TO KIGALI DAY 40 310km 8hrs.

KIBUYE north to GOMA east NR 17 then south to KIGALI. 310km.

Had another delicious breakfast overlooking the lake and departed at 8am. Instead of just heading straight east to Kigali for 80km, I went north to Rubavu / Goma where the DRC border is to speak to somebody about the security at Virungu NP. Chatted to some Congolese guys at the immigration that live in Goma and the advised me definitely not to go as M23 are fighting there. Was stopped twice at the police roadblocks, apparently you need insurance but explained my way out of it and then the other cops checked my license. 

Rwanda is just all mountains and the tar roads are in good shape so makes for great riding cause it is twists and turns,up and down all day.There are speed cameras everywhere so you have to stick to 60 kmph, when the cops stopped me they check your number plate to see if you owe any speeding fines on the spot.The Rwandans are way better off than their neighbors and dress nicer and live in nicer houses and the place is so clean, absolutely no plastic bags allowed and no garbage anywhere, and that is everywhere, people are cleaning up and sweeping all the time, it is quite remarkable. 

Anyhow after following the gps down the N17 ,it turned to dirt suddenly and on I rode and was perplexed cause the map showed a tar road all the way. Turns out I was lost for hours, only had myself to blame this time since Charmain was not with me, although she did forget to pack my rainsuit which would have kept me dry a few times. Ended up following along the banks of a big river and then it turned to a single track bloody path going up the mountain amongst all the small holdings with goats and cows wandering around. Was lucky it was all dry cause if it was wet it would have been a nightmare to ride and would have seen my gat a couple of times. Then suddenly I popped out at a dirt road, which was kind of disappointing cause it was the funnest ride while 

I was lost even though I was in over my head.

Somehow I connected to NR16 which is west of NR17 so was way off course and added many hours but was worth it, finally arriving at Saint Paul Centre at four thirty to secure a fairly decent room for $20 including breakfast. The place is in the center of town and has a great restaurant with a big TV where we watched the US win against the team they played, I was the only one there till the end.

Something has gone wrong with my blog and can't post photos and then 

write below them where it is etc , as I attempt that the photos all dissappear and I can't figure out 

how to fix it, so just have to bundle all the photos with no desctuons, but that's all 

I can do ,damn frustrating.









TO LAKE KIVU DAY 38 100km.

Last night was freezing here, must be high up cause it's the coldest night so far. Decide to go north as I found a trail going up the west side of Ngunwe Park which looked interesting. The gravel road started of really nice easy to ride but then the last forty kilometers was nasty, rocks and wash outs just horrible and slow, took four hours to do 100km. The route went through the mountains and hills where every inch of hillside had tea bushes growing.

Finally ended up at Kivu lake and found Illiza Beach Camp right on the lake where there is a small patch of grass for my tent right by the lakeshore.

BUJUMBURA DAY

You have three days and then you have to go to Immigration and get a visa for the length of your stay at $2 a day, wish they would have told me that at the border. So that took two hours bouncing around getting the stamp and then the colonel has to sign it and he's never around when you need him. Stopped by the US Embassy to get an update on the DRC, they kept me waiting for forty minutes and couldn't tell me anything I didn't know, so basically a waste of a day.





DAY 35. 24-11-22

Decided to do a little loop around the countryside ,and it was a lot more challenging than I had bargained for, especially my short cut over the mountains,, 37km took two hours and was 

a track through numerous villages high in the mountains. Discovered there is no petrol to be had and had to buy some at $5 a litre !

After eight hours and 324km later made it back to my penthouse. Poverty is evident wherever you go, so many people just hanging around, not working.The yelling of "Mzungu"

 everytime they see me gets to wear on you and it has been the worst country thus far, maybe because there are so few whites here, there are no tourists here to speak of, so maybe that's why all the kids just call you out all the time. 





There isn't anything that can't be transported on a bicycle here, was behind the guy with all the chickens on the motorcycle and when he took the bend the poor chicken's head scrapes on the road.

A lot less motorcycles here and a way more bicycles than Tanzania. 





INTO RWANDA DAY 37 227km.

BUJUMBURA to NGUNWE N.P. RWANDA 

After four nights in Bujumbura and no fuel at the petrol stations, was time to go to Rwanda. The manager sold me five litres of petrol at the normal price which is enough for the eighty kilometer trip to the border.

 

Easy and quick border crossing, Rwanda was only $15 for bike TIP and no other charges.

Stopped at an Engen petrol station and they took my remaining Burundi Francs for the 21 litres and then headed to Ngunwe Park. Slow going all day as you are in the mountains but most enjoyable for the most part, especially in the National Park. 

BURUNDI BUJUMBURA DAY 33 22-11-22 239 km.

KIGOMA, TANZANIA TO BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI. 

The border is only 66km away up in the mountains, so you wind your way up and the temperature really drops at the top. Took a few minutes to get stamped out of Tanzania and then maybe ten minutes to get Carnet done.

When you enter BURUNDI you have to have a Covid test which they do for you on the spot. I was at the back of the fifteen person queue for a minute when I was ushered in front of everyone to go get my test, don't know why. Took ten minutes for the result and then got my Visa and entry stamp in five minutes.

Covid Test $15

VISA $40

No vehicle TIP or road tax paid.









Now I have to drive on the right side of the road ! Tar road was excellent to the lake and the road north along the lakeshore absolutely terrible, was first and second gear for hours for the 130km to Bujumbura.

No camping here, so stopped off at The Swedish Mission to check ot out . They asked what I needed, then the invited me in for lunch and the one chap brought me a cold Coke, kept on telling them I needed to go to the ATM and they said not to worry, no need to pay. The one guy who could speak English sat with me and gave me the whole scoop and then suggested I stay there but turned out they were full. It is a huge complex and they help the community, one project is building motorcycle ambulances, whereby they tow a cart behind where you sit in, is mainly for pregnant women to get to the clinic. 

Continued on to San Filippo Foundation Hotel which is out of town but had to drive through Bujumbura which is chaotic and found the place in the middle of where all the poor locals live, was a little blown away.

With tall security walls and gate stood the two story building, someone opened the gate and in I went. They showed me the tiny room and it is really nice, clean sheets and towel and nice hot shower and well maintained, pleasantly surprised. Some Italian priests founded it and they have a huge public restaurant where I went to eat and watch the World Cup.

While watching the Australians getting thrashed the guy from the Swedish Mission and his wife appear and has came to see if I arrived safely. 

"DOCTOR LIVINGSTON I PRESUME. ?" UJIJI / KIGOMA

DAY 31    KIGOMA

At 5am the wailing and whining began over the cheap speakers of several mosques in the area and went on for an hour, so was an early start to Sunday. Went to the docks to see the MV Liemba which use to travel up and down the lake transporting people and goods, but has been out of action for years and I think years to come. 

Graf von Goetzen 

Was built in 1913 in Germany, and was one of three vessels the German Empire used to control Lake Tanganyika during the early part of the First World War. Her captain had her scuttled on 26 July 1916 in Katabe Bay during the German retreat from Kigoma. In 1924, a British Royal Navy salvage team raised her and in 1927 she returned to service as Liemba. Liemba is the last vessel of the German Imperial Navy still actively sailing anywhere in the world.

Liemba is believed to be the inspiration for the German gunboat Luisa in C. S. Forester's 1935 novel The African Queen, and John Huston's subsequent film version.^[2] The ship featured in the 1992 BBC Television travel series Pole to Pole. Indican Pictures^[4] and Breadbox Productions^[5] released a documentary on the ship in 2010, Liemba.^[6]

‐-----------------------------------------------------‐----------------

Then went to Ujiji where Stanley uttered those famous words, was a joke of a museum and a waste of time I thought,  anyhow got to see it, Livingston was a remarkable person, he even married a South African.

GOMBE N.P. DAY 32 TANZANIA

Gombe NP is on Lake Tanganyika and is the park where Jane Goodall spent forty years reaearching the chimps from 1960 to 2000 .

Went to the park from Kigoma with three other people by boat which is the only way you can access it, took two hours twenty minutes to get there .We hiked straight up the mountain for about an hour and then found the chimpanzees hanging out on the hillside, you are only allowed an hour observing them. As our hour was up a thunderstorm came over and it bucketed down and everyone else had their raincoats except me which didn't help much as everyone was drenched by the time we got back down.

Boat $210

Park entry fee $118

Guide $23





























Posted 3 video's on YouTube Roy Cape to

  

 Cairo Chimpanzees and Zebra. 

KIPILI TO MPANDA TO KIGOMA

KAPILI to MPANDA  229km.

Both mornings at around 4am there were intense thunderstorms and lightning directly overhead and rain lashing down on the tent for hours, sleeping was done. Luckily by 7am it was over and was able to pack up and leave. 

Was gravel roads all day and went through the Katavi NP on the eastern road and was fortunate enough to see some Hippos,  Giraffe and Çrocodiles. 

Got to Mpanda early and found a decent place to stay and then ventured downtown and watched some kids soccer and then went to the local bar and sucked down some Serengeti's and declined the dinner at the place as it was real local. Ended up getting some street food , à millie ( corn on the cob) from a lady just outside the bar where she was cooking them over some coals. Since it was the only thing I eat all day, it tasted fairly good, some butter would have been nice. 

    This is the kitchen at the bar, meat is hanging on a clever at top of picture.

    The millie lady.

MPANDA TO KIGOMA  340km   8.5 hrs.

DAY 30.  19-11-22

After having meat and potatoes stew for breakfast, headed for Kigoma. Went 20km on tar and then turned east for Mahale Mountains NP which was 150km of single gravel road  in good shape for the most part, the last 40km turns into almost single track , bike only. Was a lot of fun except when the mud got the better of me but was riding with two locals thankfully and they lifted my bike up and on we went.

Stopped and had lunch and got to ride a 

Chinese bike.

        

Replacing the roof.

Rode with these guys for the last 40km.

Turned north at the lake junction and bid my friends safe journey. Hardly any traffic on the road except for three busses and a truck, the do not move over an inch for you and the road is about the width of a bus. Going up a hill, suddenly the bus appeared and into the gutter I augered, was a difficult extraction which I could not do on my own so waited till the truck came and the okes  helped me prop her up.

Passed another two busses unscathed and waved at them only using one finger, they just don't  move and don't  care. Ended up at  a pontoon crossing and then the crowds gather around and they always ask how fast can the bike go, every time someone chats to me that's the first thing they ask. One guy asked if I was able to drive it over the river and he wasn't  joking ! Then he asked for money, how unusual. 

Was a great ride all in all, lot better than what I had read about, but in a car that 40km section would have been a nightmare for some. Had no rain all day and has been nice and cool most days. 

YouTube  - Roy Cape to Cairo  - Chinese bike