Turning For Home

The power problems in the Kawe area of Dar es Salaam continued throughout the next day and we had to go down to a restaurant nearby to charge our cell-phones and laptops. They were operating with the assistance of a generator, and were unaffected by the power cuts. Apparently a large transformer had been damaged when construction workers had accidentally severed a cable while digging storm-water drains… Allan wanted to get across to Zanzibar, but I was not prepared to spend the few hundred dollars on so short a stay there, so decided to leave Dar and begin the journey back home a day earlier than I had originally intended. We sat around at the house waiting in vain for the power to come back on and eventually went to the Mliwani Mall and spent a few hours downloading our emails. Allan was also able to update his website, which he had not done since he left Lusaka…

We were informed that there would be no power for a few days yet, and this strengthened my decision to leave for the long run south, earlier than I had intended… There was no point sitting in Dar without power, and besides that, it rained constantly… The longer I waited, the bigger the potholes were becoming…!!

And still it rained… This and the power cuts in Dar es Salaam, hastened my departure…

Steve and Klaus had made prior arrangements to see some of their friends that evening and went there directly from work. Allan and I sat around in the dark and then with torches in hand, went through the drawers in the sideboard until we found the candles… We lit half a dozen of them and then sat chatting about the “ways of the world…” The world is a big place, so this conversation took a long time… Once we had demolished our third bottle of red wine, as well as a number of quarts of Kilimanjaro beer, Allan pronounced himself ready for bed, and stumbled up the stairs to his room…

I sat thinking about our ride to Iringa a few days before, and the conditions we had endured to get there… If I’d been told before I set out that I would have to ride 13 hours to do 700kms, I would never have believed it… If I had been told that I would be riding in pouring rain, in the darkness of an African night, I would have considered the speaker to be a lunatic…!! But this is exactly what we had to do!! I still couldn’t believe it…

Allan would be moving on soon and we were unlikely to see each other ever again… This got me to thinking about Vanessa again, and the scribe in me got busy by candlelight… I had written bits and pieces of stuff about the rain and Vanessa; and what I was doing on this ride; what I wanted and where I might end up… I had then listened to a Bob Dylan song which just about summed up all my own feelings… I set about marrying my reality to the song’s message… I was sure Bob wouldn’t mind…

Thunder in the Mountains…

Thunder in the mountains while I ride into the gloom

Clouds are hanging low, blocking out the moon…

Dar es Salaam tomorrow and I can feel the wet wind blow…

The rain’s still coming down, following me everywhere I go…

I’ve been thinking about Vanessa B, sometimes can’t stop the crying,

She’s being drawn back to her mother’s kitchen,

And I’m here riding down this line…

I still wish that Vanessa B could be here with me,

Riding beside me, clear all the way through Malawi…

Thunder on the mountain, rolling like a drum,

I-pod in my ear, that’s where the music’s coming from,

I don’t need any guide, I already know the way…

If I have to I’ll just keep riding both night and day…

The pistons are popping and the power is down,

I’d like to stop and rest, but I’m so far from town

The clouds keep raining, and the cold wind has picked up speed,

I’ve got to think about myself now…forget about what others need…

Thunder on the mountain, up here in the clouds,

I have to get up in the morning and ride the high road down

Some day soon I’ll stand beside that shining sea like a king,

My single purpose now, sanctuary and peace above any other thing…

I feel like my soul is beginning to expand,

Look into my heart and you will sort of understand,

We got this far together now she’s trying to drive me away…

There’s writing on the wall, but I can’t understand what it says…

I must take a slice while she gets the pie,

She isn’t an angel and neither am I…

But shame on her greed, shame on her people’s schemes,

It’s clear they never gave a damn about my dreams…

Thunder on the mountain, rain heavy as can be,

Mean old clouds are bearing down on me…

People in Iringa are scrambling to higher ground…

I’m out on my bike, throttle open, keeping my head down…

Now Allan’s going on, and I want to go too,

Want to keep on riding, keep finding somewhere new…

I’ve done all I could, did it right there and then,

I’m close to giving up now; not sure when I’ll see her again…

I’d like to take all my money and go up North,

I’ll plant and I’ll harvest what the earth brings forth…

My keys are on the table and my helmet is on the shelf…

From now on it’s every man for himself…

*******

It was still raining when I blew the candle out and lay back on my bed… I listened to the wind whistling through the gaps in the louver windows… I decided that I would leave in the morning and start the ride home… I would have liked to spend more time in the city I had targeted for this ride, but the conditions here could last many more days, and unless we moved on to Mombasa in Kenya, I did not want to hang around here any longer than we needed to…