Day Two - Namanga to Arusha

Distance: 117km
Ride time: Dunno, GPS went flat

Today was another border crossing day. Kenya to Tanzania. Stuart and I wanted to get across the border before there was a big queue, so we skipped breakfast and jumped on the bikes pretty early.

Best laid plans and all that. I dunno if I said, but back when we entered Kenya in Moyale, we were told that Australians didn't need to pay for a visa. Well, in whatever this border town is, they have a different idea. They wouldn't give us an exit stamp until we paid for an entry visa - our entry stamp wasn't enough. This took long enough that there was a big line at the Tanzanian entry office. To show them who had the moral upper ground, I took their pen.

Waiting around wasn't too bad though. Our race time didn't start until we checked in on the Tanzanian side, so we weren't losing ground. Plus, I got to have a nap on the floor of their office while I was waiting.

The ride itself was a bit of mixed bag. The scenery was spectacular. Mount Meru started off as a peak way off on the horizon and turned into a skyline dominating juggernaut. Awesome stuff. The less good stuff was that a lot of construction is going on at the moment, so there was a lot of dirt diversions. After yesterday's wet tar adventures, I was less keen on risking riding on the construction zones.

Out of lunch, there 14km climb across the foothills of Mount Meru. No crazy gradients, just a constant 1 - 4%. This doesn't sound like much, but it can wear you down. Today was also warm enough that I was dripping sweat from my face and elbows. I actually like this feedback that I am working hard.

Arusha itself seems to be a pretty big town. We rode around the CBD (I guess to avoid the worst of the traffic) but even so I saw some tall buildings and even traffic lights. I am so used to the craziness of North Africa, that I busted right through the first set of traffic lights. Apart from that, the ride through (or around) town to camp was the normal gauntlet of minibuses and trucks wanting to run me over. And honking. So much honking.

I didn't hang around the campsite much. Instead I jumped in Ted's shuttle - he seems to acquire stuff like this by magic - and came over to the Arusha Hotel. Since we are at the halfway point of the tour, I am having a holiday. The suite here is pretty nice. Couple of bathrooms, separate study and a sweet flatscreen TV. I even got a cold towel and a couple of glasses of orange juice while I was checking in. There are some advantages to turning up clad in sweating, dusty lycra, splattered in tar and cuts. Plus, a bowl of fruit to eat.

The ride before my GPS went flat.