Home » Malawi Tanzania » Cycle to the Summit Part 17 - Dar es Salaam to Lilongwe

Highlights of the Dar to Lilongwe stretch of Cycle to the Summit have included some super cycling and World Cup football action. We cycled through Mikumi National Park where we saw elephant, giraffe, zebra and buffalo, before crossing into Malawi to see first hand the famine situation that is featuring in the UK press. We also learned about the increasing problems associated with the AIDS epidemic. We are currently enjoying the hospitality and company of our friend Sutapa in Lilongwe. Over the next few days we will visit WaterAid and plan for the final stages of our journey to the Earth Summit in Johannesburg.

Cycle to the Summit Part 17 - Dar es Salaam to Lilongwe

Toby Hammond
2006-06-25 20:12:13

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was not accompanied by stone-throwing children. We spent the evening in Mororgoro with Mimi and Carie, friends of Caroline, the German teacher we met in Moshi.

31st May 2002 - Morogoro to Mkata - 58km

African women on bicycles are becoming a more frequent sight as we head south. I cycled alongside Cecilia, who was on her way back from her local market and tried to learn some Swahili. She laughed so hard at my attempts at pronunciation that I thought she was going to fall off her bicycle. We stopped for the night at Mkata where we watched African improvisation in action -some young men were using a bicycle to power a grindstone to sharpen their knives. Toby and Owy entertained the children with our video camera as Paul and I prepared dinner. As we ate, an elderly man named Prosper Paul came to speak with us. He told us that he thought "white men are angels sent from God" and proceeded to say how dependent he thinks Africa's future is on the white man. This mindset has been prevalent in many parts of Africa and seems to prevent people from feeling that they can determine their future and hence help themselves. The improvisation we have witnessed is evidence that people can be inventive if they put their minds to it. Naturally they may need help, either expertise or financial, but the desire to make a better future for themselves needs to be there if they wish to develop. That night we were kept awake by lorries stopping by the roadside to transport illicit charcoal. Although one is supposed to have a licence to sell charcoal, the licence costs 600 Tanzanian Shillings (40p) per bag - prohibitively expensive for many small farmers when the bag will only fetch 1500 TS.

1st June 2002 - Mkata to near Mikumi - 95km

I awoke early feeling excited by the prospect of cycling through Mikumi National Park, one of only two national parks that we have been allowed to cycle through. The sign at the entrance to the park said ...