so ready for another day I said yesterday...well when I started to pack
the bike, I noticed a flat tyre. I admit I had chosen a pretty bad spot for
camping. The area was peppered with tiny thorny balls. Sticky, hard, they
even punctured the tent floor. So the back tube, though protected by a
kevlar layer, had to be fixed. That's when I noticed that the hand pump was
leaking but I managed to pump enough. In Arusha I got helped by a
compressor to inflate the tyres hard like stones...
some images of the day, the different dirt track surfaces...I couldn't complain
in fact. I kind of knew I would have to push the bike here and there
because of sandy patches or erosion damages. After all this is one of the driest
if not the driest part of Tanzania. But I managed to stay on the bike 95 %.
those thorny trees always stay greener longer. Evolution again chose
the toughest trees.
This is a dry river. Obviously it didn't dry out recently. That thick layer of sand
proves the rains haven't been here for a while. And the next rainy season is
still a few month away. Tough times to come for the Masais...
and these clouds are just there to look nice....
there was a village down there, Mundarara, with water. I still had a lot
but I've always been extremely careful with water, can't help it. So
I replenished with 5 lt. There problems kind of started. The people
didn't agree on the way to go, on the miles left (either way to
Natron or Longido!). My GPS showed I was exactly half way as the crow
flies. By the way one guy wanted to swap the GPS with a cow or 2!
I can imagine the picture of a cow behind the bike...I had
thought there was only one road to the Natron from Longido
but it appears there are 3 at least, with extra loops. I discarded the one
that would have sent me across, not around, the mountain on this
picture. Too sandy and rough and climbing. So I came back a few miles...
...with a light bike, this slope wouldn't be an issue. I was pushing mine like
this guy with his 3 yellow jerrycans full of water. I met another Masai
who seemed to know what it was about, I tripled checked what he said,
made him repeat a few times...he must have thought I was really as stupid
as I looked. Because on my way, I didn't meet much approval of my idea to
bike here in those conditions. I could read in their eyes 'these stupid white
people'. Imagine Africans they have no rest really, no holidays or hardly any.
So what do they do when they take time off? They relax of course! What do
we do? We have a sweat. Well not everybody but...Puzzling... So I trusted
him a bit and followed his advice. Even if it is wrong again, the scenery
and theexperience were worth. At this stage I started to have my doubts.
More punctures and leak from the pump. I can't inflate as much as I want
now.The pressure in the tyre overcomes the leak... I feel on a boat
sometimes with the wobbly tyres. Also I'm carrying 3 spare tubes. 2
have to be discarded because old fixes have burst with the excess
of pressure to carry on the extra weight. Local glue that's not worth
much...and those bursts are now too big to be fixed again...
Barren land. Mt longido on the horizon.
that white water tank behind the tree was dry!
still a few months to go before the next rains!
I only got pestered by kids by the way, asking
for money or any gift. Adults refrained. Everybody was
friendly and curious. Still I never said where I was going to
sleep. Just in case...
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