To Nyakanazi: hot, dry and burning

September 15, 2015

"Tanzania truck drivers could benefit from driving schools like in Rwanda" Rachel says, cycling past another wrecked truck. Then at the major intersection of two roads in Nyakanazi, we see the wreckage of a half dozen burned trucks that had happened two weeks ago.

The hills are not as steep as in Rwanda, but constant. We continue to cycle past clusters of stick and mud huts and some look as though they've not been there for long. Patrick wonders if some are refugees from Burundi. We are beginnng to see some houses made of mud bricks. Very little trash along the road or around the houses. The landscape remains harsh and dry, hillsides burned or being burned, no big trees remaining. Along the roadside, people selling large bags of charcoal. Wood is still the fuel for cooking.

In Nyakanazi, as recommended by other cyclists we decide not to cycle to Kigoma because of the traffic on essentially a one lane fine sandy dirt road. This is our 4th tour, how many dusty narrow roads with lots of traffic do we need to do? We've done our share of bad roads, and most times the effort is rewarded and the experience worth it--to Monkey Bay (1994), Ruta 40 and Patagonia (1999-2000), Pang La to Mt. Everest (2007), Dalton Highway Alaska (2007), Mt. Elgon and Congo Nile Trail, this trip. As we get older, we have reached a stage where we choose the best way to use our time and energy to keep the joy of travelling, mostly by bike.

What better way to experience local life than joining the locals on a long bus ride African style? The task is to figure out the process of buying a ticket and catching a bus in Africa.

We settle into a guesthouse and find a restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner. Patrick asks our server about buses to Kigoma. He's on the phone and soon a guy with a ledger sits at our table. We are sold two tickets for 25000 shillings ($12USD) and told the bus leaves at 0800. Later, we figured out that the white van under a tree with lots of guys standing around was the ticket offices for the bus lines. The bus will stop just in front of our guesthouse.

We have little hope that the bus will leave at 0800, but plan on being ready.

Early morning. People walking between villages and smoke hanging between the remaining trees.

There is a lot of truck traffic on the road to Rwanda. This is just one of the 'mishaps' we see today.

Right in the center of Nyakanazi, it seems like a truck rammed the rear of a group of parked trucks and at least half a dozen trucks burned. We wonder how many people got hurt.

Some concrete wildlife at our guesthouse in Nyakanazi.

There is no running water, but the large bucket is kept full through the efforts of the bicycle water haulers.

Dinner at the corner restaurant. Rice, beans, fish and some greens. Notice the napkin wrapped around the coke bottle special-touch.

Today's ride: 48 km (30 miles)
Total: 6,977 km (4,333 miles)

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