An unexpected start
At last we’re going to ride through Tanzania. After a tricky arrival, when we found that our bikes hadn’t flown with us and had been left behind at some airport (probably Nairobi), everything got sorted out. The airport let Elisante, the hotel manager, know that the bikes had reached the airline’s office in Arusha, and he arranged transport for us to go and pick them up. I’d like to take this chance to thank Elisante for his help, although I doubt he’ll ever read this.
With everything sorted, a transfer took us to Moshi, which spared us an ugly, busy road that would have added nothing but danger and an extra day on the bike. The trip begins, we’re ready!
From our starting point we set off along dirt tracks, among the humble houses on the outskirts of Moshi. The track surprised us a lot: we were expecting dry ground, but we found plenty of vegetation and, above all, lots of people. It’s nice to see life along the tracks, and not having to worry about water and food is a real luxury. Every few kilometres we came across a bar where we could buy drinks and something to eat. Not that we needed it on this first stage, since we’d set off well stocked, just in case.
The track was well trodden and the surface was very hard, which, together with a gently descending profile, let us go very fast, even faster than on tarmac.
A few kilometres further on we entered a drier, more desert-like area. The vegetation thins out, and so do the people. The landscape is wonderful, and we come across our first acacias and our first baobab. No doubt about it, we’re in Africa.
We joined the road for a few kilometres and then turned back onto a track. Hard-packed dirt, climbing all the way, with lots of stones and the odd lorry. That’s because this track is the main road linking all those villages.
We turned right off the track at a junction, heading for Lake Chala down a very fast descent. On the one hand we’re happy, with gravity on our side. On the other… tomorrow we’ll have to climb back up here!
Before reaching Lake Chala, there’s the entrance gate to get through. The area around the lake, a volcanic crater on the border between Tanzania and Kenya, is a nature reserve with restricted entry and a fee that only tourists can afford. Spending the night by the lake isn’t cheap for us, so I imagine it’s out of the question for the locals. We also found out that not many tourists must turn up at the lake without a guide, because the man in charge of collecting the entrance fee barely spoke English. After a while we managed to get in and reach the lake. An 80-kilometre stage: we’ve earned it.
And it was worth it. A peaceful spot with lovely views, and a comfortable campsite to spend the night in was waiting for us. A good dinner and off to bed. A long day awaits us tomorrow.
