Cross Tanzania Cyicling Expedation

Tanzania is a virtual litany of Africa’s most evocative place names; Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, Selous, Ngorongoro Crater (caldera), Oldupai Gorge, Gombe stream, Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Nyasa, the Rift Valley, the Maasai steppe… In short Tanzania is the Afrika you have always dreamed; vast plains teeming with wild animals; rain forests alive with cackling birds and monkeys; Kilimanjaro’s snow-capped peak rising dramatically above the flat scrubland; colorful Maasai herding their cattle alongside herds of grazing wildebeest; perfect palm-lined beaches lapped by the clear warm water of Indian Ocean stretching as for as the eye can see.

The expedition was aimed to create the cycling route from Kilimanjaro Mountain to the southern Tanzania Zambia border. In this route, we consider less traffic road (minor road, rough road or path), accommodation in the route, security, attractions and interesting features.

I did this expedition 2010 with for southern Africa people who called themselves FREEDOM CHALLENGE. They helped to record the route in advance by using the GPS and pictures scouted the route a heard of time. For more bicycle tours and safaris https://www.elmundosafaris.com.

1st Day MACHAME GATE – TINGATINGA
We started 06dec 08 9:00hrs at Machame gate a few kilometers from the gate we turn off right at Kalali village we cross the bridge which connects Kalali village and Uswa village. Kikavu is the river that crosses between these two villages; it offers the beautiful river rein forest fig., eucalyptus trees, birds and monkey. We passed through the chain of villages Uswaa, Muuni and Lukani then we meet the Tamarac road. In the southern slope of Kilimanjaro, the lower slopes were probably once forested, but are now covered in cultivation. The volcanic soil makes them highly fertile and they support a dense human population. In the village, we meet the weekly market where people come from other villages for exchanging.

From where we meet the tarmac road we turn off right we followed this road leading towards the north, West Kilimanjaro in the plain of west Kilimanjaro we saw elephants, giraffe, gazelle and plain birds such as ostrich, kori bustard secretary bird, etc. West Kilimanjaro supports a near-pristine cover of lightly wooded acacia savannah where maasai herdsman co-exist with a remarkable variety of wildlife, including wildebeest, zebra, eland, impala, Grant’s gazelle, hartebeest, and yellow baboon, as well as one of the few Tanzania populations of the remarkable stretch-necked gerenuk

We reach TingaTinga village late evening we overnight at Ndarakwai camp. We cover 100km.

2nd Day TINGATINGA- LONGIDO-KITUMBEINE
After breakfast 7hrs we start to ride from TingaTinga village heading towards southwest passed through acacia bushland. The road is good for riding a bicycle, after acacia bushes, we come across Longido plain where we find large herds of zebra, wildebeest and gazelle we ride towards Longido Mountain (2629m) then North West around the mountain
towards Longido town which located west south of the mountain. We stop Longido town for cold drink and lunch then we drive to Kitumbeine village 52km from Longido town. Kitumbeine is the village which locates in the eastern slope of the mountain Kitumbeine Mountain (2865m). We overnight at Kitumbeine campsite.


3rd Day KITUMBEINE-ENGARUKA
After breakfast early in the morning, we start to ride from Kitumbeine village towards east north around the mountain up and down passed through dry savannah acacia bushes we saw large mammals such as gerenuk, elephant and different species of birds. After four hours of riding, we reach Gelai village this also is a village found in the slope of the mountain Gelai (2941m). After a short break we ride towards southwest descend from Gelai village then plain nearby Oldonyo Lengai Mountain (2878m) then we meet the road from Mto wa Mbu to Lake Natron via Engaruka. From the junction we drive to Lake Natron for flamingo viewing and come bark to Engaruka village in the plain we saw the large herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle these was part of migratory herds. In the down, we reach Engaruka village.

Engaruka village on the eastern edge of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area near the foot of Empakai is a small village known for its extensive ruins of the complex irrigation systems with terraced stone housing sites estimated to be at least 500 years old. Scientists are not sure of the origin of the ruins, some speculate they were built by ancestors of the Iraqw people, who live in the area today, while others suggest that the site was built by Sonjo, a Bantu speaking people.



4th Day ENGARUKA-KARATU
In the morning we start to ride left the Engaruka village beyond us, we passed through the plain alongside Rift Valley wall. The plain was green scatted Maasai boma, herds of zebra, wildebeest, and gazelle, plain bird’s ostrich, kori bastard, secretary bird, etc. Then we reach the plain village called Silalei which situated 20km from Mto wa Mbu town. Late afternoon we reached Mto wa Mbu town.

Mto wa Mbu (River if Mosquitoes) is a small village redeemed from scruffiness by its lively market and its beautiful vegetation a profusion of palms, baobabs, and acacia trees framed by the backdrop of the Rift Valley escarpment. It’s just north of the Lake Manyara, which is fed by the town’s eponymous river and makes a good base for visiting the park. There are also good cultural walks in the surrounding areas.

We stop Mto wa Mbu for cold drink and some foodstuff for camping because from Karatu we didn’t expect other towns we Karatu, this small, dust town straddling the main road between Manyara and Ngorongoro may not look like much when you through when you come from Arusha but it is probably the most populous settlement anywhere along the 400km. Most tourists who are on a lodge-based safari will pass through Karatu in the blink of an eye. Quite a number of camping safari stay in the small town- nicknamed “safari junction” and use it as a base for a day trip to the nearby Ngorongoro Crater since the camping is a lot cheaper than in the conservation area. A worthwhile day trip out of Karatu is to Lake Eyasi and one of the Hardizabe settlements in the surrounding area


5th Day KARATU-MBULU-DONGODESH-KATESH
After breakfast we left Karatu town riding towards southwest of the town, the road is up and down passed through cultivation and villages such us Kansay, Barakta, Daudi then we reach Mbulu town, roughly 50km from Karatu.

From Mbulu we drive to Dongobesh passed through villages and cultivation land then we reach Dongobesh small town. This town is too small we found only two-three guest houses with no space for a campsite, since we were prepared for camping. We drive to Katesh town, we overnight at the Summit Hotel.


6th Day KATESH- LAKE BALANGIA- SINGIDA.
After breakfast 7hrs we left Katesh town riding towards west, Singida road, after 7km from Katesh town we turn off left instead of following Singida highway, then 23km from the highway we reach Balangida village, the village is sorted in the lakeshore. This pastoralist village is formed because of the availability of water for their cattle, goat, sheep, and donkey. Barbaig people are the indigenous people around this area, some claim that barbaig people were previous people to occupy the territory from around were today is Singida town up to Katesh town but in the east were to go further south with the Iraq people from north, in the western there were long battle with Nyiramba people and Nyaturu people from the west and central Tanzania so barbaig who are typical pastoralist with some resemble with plains maasai were forced to abandon were today is Singida town which inhabited with Nyaturu people and Nyiramba people today. The history said that the name Singida was prostituted from barbaig which the certain ears ring, it said there was white man passed in this area and asked certain Barbaig the direction the Barbaig give him a direction tell him to follow the road and he will find a earrings make “masingirida” then due to the different of western accent and Bantu accent the white man-mark the place as it pronounced to day Singida.

At the village, we turn right passed acacia forest alongside lakeshore. We cross the flood plain then meet the road which took us directly to Mgori village. From Mgori village we climb the escarpment which boarded Singida region and Manyara region physical, then we meet junction at the peak of escarpment then we descend directly to Singida town. Singida town it is central of Singida region administration, geographical the town is located in the low land to two small lakes separated by the road give the proof.

The town has still grown since it offers the center point the road from Dar es Salaam via Dodoma join the road from Arusha from here it leads to the great lake zone. We overnight at Stanly Motel, US$ 20 self-contain room with breakfast.


7th Day SINGIDA-ITIGI-RUGWA
9:30 we left Singida town, we took the Manyoni Dodoma road the road it is in the good condition tarmac road almost halfway before reach the junction of Issuna 69km from Singida. From Issuna junction we turn off right driving towards southwest to Itigi, passed through acacia bushes we reached Itigi small town. Itigi refers to the missionary time whereby the hospital and schools built, also the central railway which passed here makes the town to be the major station for Singida passengers, all this contributes to the grown of the town.

From Itigi towards south passed through small villages, the unique Itigi thickest this is unpenetrable acacia thickest it part of Rugwa Game Reserve. 16:17hrs we reach Mamagema post in Rugwa game reserve. We overnight at wilderness camp at mamagema post.

8th Day MAMAGEMA POST-RUGWA GATE-CHUNYA
After breakfast 7:00hrs we left Mamagema post riding towards Rugwa gate after 20km of riding from the post-it become hard to continue with riding because of abundant tsetse flies we drive about 10km and try again but it couldn’t be possible. We drive until near Makongolosi junction and start riding again we ride roughly 15km passed Makongolosi junction to lake Rukwa and turn of left riding towards south to Chunya town few km from Makongolosi junction it started to rain we find the shelter in the village called Matundasi, then after rain cut down we start to drive to Chunya but after few km from the village we find the bridge which connect to Chunya town the bridge was under maintenance so the vehicle supposed to pass through the water the time we reach here the river over flooded we wait for more five hours for water lever to drop, we cross the river in the mid-night then drive to Chunya where we overnight at Moonlight Guest House.

9th Day CHUNYA-MBEYA-IPANYA MALAWI BORDER
After breakfast 7:00hrs we start to ride to Mbeya passed through up and down of Rugwa rage with majestic landscape and beautiful views then long descend to Mbeya town which settles in the low land. From Mbeya, we drive to Ipanya where we finished our cross Tanzania cycling expedition.

From Highlands, Coast to Island(Cycling Expedition)

In he morning Monday 9th Feb., 11:05am me and my friend Jacob we left Arusha town ready to explore Northern & Southern Pare mountains, Mkomazi national park, West & East Usambara mountains, Tanga city, Pangani, Saadani national park, Bagamoyo, Zanzibar and Dar-es-salaam.

We had rough arrangement two day before including fix the bicycles, get a map, here camping gear, etc.

The cycling between Arusha- Moshi road 80km it was confidently because both of us we are familiar with the road. We had several stop for birds identification as it was a time when farmers preparer the farms for planting as they disturb and cult down the weeds they disturb the amphibians and other invertebrate which are the food to birds, we stop for 1 hour in Sanya when it was rain, we reached Moshi town 5:15pm.
We continue with our journey cycle through Moshi- Dar es Salaam road we had the closest view of white caped mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro. After 24km we reached Himo junction here we turn off right then we stopped and have a dinner from the women who sell the food during the night. After dinner we cycled for 15km in the dark by using our headlight but this isn’t safe to cycle during the night, we reach at the Kifaru village where we camp in somebody back yard.

In the next day we woke up 4:45am we made a coffee and start cycling 5:45am, 2km from where we overnight we turn left cycled towards north-east then east-south through the dirty road and Challenge Mountains. We passed through cultivated fields (Ma-Shamba) in Masiwa, Unyasa, Kwakoa and Gitingeni villages before joined the high way again at Gitengani. We cycled towards eat-south. After 25km we reached Same town ship. We had our dinner at Same then after our rice and beans dinner we cycled for 1km out of town and camp at the field.

We wake up early in the morning after having a cup of coffee we start cycling. In this day we cycled through the mountains of Southern Pare, cultivated valleys then after 30km we reached Kisiwani. Kisiwani village is boarded with the newest Mkomazi National Park formal Mkomazi Game Reserve situated in the acacia savannah between Southern Pare Mountains and Usambara Mountains, stretch north wards and share eco-system with Tsavo National Park in Kenya.

We kept on cycling through this beautiful and fascinating landscape with the reward of Flora and Fauna. As we cycled in the plains we was able to see clearly Shengena peak (2462m) and Hemwera (2137m)

The southern and Northern Pare Mountains named after the Pare people the inhabitants who believed to be the descendant of between Chagga/Maasai or Taita ethnics groups, migrate and made the home in these mountains. Both Northern & southern Pare mountains have the established culture tourism which organize and arrange different activities such as hiking, culture tour, natural work, etc.

We finished our day by cycled south-east through Mkomazi valley then North-east and camp at Mnazi village in Tanga region, northern slopes of Usambara Mountains.

In the following day we wakeup early after having a cup of coffee we broke down the tent and start cycling through the mountains and lush green forest of Usambara. In this dirt road we had the view of Lake Kalimawe and Mkomazi National Park. The Usambara slopes support a rich bird life as well as many species of colorful butterfly.

Cycling through shamba, forest and valleys passed villages we reached Msalaka village where we overnight.

Early in the morning in the next day after have the cup of coffee we start to cycle through the path in the forest. After 6 hours of cycling in the forest we reached Amani Natural Reserve Headquarter. We overnight here.

On Sunday of 14th Feb early in the morning we left Amani Natural Reserve descend for 35km in the dirt road where we passed the vehicles which have to go slowly due to the holes in the road. After 1 ½ hour, we reached the lowland at Muheza junction. We had the breakfast here then we take on another 37km to Tanga. In the late after noon we was cycling around Tanga city looking for somewhere to camp, after tried several places finally we find the Pamori Hotel which situated 5minuts walk to the shower of Indian ocean nearby the Tanga harbor. Actually they didn’t have the camping service but after long conversation with the man in the reception (Augustino Safe tinosafe@yahoo.com) he offers us the free camping ground with breakfast.

TANGA: The ruined mosques on Toten Island in the Tanga harbor indicate the presence of small trading center in the Omani and Shiraz eras as do similar ruins at several other sites within a 20km radius of the modern city. But, while it seems reasonable to assume that some sort of fishing settlement has existed on harbor main land for millennia there is no written or archaeological evidence of more substantial settlement prior to early 19th century. The city’s name which means “Sail” in Swahili is most probably derived from Mtangani; in the contemporary name for the nearby Tongini Ruins. It could well be that the foundation of the modern Tanga was linked to the decline and eventually abandonment of Mtangani.

By the mid 19th century, Tanga was an established and substantial center of the ivory trade neither as renowned as Pangani, nor as architecturally distinguished, but nevertheless sufficiently profitable to be governed by an agent of Sultan of Zanzibar.

Next day we spent to fix our bicycle in Tanga then in the evening we tried them for 15km to Amboni Caves. Amboni Caves probably the most extensive caves system in east Africa, and certain the most accessible and impressive.

After a finishing fixing our bicycle on 16th Feb. mid afternoon we left Tanga city. We Cycle towards east-south through the coast dirty road. We visit Tongoni Ruins 20km from Tanga. We continuo cycling heading pangani passed through the coastal forest, 35km from Tanga we reached Peponi Campsite in late evening. We camp at Peponi campsite which locates in the beach of Indian Ocean.

In the next day we spent the morning at the beautiful beach and boat trip for snookering. 01:16pm we left Peponi and cycle for short time, about 20km to Pangani. We overnight at Tinga Tinga lodge and Campsite.

Pangani in common with Bagamoyo further south that has been pivotal 19th century trade central that has been largely passed by 20th century development. Endowed with a number of crumbling old buildings, dating from earliest years of its existence through to the colonial era, Pangani retains the most traditional Swahili character of any port on the north coast. It also has a superb location, on the north bank of the mouth of the forest-fringed Pangani river where a gorgeous beach stretches northward as far as the can see.

In the morning of 18th Feb after having a breakfast in this ancient town we went to the ferry which was few meter from where we was sitting. As we was waiting the ferry to come in our side we met a Canadian(Otto Cootes www.mytb.org/otto-masher )who started cycling from Kenya then Uganda, Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania he planned to cycle up to India. After cross the Pangani River we cycle together for 93km then we stopped for lunch at Mkwaja village after having the lunch we continue to this sand road. After 20km from Mkwaja we reach Mbuyuni where there is an entrance gate for the recent established Saadani National Park.

We stopped at the gate for a while negotiating with game rangers who wanted us to pay the entrance fees, finally they let us pass.

We kept on cycling through the national park in the sand road, after 30km we reached Matipwili village just outside of the perk. From the village we take on 9km to Kisampa Lodge and Campsite where we had an invitation from Dk. Robby the own.

We spent two night at Kisampa be we crossed Wami river which hasn’t the connected bridge or ferry. Then we embark on 70km to Bagamoyo, we reached Bagamoyo ancient town 1:43pm after lunch we made tour around the town and visit the historical features such as Shiraz and German harbor, Arabs and Germans grave yard, the place where they used to lock up the slaves before ship them to Zanzibar market.

In the next day after breakfast we visit Kaole ruins and Museum the Back to Bagamoyo for lunch. After lunch Jacob who wanted to get back to Arusha to participate in Kili marathon left to Dar es Salaam with a Canadian man who will cross to Zanzibar.

Late evening I took a Dhow to Zanzibar, I spent the whole night at the ocean before reach stone town 9:40am. I had breakfast at stone town then I made a tour around visit the slave market, etc. In the mid after noon I cycled towards south for 90km passed through cloves and palms plantations I reached ras kasim mkazi in the late evening where I overnight.

In the following day I cycled back to stone town then took a boat to Dar es Salaam where I finished my cycling feasibility study.

I would like to say thanks Korogwe White Parrot Motel, Pamori Hotel, The student of Bagamoyo Art College, Kisampa Lodge & Campsite, Tinga Tinga Lodge & Campsite and all who support me in this cycling expedition.