Day 34 Wednesday February 14 Jinja to Nabweyo

by Henry

Eero left on a flight back to Finland last night. TDA staff found him a hand-carved African cane which eased his ambulation, so at least he has that for a souvenir . . . . Yesterday, an Australian rider who fell on the 20 km muddy stretch of road sprained his right ankle. He rode the rest of the day yesterday, but did not ride today. An x-ray today did not demonstrate a fracture. It’s unclear when he will be able to resume riding with this ankle injury.

The ride today was 120 km, just under 1000 m total elevation gain, with maximum temperature 31° C. It was supposed to rain, but it never did. The clouds disappeared around 11 AM, and it got progressively hotter during the day. No real wind to speak of.


This bridge is located just before the outlet of Lake Victoria to the beginning of the White Nile.

Outlet for Lake Victoria, and the beginning of the White Nile River. (The Blue Nile River comes out of Lake Tana in Ethiopia and merges with the White Nile River in Khartoum, Sudan.)

Our first 50 km was on a very busy road going through several towns. There was the usual chaotic traffic and roundabouts, and we all remained hypervigilant to stay safe.

During this 50 km segment, as trucks approached, we had to ride further into the rough shoulder. I got my third flat tire of the tour from riding so much in the shoulder and picking up a small piece of wire.

After turning onto the next stretch of road, there was blessedly less traffic, but the lanes were narrow and there was still a moderate amount of truck traffic.


After lunch, there were gentle rolling hills for the rest of the day.


We passed a long stretch of swamp.

The locals had miles and miles of cassava drying by roadside. This is their basic starch, and they grind it into flour. 


I passed a lot of rice being dried also.


The huge loads being carried by bicycle are not as common as in Rwanda. The longer distances between villages necessitates use of motorbikes.


Picture from another rider. Loads like this can be very dangerous, if the motorbike driver forgets that he’s carrying a wide load and does not give us bicycle riders enough clearance. Yesterday, I saw a motorbike carrying pieces of sheet metal this wide. A grievous injury could have occurred if he had clipped a bicycle rider in the leg.


We arrived at Clover Woods Motel in Nabweyo. Although the moniker is “motel”, it was quite a well-built facility with a modern bar and generous seating in the lounge for all of us. TDA reserved three well-appointed rooms for group use, and there were warm showers, which is a rare luxury.

We were served fish and chips for dinner, and we each received a small Valentine’s Day treat.