Across Africa Part 3: Return to Mwanza
From 2013-2015 I lived beside Africa’s largest lake, in what is Tanzania’s second largest city. Despite its proximity to the Serengeti - one of the most popular national parks on the continent, Mwanza is not on many tourist itineraries. But it was my home for two years while I worked at a nearby teacher training college as part of a British-funded project to improve English language education in the country.
I’d briefly returned in 2016, and had hoped to make it there while cycling in east Africa in 2024, but ran out of time. Now it was firmly fixed on my route as I travelled west from the slopes of Kilimanjaro, where I left the previous blog post. The pictures here cover the next few weeks through January 2025.
Africa’s 13th largest country by size and 5th largest by population (70 million puts it behind Nigeria, DRC, Ethiopia and Egypt) Tanzania is perhaps best known for containing Africa’s highest mountain.
Weaving between several national parks and conservation areas which don’t permit cycling (Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangiri) my route here was predominantly on dirt tracks between Arusha and Mwanza.
Hello 2025! Camped in Enduimet Wildlife Area. A magical place to start a new year. And that’s Mt Meru, Tanzania’s second highest mountain (4566m) pictured in the distance here.
As this is a wildlife conservation area, there are restrictions on people living here. While most wild animals are contained in national parks in Africa, there remain pockets of wilderness, often in other protected areas, with animals the continent is most famous for.
These tracks are visible on Google satellite, and with Mt Meru in front of me, I couldn’t really get lost. I was headed towards the city of Arusha, which lies on the other side of the mountain.
As I approach the mountain and leave the demarcated area of land that is protected, there are a number of small Maasai-inhabited villages. Tanzania’s population is split in terms of religious affiliation, with around 60% identifying as christian and 35% muslim, the latter of whom predominantly living in coastal regions.
Beautifully colourful, and on her way to church. The Maasai number around 1.6 million in total, with 1.2 million living in southern Kenya and another 430,000 in northern Tanzania.
Approaching Arusha with Mt Meru ahead. The land here is fertile and cultivated, predominantly with maize plantations.
A familiar face. I first met Lelo while cycling in Tanzania in 2011. He followed his own two-wheeled dreams between 2012-2014, cycling through the Americas, Europe and Africa on a journey he called Chile-Kili. He now lives in Arusha and works as a safari guide.
He put his diary entries from that journey into a book, which I read for the first time during this stay in Arusha.
Aside from Lelo, I have other friends living in Arusha. Stefan and Rachel are teachers at one of the international schools here, who were neighbours of mine when I lived in Tanzania before.
My stay in Arusha allowed me time to plan the route west from here, although none of the tracks I plan to take show on any of the paper maps here.
Mt Meru looking north. My Tout Terrain bike is set-up for cycling on off-road tracks, which are my focus to follow on this journey across the continent.
After 10 days off the bike in Arusha I have company for a few days on the road. Eric, centre, has lived in Arusha for over 30 years. He’s hosted travelling cyclists over the years and continues to ride many of the trails around this part of northern Tanzania.
And Mike, left, was born in Tanzania when it was then known as Tanganyika. Along with Lelo, they know the country, its people and trails far more than I do. Great company, if only for a short time.
Scouting the trails. Off-road a short distance out of Arusha. This area of northern Tanzania is still principally Maasai-inhabited.
Green, wild, but also over-grazed. As pastoralists, Maasai traditionally don’t cultivate the land but keep cattle and goats. Lack of tree cover means that much of this land has degraded.
This route takes us around Mount Monduli.
And provides a great place to camp, looking back towards Mt Meru.
With some company the next morning before riding on.
Climbing up the western side of Mt Monduli. Hot and hard work.
Great off-road cycling in this part of Tanzania.
Saying goodbye. Great company for a few days as Eric and Mike ride back towards their homes in Arusha.
Here’s a short video reel of those first first few days out of Arusha.
I push on west of Mount Monduli.
Another great wild camp as I ride west towards Lake Manyara.
With evidence of elephants, although not when I camped here.
Climbing above Lake Manyara. This area of Tanzania is concentrated by national parks and conservation areas, making it the busiest part of the country for tourism. Hundreds of safari vehicles leave the city of Arusha daily, filled with foreign tourists often paying thousands of £$€ for a short holiday. While tourism provides local employment and is an economic boost for the country, much of Tanzania feels no more affluent nor developed than when I first came here over two decades ago.
But as with most countries, when you travel by bicycle it’s quite easy to escape places frequented by tourists. This track is climbing up a rift valley escarpment to almost 2000m in altitude.
Africa’s most iconic tree is possibly the baobab. I wasn’t expecting to see so many as this track took me towards Lake Eyasi.
Extra water storage. I had seen that the stretch ahead of me would have no villages, so filled and strapped on my 4-litre shower bag, giving me over 10 litres of water to camp and cycle for the next day.
Goat-head thorns are easily picked up when riding off-road here. Without tubeless tyres, I would experience a number of punctures cycling here. Rather than pull the thorns out, which could mean a sealant leak, I just leave them in the tyre, letting them fall out as and when.
January is a dry season in Tanzania, but the landscape is relatively green following short rains in November and December.
Full moon camp beside Lake Eyasi. As there are plenty of thorns around in the grass, I pitch the tent on some bare earth, and make sure the ground beneath my tent is thorn-free.
Following the shores of Lake Eyasi the next morning, although the water was further away than my map depicted. I’d read that the lake’s level fluctuates between seasons and years. I rode down to the shoreline beside a makeshift fishing village, realising quickly that it wasn’t a place to swim (it’s depth is rarely more than 1 metre).
Long and empty road. This 100km stretch alongside the eastern shoreline of Lake Eyasi was surprisingly remote. Easy to wild camp, but little in the way of shops (I found one) or places to refill with water (the lake is alkaline).
Meeting the locals. This part of Tanzania is home to a couple of distinct ethnic groups, one of which being the Datooga. Far fewer in number than the Maasai (80,000-90,000) they are a Nilotic group, having once migrated from the Nile Valley further north. Much like the Maasai, they retain much of their traditional customs and way of life.
Birthday beard trim. It’s January 15th and time for a shave. Barbershops are easy to find in rural Africa.
‘Any plans for your birthday Pete’?
Mostly riding my bicycle through rural Tanzania.
Another year without a birthday cake, but a plate of rice and beans, which is my staple in Tanzania, is fine.
Service with a smile. Almost every sizeable village will have somewhere selling breakfast and lunch in Tanzania.
Rock camp. As I approached the city of Mwanza the population density began to increase, so it was a welcome surprise to find this place to camp.
If the sun has almost set and I havent found somewhere suitable to camp, it usually means I haven’t found one, so while it’s nice to stop and photograph a beautiful African sunset, they aren’t always the most relaxing while I am still on the road. Finding somewhere to camp once the sun sets becomes harder as light fades fast.
Arrival in Mwanza, which sits on the southern shores of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa.
And time to catch up with an old friend. Steve first came to Tanzania as a Peace Corps volunteer. He’s lived in Mwanza for more than ten years.
My rest days in Mwanza allow me to check over the bike. Everything is running smoothly, although I notice this bottle cage needs repairing.
Which is a simple weld job here. Unlikely to break now.
I also decided to modify my front fork bags by having a tailor sew on some mesh pockets for extra storage, and add a phone pocket to my camping chair.
It’s great way to carry an extra 3-litres of water for camp showers. Strapping the shower bag onto my bike, as I was doing before, was a bit of hassle, whereas these pockets are strong and easy to access. If I really wanted to I could now carry in excess of 14 litres of water, but that won’t be necessary on this trip.
Mwanza’s population has almost doubled since I last came here, which is a scary thought. Once upon a time the city’s growth was partly attributable to the economic opportunities connected with fish in the lake. Fishing is still a big activity here, with small fish like this often transported long distances and sold in markets across the country, but dwindling stocks mean that prices have risen.
Aside from the tiny Dagaa species above, the lake’s two most dominant fish are the Nile Perch (left) which grows to enormous sizes and has decimated smaller cichlid species, and Tilapia, a large quantity of which is now grown in fish farms.
Mwanza will continue to grow rapidly in population (it’s amongst the fastest growing urban areas in Africa), although it really just feels like one large village, or a collection of villages squeezed together. After 2 weeks here I’m ready to ride out and head south.
This last video covers around 5 days as I ride into Mwanza.
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