Tanzania, from october 5 2003 until february 9 2004

Jolting until you pee blood...
… and the road becomes something made out of pebbles, rocks, sand, dust and potholes. This is hard terrain. With headwinds and an excess supply of water our speed sinks beneath ten kilometres per hour. We bump from....READ ON >>

Puncture-avalanche at Lake Balangida Lelu
We are getting insane and very tired by now. With the largest stickers we have we seal the umpteenth wear-mark and still are unable to find the cause. Half-way through the afternoon, we left Singida six hours ago, we've only managed to cycle 35 kilometres....READ ON >>

And now for something completely different.....
Therefor the internet is a fantastic medium, as far as I am concerned. Every time we arrive in a place with an internet cafe I'd rather go there first to check our e-mail. even before washing and changing clothes....READ ON >>

The great wonder
To express our wonder we filed a number of amazing things and categorised them. The first category are the astonished looks. The second category is where we listen open-mouthed and the third category ....READ ON >>

The Superior Striptease Show
We see how just before sunset ….. performs a perfect striptease. After having removed her grey skirt and blouse, she - with a dashing move - lets her knickers and lace bra vanish into thin air. Aaahhh....READ ON >>

The mother of all battles
"But it's very cheap!"
"Yeah, for you it is, not for us wazungu," Peter answers quite grim.
"C'mon, you have to do it now you're here. You can't leave without going there."
"Oh yes, we can. Hakuna matata, we're not crazy. At least, not crazy enough."
"I will really make you a very special price, so you'll never forget me."
....READ ON >>

Titanic: the end or the other side
Sighing we unload our bicycles and carry our things in the small Titanic. When the rickety boat, loaded with twenty people, eight bicycles and a lot of cargo, to our opinion has more than enough draught, we....READ ON >>

Getting lost, a thief in the night, scratching and typfus
Two hours later we're taking a bucket-shower at our guesthouse and discover our newest abnormality: under our swimsuits both our skins crawl with red pimples. In the following days these start itching and move to breast, back and shoulders. What is it we have now? ....READ ON >>

A marvellous holiday
At a metre and a half we can see every detail: eyes, fins, marks and tail. They play together, chase, dive and head for the surface like torpedo's. We hear them 'talk' with high beeping sounds and see them relieve themselves ....READ ON >>

A hot Christmas and dead-quiet new year's eve
Exactly at midnight we're sitting outside on the terrace of our guesthouse, the church-clocks ring, a couple of children run through the street. For the rest it's dead-quiet. We look at each other, completely flabbergasted ....READ ON >>

Frank van Rijn can be proud of us (part 1)
In the following descent I take a very hard fall. My handle-bars turn back to front and my right leg gets caught between frame and wheel. Screaming with pain and exhaustion ....READ ON >>

Frank van Rijn can be proud of us (part 2)
Like a tremendous growing monster the lovely streams within minutes change into a wide, red-brown river. The road has gone. What we would never call a road in the Netherlands, but a sandy path, and is called the A19 here in Tanzania, has changed into a churning river. Cycling is impossible....READ ON >>

Frank van Rijn can be proud of us (part 3)
The road is hilly and stays bad. The temperature changes between 30 and 34 degrees Celsius in the shade. During a break we discover the smallest frog in the world: the size of a pink-nail. Just before that we saw some giant snails cross the road. Unfortunately the mango-trees are empty already. We near the cashew-tree region, nice as well. ....READ ON >>

Malarial mosquito bite
For Peter it's incredible to see his partner like this, it's like seeing a demented old woman. He worries more and more, about the effects of the medicine, the progress of the illness and the lack of improvement. Where ....READ ON >>