Moshi , the Queen Stage

The final 50 km onto Moshi deteriorated into the remnants of the T1 experience. Noisy, narrow and back to head on overtaking. The consequences of heading for a bigger urban center. It was a stark contrast to the peaceful evening of yesterday. And today's 5.45 am exit from the tent. Only it's 3rd use on this trip. The simplicity of in town accommodation has been too appealing, and affordable, to ignore. Tent life takes you to quieter more isolated places though. Better night sky, more interesting soundscape and a breeze that reminds you of a less polluted place. There is also the aspect of urban temperatures, with the additional thermal heating from roading and human construction as they act like a heat sink. But ... We rolled back down to the B1 at just after 7 am. Breakfast would wait for 20km when we rolled into Same. The Green Parrot 🦜 lived up to its reviews on the iOverlander app. The longer stop a consequence of the earlier start, volume of food and some telecoms admin to recharge the data allocation. We'd taken the increasingly uphill kilometres as a bonus. Early start and camping credit combined. From there it was moderate uphill for 10 or so km before 50 km of largely downhill. Satisfying lunch at km 75 and then back in the saddle for the final 50. This was likely my last substantive ride on this trip. Barring a few transfer journeys towards Nairobi I was unlikely to clock any further destination rides in the final 2 weeks before jumping on the plane. I'd ridden much of Tanzania leg with the company of Mingi. He was a great companion. At half my age he jokingly referred to me as Papa, it was in an endearing manner. For the next few nights we were staying in the shadow of Kilimnjaro, as I considered whether I'd join a group and experience the highest point in Africa, just under 6000m. Mingi was determined to mountain bike to the summit, something that is growing in popularity, apparently.
Karibu Tena. Swahili for you're welcome.Läs mer