Day Two - Olpopongi to Arusha

OMG what an incredible day!  Well I can say that now that it is all over! We started our day at 7.15 and cycled 20km on sand, some of which was about 4 inches deep and almost impossible to get through without walking! Then we had 15km uphill on an extremely rough track - all of this took about three hours which was much longer than planned! After a break for lunch we then hit the Tarmac which we would now be on for about 45km but the first 15 km were up a long and steep hill (with no flat breathing parts) and really tested us all after our morning!

By the time we set off for the last 30km which were downhill and flat and therefore actually really rather fun and meant we could lift our heads up and look at the scenery, the sun was sinking fast and the chances of reaching the campsite before dark looked very unlikely but that didn't stop them.   To cut a long story short it ended up that about half the group, after navigating our way through potholes and rocks on what we thought was the path to the camp, ended up cycling on a main road for half an hour in the pitch black with no lights following one of our support vehicles to show us the way. Pretty scary really but we made it and can laugh about it now!

The whole day was cycling around Mt Meru trying to spot wild animals but basically there were only gots, cows and a rabbit! I did finally spot a few gazelle in the distance when we had stopped for lunch. The area is stunning and the farms really cute. Most of the locals remained entertained by us but a few were less thrilled with our presence!

As I said an amazing day but not one I wish to repeat again too soon!

82km