Across Africa Part 4: Red roads and railways
Lake Victoria helped me escape Mwanza. When people think about the dangers of cycling solo through Africa, it’s often connected with crime and wild animals. Neither are as much of a concern as road traffic and bad driving, which is part of the reason I prefer cycling on dirt tracks.
Road infrastructure throughout much of urban Africa cannot keep pace with rapid population growth here, so main roads into and out of cities like Mwanza (there are only 2) are becoming ever busier, and far from enjoyable to cycle. Sometimes there is no other option but to ride on them for however long it takes to escape, but if there are alternative options, I’ll take them.
In the case of Mwanza, a regular 30-minute ferry journey travels back and forth between the city and what in comparison is a far quieter location on the other side of a 60km long gulf extending south from the city.
Roughly the same size as Ireland, Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake by surface area.
My route south for the following few weeks was almost entirely on dirt tracks through rural Tanzania. There are no large cities between Mwanza and the border with Zambia, 1000km away. The photos in this post predominantly follow a chronological order.
Looking back to Mwanza, and about to ride away from Lake Victoria.
Within a few kilometres I was back in rural Africa. While not urban in character, this part of Tanzania is relatively densely populated, inhabited by Tanzania’s most dominant ethnic group - the Sukuma.
The lake region of Tanzania is the most densely populated in the country. Maps showing population density are amongst the most useful kinds of maps to get an impression of how a country will be to cycle and camp in.
The land here is fertile and cultivated, predominantly with maize and rice fields.
With cattle-drawn ploughing used to till the land.
One of only 2 foreign cyclists I met during 7 months in Africa. I had met Madeg (Canadian) a year previously in Jordan.We stayed in touch, meeting a few days prior to this in Mwanza. We met again on the road and cycled a short distance together that day.
Here’s a video from those first few days leaving Mwanza.
Dates are probably the single best form of energy food a cyclist can easily carry. Wherever there is a muslim population in Tanzania (predominantly along the coast, but most large Tanzanian towns have muslim communities) you will find dates. These had been imported from Saudi Arabia, so I was quick to buy a kilo to take with me.
Another great energy food is peanut butter. Tanzania grows plenty of groundnuts, so buying fresh and pure peanut butter from markets is relatively easy.
Local medicine. Many people in Tanzania (over 60%) still use and believe in various non-western sources of medicine.
Rural red roads. The main rainy season in Tanzania is typically not until March/April, but in late January there had definitely been recent rains here.
Tent drying. Most days I would wake up with a wet tent, mostly from condensation overnight. Rather than wait for it to dry before packing it away, I would dry it when I stopped for lunch.
And lunch in Tanzania is almost always rice and beans with a soft drink, costing about $1.
Amongst the various criteria in finding a good place to camp, is one where there is a tree nearby to hang my shower bag up from.
Wild camping in this part of Tanzania is not especially easy, mostly because the land is predominantly cultivated or lived upon.
Young curiosity. New mesh pockets on the front fork bags were an excellent addition.
Reaching the railway, a branch line of one of 2 major railway lines in Tanzania.
Tanzania has just 2 main railway lines; the TAZARA, which connects the coastal city of Dar es Salaam and continues into Zambia, and the Central line, which has four branch lines running north and south. Far fewer people travel by rail than they do bus as trains are slower and less frequent. I was headed towards Mpanda.
Church camp during a heavy rain storm. If there is rain forecast or the ground is wet, I often seek out churches or schools as safe and dry places to camp, always asking permission before doing so.
No way through. The Ugalla River National Park is one of Tanzania’s lesser known and more remote parks. My map depicted this track running alongside the railway on the edge of the park, but what started as shallow water covering the track soon became shin and then knee-deep. With 30km until another settlement on the map, I decided to turn back. Perhaps in drier months this would be passable.
Fortunately the railway saved me, which was raised a metre or so above the water plains surrounding me.
And so I was able to follow the railway south on a narrow single-track beside the line.
And cross the Ugalla River later that day on this bridge.
In 1911, this part of Africa was under German control, with the central line railway being part of their colonial project.
The Ugalla River gives the national park its name. It’s only been a national park since 2019 and there are no tourist facilities here.
Out of the national park and riding south to the town of Mpanda.
The population density is lower here, but the land is covered in woodland, making it challenging to find anywhere to camp.
Fortunately I found this spot a short distance from the track.
The rainy season is approaching, but it’s possible to cycle in this part of Africa at any time of year. In fact I prefer the rainy season as the air is cleaner, the landscapes greener, and there is less dust.
Check-in. Finding budget accommodation in Tanzania is relatively easy, with rooms in most places costing £3-10 per night.
Market in Mpanda.
Picking up some local honey.
South from Mpanda and its back into another national park.
Katavi National Park is also seldom-visited, but popular amongst tsetse flies, which can quite easily bite through clothes.
Camping in Katavi National Park. A peaceful night, but I was close to a river full of hippos so it wasn’t the most relaxing of locations.
Nice to see some mountains again. Western Tanzania is short of them.
Despite repairing the thermarest, it still continued to semi-deflate overnight, and I couldn’t find any air bubbles when it was inflated and held underwater.
A place that had been on my list in Tanzania for a number of years. Kalambo Falls mark the border between Tanzania and Zambia.
Zambia to the left of the river and Tanzania to the right.
At 235m in height, Kalambo Falls are amongst the highest in Africa. Well worth the hike to get here.
Nearby the falls and my last night in Tanzania. The local guest house was not appealing at all, so I much preferred the option of finding a church and asking permission to sleep inside.
Despite this tent not being freestanding, it is rarely an issue to stake out the bottom corners, which is required with such a design. The MSR Freelite 2P weighs almost exactly 1kg, which is 700g lighter than the more popular Hubba Hubba model. While the latter is stronger and more durable, both are effectively 3-season tents and perfect for camping in Africa and other hot places.
Church company. The church caretaker and some kids came to say bye the next morning.
Another great lake. Lake Tanganyika is the world’s second deepest (1470m), with its 675km-long shoreline shared by 4 countries (Tanzania, Zambia, DRC and Burundi).
Beautifully blue. The plan was to find a boat that could take me from Tanzania a short distance across the lake to Zambia.
One of the first things I noticed on approaching the shoreline was that its level has risen. This is true amongst many rift valley lakes throughout east Africa over the past few decades. Increased rainfall, plus tectonic movements have both been attributed to rising water levels.
On the hunt for a boat going to Zambia. There is no official timetable or schedule of passenger boats travelling on the lake, but as many lakeside villages have no road access, boats are commonly used to transport people and cargo up and down the lake. Finding a boat leaving to Zambia wasn’t difficult, and fortunately there was one leaving later on the same day.
Aside from some corrugated iron roofing and the odd small solar panel, lakeside villages such as this haven’t changed much at all over the last century. There is no electricity supply and mobile phone network is often weak.
The journey to Zambia was broken up over two days, stopping at several lakeside villages to drop off and pick up passengers.
I hadn’t cycled in Zambia before, and only briefly visited when travelling in Africa many years ago. First I would need to visit the immigration office and explain I’d just arrived by a small boat!
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