17 May: Kimana -> Marangu, Tanzania

Distance: 87 km

Time: 6:12

Elevation: 1621 m

Ave speed: 14.1 km/hr

Max speed:51.7 km/hr

We were up before sunrise, drinking coffee and listening to the loud roaring sound of elephants trumpeting. As we rode out we saw eland, gazelles, a baby giraffe and the herd of ellies we heard over breakfast. Feeling a bit uneasy on our bikes surrounded by the herd with one ellie that had the most gorgeous biggest tusker I have ever seen. It was a little bit scary but just being with these beautiful animals, sitting quietly watching them. It was so amazing, not once did I feel threatened. We bumped into a guard nearby who actually said that that big boys name is Tim - how funny! We got onto the main road and boy, did we kak off. Into the wind, at a slight incline and now a cold, but soft drizzling rain - just to top it off. This went on for 30 km. We should've seen Kili on our right but because of the terrible weather, we could barely see just what was in front of us.

After climbing up these rolling hills, swearing, tired and hungry, the support team were waiting for us with leftover curry. With a bit of a rest and some food in our tummies, we headed straight for the Tanzanian Border Post. The crossing went quickly and smoothly, it was so quiet, we were actually the only people. Once we got through and were into Tanzania, after cycling 250 km without any whipe-outs, the first person to fall, me, I was stationary on my bike, right in front of the "Welcome" sign, I just toppled over onto gravel, grazed my shoulder and my legs. OUCH! We were now on the side of the mountain, what felt like climbing Kili, the scenery changed to a tropical environment with fields of banana trees and a rain cloud over us. It's stunning and so green with rustic villages. The most incredible thing is that literally over the border the environment changed from dry, rocky, open lands to green tropics. The hills just kept on coming and the downhills never lasted long enough. We climbed a total of 1621 m. My knee throbbing with pain, I was determined to complete today. We ended up in Marangu, aiming for Coffee Tree Camp which we did'nt know at the time, was up AN EXTREMELY steep hill that only Chris with his strength and determination, cycled up. As we go through all these tiny villages, there is always at least one or two stunning churches, such big buildings with great architecture - so unusual to see when you going through these areas.

We arrived to this garden of eden, beautiful lawns for our tents. As we got our camp up, it started raining....and raining...theres a communal kitchenette under a roof where mom cooked spag-bol, we were able to keep dry and eat a delicious warm meal. Despite the rain, we sitting in the most beautiful area, ontop of the mountain sitting a rain cloud.