Day 35 Friday February 15 Nabweyo to Kapchowa

by Henry

The ride was 98 km today, almost 1750 m total elevation gain, with high temperature projected to be 31° C, but with overcast conditions for most of the day, the actual high was only about 26°C. There was a long, steep climb that started at 68 km and did not end until 80 km, at our lunch stop.

It was another birthday today, this time for Andre. He gamely wore a crown of roses for the day.


View of the mountain range that we would be climbing into.


Closer perspective. Under cloudy conditions, I did not get a good view of Mt. Elgon, Uganda‘s highest peak, a large dormant volcano behind this mountain range. I have another chance to see it on tomorrow’s route.


A good number of small mosques are scattered through Ugandan villages. There are overwhelmingly more Christian churches of various denominations.


Sipi waterfall.


Our major climb of the day was nothing short of grueling. 700 m elevation gain in 12 km. Grades were often in the range of 10 to 12%. View of the distant valley below. I didn’t take as many pictures today, because I was so focused on reaching the end of the climb.


No clear explanation why, but the townsfolk loaded this tree up with garbage.

With the departure of Eero, Jeff now carries the honorific of our most senior rider. He cranks along steadily every day in his sandals. He persevered in the face of another flat tire today. In addition, his brand new inflatable sleeping mat tore at the valve. One of the other riders helped him patch it up, and we’ll see if that holds.

We arrived at the Home of Friends Guesthouse in Kapchorwa very tired. We did the usual routine of setting up of our campsites, had soup, replaced our fluids, and after dinner celebrated a birthday for Andre with ice cream.

Fun fact: Joshua Cheptegei, the current world record holder for the 5000 and 10,000 m races, is from Kapchorwa District.

Tomorrow we cross into Kenya, our 4th country.