The Kili Loop

We treated ourselves to a night in the Masai campsite in Arusha, where we enjoyed warm showers and dinner from the restaurant, and then a second dinner from the restaurant- now fully aware of our continuous calorie deficit over the past 25 days.

The following morning we set off along the road towards Moshi, grinding into the headwind for another 50km to the town of Hai, where we enjoyed a second breakfast of chapatti, samosa and mandazi (sweet donut triangles). Only 30km down the road from Moshi we were within striking distance of our target destination since leaving Kampala on the first day of our trip. Instead of taking the easy road in, we planned to circumnavigate Kilimanjaro, so branched off the main road, and climbed steeply towards the plateau on the West side of the mountain.

Resting for lunch, we surveyed the route ahead, congratulating ourselves that the hardest part was now complete and we had 3 relatively easy days of cycling remaining. Cycling on after lunch we celebrated as my cycle-computer (courtesy of Ed Keen) ticked over the 2000km mark. Shortly after this, the tarmac ended and progress immediately slowed. Spirits were damped further (particularly mine) by the inaccuracies on the map (10km turned to 20km), corrugations on the road, and a slow puncture. Perking ourselves up with a chipsy mayai (chip omelet) and coke cola, we ground out the last 10km of the day and were rewarded with a stunning sunset as we pitched out tent.

Sunset on the plains below Kilimanjaro

The following day, with fresh legs, the dirt road seemed far more manageable. The increase in altitude made for cooler air and we made good progress until we stopped under a tree for a super noodle lunch (3 packs each), and to engage our brains for a routine game of chess. Passing military-looking personnel informed us they were patrolling for poachers, as the area is an ‘animal corridor’ from the plains of Amboseli National Park to the Plateau of West Kilimanjaro. Animals including elephant and giraffe make the daily excursion to escape the heat of the plains, returning to the lower altitude each evening. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to wait until their return and pressed on along the increasingly worsening road, where a suspension mountain bike would have been more suitable than my drop handled tourer. Pad tempted fate, commenting that my chain had lasted well having not broken since it first snapped in Uganda. Within 30 minutes, on the last shockingly steep section of the off road, my chain gratuitously split, leading to a forced break for soda and repairs, and the hugely anticipated return to tarmac roads.

Feeling rejuvenated, we raced along the road. For the first time in 100km we exceeded 30km/hour and relishing the cool evening air we raced along with spirits soaring. Sunlight hit the pine trees, and lit up the plains of the Amboseli National Park and Kenya below us, Colobus monkeys cheered from the tree tops and we knew that tomorrow, after a short 75km including a 1000m vertical decent we would have completed the first stage of our journey.

We stopped for a wash as the road passed over a small stream, enjoying the icy melt water running down from the glaciers above, and refilling our water bottles noted that this was the same water as the Kilimanjaro bottled water we had been buying for the past 2 weeks.

A refreshing wash in the glacial melt water from Kilimanjaro

We headed onwards to a perfect campsite that Pad had found on a previous trip, with views of the mountain to greet us in the morning and a bed of sawdust to make our last night in the wild particularly comfortable.

We woke up early, with plans for a large celebratory lunch when we reached Moshi. Camping at 2000m above sea level the air was cool, and we donned our jackets for the first hour before the baking sun rose once again.

Stopping for our morning chai and chapatti, Pad’s second stroke of foresight was to comment “Nothing but smooth tarmac from now on.” Within 100m of setting off again, the road returned to rubble as resurfacing works were underway for the next 10km, and our progress drastically slowed. There’s no such thing as an easy day on this trip, and we started to realise we’d counted our chickens a little too early.

We swept on down towards Moshi, and turned off the main road to another dirt track that would bring us out within a kilometre of our destination. We stopped to enjoy a swim at a waterfall as we passed, which was a refreshing break as the temperatures had rocketed as we descended from the mountain.

The view from our last campsite of Stage 1

By now it was midday, but we pressed on in the heat, with less than 15km to go until our glorious arrival. A short while later, we accepted directions from a local boy, and started our final descent down a rough track, only to realise half way down it was not the road we should have taken. We resented every bumpy mile, as we headed down for 10km in the wrong direction.

Reaching the road we informed it was 6km to Moshi, by this time sun burnt and dehydrated, we figured 20 more minutes of work would be worth it. Again, we had been misinformed and finding it was a further 25km we immediately retreated to a nearby restaurant for some lunch. We picked ourselves up with some cold beverages and a delicious Nyama Choma (roasted meat), and Pad’s cheering thought that at least we’d have a tail wind for this final section. Again Pad had cursed us, and returning to the road we found the wind had switched direction into a gruelling headwind. We ground out the last hour into town, physically and mentally exhausted.

It was not the glorious arrival we had been hoping for, but in-keeping with our journey so far it was slow, hot and tiring. But we had made it. 2,196km and 4 weeks since leaving Kampala we arrived at our destination. Stage 1 was complete. Paddy was to fly back to London for medical interviews in preparation for next years return to reality. I would continue the adventure with a two and a half week holiday in Kenya, with my beloved Emily, where we would enjoy hotels, safari, beaches and seafood- all the luxuries of a normal holiday in Africa.

Three weeks on we are finally catching up on our blogging responsibilities, on the eve of departure from Moshi and the commencement of Stage 2. Our route now will take us Southeast to the Tanzanian coast, before heading back inland across Tanzania to enter Malawi through it’s Northern border. Skirting Lake Malawi we will had South into Mozambique to follow the coastline to it’s capital city of Maputo- some 3500km and 9 weeks from our current location. 

Wish us luck in our next stage, and many thanks to the generous donations we have received so far! We have now reached 50% of our target, but plenty more donations needed!