Staying at DM Motel, Tukuyu
Distance 62 + 6089 = 6151
Average 13.1
Time on bike 4 h 39 m
Total from Amsterdam 11551
Location S9.256563, E33.64521

It was cold when we left at 07h15 with a tail breeze and misty. Breakfast wasn’t ready so stopped 2 km down the road at a nice restaurant for doughnuts and fresh mince samosas. Tea a bit too spicy. Peddling at 07h53. As we were crossing a bridge a few kms further both Peter and I did a double take … loads of people were washing carrots in the muddy river ??.

Up to now it was pretty flat but little did we know what lay ahead. A 17 km hill that just never ended. Every bend in the road ahead looked like the top but was not to be. I stopped twice on this climb. We were always under the impression that fruit and vegetables would be organic but we saw a number of men with spray tanks and later in the day saw them spraying cabbages and tomatoes. The first 15 km averaged at 8.2 … really slow. Saw a few different things today …  hydrangea and canner flowers, bottle brush  trees, beautifully manicured hedges, plantations of beans, tea and banana trees. Three young boys ran alongside us for quite a distance, all wearing ill fitting shoes. In the picture below the boy on the right had what looked like a burn scar on his scalp and the soles of his shoes were loose. So many of us take for granted what we have and how easy we replace items without thinking twice, yet this boy was laughing and enjoying himself. We also saw a couple of donkeys, a sight we haven’t seen for quite a while. Our elevation at the hotel this morning was around 1800 m and after riding 18 km it increased to 2270 metres. Stopped for brunch at 11h00 and had chipatis and tea, Peter also had a bowl of soup with a few pieces of beef and potatoes. We were so high that we were level with the mist swirling around a small peak a short distance from where we had brunch. Before starting our descent we put on our second windbreakers. It was icy cold freewheeling down a +- 30 km hill. Coming up the hill (that we were going down) we both saw a South Aftican vehicle with CAW (George) registration. They waved and carried on up the hill, obviously never saw the SA flag on my handle bar bag’s outside lid. I was quite upset that they didnt stop. Then an overland truck with a CEY (Strand) registration that waved and carried on. Also saw a truck crashed into the mountain and shortly thereafter a truck, no trailer, in middle of the road with engine problems.

Later, nearing a petrol station Peter was yelling at me to pull off the road, then I saw why … a Namibian vehicle with an off road caravan stopped when we waved like crazy people. Lothar and Nesi Möhle live in Windhoek. They will be home around August and invited us to stay should we cycle through Windhoek. All small plots of ground in the area have or are in the process of being tilled manually. It looks like backbreaking work, women also hard at it. We saw manicured hedges, often in shapes of animals but houses not well maintained. One particular garden was stunning with roses, dahlias, daisies, baby carnations, a huge daisy tree ! and so many plants we see locally in SA but haven’t seen anywhere else in Africa. A few tough climbs to reach the DM Hotel in Tukuyu. Managed to get a room far from the busy road for TSH 25000 with beef stew for supper at 7000 per plate.

It’s still very noisy … vehicles with loud hailers advertising who knows what. Peter forgot to switch the geyser on so my, quick, shower was a cold one. Supper was delicious with the TV at full blast and staff sitting in the dining area competing with the TVs volume ????. Night all ????

– Carrots getting washed

– The local butcher in a village

– These three boys ran alongside us for ages going up a steep hill

– Manicured hedges, an unusual sight

– Even thou Lothar and Nesi weren’t from SA, they stopped when Peter and I frantically waved at them