The great misnomer.
Rest days should be renamed life admin days.
We did have a nice lie in. And breakfast included toast! We eat alot of bread on the tour, but there is no access to a toaster. Just last week I was wondering how long it had been since I had had a piece of toast, and today my desires were rewarded. I also enjoyed the paper over breakfast - the African Guardian. There were some really interesting articles, things we just take for granted. Like having toilets at school. I will put some of the articles on, incase they are of interest.
They are not in order.
There was a bit of a crew of us at Peace of Mind - Alex, Ryan, Mitch, Leesa, David and I. It was nice to have a small group, and we had some good breakfast conversation. At a table. in the dry. Not wearing lycra.
Then life admin began. Time to clean the bikes. Walked up to the hotel. I think I have torn part of the muscle in my medial upper calf. It has been tight since the Omo Valley, and last night I stepped down off the bath rim (having hung my newly cleaned jacket up to dry) and overstretched it. Acute pain ensued. And difficulty walking. It has hindered me all day. I took some Neurofen this eve and it has improved, not sure if its the drugs or time. I had been on the lookout for a carwash and someone to clean my bike, on the walk to the hotel, but to no avail. On arrival everyone was hard at work.
Laundry was airing, bikes upside down, tyres being changed back to slicks, frames being scrubbed, and the lunch and dinner trucks were also having a wash.
A hose pipe! It was really nice to give my bike some TLC. I cleaned every nook and cranny you can get too. Still some sand and dirt staining, but after 2hours I was content. I hobbled off to the bakery. Throughout the morning riders had been returning to camp with various baked goods.
300m up the road was a Westernised bakery, selling donuts,muffins, cake, and Tanzania treats too. I tried some Tanzanian savoury dough ball and continued my walk. I had read about The Ridge Cafe - sanctuary and familiarity within the adventure.
It was all I wanted and more. It had a chalkboard with coffees and prices, paninis, salads, chocolate cake, and carrot cake. I treated myself to cappuccino and carrot cake. And sat in the window to write by blog.
The rain had started again, it was fun to watch life on the street below. The cafe had sleek wooden floors,and wouldn't have been out of place at home. Infact it was nicer than some in NZ.
All too soon I had to return to the hotel. We have two bags- a permanent and a day bag. We only have access to the permanent bag on rest days, and it has to be returned by 5pm the evening before we leave. In reality this means you have access to 'rest day clothes' and other goods for about 24hours (if there's only one rest day). And it means by the time you have sorted your bike and washing, you only have a few hours of the day to 'rest'. It is a shame as it means you can't do much else on rest days...but we are on a cycle expedition, not sightseeing holiday! Apparently.
After dropping the bags, David and I made our way back to the hotel, via a dinner stop.
I feel I have eaten junk food all day but managed to find space for a 'meat chop'. Apparently this is a Tanzanian winter specialty. You can also get Egg Chops. It turned out it was a deep fried meat patty, the egg chop looks abit like a deep fried scotch egg. Our dinner spot (we were there yeaterday) is a bizarre fast food cafe/shop. The shop has the biggest collection of chocolate bars I have seen since atleast Cairo, and raisins!
Was hoping for an early night tonight, but alas not the case. Tomorrow we cross to Malawi. Not sure what to expect, but think it will be a lot poorer than Tanzania, and potentially the friendly hassle free interest from the locals will be replaced by cries for money and pens again? A long day, another 160km plus, border crossing at about 100 too. But only two days to next rest day, and another country down! Looking forward to seeing family and Maisy again, not sure if novelty of reality will be short lived though. Enjoy it all while it lasts :)
