Cairo to Cape: 04/04/2010

Have mentioned in my previous postings that "rest days" are wrongly called and today was no exception... I had decided to sleep late but unfortunately the 5h00 am wake up routine that we are in also works on rest days. So I had to kill time watching CNN waiting for the hotel breakfast buffet to open at 6h00... First time I am watching CNN in 3 months and nothing has changed... Bombings in Iraq and the English are confused about their future...

Today, on top of the normal rest day duties which includes laundry, purchasing of food, blog postings, shaving, and washing everything you own, I had on the agenda to attend the bike donation ceremony back at the TDA camp and to get my parcels sent from South Africa. One is coming hand delivered via Aneke a friend of Caroline the TDA nurse whilst the other one is supposed to be redirected from Dar es Salaam's DHL office to their Lilongwe branch. When I heard 2 weeks ago that the first parcel was held at the customs in Dar es Salaam, I immediately organised for a second packet to be resent via Aneke who happened to be in Pretoria that day. Thanks to a very fast action from my office staff at Junk Mail, all the items were repurchased in a few hours and sent via Aneke who was gonna join us here in Malawi. It was a wise move. The DHL office did confirm that it was absolutely no problem to redirect the parcel that was held in Dar es Salaam and even confirmed that it had arrived in Lilongwe... he he.... Well, today I found out that the parcel is still in Dar es Salaam at the custom... Plan B was the right thing to do and now I can enjoy new gloves, have extra tubes and replace the broken padding inside my helmet.

So, instead of driving around Lilongwe trying to find the DHL office, I now had a bit of extra time which I invested in a full body massage. My tired legs were screaming with pain and it was not the nicest massage I have had, but at least I got the pressure on my knees to loosen a bit. I wish we could get massages more often, they really make a difference, you feel so good after that. Unfortunately such luxuries are limited to rest days in high end hotels and so far I have only had 3 chances to enjoy such a treat. My total cycling time since Cairo is now almost 400 hours, so this comes to one massage every 130 hours of cycling....

After my massage, I took a quick walk to the nearest shop outside the hotel. I saw a nice looking restaurant called "Cappuccino". Perfect! I have not had a cappuccino in decades it feels, so I did not think twice and rushed inside already dreaming of the coffee flavour with a hint of cinnamon... Well, my dreams were short lived... Cappuccino had one espresso machine and it was broken... I should have known... This has happened again and again during this trip... Machines are broken and items on the menus are not available... But given the high level of development and comfort of Lilongwe, I got carried away and I was already thinking in European mode. So I let my frustrations go to the manager who was highly apologetic about the fact that Cappuccino did not have a working coffee machine..... When I told him that it was quite ridiculous that with such a name he had no coffee, he told me without joking that he was aware of the situation and was going to take the signage down!!!!! He he... I could not believe what I had just heard... I hinted that fixing the espresso machine would probably be a cheaper and faster option than re-branding his shop, but he just kept on laughing and was actually serious... I have to say that Africa keeps on surprising me, for the good and the bad... I just shook my head and went shopping without any cappuccino but an interesting story to share.

Last night we ventured to "the best Italian restaurant" in town accordingly to the Lonely planet guide book..... he he... Another good story spoiled by an eye witness... This "best Italian restaurant" did not have one item that came close to any Italian food. As a matter of fact I doubt if they even knew where Italie was... Anyway the lonely planet employees should also think about visiting the places they write about.... Quite ridiculous....

The afternoon was shared between finishing my "cleaning everything I own" duties and the bike donation ceremony. Making it back to camp took a bit longer than I had estimated due to the traffic jams of Lilongwe. Lilongwe is a strange city. It is made of two parts, the new and the old city, but you have to be told which one is which as everything looks alike. It is by far the cleanest and most modern city we have crossed so far and it looks like suburbs of Pretoria with leafy streets and shopping centers popping everywhere. This is the first time we actually can witness the commercial influence of South Africa. From Nedbank to Nandos, all the main South African chains are here. Even the buildings look alike. Lilongwe is also by far the most expensive place we have come across. For the first time we have taxis with seat belts, clean seats and in perfect condition. (charging first world prices of course). When I think back to the taxis of Khartoum or Addis, we are a world apart. I honestly did not expect Lilongwe to be so much more developed. Even the taxi drivers are friendly, calm and honest.... Way... That is a statement!

We donated 72 bicycles to 3 health care associations. This year, 32 bicycles went to Emmanuel International, 20 to Partners in Health, and another 20 to Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief. That brings the total number of bicycles donated through the TDA Foundation to more than 350 for 2010, and more than 1500 bikes since 2003.

These bicycles donated here in Malawi are actually an interesting story on their own. They are old broken down or used bicycles coming from Canada and refurbished here in Malawi by an association called Africycle. This association has trained local staff to fix and rebuild these bikes collected on the other side of the planet.They are also very solid and will probably last longer than the cheaper versions produced in India and China. So the 72 bikes we donated today were purchased from Africycle for 100 euro each. This concept provides help both ways as it creates jobs for the people who fix them as well as relief for the people who receive them.. Great concept and a very efficient way to recycle. I have to once again stress the fact that I am very proud and pleased to have raised money for more than a 100 bikes thanks to you guys, it is really a great feeling to meet the people who can tell you exactly what a difference these bikes make to the people who received them. Well done!

                          We donated 71 bikes to 3 health care organisations. At this simple hand over
                         ceremony, the representatives of these associations told us how effective those
                          bicycles were and the impact they had on the community

Alison welcoming the South African high commissioner to the
TDA fundation bike hand over ceremony

                             This is also what we do on rest days, we swop and repair our tyres....
                             Each rider has a few set of different tyres for the different road conditions.
                            We don't have permanent access to these as they are kept on the roof
                             of the dinner truck. The TDA staff off loads all the tyres on rest days
                             (and some excpetional situations) so that we can change our tyres if needs be

                               I bended my disk brake rotor and a new one is on the way from
                               South Africa, in the meantime, I will be using the spare one
                              on my second set of wheels

                         Finally I received one of the two long awaited packages sent from
                         South Africa. The second one is still blocked at the customs in
                         Dar es Salaam... Biltong, new gloves, new tubes, new helmet
                         padding, a new pump, etc etc... This is Christmas!

The only flat thing about Malawi seems to be its lake... I totally underestimated how much mountains this country hosts... Therefore the last 500 km of riding has felt like a roller coaster... We have had a few serious days of climbing with over 2000 meter for last Saturday alone... Anyway, we have just arrived safely in Lilongwe the capital of Malawi. A fairly modern capital when you compare it to the rural Malawi, with all modern facilities and busy traffic.

I have been very strong over the couple of last riding days, making it to the finish line as early as 10h15 in the morning... (we are now starting at 6h30). Today Jos and I were flying and made it to the lunch truck in forth and fifth position and with the top 10 for the finish despite stopping for cold drinks (which the real racers don't do). We have had very strong head wind and rain for the last few days. This has added difficulty to the already challenging terrain. We have also done longer distances since we entered Malawi averaging 120 km each day. Today was one of the hardest with very strong head wind, 131 km and 800 meters of climbs in between. So it was all about teaming up with some strong riders and sharing the work in front. We each took relays of about 4 minutes and managed to keep average speeds well above 25 km/h, a decent number with such strong wind.
Last night we camped in the backyard of a small hotel in a town called Kasungu. Nothing spectacular there, except for a very interesting open air market made of many narrow streets where you could find absolutely everything Malawi produces. This was a real "off the beaten track" experience as we made our way between these hundreds of food stands where each seller is trying to convince you to buy its products. The hotel did not have any water, nor did it have stable electricity (Kasungu is a typical small African rural town where they have shortages of water and load sharing for electricity). One thing the hotel had was a restaurant... So after eating a full plate of chicken wings from the TDA kitchen, I decided to treat myself to a T-bone steak at the restaurant. It was so good (having no electricity, they had to cook it on charcoal), I decided to order a second one... I am really feeling good now, eating like a king and getting stronger on the bike again, so this meat will just grow my missing body mass back...

I probably overdid it a bit with the beers which were relatively cold (they keep them in freezers) and cannot recall how many I had but definitely a bit too many.. I felt a bit of a hungover this morning when getting on my bike... Well, it did not stop me from having one of my best riding days of the tour...

In Lilongwe, I decided to treat myself to a suite at the Crossroad hotel where quite a few other TDA riders are also booked. After so many days in the bush and the harsh conditions of the tour, luxury tastes real good. We have a rest day tomorrow, which means I will be spending most of it in my suite just doing nothing... Sounds boring to you?... Well probably, but that's exactly what I miss the most now. A day of no action and complete privacy... Privacy is a word that does not exist at TDA, you are permanently surrounded by other riders or people. So one thing I start missing after 10 weeks of intense traveling is a lazy day without people... I need to rest my soul as well now. We are now 5 weeks and 4 days to the end of this incredible adventure... Too soon to start growing some conclusions, but one thing is sure, it has already given me so much that my life will never be the same again after this tour, that's for sure. TDA is more than a race or an adventure, it is a journey that is so intense that only on rest days can you appreciate the size of this challenge.
As we arrived in Lilongwe, we had the nice surprise to rejoin with David who had to leave us in a hurry while we were crossing Tanzania. His father-in-law passed away and David made his way back to Toronto after a 50 hours journey from his tent where he was sleeping when he got the phone call all the way back to Canada. David was really happy to be back and the brotherhood of locker 9 is joyful to have all members again... David also brought a full supply of tubes and new hand pumps, a great relief after Tanzanian puncture Waterloo...
As we make our way south, we are seeing more and more South African products available in shops, a true pleasure for us. This means we are now starting to find T-bones on menus as well as South African beers and soft drinks in petrol stations. Malawi is almost over and yet we are about to tackle our next country: Zambia. The next stretch will take us to Lusaka, the capital and from there, we will head straight for the long awaited Vic Fall brake. This is where Jaana, my wife will be waiting for me. We last saw each other on January 11 when I left for Cairo, so you can imagine that we are both counting the days...

Jos on a taxi bicycle is a slightly heavier passenger than the average Malawian...

Carpenters are making furniture on site in this giant open air market

Many hair styles to choose from on these wall posters

The barber shop seems to be the local get together point

The bicycle spare part shop owner shows us the Malawian version
of bicycle brake pads, a piece of rubber cut in a tyre and a bolt running through...

These are dried smoked fish from lake Malawi. In Europe they are
sold alive for a fortune in Aquarium shops, here they are just cheap proteins...

Jos and Gabriele checking a bicycle spare part dealer at the giant
Kasungu open air market

Flour for sale

This guy does not have an official stand,
but he sells self made knives

It is very hot here and kids are making a business of selling cold water
bags in these narrow streets of the Kasungu market

Cooking oil is expensive and is therefore sold by the spoon here,
enough for cooking one meal

                                   Bicycle taxis waiting for customers outside the narrow streets
                                  of the enormous Kasungu open air market. A ride costs 50
                                  Quecha, about 15 US cents

Fried termites are cheap and good source of proteins.
I tried a few, pretty tasteless actually...

About 1 km from camp we found the local bar, only hot beers
of course, but beer anyway...

                                      This woman is buying tomatoes directly from the farmer,
                                      she travels 3 hours by bus back to the nearest big city
                                      (Mzuzu) where she will resell them for a profit of course

                               This young Malawian is a tomato producer, he lived in South Africa
                              where he held a job as a house servant for 3 years. With the money
                               he saved, he bought land back home and started a small tomato farm.
                               He told me that he was happy and that he made a good living out of
                               his farming activity. Nice story