Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - Polarsteps

Full disclosure: for a myriad of reasons, we didn't cycle between Kigali and the Zambian border. It doesn't feel like a cheat, partly because getting to Dar Es Salaam on a series of buses with the bikes and baggage was 1000% times more complicated, stressful and difficult than biking it would have been. The train from Dar to Zambia was a delight, just 20 hours behind schedule and it broke down in the middle of nowhere where, as we sat there, a wildfire slowly spread past us beside the tracks. We picked up Abril, an absolute rockstar solo cyclist from Mexico (her trip is very worth following on Instagram at @abrilviajaenbici); we were eventually separated by visa and passport issues that took her back to Nairobi, but in the meantime we had a train ride, a week of cycling and wild-camping in northern Zambia, a WWOOFing gig in Kasama, and another train ride, an impromptu throwing-everything-in-a-mutatu, and a hostel stay in Lusaka together (full disclosure: we also took transport from Kasama to Lusaka. Timing was a concern, the rainy season was catching up with us, Abril had to catch a flight, and I was having a painful recovery from malaria. Also an adventure in itself; photos from camping on a train platform to follow.)

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Tanzania