1-3 November 2010 - South Africa - Nelspruit & Johannesburg

I entered SA on 1st and stayed at the Funky Monkey Backpackers lodge in Nelspruit, a really cool place! 

This is certainly a very pretty and tidy country, even more so after having spending time in other parts of Africa. It certainly feels like I am taking a break out of 'real Africa'! I arrived in JoBurg on the 2nd November and am staying with Steve's folks in Stirling Road, Sandton. It's a beautiful suburb in Northern JoBurg. 

Sandtown, which Jay stayed just outside off

The bike is currently getting: a full service, new chain and sprockets, new mirror and most importantly new tyres. Ironically, it was not my tyre that got punctured on this trip, but my foot! 
 
I went to see Steve's family doctor, a very stern faced old school doctor called Dr Rautenbach. As Steve's parents had forewarned me, he did not pussy-foot about. He injected anaesthetic into 3 points on the sole of my foot (the most painful injections I have ever had!) and whipped out his scalpel. Anyway, he pulled out the fragment of coral and dirt that had caused me so much pain and discomfort over the last 7 days. He also cut out the surrounding infected flesh. There's a hole the size of a pea in my right foot!


Anyway, I'm just relieved that I'm now clear of the intrusions and can start the healing process. 

 

30 October 2010 - Mozambiqu - Maputo

I pulled into Maputo yesterday, its the Mozambiquan capital and a pretty cool city. There’s a fresh cool breeze off the sea that blows onto a high escarpment. Its only 100km from SA and the facilities are not bad. Finally had some great fresh fruit juices (3 back to back!), the first since Ethiopia. Africa has generally just not caught onto the crazy idea that you can squeeze fruit into a glass and the foreigners in particular will pay good money for the pleasure! 

Maputo

Foot still quite sore, will def get it seen to in SA. Its such a difficult injury as its directly on the ball of the sole of the foot, just where all your weight goes. I’ve designed a bandage that attempts to divert the pressure away from the injury, but it only improves the situation so much. It does not look infected and there did not seem to be any coral stuck in when I first looked at it... it’s a bit of a mystery!

25-27 October 2010 - Mozambique - Bazarute Archipelago, Inhambane, Tofo beach

25 October

Yesterday I went snorkelling in the Bazarute Archipelago (Mozambique), also called the ilhas do paradiso! Idyllic Desert islands with dunes, coral shores, flamingos and 1000s of colourful fish. 

Bazaruto Archipelago

From tomorrow I will start heading south towards capital Maputo. First stop is at Inhambane (charming old colonial town), and nearby Tofo beach. Boats from here go out to see manta rays and whale shark. Water quite choppy though, not sure if i fancy snorkelling out there! Will make enquiries first about safety, and also weather/visibility. Coast is practically all owned by South Africans from here south. Its a surprising expensive country, considering the general poverty. Good music scene, especially the rap (in portugese). Chilling in a garden today (got cut on coral yesterday, will keep dry for 2 days), at least 25 species of bird already popped in today! Saw the most incredible bright orange coloured full moon yesterday, did not have camera!

26 October

I am at Tofo beach right now. 

Tofu Beach

 27 October

Coral cut on sole of foot still quite sore, will just read / chill today as walking hurts. Got a little reed hut directly over a great beach. Heard whale shark experience not that great with snorkel anyway. Now hobbling off for some breakfast.

21 October - Mozambique - Tete, Catandica & Vilanculos Beach

Had a great time at the music festival. Camping on the beach at Monkey Bay. Love this place, and Malawi in general. Lake much better than sea! Finally broke away from the Lake Malawi spell on the 20th! Highlight was probably rowing out to small islands in a traditional dug out canoe and snorkelling amidst extraordinarily colourful Cichlid Fish and watching African Fish Eagles swoop down to catch fish.

Also made it up to the  cool Zomba Plateau, before finishing the day at the main commercial city Blantyre. 

I crossed into Mozambique on 21st. It was a punishing 9 hour ride through southern Africa hotest region, around town called Tete on the Zambezi River! Had a 30 min wait in midday sun due to bridge repair work, inside my suit the sweat dripped like a tap! Well, I suppose I chose to do this! 

Made it as far as a very small town called Catandica . Am generally aiming towards Vilanculos Beach.  

14 October 2010 - Malawi - Nkhata Bay, Cape Maclear and Lake of Stars Musical Festival

Passed into Malawi  okay. Stayed in Nkhata Bay last night. 

Nkhata Bay, Malawi

Made it to Cape Maclear tonight, its been four long hard  days of riding in the heat to get here from Dar es Salaam. Will chill here tomorrow on lake shore.

Cape Maclear, Malawi

Amazing sunsets on Cape Maclear, Malawi

Then heading for nearby Lake of Stars music festival on Saturday. its UK organised, check it out. http://www.lakeofstars.org/

Campsite guest book had a column for tribe?! After some hesitation, I entered: Manchester United. The staff loved it!

Tribe - Manchester United : )

 

12 October 2010 - Tanzania - Great Ruaha River, Tukuyu

Two nights ago I camped on the shores of Great Ruaha River, near Mikumi National Park. Was busy photographing gazelle, and walked right into a family of elephants, just metres away. The mummy spread out her ears to look big and intimidating; she really did not need to try to look any bigger. That was a tad hairy! Surrounding hills were all covered with the iconic African Baobab trees.

Gazelle

Elephants amongst African Baobab trees

Last night camped on a banana farm in Tukuyu. Villagers were great, brought around a superb 'banana curry'! Desert was also banana. Am not guessing what breakfast might be?!

Banana Plantation, Tukuyu

 

 

Here's a clip of Mara, who was known to chase the villagers on a regular basis. My guess is she was just a little bored and looking for some light entertainment, or perhaps she was on her period? What do you think girls? 

An elephant's top speed is about 25 mph (40 kph). They normally only reach this top speed on rare occasions when they are scared or upset. They normally move at a much lower running speed of about 12 to 20 mph (19 to 32 kph) depending on the species, temperate and other factors. However, they tend to stick to a steady walking speed of about 4 mph (6 kph) under normally circumstances.

8-10 Oct 2010 - Tanzania - Zanzibar & Dar es Salaam

October 8

Today took the ferry to Zanzibar. After a few nights roughing it on the dash down here, I decided to spoil myself by staying in the old stone town in Zanzibar. Room is on sea front, at Abuso Inn. White sand, turquoise water outside, as you'd expect. 

Abuso Inn, Zanzibar

Very hot here; will go out in the eve! Left bike in Dar, was too complicated to bring it over. May rent one to explore island...  Response from Nicolle to Jay: I cannot believe you are thinking of hiring a bike. From recollection it is a small island. Give your bum rest!

This is the local transport. On second thoughts renting a bike does not seem like such a mad idea after all!

October 10

Zanzibar 'The spice island' is very interesting place. A unique influential history & culture. It was the hub that linked all East Africa with Arabic world, India and Europe, becoming very wealthy in 1800's. The people are more diverse than anywhere else. Indo-arabic influences pervade.

View of Old Stone Town from the sea

Old Stone Town bit more grotty than expected, restoration still 'work in progress'. Only big hotels are spruced up. After left wing revolution, the old mansions were split for poor families, and allowed to crumble. Reminds me a lot of Havana! Goan fish curries rule the restaurants. Food largely Indian.

Restoration work - aka - Propping up!

Did not go around island, its just resorts and villages with beaches and palm trees.

One of the many beaches - sigh

Left Zanzibar this morning, after just 2 days; struggled with the heat - I am a terrible 'heat wimp'! On boat back to capital now. Looking forward to altitude...!

Aaaarghh!!! For the 3rd or 4th time on this trip I have sat in a internet cafe (in a capital city), to try and type up a trip report and then lost the entire lot! This time the pc auto rebooted, last time it was power failure! I just give up; how is this place ever going to progress! So frustating! Going to find some ice cream to cool down.

5-7 Oct 2010 - Tanzania - Arusha, Lushoto and Dar es Salaam

October 5 

Arrived okay in Arusha

Arusha, Tanzania

October 6

Camped in a small town Lushoto, in NE Tanzania hills. Beautiful eucalyptus (& banana!) forests, overlooking the Masai Steppe.  

Lushoto, Tanzani

October 7

Tonight, just pitched tent on Indian ocean beach outside Dar es Salaam, the capital. Riding full day through low land heat was tough. 

One of the many beaches outside Dar es Salaam. So not feeling sorry for Jay's hard day's riding if this is where he ends up. Wish I was there now!

Cop pulled me over today with a 'speed radar'. It looked home made; as if from an old biscuit tin! It had a dial stuck on 80mph! I burst out laughing and rode off ... Africa hey!

This is a typical hand held speed gun used by the Cops in Africa - notice no speed dial...

This is typical a car speed dial - guessing that's what the cop had used in his tin box!

4 Oct 2010 - Ethiopia - Addis Abeba

News from Jay: 

Please do believe me that after each full-on day of dealing with African roads, and then trying to figure out where to sleep, there is often little energy left to indulge in any form of eloquent reportage.

Quick plug: The Ethiopian highlands (North West) are stunningly and endlessly beautiful! I really really hope my camera makes it back to London (with me of course!) Also, a few years of Italian colonisation don't seem to have done them any harm, if the cafe's in Addis Ababa (the capital) are anything to go by. Tribal women in the countryside peer out of their mud huts and enthusiastically shout out 'ciao'! The 'Ethiopian shoulder dancing' is also quite something, have a look on you-tube. I got pulled on stage by the dancers at a traditional music hall, to give it a go. Never before have I been able to make so many people laugh so hard and for so long. It's not as easy as the Ethiopians make it look! It's really only just started attracting tourism, get in now...

28 Sept-1 Oct 2010 - Moyale, Turbi and Nanyuki

Jay arrived in Moyale on 28 September, with the challenge of needing to quote: "face the hell road to Isiola again! Aiming to take it real slow."

He arrived in a small village called Turbi on 29th September. Quote: "Road is just unbelievably bad! Cloud cover was a godsend though. Really helped the concentration." Google earth has not proved to be so hot in showing the road conditions, but I'm not one to give in easily and after much searching found just what I was looking for. Yep, that road is shit! Please see the images below.

News on 1st October: "Made big push today; was so sick of that damned road! It is just unbelievable! Dropped bike 3 times yesterday. Luckily not hurt. A Brit rider dislocated his shoulder, Portuguese rider broke his leg, just in last 3 days. Camping outside a town called Nanyuki, under mount Kenya tonight. Enjoying a much needed beer now. Will try to see lake Nakuru (loads of big pink birds!) 2moro before finishing in Nairobi. "

I don't know about you, but I be wanting something a little stiffer than a beer if I'd just been through that. In my case a triple shot of vodka or two : )

Turbi, Kenya

Road Conditions from Moyale to Isiola, Kenya

Isiola, Kenya -  Guessing they don't get that many tourists!

Nanyuki, Kenya - Back to civilisation

Lake Nakuru, Kenya - Yep, those birds are pink!

27 Sept 2010 - Ethiopia - Addis Abeba, Awasa, Yavello to Kenya - Moyale

News from Jay on 27 September in Addis Abeba:

Totally by chance I bumped into my old companions the two South Africans I met in Moyale, and we went out and had a few drinks. I leave Addis after breakfast today.

I got bitten to shreds by bed bugs in the highlands. The bedding was filthy, it's just that it took me a few days to realise it was bed bugs and not mosquitos!

His itinerary for the next three days is as follows:

28 Sept - Awasa, Ethiopia

29 Sept - Yavello, Ethiopia

30 Sept - Moyale, Kenya

Moyale is the strategic point at which he will decide exactly how to quote "tackle that damned desert road..." Last time he hired a jeep from Kenya to take him and the bike to save his suspension and tires a grueling bashing.

Awasa, Ethiopia

Yavello, Ethiopia

23 September - Ethiopia - Bahir Dar

News direct from Jay:


Finally got to a halfway decent sized town up here in the Ethiopian highlands. It's called Bahir Dar, it's on the Southern shores of Lake Tana. It's where the Blue Nile starts (it looks very 'brown' up here...even got hippos in it!). Machines are very slow, the cafe's are not too pleasant. I've not really been able to get into the swing of any form of correspondence. Am fairly whacked most evenings after long hard rides, and going to look for these mosquito infested dens is not very appealing. Maybe when I get back to Nairobi, I'll try to put some write up together. 
 
This pm, I bumped into a bit of a legend on the road, coming the other way! A young German fella called Alex. I'd prevously heard of him from other travellers: 5 years and 200,000km on the road, he's finally getting home sick and heading home to Hamburg. We chatted road side amongst corn fields for an hour before we both headed our own ways. I should be in Debre Marco tomorrow night, then Addis the next. After one night there' I'll race south towards the Kenyan border again. Should take 2-3 days to get to Moyale.
 
Trip has great days and difficult days. The highs are normally very high, the lows can be quite low. Still, I enjoy taking the rough with the smooth. It's not been possible to ride with anyone for more than one day as I am travelling quicker than most. still, I bump into travellers every few days up here. 

Jay's route  4-23 September 2010

Blue Nile - Bahir Dar

Village just outside Bahir Dar

21-22 September - Ethiopia - Debark, Simian Mountain National Park and Gondar

Jay's took a day out from the road to trek in the Simian Mountain National Park. 


He made it to Debark after 9 punishing hours of trying to keep the bike upright on rock-mud mountain roads. Quote: "Just to move one inch on the map!" He's currently making his way 'slowly' back towards Addis Abeba.

Debark

Debark

Simian Mountain National Park

Gondar

Gondar

Gondar

18-20 Sept 2010 - Ethiopia - Lalibela, Mek'ele and Aksum

Jay didn't arrive in Lalibela till the 18th, a day later than originally anticipated. He hooked up with two German riders there and rode with them to Mek'ele. The road to Aksum was pretty bad. A lot of steep rocky descents. He visited the Queen of Sheeba Baths, though not to wash, hmm, wondering just how smelly he is right now? Three weeks in those biker pants!

Mek'ele - Google Earth image

Mek'ele

Mek'ele

Aksum

14-17 Sept 2010 - Ethiopia - Addis Abeba, Dessie & Lalibela

Jay arrived in Addis Abeba around the 14th September. Dessie quote "is a real dung heap!", perhaps something to do with the amount of camels? He's heading now for Lalibela, famous for it's rock churches. Having seen the google earth images I think he is going to enjoy this location a little more...

The route so far

Addis Abeba, Ethiopia

Addis Abeba, Ethiopia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Addis Abeba, Ethiopia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessie, Ethiopia - Google Earth ariel view

Dessie, Ethiopia

Dessie in Ethiopia "is a real dung heap!"

Laliela, Ethiopia - Google ariel view

Lalibela, Ethiopia

Lalibela, Ethiopia - Rock churches