

It was an enjoyable ride today and it is weird thinking I'm pretty much done with the cycling part of my trip.

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I ended up staying three nights at Mapelele Lodge. In art, because the train I wanted to take from Mbeya is sold out except for hard wooden benches and for 24 hours, there's no way I'm doing that. I have a flight booked from Mbeya to Zanzibar and will enjoy my last week in Africa in the island paradise. Really looking forward to it!

This mountain was obscured this morning. It's the 3rd hightest in Tanzania

it's suppose to rain this morning and by the looks of things, it's going to

Home sweet home, for the next few nights

The different shops in town. Not currently open.

Wilfred kept his background pretty low key, but he eventually told me he was a general in the army, hence, these photos of him shaking hands with world leaders and receiving awards.

Today's ride: 11 miles (18 km)
Total: 3,968 miles (6,386 km)

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Rich FrasierGood to see you picking up the narrative! I've been wondering for months how this trip ended. I always get nervous when journals just kind of end in the middle of nowhere!
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1 year ago

Kim JohnsonTo Rich FrasierThank you. Yes, if I remember internet was an issue and probably I just burnt out on trying to get it caught up. I did keep daily Facebook posts so I am using those to update this although some days I had ready to go. But, since I have to stay in chronological order, I couldn't skip ahead.

Getting ready to continue my adventures this spring so getting things up-to-date. Thanks for following along and no, I'm still alive and well. Well, mostly well. I'm recovering from foot and ankle surgery.
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1 year ago