KAPILI. LAKE TANGANYIKA

SUMBAWANGA to KAPILI  LAKE TANGANYIKA  150KM.

Good tar road for 100km then 50km on a good dirt road, took two and a half hours so was here at 10am. A real nice spot on the lake and they have scuba diving, snorkeling and fishing and so forth.

Went over to visit the ruins of the Kapili Mission built by the White Father's and Congolese Slaves between 1890 and 1895 and the church was named Jiweni-Kamba.

It sits up on a bill overlooking the lake and below is a small dock where they were loading it with 1200, 100kg bags of maize which they take to the DRC, a three day journey. The lake is 650km long and is shared with four countries and covers an area of 29 900sq km.

Went back today and it was almost done loading and even gave them a hand.

   All loaded, ready to sail.

Tomorrow should be a short five hour ride with a few hours in a NP so should be fun then the following day will be a ten hour day, Am heading east to the lake from Mipanda and then north up the lake on a track from what I have read , quite challenging in a car so should be fun but desolate and lonely to Kigoma.........

TO TANZANIA DAY 25. ACTUAL DAY 53

NDOLE BAY TO MPULUNGU.    80km by boat.

Was going to stay longer but the next boat is three days away and with the threat of rain decided to go today. My first night it began to rain at 4am and didn't  stop till 8am and the water got under my ground sheet so the tent floor got some water in under my mattress. Had to place the tent under the Bouma to dry the floor and then slept under the Bouma and of course it didn't rain.

Got to the boat early to load the bike on board and then waited two hours to depart.

Was actually a pleasant five hour journey with the boat stopping at villages to load and unload people and goods or buy fish from the locals in boats. The only access to the lakeside villages is by boat, so was rather interesting watching the fishmonger row towards the moving boat and who got there first to sell the their fish.

Anything goes on board and there was dead fish hanging everywhere and when you are done eating or drinking, the empty container gets tossed straight into the lake, the lake that feeds them. 

Found a place on iOverlander to stay , a chalet they call it, was okay and I asked for a top sheet which they brought over only to find it was a table cloth, but it worked after a nice cold shower. You get what you pay for. Got the bike washed so it's  nice and clean for Tanzania and it is running well, a little concerned about my rear tyre wear but not much  I can do.

INTO TANZANIA  TO SUMBAWANGA  181km DAY 26  15-11-22  (63701km.)

 

Fueled up and then another local pulled up on his Chinese bike and had the attendant fill his tank, which apparently was totally empty, and the guy couldn't believe it and could not thank me enough and blessed me while holding  my my hand. 

After all the potholes and speedbumps which must have jogged my brain awake, I realized I had forgotten my Kindle in the chalet so back I went, I had left it on the bed between the sheet and tablecloth, that's why I didn't  see it. The lady owner came running with it in her hands. She would speak but her teeth which were quite large, would never move a millimeter and am sure she noticed me staring at her mouth everything she spoke, most bizarre.

Border crossing was quick and easy, paid $25 for toll road tax and used my CDP, (Carnet de Passage ) which was stupid of me but she gave me bad info on the TIP  (Temporary Import Permit ).

    This is where you go to pay for the road tax.

The dirt road is really good and likewise with the tar road, no potholes thus far. The vegetation has changed quote a bot am seeing a lot more mountains now and no straw huts, more brick homes with tin roofs and no stray animals or cattle.

Saw some guys cutting wood so turned around and went back to visit them and check out the tedious operation, talk about hard work. Not many people here speak English so was rather difficult to communicate bit after forty five minutes they were more exhausted trying to talk to me than sawing. .

    Another tough job, transporting charcoal, 5 bags must be close to 300lbs. 

The kids gathered around the bike, intrigued by my paper map and the rest of the bike and then of course asked for money.

Arrived in Sumbawanga early afternoon at the Monrivian Conference Centre where they have nice rooms and decent food, have stayed here before in 2017. 

    Dinner, fresh fish and salad  $4.

LAKE TANGANYIKA DAY 23

KAPISHIYA TO LUMNGWE FALLS  448km  8hrs

Last night had dinner with the owner of Kipishya Hot Springs, Mark,and turns out he is the grandson of Sir Stewart Gore-Brown who built Shiwa House which his brother now owns. 

They grew up in the house and the hot springs was there week end hide out. In 1995 their parents were murdered in the house by the ANC, they believe because the father was heavy into anti poaching.  The author Christina Lamb came to visit and wrote the book Africa House, which has since increased the number of visitors ten fold, he says the book has done wonders for them and put them on the map. His brother was cut out of the will because his wife, who gave me the tour, punched his mother in the face and that was the end of that relationship.

There were also some Aussies from Compass Expeditions plotting alike trip from Cape Town to Uganda back to Cape Town in eighty days, with their own bikes being shipped for $40K !

Seems awfully expensive for accommodation and one meal and you pay for everything else,and supply your own bike, but the tour is sold out, seventeen signed up for next July.

Departed at 6:30am and had 22 miles of dirt road before hitting the tar to Kasama, was typical patched horrible road, hardly any cars but plenty of trucks.

Turned west on D20 to Mporokoso which was the best tar road yet and was able to do 120kmph with no traffic and no cattle whatsoever. Then it ended and the last fifty miles was all dirt through villages and road

conditions were okay with some ugly patches that catch you off guard. Arrived after two hours at Falls, the camp  has no running water or any other facilities. Had time to see both falls, which were rather impressive for once, before the rains came. 

    LUMNGWE FALLS 

    KABWELUME FALLS

LUMNGWE  FALLS TO NDOLE BAY   255km

After going to sleep at 7:30pm and finally having a good kip was on the road at 6:30am again. Yesterday's road was now soaked and with plenty of muddy sections which kicked my ass. No sooner have you fallen and people appear out of nowhere and eager to help.

Went back on the same fifty mile road to Mporokoso and then north to Ndole Bay on 180km of real good dirt road with no animals passing through many villages. 

    Street market, where a drunk disgruntled man chewed me out for going to fast.

    The woman do all the work.

    The 180km good gravel road to Ndole Bay.

    Typical  homes in the area.

    The kids are always carrying something or herding the cattle or working the fields.

    Stopped to buy some mangos,  5 Kwacha ( 30 cents) for the container on the very right.

    Route on map to Ndole Bay.

     NDOLE BAY.

    From restaurant looking down at Lake Tanganyika. 

Tomorrow  14th November 22, plan to take the boat to Mopumulungu then the following  day will be in Tanzania. 

Posted some videos  -  Roy Cape to Cairo  on YouTube.  

 I don't  think you can put them on a blog, my new IT guru from Portugal was meant to have sorted out all the issues and blend everything  here, but looks like she has failed again.