Woman V Cancer Cycle Africa- Tanzania - Group 1- October 2015.

In January 2015 I received a letter saying the flight itinerary for the Woman V Cancer Cycle Africa had been changed? The flight was out of London Heathrow, and not direct to Kilimanjaro, but to Nairobi then by bus to Moshi, Tanzania. Also the cost for Tax and Fule was £358.00.
Well! me being the aircraft geek that I am knew that I could go to Kilimanjaro with Qatar Airways. However due to the long connection times in Doha, I decided to go Manchester to Dubai to Dar es Salam, then get a Precision Air flight to Kilimanjaro airport. This cost me £500.00.  I informed the company of this and was advised I would have to pay for my own transport to the hotel in Moshi. I also decided to go one day earlier to make sure I was in time and so needed one extra night at the hotel.
I packed according to the pack sheet I was sent.
For the rest of this account I am going to copy what was on the official tour information; this is the Blue text, with what really happened; that is the Black text....... so here goes:

I was going a day early so the 30th September 2015.  I was on a study day in London,  and set off from Preston train station to London very early. Following the study day I got from London to Heathrow on the Paddington Express, it was great. 
The Emirates lounge was shut as it was being renovated so disappointingly I had to use the BA lounge in Terminal 3. it was very poor and looked shabby.  
I left London Heathrow on the 20.20 flight to Dubai, ( EK 4), this was a very good flight and in Dubai I had a short layover before getting the Dar es Salam flight. In Dar I already had my Visa, it had cost £40.00, so I was through customs in a flash. I got my bag then walked to the domestic departures to get my flight to Kilimanjaro. In London they had told me my bag would go through to Kilimanjaro, but I didn't believe this and I was glad I went to the carousel to check. Here I saw my bag and collected it. I had a short wait in the very small domestic terminal and then was on the Precision Air fight to Kilimanjaro.
My pick up was waiting for me at Kilimanjaro Airport to take me on the 1 1/2 hour car ride to Kilemakyaro Mountain Lodge, in Moshi. In the Taxi was another one of the participants who had arrived on the Qatar Airways flight just before me. We checked in at the lodge and had a good nights sleep.  

Thursday 1st October 2015. Day One. Depart on overnight fight for Nairobi, Kenya.
My friend had not booked the flight independently, so she had a day in London, then met members of the group at London Heathrow and got the Kenya Airways Dreamliner to Nairobi. She said the overnight flight was good and it arrived on time on the morning of 2nd October 2015.

Friday 2nd October 2015. Day Two. At Nairobi airport we board buses for the 3 hour journey to the boarder with Tanzania. Once we have crossed the boarder we have a further 2 hours to reach our hotel. the hotel in in the shadows of Mount Kilimanjaro.

After lunch we will have time to enjoy the hotel facilities while the cycle mechanics set up bikes to individual specifications during bike fitting at the hotel. After dinner our challenge Event Leader will brief everyone on the challenge ahead.

As I was at the hotel already, I had breakfast then read my book by the pool.

Kilemakyaro Mountain Lodge, Moshi.

At about 10.00 Lunch was set up for the rest of the group arriving, I met a few of the group who had made there way to the Hotel interdependently via different routs. Amongst who were a group of 'ladies who lunch' from the Wirral who had flown KLM Business class, and KLM had lost their bags.
Two other women, who also did not have bags had flown BA to Nairobi, then flown on to Kilimanjaro. They did not know they had to pick up the bags in Nairobi, having been informed by BA that the bags would go through.
Finally two other women arrived having travelled direct from Doha with Qatar Airways.
I rested by the pool with my book enjoying the sun.

10.00 am and Lunch is ready at Kilemakyaro Mountain Lodge, Moshi. Dream Challenges

Kilemakyaro Mountain Lodge, Moshi.

I waited and waited, at 13.00, there was no sign of the group so we were told to have our food. I did this and I had my bike fitting; well I was given a bike. The food that was put out at 10.00 am, was prepared for 80 people,  it was put away at 15.00.

My friend was on the bus! She said it was the journey from hell.
In Nairobi the group of 75 women were split into three and got on to one of the 3 NON AC busses. It took at least 3 hours to get to the border, and then it took ages to get through the border and for people to use the toilets. It was then well over 3 hours from the border to Moshi. Interestingly,  this was what I had read on the internet when researching the journey. 
So the main party of 75 who were in the busses arrived at 18.30, in the dark and there was a big rush to serve the dinner. The food served was the lunch that had been kept warm for hours! 
So the predicted 5 hour journey had taken over 9 hours and all who had undertaken it were shattered. It was a conselation that the accommodation was nice, clean and with a bit of hot water coming at very low pressure from a shower. I also shared my room with a Mouse - the first if many on this journey. 

3rd October 2015. Day 3-Mosh to Olpopongi Maasai Village.

we leave the hotel and cycle down hill for the first two KM on tarmac roads into Moshi. we then go 30KM on tarmac on mildly rolling terrain towards Arusha. A Few moderate hills.

we reach our overnight campsite we will explore the village look at the Maasai way of life see a museum. We will be treated to a BBQ dinner around a camp fire have Maasai singing and dancing.

Dream Challenges cycle Africa 2015

Ready to go

We were told to meet at 08.30 for breakfast, so we did, but it was late when breakfast was served. As there was no space for us at the tables, nor any vacant chairs we sat on the sunbeds and ate our breakfast.
The bike fitting consisted of a grab your bike situation! 
The group had a briefing and a warm up and it was 09:45 before we left the lodge. 
I felt elated to start the ride; after all this was what we had come to do, as we set off on the downhill bumpy dirt road from the lodge leading to the tarmac road in Moshi. As we cycled out of Moshi it was incline after incline, I call them hills! It was also very windy so it was hard going. The tar road was good and the first stop was at a filling station. there were water, biscuits and crisps on offer. 
My friend reported that she has a tummy pain, as do quite a few others in the group. The Q for the 2 Ladies toilets is long, and many resort to using the Mens toilets to speed up the Q. 

First Stop

Very soon we turned off the main road and onto a minor Tarmac road and peddle up a long uphill stretch, this goes on for a very long time. Legs begin to tire and it is very, very hot. Up and up, up and up -  when will it end? 
At last we see the lunch stop, it is 12.15.  However the lunch stop has been set up in the wrong place, so we all have to wait whilst it is moved.

Standing in the sun

The tent is not up so there is no shade,  we stand in the sun at the side of the road getting very hot for over 1/2 an hour. The second lunch stop was set up in a dusty field - the fine black volcanic dust is flying all over, dust devils are hitting us all the time.



Lunch

At last the tent gets put up, so we get some shade. But my friend is ill. She has a tummy bug, probably due to the food waiting over 7 hours yesterday. She rushes to find a bush.....there are not many! Many others in the group are in the same predicament.

First Lunch...what have I done!



Safety first

After lunch I peddle on, to be greeted with hill, after hill after hill. It is so hot and I think I have a degree of altitude sickness as I am gasping for air and unable to get air into my lungs. 
I stop and get a coke at a shack at the side of the road and use the ice to cool me down. I also make use of the clean toilets. Finally after many steep hills, at one of the water stops I get on the bus, the bus is full to bursting, we are all finding the altitude and heat to much.

At the next water stop at about 15.30, it feels cooler so I get back on the bike.

This dirt road is very dusty and is being renovated so large trucks with rubble are whizzing past kicking up more dust and grit.



Dusty



Cycle Africa 2015

 Also so ominous clouds are building and it looks like rain.



Rain on the way?



Women V Cancer Cycle Africa Oct 2015

Well it did rain and the soft dust turned in to thick sticky mud. Coverd in thick black mud we looked like creatures from the deep - peddling on towards the cam with its hot showers. 

The bus and support van couldn't get through and was stuck in the mud.

The camp was a long way, and it was getting dark. There was one faded tin sign saying ' Olpopongi 17 KM'.  I could have gone on faster, as it was flat and quite firm at this point, but stayed with one of the group as she was getting very nervous as dusk fell, she was scared of getting lost in the dark. The signage to the camp was very poor, the woman I was with was panicking that we had gone the wrong way, I just kept reassuring her to keep going straight on. We were among the leaders of the 80 women, so most of the group was behind us. At last, as the last light was fading I saw the Maasi Village. It was about 18.00.

Olpopongi Maasi Village

The Maasai had come out to greet us and were singing, it was a pity that the rest of the group missed the display.

I was covered from top to toe in the tick mud, there are 4 showers, but no hot water. there are also 4 toilets, but only 2 have been set up in tents, the rest are just standing next to huts.

Women V Cancer Cycle Africa. Toilets....?????

By now it was almost dark ( my camera has adjusted the lighting . the cases had been piled up next to the tents. I found mine and my friends and took them to a tent. The tents are dome tents with sleeping mats. I should have been more organised, I have forgotten a pillow, and the things I need, like a towel and clean clothes were at the bottom of my bag and I was groveling about with a head torch on trying to find the essentials.

I get a shower, the cubical has open sides and the Massai Men are looking but I don't care.

My friend arrived at 19.00, its pitch black. many of the group have fallen into the mud so are wanting to clean up. As it was dark they have been guided in by a lorry with its lights on. I really do not know how the whole group is here, and I am amazed no one is lost -it is a fiasco.  

At 20.00 we are told to go for dinner, we are advised by Anne - looking very smart in her pink fleecy outfit- that is to be a feast of Soup, BBQ Kariboo meat with Salad and Pudding. the meal is served in the pitch black at 21.00. and what is it?  Soup on a plate! Then some bones and for pudding a bit of jelly. We are to late for the Maasai dancing and singing. - I am glad I have packed some Nuts, Jelly babies and Haribo !!!

Soup served on a plate

After dinner I was chatting to the Maasai man at reception, as I asked if they had a pillow. He took us into one of the mud huts for a pillow. He also offered us the hut, we took it! So having upgraded from a tent to a mud hut, we did get some sleep unlike the rest of the group.  

The kitchen at Olpopongi Maasai Village

The dining area at Olpopongi Maasai Village

  

Day 4 - Olpopongi Village to Arusha. 76 KM. we start today by cycling through an area sandwiched between Mount Kilimanjaro and mount Meru. the volcanic landscape offers a striking difference to the lush surrounding of Kilimanjaro. there is the potential to see a lot of wildlife. once again we will cycle through the parched landscape. the cycling becomes much smoother as we reach to none busy road that links Nairobi and Arusha. the price to pay for the good road is the climbs. a long descent awaits us as we cycle into the bustling town of Arusha.

Things start off OK this morning with breakfast, bread and jam at 06.30, then the briefing and warm up at 07.30. Again it was late, 08.30 when we left camp. at first the going was good, packed red sand and we made good time.



Still smiling!

However, very soon the road turns to rock, Volcanic rock mixed with the famous; or is it infamous African Cotton Soil, a very fine sinking soil when dry; or a thick, sticky black mud when wet. This was extreme off roading, we had to walk as we could not cycle on it. Even the support mechanic, who was very experienced in off road conditions could not manage the rocky terrain and was walking with the rest of us.

Walking on the rocky road

There were no water stops and it was a long hard slog till we saw the tent at 11.00 located at the junction of the rock road with the main tar road for a fruit and water stop. Now we traded the rocky road for HILLS, and lots of them. There was a very steep hill and at the top was lunch this was now 12.00. 

The day was very hot. After lunch I peddle on the tar road to Arusha. As we pass local children, dressed in Muslim attire, they start to shout and throw thing at us, rocks mainly. one girl runs up to me and slaps we hard across the face. I was so intent on keeping going that I could not be bothered to stop and challenge her,  many others in the group have the same experience.

At last we arrive in Arusha, and it is late when we arrive at the hotel, 18.30. but the showers are good and hot and there is a bar, so good times! 

The dinner is good and there is plenty of it. At dinner there is a lot of complaining about the route so far, today has been a tough day and many of the women feel that the route has been too hard and they fear that they will be unable to accomplish what they have trained hard for. The group is down hearted after a long hard day.

Arusha

Day 5 - Arusha to Mount Zion Campsite. 94 KM. After a few kilometers we leave the hustle of Arusha behind as we cycle through beautiful rolling and seemingly endless grasslands. the road is smooth and undulating. 

our lunch stop will be at Mtimmoja Primary School.

After a long day of cycling we descend into the warm basin of the east rift valley and camp close to Trangire National Park.

This was going to be our longest day and the day I had feared the most. At last we did have an early start, and cycled out of Arusha after a good breakfast very early in the morning. The roads were tar and good, the wind was on our backs and we made really good time.

Water stop

Good roads

the school

We got to the school in good time, we were there by 11.00 and had to wait for lunch.

After the school visit we cycled on, we saw many local children in traditional dress and got into the camp site in good time.

It was good to have a chance to unpack in the light and sort the tent out. There was a small bar and It was great to have time to chat about the day. 

However, It seemed that some people had been attacked again, one woman was badly beaten with a long stick and others had rocks thrown at them as they passed through a ravine.

The Zion camp site was good, it had trees so was not too dusty, it had 4 showers and 6 toilets, all be it squatting ones! Dinner was very basic again and held in the boma. We did sleep well that night in the tents.

Zion Camp Site

Zion Camp Site

Zion Camp Site

Toilets with Millipeade

Day 6 - Tarangire National Park to Mto Wa Mbu Lake Manyara National Park.  74KM

the first half of today's ride is speedy and flat 35 Km. once we leave the main road and enter deeper into the rift valley it becomes stark. Cotton fields dominate the more arid areas whilst sugar cane and rice fields line the trail.

As we approach Lake Manyara a hiller section merges with a swampy area. we eventually meet the buses that will take us to our accommodation near Lake Manyara National Park.

We set off early at 07.30, the first few KM is bumpy, then a good tar road to lunch.

After lunch the sandy track gets sandier and sandier its like peddling on a beach. The track also goes through a ravine and it is extremely hot. This is really the worst day, many of the women are in tears and give up, its so hot and so very hard cycling on sand, the temperature is recording 41 to 42 oC on the van thermometer. As some of the women start to dehydrate they become dizzy and fall off the bikes, at least 3 hats are broken.  

We also encounter gangs of young men holding sticks and large stones, demanding the bikes. The van drivers look scared of the youths, I find it is best just to keep going and show no fear. Some of the other women though are intimidated by the crowds gathering around the bus.



At last we get to the end of the track, the buses are waiting.

It is rather confusing as the buses go back to the Zion Camp site, onto a tar road and we eventually get to the accommodation, Twiga Lodge. 

We - again - arrive in the dark at 19:00. We are advised dinner is at 20.00. There is also an issue that the group is to large for the lodge and some people are allocated diffrent accommodation down the road. Many of the women are very angry, having to find bags in the dark, with barley an hour to get ready. In our room the shower does not work, it is just a small trickle. 

On the way in I had seen that there is a camp site in the lodge grounds, with its own ablution blocks,  so I go over to the campsite and use the ablution blocks for my shower. 

Whilst Twiga is old fashioned, it is clean, The people who are in alternative accommodation are very disappointed. Reporting windows with out glass and broken doors. I am glad I am in Twiga. Dinner is OK, but the bar runs out of tonic, so any drinking sessions get cut short.

At the briefing session tonight the man who planned the route states that tomorrow we will climb higher than Ben Nevis, I am stunned and almost feel like not bothering to try as it all seem to much!

Day 7 - Mto Wa Mbu to Ngorongoro Crater. 39 Km. Although todays ride is the shortest day, it is challenging and we will end today 2,000 m above sea level.

The last day, and we are up and off for 06.30. peddling up a very steep hill, then uphill's and inclines and uphill's. 

However I just go at my own pace and despite the Ben Nevis talk this is the easiest day. 

Lake Manyara in the background

just keep going up

Mile after mile of uphill, eventually at about 12.00 I see the gates of the Ngorongoro Park, I have made it.
The men who have provided the support for the group sing to us all in celebration, we enjoy jam sandwiches, sparking wine and get our meddles. We have done it !

The men who made it possible

The buses now take us back down to Twiga Lodge.

The next day is a free day and there is an optional jeep safari to the crater. Then buses will take the group back to Arusha for the celebration dinner.
I could not stay for these two days and had arranged to leave early. I had to organise a private transfer to the airport. 

I also had used some of my Skywards points and upgraded my flight home. This was a good decision.

Take me home! Dar es Salam to DXB

It turns out that we actually cycled 400 KM not the 300 Km originally stated, and it really was a challenge not a holiday.

I feel that the itinerary was misleading, mentioning National Parks and wildlife. All we saw were dust roads, aggressive locals and tents. 

I would not recommend anyone to go with this company. Action for Charity or Dream challenges. The trip was chaotic, the accommodation of poor quality, the food was appalling. Without the hard work of the local support team it would have been impossible. 

I am amazed no one got lost or hurt and I think that this was due to good luck rather than anything else. BUT, we did it, and raised a little for our Charities.