Rumonge to Mabara - Day 327

Date: July 11th, 2010
Distance: 74km
Country: Burundi
Song of the Day: Around the World - Red Hot Chili Peppers

The morning started out with some nice cruising along the lake. The road here is generally pretty good. There are a few sections where the pavement is torn up, but for the most part it is great. I am still hitting a headwind, but what can you expect, right?

Lake Tanganyika was looking really great today. I still couldn't see the far side of it. The water was just dazzling in the sunlight. Right at the shoreline it was clear. Then it went to the turquoise of pack ice. Finally it ended up at the dark blue of deep water. It is Africa's deepest lake after all. I also took the opportunity to take a swim in the lake. Man it felt great to swim in those clear waters.

I stopped for lunch in the town of Nyanza. There was a mom in there with a small baby. In Africa, babies are passed around more freely than joints at Matthew McConaughey's house. So I got to hold the little guy for a bit. Cute kid.

I also stopped for some banana juice. Still more ways for the people to use up all the bananas they have. It is hard to find, but really refreshing. Just look for the ladies with plastic buckets and little plastic cups. You can get a cup for $.05 or so. You might have to accept that it isn't the most sanitary though. There was a dead bee floating in the bucket. Still, I figured a bee is better than flies.

After Nyanza, it was awful. Actually, the first 12km out of town weren't so bad. Just a little up hill. That was followed by 8km of brutal uphill. At least it was paved. I had to push my bike at least half of that distance. Still, I made it to the top and felt good for that.

I found a place to stay in Mabara but they said they didn't have a TV. I really wanted to see the world cup final. I ended up wandering around the town for quite a while. Usually to shouts of "Mzungu, Mzungu". I was really glad when it got dark and people couldn't see me as well. I did pick up and erzats guide. He was just a guy who wanted to help, but he hadn't a clue what I wanted, and didn't really understand english. Basically it was a guy following me around and pointing out things I could buy. Finally I got him to leave and I was able to find a restaurant where I could eat in peace.

Later I did find a place that had the football match on. It was Spain vs. The Netherlands. I didn't really think it was all that exciting. Neither team seemed to be playing that well either. After the regular time was up, I decided to head back to the guest house. When I got back they had pulled a TV from somewhere and were watching the game. So I watched the overtime. Again, I didn't think they were playing that great. Spain did get a goal in right at then end of overtime. So they won the match 1-0.

-Dravis