The Road to Dar… a dream realized

(510 km)

S 06º 43’ 92” – E 39º 14’ 01”

Our route through to Dar-es-Salaam, my final destination…

It rained throughout the night, and we woke to grey skies and a steady drizzle… Allan groaned from deep under his covers when I gave him a brief summary of the conditions outside. We packed all our kit and wandered downstairs, had a quick breakfast (no bacon!!) and then went in search of starter kits for our cell phones. We bought a Vodacom and a Celtel starter pack each, as well as $10.00 of airtime, loaded up the bikes and left the hotel in a light drizzle. I could have sworn the receptionist crossed himself again as we left…

I had mixed feelings about today’s ride, as not only was this the last outward leg of the journey that I had planned, but it was also to be my last ride with Allan… I was excited about completing my “mission”, but also beginning to feel the effects of the 11 000 odd kilometres I had ridden to get here so far… I am not sure if it was purely as a result of the previous day’s thirteen hour ride, but a wave of tiredness swept over me as we descended the mountain, riding back to the main road, which had now changed from the A104 to the A7. There was mud and water everywhere and we sat the bikes at the crossroads for a while, shaking our heads at the ordeal we had survived the night before… Allan looked across at me and said, “We did good, Dude…!” He was right…we had…

Allan loads “Doc” in preparation for leaving the MR Hotel, Iringa….

As he pulled off ahead of me, I watched him ride away for a short distance before following him… I was saddened by the fact that having ridden for over three weeks with Allan, and covered over 3500km with him, we would soon part ways in Dar es Salaam… I had enjoyed his whacky sense of humour, and I knew I would miss his company once I headed south for home… These thoughts swirled around in my head for the first hour of the ride…

Unsure of where we might find petrol, we decided to refuel just outside the town, as we had a 300km stint to Morogoro to contend with… The maize fields in and around Iringa were completely flooded, almost a metre under water… Trucks were stuck up to their axles in the mud next to the road, where many of them had pulled off during the previous night’s storm. We left this mayhem behind us as we motored on through Lugalu, Isere and Mataasi, through undulating granite topped hills. The road followed the Great Ruaha River, leading us into the Udzungwe National Park, where we encountered hundreds of baboons… We also saw what I believed to be Duikers, but could not confirm, as their coats were a more reddish colour than those I was used to further south…

We came across a truck that had swerved off the road during the night, and was firmly stuck in a muddy culvert. A group of guys were at work with picks and shovels to try and make a path for the truck to drive out of. There was no way they would succeed and a few days later when I passed back on the same route, the truck was in the same position as we had left it in…

Allan gives an impromptu speech about the dangers of wet weather driving….

The road through the mountains in this national park, hugs the edge of river, following its twists and turns, squeezed between it and the steep mountain slopes on either side. Thick bush covers the gentler slopes, and streams run off the mountain and across the road to the river beyond. This makes for tricky riding as the road surface is constantly changing from dry to wet and back again. And of course, there are also potholes to contend with… I enjoyed the ride, filming long sections of it with my hand held Sony camera. When I watched the film later, I was amazed that I had ridden these stretches with only one hand on the handlebars. Scary footage…!! Silly boy…!!!

I reached the top of one of the passes through these mountains long before Allan did, as he had stopped to take some photos… I pulled over and waited for him, filming as he arrived, and continuing as he got off his bike shouting,

“Tanzania!!”… Indeed it was…

We ate some trail mix and shared a bottle of water. Then Allan asked me to ride back along our route to a section which we could see from where we stood. He wanted some long distance film footage of me riding through the pass towards him for his website… I did not want a repeat of last night’s late arrival in Iringa when we got to Dar es Salaam, but I knew that this would be our last ride together, so I humoured him, riding back for about a kilometre, before turning round and riding back to where he was filming…

Waiting for Allan, on the crest of a pass in The Udzungwe National Park, the Great Ruaha River running strongly in the gorge below…

We rode down out of the mountains, and into the town of Mikumi, preparing for our ride through the Mikumi National Park. I reminded Allan again about avoiding elephants, watching as he nodded slowly and then flashed me one of his “winning smiles”, saying

“No Problem, Dude!”…

The drive through this area was fantastic! We saw giraffe, impala, hyena, zebra and plenty of elephant… At one point a large herd consisting of over 40 individuals began crossing the road in front of us. We stopped and pulled over to the verge to watch them… Just then a bus roared past, splitting the herd and causing consternation among the mothers and their young… A large bull lumbered into the road in front of the bus, causing it to stop and wait, while the bull vented its anger on some small trees and bushes on the verge of the