Jeff's Relive
https://www.relive.cc/view/vYvrQ8knRLq
Tim did not ride today
 |
| Jeff's bike back in service |
Sunday, March 24, 2024
Day 72 Saturday March 23 Lilongwe to Chipata
by Henry
Today’s ride is 154 km, 934 m total ascent, 30°C maximum.
Vervet monkey on the Woodlands campsite/hotel property. They are very quick to steal any food you leave unattended.
On the road out of Lilongwe, this microbus passed me. I have not seen a single Taco Bell in all of Africa.
In Malawi, bike transportation is very common as most Individuals cannot afford a motorbike. Children never fail to materialize at the roadside to greet us. Sadly, in Malawi, the greeting is as often “how are you?“ as it is “give me money” - often both with a hand outstretched.
Sugarcane is frequently sold at roadside stands like this. You can buy the whole cane, or a portion thereof. We see kids and adults chewing on sugarcane, with the peelings and inedible fibrous parts all over the road. This is unfortunately how they obtain a significant portion of their calories. It is not healthy for their teeth and likely contributes to Type 2 diabetes.
A board with local wholesale prices for agricultural commodities.
Last view of Malawi, before crossing the border into Zambia.
The Malawi to Zambia border crossing was the most efficient we’ve experienced so far. It only took a few minutes to obtain our exit and entry stamps. No visa was required to enter Zambia.
Once into Zambia, the road quality improved dramatically, with very smooth tarmac, and an actual shoulder. Bicycle taxis are ready to be employed at the roadside.
In the town of Chipata, we rode by a library. I took this picture in honor of Priscilla.
At Mama Rula’s Campsite and Lodge, they set up a nice fire for us after dinner.
This completes riding day #45, which happens to be the exact number of days we pedaled in 2019 to get across the USA from Washington, DC to Anacortes, Washington. We have an additional 32 riding days before we reach Cape Town.
Unfortunately, Malawi is one of the most underdeveloped countries, and is blighted with extreme poverty, poor and deteriorating infrastructure, a high birth mortality rate, and educational challenges. There is a very high underemployment and unemployment rate. Although English is the official language, very few speak it to any degree. Chichewa is spoken widely by everyone across the country. Each village locale also has their regional dialect.
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Day 71 Friday March 22 Rest Day in Lilongwe
by Henry
Rest day in Lilongwe. But there are always chores to do, and we started early with laundry.
Rest day in Lilongwe. But there are always chores to do, and we started early with laundry.
Ben, our TDA content creator, interviewed us this morning at 9 AM.
Afterwards, we rode our bikes to Bike Tech, the local bike shop. I needed to resupply with some fresh tubes after having at least eight flats. This gentleman, along with his bike technician, expertly helped Jeff repair his damaged bottom bracket. Our tail lights’ electrical circuitry had shorted out with all the rain, mud, and power washing, so we purchased two replacement tail lights at the shop.
I scored some tasty beef jerky at the butcher shop next door.
Because we had a hot water kettle in the room, I treated myself to some ramen from the grocery store for lunch (shout out to Angie!).
We spent time in the afternoon cleaning and re-lubricating our drive trains, and I replaced my front tire, because of sequential flats over the last few days. Linda rotated her front and rear tires to even out the wear.
We celebrated Joanne’s birthday today. There was beer and soda, ice cream, chips, and other junk food.
We sat down to another Indian dinner at the hotel restaurant. Today Linda and I tasted two different lamb curry dishes.
Tomorrow we start our segment entitled “Zambezi Zone”, and will cross the border near the end of our riding day into Zambia, country #7.
Friday, March 22, 2024
Day 70 Thursday March 21 Kasungu to Lilongwe
by Henry
Shockingly, it did not rain overnight, the first night it has not rained on our tents since we arrived in Malawi on March 15. Five nights in a row being rained on in a tent is disheartening for me, at least.
151 km, 790 m total ascent, 29°C. Tough headwind all day, but it did let up slightly in the afternoon. We haven’t had this much headwind since Egypt.
Riding out of camp in the town of Kasungu. 
He will sell you any type of bag, purse, or backpack.
Tobacco is the #1 crop in Malawi, and we passed many sheds drying tobacco leaves.
Entered an area where there was tall, wild bamboo growing on both sides of the road.
We arrived in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, after a pretty hard day of riding from battling the headwinds. This completes the segment “The Green Hills of Africa“. We have a rest day here. We are losing three sectional riders, and will be gaining one new one.
The Woodlands campsite is in an animal preserve, and there are active vervet monkeys. The property is mostly designed for camping, with only 10 cottages available for upgrades. Linda and I were lucky enough to snag one. It has a separate building that serves as a meeting space, and there was a local police convention happening. The proprietor is Indian – Malawian, and the hotel restaurant had an extensive Indian menu.
Our bike trunk bags have a bottle holder with stitching that was starting to come loose, and the hotel staff had no trouble finding a tailor to get our bags repaired for $1.20 each. We just left the bags at the front desk, and they will be returned tomorrow.
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Day 70 Thursday March 21 Kasungu to Lilongwe
Jeff's Relive
https://www.relive.cc/view/vYvE2Xg8nGO
Jeff rode the second half of the route
Tim did not ride today.
Day 69 Wednesday March 20 Liviri School to Kasungu
by Henry
It started raining lightly at 1 AM, and it didn’t stop until about 5 AM, just when we had to wake up and get ready for our 5:45 AM bag call.
The entire soccer field was a muddy mess because of the rain. I woke up to a flat front tire, so I had to repair that after breakfast.
I soon became aware that there was more drama this morning. I heard initially that two riders had their water bottles stolen overnight from their bikes, despite TDA having hired security guards for our camp.
More alarmingly, three bicycles were stolen, even though they were locked up. Two were locked to each other, and one was locked by itself, but not secured to anything. Our tour director Colleen immediately contacted the police and school headmaster. A reward was offered, and in short order, the three stolen bicycles were procured from the village. The bags attached to the bikes were gone.
Elizabeth with her recovered bike. 
Geoff and Christine were happily reunited with their bikes, and would ride again.
108 km, 633 m total ascent, 29°C maximum. Overcast all day again, which is my preference as it keeps the heat to a minimum. It remained cool for riding all day, with a drizzle in the morning. 
Heavy cloud cover. In this 20 km of road, there was grading on either side to allow for two additional lanes on each side. Not sure what the actual plan will be given the road infrastructure desperately needed elsewhere.
After lunch, we encountered another 15 km stretch of future road improvements. The grading on both sides is the same width.
For most of the day, the edge of the road had disintegrated, and there was essentially no shoulder on either side. 
Triple peak mountain.
Our destination today was Kasungu Inn. Because it was a short riding day, most arrived by 1 PM or earlier. It was a dated property, but notably, there were small ants everywhere that were hard to keep out of our tents.
From 4 to 6 PM, general debauchery ensued with our “halfway” party. We had been encouraged to procure our costumes two days ago in Mzuzu, where eager vendors were stationed outside our campsite. Strangely, many of the clothes still had tags priced in US dollars, like they were rejects from USA Goodwill stores. TDA supplied the punch.
We also received a WhatsApp update from our injured rider with the fractured ribs. She spent a few days in the Mbeya hospital, but then was transferred to a larger and more modern hospital in Nairobi. At some point, her doctor will release her for transport back to her hometown of Washington DC.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)