Tanzania-March 3rd-March 15th

Jambo from Tanzania! I hope everyone is doing well that reads this blog! As mentioned previously, we had to skip Kenya because of the unstable political situation that started around the beginning of January. So, MOST of us flew from Addis Ababa to various parts of Tanzania for our two week hiatus. But, one daring person (can't mention the name yet but I can tell you it was a male) decided to brave the notorious northern Kenyan desert and impassable roads to test his might! We are not sure if he has made it through yet. Kenya represents the crown jewel for this chap and he has dreamed of coming to Kenya as a little boy so he decided to go alone and see this crazy wilderness and risk the Somalian gangs (shiftas) for himself. I can't wait to hear his stories...that is, if he makes it to Arusha in time. We have only 2 more days in Arusha before we depart.

So, what have I been doing with my time off? I took a couple of rest days in Arusha just to sort out gear, use the internet and try and get some sleep without being woken up to the IPOD music that goes off at 6:30 am every morning! We saw an amazing acrobatic show at the Masai Lodge where we are camping for free (TDA has organized this as our base camp) where 5 men took turns doing cartwheels, back flips, swallowing fire, handstands on blocks of bricks, all to a galvanizing drumbeat! We sampled vegetable curries as there is a fairly large Indian population here. Besides chilling out in Arusha, a fellow rider and I decided to visit Kigoma and Lake Tanganyika (the second deepest freshwater lake besides Lake Baikal).

The main objective was to see the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National Park, the area that Jane Goodall made famous through her chimp studies since 1960! It was quite the expensive trip as it turned out! But, like most expenses on this trip, I can always justify it with "well, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity" and "I'll probably never get back to this part of Africa." With that said, we bought tickets to Kigoma, the main city on the Tanzanian side of Lake Tanganyika and we were off on March 6th. We stayed at the Kigoma Hilltop Hotel which sits in a strategic piece of land in a gorgeous setting. The Hilltop sits on a "hilltop" which is like a small peninsula; you have a great view of the city of Kigoma and you can see water 270 degrees around. It was/is paradise. For $80 a night, you get a great room, with a bath (yep, mom-finally had a bath), a balcony over-looking the lake, mini-bar stocked with water (no alcohol is sold on the premises b/c the owner is Muslim), and they have a pool and beach. We organized our "chimp safari" for the 8th. You have to charter one of their boats for $400 and then pay a $100 fee at the park entrance. Of course, you also have to pay for guides and have tips available as well.

The trip to Gombe was great. So serene. We didn't have a fast boat and that is why it took 2 hours and 10 minutes but at least it was pretty quiet as we didn't have a loud motor. We passed fishing villages that have no roads connecting them to Kigoma. It is hard for me to imagine being SO isolated but at the same time it sounds romantic. They have to "boat" over to Kigoma to get supplies every week. And, literally, all they do is fish. You see men coming back in the morning from their overnight jaunt on the lake. We exchanged thumbs up signs and they showed us their catch. It never seemed that much-like 10 fish or so-but it must add up somehow and allow them to at least have a subsistence living. Steep, green hills greeted our view as we motored to Gombe. I have figured out why things are so green here: it rains a heck of a lot--in fact, we experienced a severe pounding about 30 minutes from the entrance to the park. I don't know how the captain could see anything but luckily we were pretty close to the shore.

By the time we reached the shore it had abated to a slight drizzle, we were led to the "luxury tented camp area" to pick up our guide and waited with a nice cup of coffee (I haven't suffered on this trip for lack of coffee-maybe for lack of GOOD coffee, but not for instant--which in my mind is better than nothing). We paid our fee, picked up our "official chimpanzee tracker" and our guide, our tracker, and Joachim and I were off to see the famous chimps! Gombe National Park is only 52 square miles and is the smallest park in Tanzania; however, it hosts quite a bit of diversity: baboons, monkeys, snakes, chimps, lots of birds, mongoose, and insects. It is a series of steep hills (highest is approx. 4500 ft) and low valleys. And, it is ever green. This piece of land and lake is at a nexus too for you can see Burundi to the north (very close to Gombe), the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) to the west, and although you can't see it, you can take a steamer to Zambia to the south.

We immediately ascended a steep hill to a clearing area and heard the chimps! Exciting to hear their hoots and howls. We laid still for an eternity to hear their next call so we knew where to go. We up and continued along the steep path. Along the way, our guides would point out trees and local fruit that the chimps like to eat. The mubungu fruit littered the forest floor; it is a small, yellow fruit that turns bright red when too ripe, whose insides are like a tangerine yet the flesh is skinny and you have to eat around a pit or eat the pit which is very sour. I must say that this fruit is delicious and has both a sweet and sour taste. Seeing half-eaten ones is one clue that chimps have been around here. Here and there, our guides would motion for us to be silent, we would wait for a seemingly long time, and start again. They said it is tough to find the chimps and if they go to the valleys then it is a lost cause. I was hoping that we would be successful not only b/c we paid so much money but I wanted to come back to NCMC with pictures for my students. And, of course, I wanted to see these famous chimps that I was captivated by when I was an undergrad taking Anthropology classes at Univ. of Michigan. There are clients who pay all this money without ever seeing one chimp.

All of a sudden, the tracker's radio went off and another tracker was relaying information about a chimp sighting. We immediately ran up this steep path but didn't come across anything. We went down again to intercept them another way but were out of luck. The radio went off again, we hurried up the incline, and this time we saw GAIA, a female, idling walking up the path, showing us her swollen butt. How exciting! We tooks pictures, followed her, and then she joined another male, Apollo. We lost them in the dense forest. Our guides told us that since we weren't having much luck sticking to the well-worn paths, that we would hack through the forest. Great! I almost fell several times due to the small strangler vines that find their ways around your legs. It was all worth it though as we came upon two more male chimps: Wilke and Frodo. We had about 15 delightful minutes with them. The chimps here are habituated b/c of all the people that have studied them so they didn't seem to mind our presence. Wilke was the closest one to us; we were about 10 feet away. He was super-relaxed, had one foot balanced on a tree, groomed himself repeatedly, and occasionally would look our way to see what we were doing. To actually look in their eyes and have them do the same is magical: you have an instant recognition that we are not too far off the evolutionary chain. Most of the pictures that I posted are of Wilke, who at one time was an alpha male: now, he is 34-my age!--that is considered a bit old in chimpanzee life!

I can't say enough about chilling out with the chimps. Go if you have a chance. I would go back in a heartbeat. And, the forest itself, is unbelievably gorgeous. Not too buggy at all. The only thing that bugged me were the little safari ants that somehow crawled up my pant leg and began biting me. Oh well--I squished those little suckers!

Our guide and our tracker invited us to have a drink with them afterwards to celebrate and share comraderie. It was fun. There were two other people from Tanzania that joined us and wanted to ask me about American politics. Surprisingly, they were well-informed and were voting for Obama! I told them that he was a likely winner.

We got back to the hilltop hotel late; I lost track of time because I was enjoying the bantering and we didn't leave until 6:30 pm. That meant one hour on the lake in total darkness. You would think that the boat has lights; of course not!-we are in Africa. Luckily, the captain and his mate know the lake very well.

The rest of the time in Kigoma, we relaxed at the pool, went swimming in the lake, and read! I am almost finished with Paul Theroux's "Dark Star Safari" which recounts his overland travels from Cairo to Cape Town. He tooks trains, buses, taxis, and planes whereas we are taking much slower transportation. Amazingly, a lot of his observations are dead-on! A book to recommend.

While 23 of my fellow riders are on safari for the remainder of our vacation, I am in Arusha, having some alone time, catching up on email/blog, and thinking about my research and the next plan of action. I couldn't afford to go on a safari. Bummer, but thankfully I did go on safari here with my team of Mt. Kili climbers 2 years ago! It was an incredible experience then and in some ways I didn't want to "ruin" the memory.

We depart in a few days. For the rest of the time, I will be organizing, reading, figuring out my research, and enjoying some unparallelled alone time!

Ethiopia-Part 2

We arrived in Addis Ababa on Feb. 18th! Surprisingly, there was quite a climb throughout the day to reach the meeting place where we assembled into a convoy to begin our descent into the city. The fastest cyclists arrived at our meeting place at 11:30 with the last one arriving at 2:30 pm to the roar of cheers from other riders and the Ethiopian riding team. The patriotic Ethiopian cycling team led the way down to Addis with their flags draped around their bodies. Before our group of 60 left we enjoyed taking pictures with them.

We spent two rest days in Addis before our 8 day trek to the border of Ethiopia and Kenya. Rest days are really not "rest days." They are filled with chores like: laundry, internet, cleaning and fixing your bike, and repacking. However, we do enjoy the more relaxed pace. The highlights of the rest days in Addis Ababa were a fabulous Indian restaurant and a massage. The massage was unlike any other massage I have received in the past. You first jump into a huge bath tub (Mom-my first bath in Africa!) and they fill it with hot spring water. You sit there soaking and then this lady comes in and uses a high pressure hose to give you an underwater massage-feels good on your pressure points. Afterwards, you are led to the massage table where you receive a full-body massage. I was in heaven! She worked hard on my cycling legs and I could feel a difference afterward!

From Addis Ababa we traveled 1166km or 722 miles to the border town of Moyale. To me, I enjoyed this section of Ethiopia the best. The views as you ride are just amazing; once you get up one hill you usually have a wickedly fast and curvy downhill which is exciting, it is totally green (unlike Sudan), and there are lakes in this region. The soil color changed a bit to this deep and rich volcanic red which made the landscape more brilliant. And, the people changed: we saw many different ethnic groups as we passed through the southern section of Ethiopia: the Borno and Sidamo. As someone interested in anthropology, I totally enjoyed witnessing the differences in dress (long pieces of fabric draped around them), jewelry (lots of beaded necklaces with metal watch bands hanging down the center), hair styles (short braids on the top and long braids from their neck on downward) and behavior (much more reserved) than other groups located in the north and west. I also got a chance to see a World Heritage Archaeological Site which consisted of a group of upright slab stones with symbols of axes, headdresses, and circles carved on them.

One highlight in this riding section was going an extra 2km down a dirt road to visit a crater lake (Ara Sheta). It is like a hidden jewel of this small village. We biked up the dirt path to the top to see a huge crater filled with bright green water. Wow! Some people went down the precipitous path to enjoy a cold dip, others biked around the crater, while some of us were content to gaze down upon its beauty. What had just preceeded this beauty was a terrible event.

Apparently, one of our female riders crashed into an Ethiopian girl. The TDA (Tour d'afrique) staff told us that every year one of our riders "takes out" an Ethiopian because there are so many of them to begin with, lots of them can't hear us coming, and some plainly step into our path. Our fellow rider was badly shaken, ended up having to have stitches put in by our team doctor on her arm and leg: she couldn't ride for 4 days. The TDA staff had to pay the girl's family $100 birr which is about $11.00. Things got a little harry because people want to cash in on this mishap and soon there were lots of people who had NOTHING to do with this girl surrounding one of our trucks with big rocks threatening to smash the truck. It was at this point that Duncan, our tour leader, showed up and told us to leave the crater immediately because he didn't want us getting stoned. Stoned! What? But, you know mob mentality and things can happen quickly. In the end, everyone was ok except for some bad road rash. The Ethiopian girl was ok too.

So, this is our 2nd serious injury of the trip. As I mentioned before, all of us have been subjected to rock-throwing children. A couple of people have incurred large and deep bruises and hurt egos. Luckily, I was never hit hard. It is a weird thing for all of us to comprehend, this rock throwing. We don't know why they do it as this is the only country that we will go through where this happens. Our tour director even went on national Ethiopian TV one time and talked about how dangerous this is to our riders. Even from the Ethiopians that we ask we don't really get satisfying answers; they say, well, those people are not educated. The kids don't know where we come from so it can't be animosity towards the U.S. Perhaps they are bored or angry at their deprived conditions. What I try to do whenever I see kids or adults (which is the majority of the time we are riding) is to say "hello" in their language and "how are you." This seems to disarm them for a while until you can safely pass out of rock throwing distance.

Some of the pictures I am posting are of the Ethiopian cycling team and me, me with a bottle of Tej (traditional honey wine that men drink by the gallons), residential huts which is the main architectural style for homes, the stone slabs from the world heritage site, the crater, kids, and "qat"-a plant that the locals chew and swallow which acts as a stimulant.

Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Luckily after 2 grueling days we had a very easy day into Bahir Dar, a city located on Lake Tana. Everyone was very excited to have some time off to recover their legs and a p-party celebration at 8:00 pm. You had to dress up as anything that started with a "p". We got to Bahir Dar fairly early (around 1:30 pm) and after eating and exchanging money people went shopping for accoutrements for their costume. I went as "Poncho Villa" as I had a poncho! I was hoping people would get the "cleverness" of my idea but most people didn't have a clue. I had two toy guns, a belt as a holster, a red bandana and hankerchief (sp?). I also painted on a moustache with black eye-liner. People were very creative and we all had so much fun. Examples of costumes were: potted plants, peacock, permanent bag, PVM energy bar, pope, pampers, an African pygmy, a general practioner doctor, 2 proctologists, peanut butter man, 2 Peter Pans, a present, 2 punks and a picture frame. We got loose on the dance floor as several IPODS were hooked up to their sound system. Believe me, this party was much needed! The next day I decided to visit 3 famous monasteries on Lake Tana. How great it was to be on a lake again! I miss my Lake Michigan. The water was cold, the boat ride relaxing, and the monasteries intriguing. The islands that they are located on are lush and filled with coffee, mango, and papaya trees. Amazingly preserved 11th century paintings of stories from the bible yet given an Ethiopian slant are plastered inside the monastery walls in bright blues, reds, yellows, greens, and black. They are a sight to behold. We were told that the monks pray from 3-6 am and stop when the rooster crows. I am not sure how many dedicated monks there are but if I were to become one (actually a nun) I would pick this area because at least you would have lots of natural beauty that surrounds you! Not only in Bahir Dar, but there are many Christians in Ethiopia. As we have been riding, almost every person we have come across is wearing a cross of some fashion, even the kids. What we have heard is that the Christians live in the highlands and the Muslims live in the low-lands.

The rest of the time was spent doing laundry, drinking coffee, eating great food at the hotel restaurant, attempting to use the slow internet but giving up, tinkering with our bikes, and arranging our red box/permanent bag system!

The next 5 days of riding to the capital, Addis Ababa were also challenging but fun. The highlights were great scenery, rich agricultural fields, curious kids, lovely camp sites, awesome descents, a broken collar bone (we are not supposed to mention names on our personal websites but just know that this person is ok, doesn't need surgery, but will have to take 4 weeks off of riding), a mild concussion (not me again but a male rider who avoided a kid running across the road trying to catch him off balance and a car trying to overtake him on a curve; he is ok too but shaken up-so are the two girls who witnessed it), and on a positive note: the BLUE NILE GORGE! So far, two mild injuries are pretty good. You never know what can happen in Africa but I do promise to be careful!

The Blue Nile Gorge is what we had been anticipating for quite some time. We had heard of the infamous 20 km descent and 20 km ascent up tight switchbacks and scorching heat. Because our previous day ended 10 km earlier, we had to add it to the enormously calorie burning day. Anticipation was high in the morning. We ascended about 500 meter before getting to the edge of the gorge. The lunch truck was positioned here and we made sure to eat much more than usual: 2 tuna sandwhiches instead of one, a banana, oranges, a power bar, and fast fuel. The descent was awesome. It wasn't paved the entire way so we endured lots of fun jostling on our bikes. It's hard to believe that our bikes can survive the stones and corrugations. It kept getting hotter and hotter as we descended the 1400 m to the bridge that extends across the Blue Nile. You are not allowed to take any pictures at this point because of national security and our tour leader, Duncan, keeps reminding us that if you do, you'll be shot! Duncan was there right after the bridge for the people doing the time trial to refill their water/fast fuel and grab a banana. Yep, I decided why not time trial it. I wasn't too serious about it but just wanted to have fun. He said that it typically takes people between 2-3 hours. I was set: 3-2-1 go. The first two kilometers almost killed me! It was 40 celsius but I just kept telling myself that every hill you climb it'll get slightly colder. It worked! I had to stop 3 times: once for a potential biting dog, and twice b/c my camel back was leaking. Other than that, I made it up all the way without stopping. Let me tell you, this 12km was a major accomplishment. It was lovely in terms of the gorge that you were able to gaze upon when you had a breath (which was few and far between) but completely and utterly exhausting. I pushed it up the last 2 km as fast as I could because my stopwatch was turning 2 hours and 50 minutes. I made it in 2:57. I collapsed afterwards for about one hour, rested my legs on top of my red box, and had a recovery drink of milk,sugar, and tea! When I finally had enough energy I walked over to a great view of the gorge and took it all in. What a day! Our fastest rider made it in 2:37 minutes. Wow!

Entry into Ethiopia

Our group of 60 odd riders entered Metema (border city of Ethiopia and Sudan) on Feb. 7th. Entering was without the usual bureaucracy; just a stamp here and there, a chat with the police and then a 2 hour wait for the Ethiopian officials to hand-write the information from our passports! Hah! While waiting we enjoyed our first cold beverages since the dry country of Sudan. That first night in Ethiopia was busy; we had to put on knobby tires for the rough terrain, change money, and try and get showers at the local brothel. Yep...border towns are seedy!

The next two days were exceedingly tough and we had all heard from one previous rider that most people lose their EFI status (biking every day during the tour and never hopping on the support trucks) in Ethiopia. All we had to do was to make it two more days until our rest day in Bahir Dar. The scenery is gorgeous with undulating hills, mountains in the distance, curious villagers, and dirt roads. Since my exposure to American media I have always believed that all of Ethiopia is dry, dirty, and extremely impoverished. Well, the poverty and dirt are true and there are the kids that have flies stuck to their faces but it is also an extremely pretty country. Who knew! As we rode along kids would pop out of their houses to run and greet us. It is true though: Ethiopia has a TON of children. The music that you hear as you ride is a cacophony of children's voices that yell "you, you, you," "give me one birr," and "where are you go!" Who taught them English? Several times I would stop and try to teach them the proper way of saying "where are you goING" and to greet us with "hello" instead of "you, you, you" but my efforts failed me! My Amharic is getting better though and I can say "hello" (salaamno), "good-bye" (chiao, chiao), "my name is" (semie Kerri), "thank-you" (amasayganalo), don't throw stones (dinguy atawerewere) and "how much is this" (sin ta know). I try and greet everyone that we pass (and believe me when going through villages this is a lot) because we are tourists in their country and I feel it is polite. I am also hoping to dissuade some of the youngsters from throwing rocks/sticks at us. Yes, we have heard that this is quite common in Ethiopia. And, several of our riders got severely pelted with rocks (lots of bruises and bruised souls) and one rider got "attacked" with sticks by four teenagers while climbing a hill. That's the problem there are so many hills to climb that you are fair game as you just can't go that fast! On the second day in Ethiopia (and the hardest so far) while I was climbing a hill these kids offered to push me, well, they don't take no for an answer. So, while pushing they were also sifting through my bike bag. I realized this too late. A rider that I was with chased them and recovered my pad of paper (Shanna, you gave this to me and it has been invaluable). They got away with my bike lock! Since then, I have become more ingenious with bungee cording my bag and sticking the zipper pulls inside the velcro to make it harder for them. Aside from this incident, I really have enjoyed biking through Ethiopia and find most of the kids and adults extremely pleasant, friendly, and interested in what we are doing.

I do want to describe the second riding day in Ethiopia. It competes with the toughest day in the Nubian desert in Sudan. Right from the get-go, we were climbing. It took us 4 hours to go 30k or approx. 18 miles. If you look at the GPS read out, it goes straight up! I felt surprisingly strong though and although I was slow on the hills, I never once got off the bike! We didnt' even get to the lunch truck until 1:45 pm. At this point, several people decided to get on the truck as the afternoon promised to be tough as well. Well, it was! However, there was still fight in me and I wasn't sick like a lot of people who were suffering from nausea as well as diarrhea. At km 94 we saw one of our trucks. We were speeding down this dirt hill and applied the brakes hard. Duncan, our tour leader was there to give us final instructions! We had another 12km climb to the Goha hotel. And, PAVEMENT! It was a huge relief to hit the pavement and we got a little cocky and got a coke. Hmmm...not necessarily a mistake but what we didn't realize is that these 12k were practically all uphill. And, the last 2k were switchbacks up to the hotel. Seriously punishing, especially after a long day's ride! There were many congrats when we reached the top and people looked truly wasted! That day we were riding for approx. 10 hours. The thing that saved me was the temperature. The heat was killing me the past few days and this day, Feb. 9th we had some cloud cover and it really wasn't that hot, only about 85 F. I still can't believe it was possible to bike for 10 hours with only a 45 minute break for lunch. Still EFI! Our reward was a hotel room and a great Ethiopian buffet!

On a different subject, In terms of what people do here, it seems that most are farmers or pastoralists. I have never seen so many people with stick in hand herding their animals. Lots of donkeys, goats, and cattle. No more camels like in Sudan. Kids learn how to take care of animals early And, lots of road kill. You'll see the odd dog splattered in the middle of the road (so sad-I cringe every time), as well as a donkey that had its last breath and collapsed on the side of the pavement. As far as I can tell, they farm garlic, onions, teft (a grass like product that they make injera (the fermented spongy bread) into), potatoes, tomatoes, and hot peppers. They also have mango, papaya, banana, and coffee plants. Ethiopia is known for its coffee and I must say it is good. It is never served in Starbuck proportions but it isn't that expensive either! It is different from the Sudanese coffee which is spiced with ginger and cardamom.

Khartoum, Sudan

First of all, I would like to say that I really appreciate everyone's comments to my posts. It is fun to read them, they inspire me, and I feel connected to y'all! Even though I don't have the time to respond to everyone's comments, I am thinking about you as I read them. Also, I apologize in advance for spelling/grammar mistakes; long days of riding as well as "funky" Arabic keyboards are to blame!

It took us 4 days from Dongala to get to Khartoum. Our riding schedule consisted of 130k, 140k, 130k and 96 k. Most biking days we had a tailwind and plenty of tarmac. So, reaching 30k or 18-20 miles/per hour wasn't hard at all and sometimes we were pushing 26 m/hr on a mountain bike which is the fastest I have ever rode my bike except on downhills! The vastness of the desert is amazing; aside from the tarmac desert is all around. Along the road we encountered many pastoralists who make their living trading camels and camel products as well as sheep and goats. Every once in a while, while riding you come across a huge caravan of camels about to cross the pavement. For a stretch of road we also passed the "camel cemetery" as there were dead camels half-buried in the sand on either side of us. Poor camels.

The hardest part of this stretch has been the occasional headwind as well as the stinging sand coming across the roads. The wind is almost always blowing. Needless to say, sand is in everything: eyes, food, toothbrush, coffee mugs, tents. One night the wind didn't stop and before we went to bed we had to unclip the tent and shake it out as a layer had already encapsulated our sleeping bags and mattresses. Oh-and going to the bathroom deposits sand in places that you would rather not have bothered. But, as we say this is the cheapest spa treatment ever!

Once again I am amazed at the weather. It has been downright cold at night and in the morning sometimes we have woken to temps in the 40s. My hands have been so cold cycling in the mornings that it almost reminds me of the North Pole! :) Who thought deserts were warm? Of course, it warms up during the day but not until around 1:00 pm. I have been cycling in my long sleeve merino wool icebreaker jersey every day thus far. I have a feeling I will be switching to short sleeves once we reach Khartoum.

We had a police convoy into Khartoum that actually was efficient. Escorted by tourist police, we cruised for about 20 miles through the western side of the capital. Once again we were a spectacle; loads of people lined the streets watching us. Our film crew was busy capturing it all. Crossing the main bridge over the Nile we spotted the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers. No-you really can't tell a color difference. We were led to the National Camping Residence where Sudanese male and female runners train. Because we are ahead of schedule we will have 2.5 rest days. My tired legs could use them!

After setting up camp, we all ran to the showers which were the best we have encountered so far. And, warmish water to boot. Feeling clean again does wonders to the soul! That night several of us went to see the "Whirling Dervishes" a mystical sect of Islam where twirling around in circles to the drum beats gets you closer to "allah." It is a type of religious ectasy. Their ceremony was not meant for tourists but now it has turned into quite the attraction with local people setting up little stands for shay (tea) and coffee and loads of them forming a large open circle to watch the music and dancing. The religious ceremony happens every Friday, outside of an old looking, green painted mosque. Men in long, white "dresses" line up and face each other across a self-imposed circular sand courtyard. They start chanting and the other side answers them. The drumming starts out slow and then increases with intensity. You can't help but move. Seemingly random, some people who are "feeling" the beat move to the center and start to twirl themselves into a trance like state. All the while this man with dreadlocks, dressed in a red and green "dress" and yielding a big stick goes round and round the circle of spectators making sure the courtyard remains open for the dancers to whirl. A man with a red and green "sorcerer's cap" follows the steps of this man and offers to fan incense into your face. I haven't smelled that good in days. We didn't quite know what to make of the experience but it was surely interesting. Afterwards, we lucked into finding a pizza joint and woofed down some large pizzas.

Khartoum is a sprawling city. It is dusty, warm, and there isn't much to admire. We are staying 10k south of the "main" center and the landscape is composed of half-built low-cement buildings, shops, and a large shopping mall. Yes, a mall. With Gloria Jean's coffee shop located there, a lot of us have been willing to pay the $4.00 for a cappuchino. It is an expensive city as well. Some folks checked out Nubian wrestling and the souk, which is the largest market in all of Sudan.

We are off to the southeast tomorrow towards the border town of Gallabat. It should take us 4 riding days. Once we reach Ethiopia we will begin climbing! I pray for even stronger legs. It is widely known that Ethiopian kids will try and take anything they can off your bike so I'll need the legs to cruise past them. We won't be able to casually leave our bikes and items around as we have done in Sudan.

Oh-we are NOT going through Kenya. We are all disappointed but in light of the recent "ethnic cleansings"/"fightings" b/c of election disputes our tour director has made the appropriate decision. Besides, most people's insurance policies would disqualify them since we would be voluntarily entering an area of "civil unrest." We will bike until the border of Ethiopia/Kenya and then will have approx. 12 days in which to occupy ourselves. I might do the Serengeti again or try to explore the more remote areas of the Gombe National Park and Mahale Mountains where groups of chimpanzees live. Several groups of riders are talking about attempting Mt. Kilimanjaro and relaxing afterwards in Zanzibar Island.

I assume we won't have internet access until Gonder, Ethiopia. I hope you are all enjoying winter!

Oh-the people pics are of Ashleigh and Josh, our expedition riders who won the 20k time trial. Let's just say, it wasn't my best day! Congrats to them!

The Nubian Desert-Jan. 24-27th

Beautiful, colorful, dusty, bumpy, sandy, rocky, hilly, inviting at times, and always foreboding. This has been the toughest part of the Tour d'Afrique so far. The first day was a wake-up call. First part of the day was encouraging as we did some off-road riding and then we hit the tarmac where we cruised to speeds of 30 k. Lunch was a nourishing blend of tuna, tomatoes/onions, cheese, in a pita bread with apples and oranges for desert. After filling up with 2 liters of water and 1.5 liters of Fast Fuel (an energy replacement drink), we took off expecting to find more of the same. Nope! It was a slow grind as we had sandy hills to climb, some all out sand sections which were nigh impossible to spin through unless you put the bike into your easiest gear and crank the heck out with your legs. Lots of falls happened on that day: thank god for the soft landing. Despite this, it was pretty as the colors change as the sunlight makes some parts of the hills come to life and leaves others in the shade. Although there are only a few green trees to be found, I found shades of yellow, brown, and blacks that I had never seen before. At mile 60 we were seriously wondering where camp was as the sandy "road" was wiping us out. A few more miles ahead we saw the finish flag that signals our camp site. This was a great camp site: we were nestled into this concave valley of sand and protected by granite sand peaks around us. My fellow riding partner, Joachim Loeffel, shot a great pic as the sun went down which captured the pink hue above the hills. We had an hour long bike maintenance clinic which started at 4:30 pm. Gosh, we had biked from 8:00-4:00 pm. That is a day's of work. Dinner was a big pot of spaghetti and salad which consists not of greens but of onions and tomatoes in a creamy sauce. I had seconds.

Next day was tougher. We tried leaving a little earlier to make it to camp sooner to have more daylight: it gets dark around 6:30 pm. Ok-I am going to get a little graphic. My butt was so dang sore from enduring all those bumps from the corrugations in the road. Needless to say I did an "inspection" and it is NOT pretty. Bumpy, red, and inflamed. I have been using a diaper cream to help it heal: no wonder babies cry when they have diaper rash, it hurts! After a while your butt does get used to the grinding and you get semi-comfortable in your saddle. I have been reapplying the chamois cream laboriously too! It has been helping. The highlight of this day was going through some small Nubian villages along the Nile. The kids lined the streets to slap our hands and towards the end of the day it got a little obnoxious with some of the teenage girls trying to hold onto your "high five" a little too long so you would loose balance and fall. Our yoga practice of balance has come into play! I gave away some NCMC pencils for which I received a "shukran" (thank-you in Arabic) and we got cute pics with kids. People always ask you where you are headed. We would answer with Dongala and Khartoum.

Passing through a town that never ended "Farka" was a treat for the eyes. Yes, it was still sandy but what caught your eyes were their brightly painted doors. Amongst the mud brick homes which are smoothed out to make a swirly pattern on their homes, you have pink and blue, green and yellow, and even purple doors. I wonder where they get the paint from? Blue seems to be the dominant color and I wonder what the symbolism is? In every village is a mosque which is surrounded by a mud-brick gate. We also saw many cemeteries which are marked with a pile of stones, a small headmarker made of painted wood with the person's name on it, on top of a small mound. Camp was by the Nile. We washed our bikes in it and I shaved my legs, all without thinking about shistosomiasis. Hopefully, I didn't contract anything. I did have a dream about a rabid cat who dug its claws into me, cutting my skin, and I had to be transported out of Africa to get rabies shots.

Day 3 in the Nubian desert: the toughest riding so far. I almost reached my breaking point. Thank god I switched biking shorts. My butt was very, very sore again but at least I had some more padding. Very corrugated semi-hard packed road: if you weren't giggling before you have a lot of loose skin now. Also, it feels like you constantly have to go to the bathroom! Your forearms also get a special workout as they are contracting to keep you on the bike as your tires are being bounced around to and fro! We climbed 541 meters and 1500 m for the week so far. The best part of the day was passing four women. We haven't had too much contact with the women and I told Joachim, whom I was riding with, that this would be a perfect photo op. As it turns out in exchange for an apple and some hard candies they obliged to having their picture taken. They were carrying kilos of rice on their heads and all wore colorful clothing against their dark black skin. The other interesting thing is that when we went through this village we were talking to the some children, some with flies on their face: the typical picture of Africa. And, she said in English: food for the children. She motioned to my camelback and my bike bag and I shook my head as I didn't have food in there. However, I was eating an energy bar but it was almost eaten. I offered it to her anyway and immediately she grabbed it, split it with her sister, and ate it with my teeth marks on there and all. She must have been starving, not the children. To conclude with this day, there wasn't much to eat at lunch as we got there so late, it was beginning to get hot, and we hit sand patch after sand patch, where you had to get off your bike and push it. It was annoying and frustrating and I had to let out a few expletives. It was a 10 hour riding day.

The last day before reaching Dongola and our rest day was finally a good day. I decided to teach my legs a lesson and pushed myself as fast as I could. I managed my nutrition better and ate more often and drank a lot. We had a variety of terrain but it got increasingly better and eventually we hit the tarmac for the last 20 k before crossing the Nile to Dongala via a ferry. The highlight of this day was asking in my best Arabic if I could see inside this house. A lot of us stopped for lunch and hung out on this mud-brick step that surrounded the large house. Since there were women around I felt comfortable asking them if I could have a look inside. I took the trouble to tell them that I was a teacher and I wanted to share Nubian life with my students. I poked here and there and they led me to this courtyard and around a mud-brick wall to their toilet. They thought I wanted/needed to go to the bathroom! I wasn't sure what they were thinking so I motioned to them that I didn't know what to do. Well, one woman came over, got on top of the pit toilet and started pulling up her dress to show me how. It was hilarious and I heard a lot of chuckling afterward!

Now we are in Dongala, staying at the old zoo. I had my first shower in 5 days-yeah clean hair! We managed to have chicken last night for a lot of money: they don't have chicken farms here. And, today was spent doing bike maintainance, organzing for our 5 day stretch to Khartoum (Tanya you would love it!), and exploring Dongala a bit.

You do have to obey Muslim custom and someone from the town complained about some of our females not covering their elbows. I have a head scarf that I bought, a long sleeve shirt on, as well as my sarong!

So far, I am healthy and happy! I will not lie though: it is tough!

I'll post some more from the capital of Sudan: Khartoum!

Wadi Halfa, Sudan-Jan. 22-24th

After the overall enjoyable experience of the 18 hour ferry ride, we landed in Wadi Halfa, Sudan. Because of the construction of the Aswan Dam several villages were "relocated" to Wadi Halfa, which used to be an oasis of sorts and very pretty. Needless to say, Lake Nasser is pretty but there aren't many trees to speak of, mostly mud-brick homes and sand and dust. The people fought the government fiercly but guess who won!

I was super surprised at the efficiency of "processing" our bags: inspection was no more than us opening our bags and them putting a sticker on them. We were told to "hide" our electronics and anything valuable. Well, there was no need to worry. In the meantime I went to the falafel stand and managed to procure one for our 4k bike ride to our camp at the soccer stadium.

We set up camp outside of the soccer field amongst the sand. It was blowing like usual so you definitely need two people to help you. Getting to Wadi around 4:00 and setting up camp by 6:00 we decided to walk to town. It was a moonlit night and you really see the stars unlike even in northern Michigan. Once we got into town, people started offering to pay for our meal and tea. Sudanese people are known for their hospitality and wanting to pay for your food. We graciously accepted and sat down to a meal of fried fish and tea! The town is fairly small (although larger than Petoskey) and the men congregate around 3 TV's which are placed outside of restaurants to watch FOOTBALL (Soccer). It seems like a great way to bring community together.

As it turned out our support trucks which were on a different ferry didn't get to our camp in time so the next day was declared an official rest day. That means that camp meals are not provided and we have to fend for ourselves! We were all over the town that day: shopping for toilet paper and assorted sundries, having turkish coffees or tea, eating lots of falafel and/or fish, and going to the market. In the market we saw the obligatory fresh cow legs hanging from hooks with flies buzzing around, bananas, onions, tomatoes, okra, and grapes. Some guy wanted to try out my bike so I let him. Right as he got on another guy said to me in English, "he biggest thief in town." Thank god it was a joke and I got my bike back.

Wadi Halfa seems a town out of time. In fact, time itself moves slow. Everbody says "welcome" to you in English, tuk-tuks (ricksaws) and moto-taxis are buzzing around as well as donkey carts loaded with various things being prodded by their drivers, and men stopping to talk and eat. We don't see too many women outside as they are probably taking care of their kids.

After a day of relaxing, we returned to camp for some bike maintenance and the changing of tires. I am proud to say that I managed to change my tires mostly by myself. We were told the next 4 days would be comprised of a variety of terrain: some tarmac, some hard-packed dirt, and some loose sand. I went to bed that night anxiously awaiting the day.