Home » Malawi Mozambique » Cycle to the Summit Part 18 - Lilongwe to Maputo

Rather than take the popular Tete Corridor the team made their way on worsening roads to the Southern tip of Malawi. Mozambique proved much more undeveloped and remote than expected, often in the early days only passing through one small town a day with very limited supplies. But help and hospitality was at hand, from a much appreciated and unexpected source. The Indian Ocean was reached again after many testing days cycling and with it civilization 'as we know it' was slowly restored.

Cycle to the Summit Part 18 - Lilongwe to Maputo

Toby Hammond
2006-06-25 20:20:17

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he had been mugged the previous night and showed me a bruise on the side of his head, so I'll let him off.

Saturday 13-Jul-02 Rest Day, Base Camp

This camp turned out to be much larger and when we enquired about the rumoured guesthouse it turned out to be in the camp and was for guests in the true sense of the word, but fortunately we qualified and enjoyed further hospitality from LTA the construction company. In fact the next morning Ruth and Toby did not feel so well, Owy wanted to watch Australia play the All Blacks on the satellite TV, all conspiring to us stopping for a second night, and enjoying further comfort. The camp was like a little enclave in a wild, uncertain and vast wilderness of scrubland.

Sunday 14-Jul-02 72 km Camp to Gorongosa 71km

Finally we could enjoy the freshly laid tarmac and pleasant undulating countryside with hardly any traffic.We saw a number of broken bridges which were apparently bombed in the was rather than destoyed by flood water. The team stayed at the next road camp, which was at a convenient distance yet again. This camp was now disused but the security guards let us sleep in one of the empty houses which suited us fine.
Monday 15-Jul-02 Gorongosa to Inchope 74km
The road surface through the different stages of the road construction continually changed and just when we thought that we were reaching the final stage and expecting fresh new tar around the corner we would be thrown back onto loose hard core again that would sap all our energy just to keep the laden bikes moving and upright. Every now and then the front wheel would sink into dust and offer no resistance for the steering. We would continue pedalling hoping the wheel would grip until the last moment when we would have to leap off the toppling bike to leave it behind in a heap on the floor. This became a well-practised manoeuvre in the desert in Sudan. By the end of the day we were all covered in ...