And Finally

I was too quick to judge my cell phone repair engineers it seems (see previous post). Despite their shakey start they managed to somehow resurrect my phone, although the microphone isn't working very well. I haven't been able to write anything about the journey since I first arrived in Mozambique - 4 weeks on there's a lot of catching up to do, so I'll try and keep to the highlights.

Time for a Break

It turned out that the food poisoning I got on my first day in Mozambique knocked my body for six more than I realised. After a day and a night of being ill I pushed on the very next morning which was a mistake. My improved fitness levels gave me a false confidence in my body's ability to fight the bug (which came from drinking untreated water I think, whoops). For the following 3 days I failed to meet my modest target distances despite the excellent flat tar roads in the south of the country. On the third day I realised that I needed to stop for more than just a night, and recharge the batteries properly. Fortunately by this point I had reached the tropical beach paradise resort of Tofo, near Inhambane on the South Eastern corner of Mozambiqus. It was strange camping for 3 days amongst western tourists, all of them young backpackers. For the first time in 2 months I more or less blended in with my surroundings (there were even other enlightened men with beards). People didn't stare at me or my bike, or approach me to ask me what I was doing. Despite the sudden disappearance of the communication barrier, this temporary break in my celebrity status left me feeling a little lonely. Fortunately I was able to offset this by embarking on an intensive program of scuba diving. I've never been a big fan of beach holidays, so you might wonder why I decided to spend a month cycling through a country with over 2000kms of coastline where 70% of the population lives within 20kms of the ocean. The excellent off shore reefs for diving and snorkeling is certainly one good reason. The situation in Zimbabwe leaving no real alternative route through to Malawi is another. As you may know I've kept aquariums for a while and I've always had a fascination with fish, so scuba diving in the Bazarruto National Park was like wondering around the world's largest aquarium shop, and if I hadn't had to grip breathing apparatus between my teeth I'm pretty sure I would have been swimming around with my mouth wide open in awe of some of the creatures I was swimming with. I had some fantastic diving in mozambique, without pictures its difficult to describe, but I saw manta rays, turtles and giant moray eels to name a few. I'm hoping to have some pictures soon.

Shared Transport

Since finishing the freedom trail I've been a little less strict about cycling every last kilometre to Malawi, opting to take shared transport at times. Rather than feeling like a cheat, these welcome breaks in the cycling have turned out to be a lot of fun. Accepting help from others was a nice reminder that more often than not things have a way of working out OK. I hitched a lift sitting on top of a pile of tyres on an articulated lorry trailer (which broke down for 3 hours after we'd travelled just 5kms), had my bike strapped to the roof of a heavily over loaded, tiny passenger ferry, and piled my equipment into a sailing dhow among sacks of rice. Each time I've had a lift of some kind has been a mini adventure in its own way.

Gorongoza

After leaving Mozambique's beautiful coast at the end of the tourist trail in Vilankulos, I headed inland to central Mozambique. This area was the headquarters of the Government Frelimo army during the country's extensive civil war, and the surrounding area still bears the scars of fierce fighting 16 years on. Towns in this region still have 20%-30% of buildings standing derelict and many of the rest are in a shocking state of disrepair - roofs blown in, never to be repaired. Flags fly proudly in rural villages, and survivors of land mine explosions sitting by the roadside are a grim reminder that the area was extensively mined, and it is still advisable to stick to the road. Despite these things, the people have been some of the kindest and most generous I have met since setting off.

Cycling in the foothills of the 2000m mount Gorongoza massif was a pleasant change from the low lying topography of southern Mozambique. The Gorongoza National Park was once home to the continent's highest density of animals of any park or reserve, but suffered extensive poaching during the war years to feed soldiers and locals. Drives through the park with 40 sightings of lions were common, but spotting big game is far from guaranteed now. The park is currently undergoing a huge redevelopment program. I was one of just 3 tourists camping in the park, where 300 people are working everyday to restore the park to its former glory.

I also visited a forestry project in Gorongoza that is encouraging local farmers to plant and tend trees as a way to diversify their income (eg by growing mangoes) and receive a cash income from the carbon sequestered in the process. It is a fascinating project model being run by a privately owned company, Envirotrade, rather than an NGO, but having sustainable development goals at its heart. Since I've been fundraising in part for the World Land Trust (a registered charity) it was interesting to get an incite into a forestry carbon offset project. Thanks are due to Dr Morais for putting me in touch (and for rescuing me from Pomene!), and to Casey Ryan for taking the time to explain the project to me.

Uzungu, uzungu, uzungu!

From Gorongoza I crossed the Zambezi River by ferry and entered my final Mozambiquan province, Zambezia. This area suffered extensive flooding last year, making the international news. The World Food Program and UNICEF tents are still here, though most of peoples' houses seem to be largely reconstructed now. As with the recent hurricane that swept through Vilankulos on the coast, the thatch and woven huts weather the storm much better than brick buildings, whose tin roofs are the first casualties of high winds. This area is densely vegetated too, so building materials are abundant.

The last three days of riding from the Zambezi River to Malawi were actually some of my favourite from the whole trip. The river crossing had been built up in my head as the final milestone before finishing the ride, and in those last few days I knew in the back of my head that I would complete the journey. On the first day I cycled through villages without road access, following the Zambezi and its tributaries North towards Malawi . The people in this area speak Chichewe, the national language of Malawi, and even accept Malawian Kwacha. The only word I undertood at the time was "uzungu" which is a non-derogatory term for a white foreigner. Passing a group of young children in a village one of them spotted me and started to repeat the word over and over, "uzungu, uzungu, uzungu!". As the other kids turned and noticed me they joined his rhythmic chanting, and stared straight at me as I cycled towards them. I was reminded of an Indiana Jones like scene, about to be boiled up for dinner by a bunch of 8 year olds, and the whole thing made me chuckle. Since I didn't speak any other words of Chichewe, I just joined in their chanting at the top of my voice "uzungu, uzungu!" This they absolutely loved. Stares cracked into smiles, and as I passed the clearing where they had sat the whole group of about 10 kids jumped up and ran after me on my bike now shouting "uzungu!" Like a kind of pedaling pied piper I rode on through the village and witnessed first hand the bush telephone in action. As we passed more kids, so they joined my band and on we went Malawi bound.

They followed me for about 2 kilometres, until the mountain I had been skirting on my right ran directly into the river I had been keeping to my left, signalling the end of the path. A friendly passer by tried to explain to me that the path continued on the otherside of the rock cliffs, but at first I thought he was implying that we would have to swim around the cliffs to regain the path. Just then I heard a blast of water spray and glanced to the river to see a hippo. The swimming option suddenly disappeared from the table. My friendly passer by helped me dismantle my equipment and climb over the rocks to the path on the other side, where I said goodbye to my band of followers.

Arriving soaking wet in the pouring pain at Megaza that evening, I didn't fancy pitching my tent and asked around to find somewhere dry for the night. I ended up in the most basic accommodation I have ever experienced. For a quid in Megaza I got an 8ft square dirt floor covered with a tin roof. And that's it. No furniture in the room, no electricity, no lighting, no water, no toilet or sanitation of any kind. But it was dry inside and that's all I was concerned with. Asking for somewhere to wash, I was led to the village well where my guide raised pails of stream water and poured them over me standing naked but for my cycling shorts. I put my rain jacket on over my cycling shorts and wandered back through the market full of laughing locals. I didn't really care though, I was clean(er) and by this point used the effect of arriving in an isolated place as "The only Uzungu in the village." Once you accept that everyone will stare at you it's not too bad, it does at least mean you can stare back - a people watcher's paradise. I often play the staring game in these situations, picking the oldest most responsible looking adults who should really know better, and staring each of them out in turn.

4 Months later, Malawi

It was not the quickest way to travel betweenLondon and Malawi, but it was a lot of fun. Kathy had arranged a series of suprises for my arrival, almost all of which I managed to thwart by arriving 3 hours late. The plan had been for me to travel as far as the border crossing on the penultimate day, and cross the next morning. However, due to unseasonal heavy rains the road I had intended to take from Megaza to the border had been turned into a mud bath. My phone also succumbed to the water so I couldn't keep in touch as I franticaly tried to pedal an alternative longer route to the border. Whilst Kathy's pool team buddy ensured a pain free passage through immigration into Malawi, I arrived too late for the primary school kids to sing me a welcoming song. Concerned about my total lack of communication, Kathy came to the border and somehow wandered into Mozambique where she spotted me about to cross from the comfort of a bar. The reunion was all the sweeter for having a table of beers at the ready.

And Finally

I cycled 4464kms from Cape Town to Malawi. It's been pretty epic and I won't forget the experience in a hurry. Perhaps less permanent are the effects on my body. I lost well over a stone and my resting heart rate dropped 12bpm to 50. I don't think I've ever been this skinny. After stopping cycling my metabolism went into overdrive (starvation mode apparently) and for the first week I was eating about twice as much as I did whilst on the ride. Those that know me already know that I've never been shy at the dinner table, but this was something else, kind of like Tom Hanks in Castaway when he is rescued and just eats everything he sees. Beer has made a welcome return to my diet, and is helping me add back those layers of winter warning fat (winter in Mulanje is about 20 degrees). Chewing my way through about 4000 calories a day was a pleasant way to spend my first week in Malawi.

A finally thanks is due to everyone that supported me personally on this journey, and to those that sponsored the cause - thank you very much - you'll all get Christmas cards. I thought about listing names in the style of film credits, but I'm paranoid that I'll miss someone else, so a blanket thanks will have to suffice until I get a chance to thank everyone personally.

Since arriving in Malawi I've been thrown straight into working full time with Kathy on various Link projects in Mulanje, in particular preparing the new Link office here. I've seen a lot of mountains over the last few months, but Mulanje mountain is quite spectacular, hopefully we'll get a chance to climb it soon. It's a beautiful area surrounded by lush green tea plantations and gum forests, and I have no doubt it'll be easy to call this place home for a while. I've enjoyed writing the blog so I'll keep posting for those that are interested to know what we're getting up to out here.

Alex