Hi. I had hoped to update the blog from Entebbe but the internet was down.

We r now waiting to board the flight to UK. Yesterday we drove to Entebbe, dropping K+T at the bus station. They had a 15 hour overnight bus trip to Nairobi and should have arrived by now. Their flight is Monday.

We arrive 4 pm + hope to be home by around 10 tonight ready for work on Mon! We plan to get some more photos on the web and an account in the next few days.

Thanks for your interest,
Ewan

(text sent from Ewan)

Had a fun day in park with game drives and 2hr boat trip. Saw alot of animals and birds, especially from the boat.

Now staying in a rustic camp in the bush, overlooking water. Can see hipo coming out of water to feed.

Tomorrow drive 2 near airport, fly early Sun.

Ewan

(text sent by Ewan)

K and T eventually got back late am, covered in dust, having had a great time in the forest. They cycled back on very rough roads.

We travelled up to a gamepark where we will go in the am.

Ewan

(text sent from Ewan)

Sorry 4 gap. Network problems.

Yesterday Tom + Kate went out on community clinic with Mo + others. Found it fascinating seeing challenges of delivering mental health care in rural Uganda.

They also really enjoyed seeing traditional singing, dancing and drama.

I stayed at the hospital and was able to fix some bits of equipment.

Late afternoon I went for a blast up the dirt road on my bike to get the legs moving – came back with a broad grin!

Today K+T went off on a trip on their bikes – and missed the road they wanted.

They have ended up staying where they planned to visit as was too late to get back.

We plan to leave tomorrow morning, but will see when they arrive. We have done bits of work around the hospital. Jim’s and my bike are sadly packed, ready 4 the journey.

Ewan

(text update for the blog from Kate and Tom)

Still can’t believe the amazing welcome we had on arrival yesterday. Singing, dancing, drumming … made the 5 compulsory ‘celebratory laps’ of the (extremely bumpy) sports field much easier.

Glad to have had a day away from the bikes today to rest sore muscles and learn how to walk again!

Tom can’t stop eating (even more so than usual) but otherwise we are recovering nicely and even planning a bike ride the day after tomorrow….!!!

Kisiizi is beautiful and we already feel part of the community here. We are going on a visit tomorrow with the mental health team to see for ourselves what we have been raising money for.

Thanks again to everyone who has donated.

(text sent through from Ewan)

Had a good ride today. Bowled down the tar road to the turn off. The bikers had set off in the moon light to be there in time. We took a while to find each other.

We then cycled together to the hospital where we had a true african welcome with speeches and dancing. An excellent trip.

Ewan

(Sent via text message)

Good run down tar road to Ntungamo. Traffic mostly considerate and not heavy. All feeling fitter and not really ready to stop but will be good to see family.

Road was well contoured through hills but older. Edge more broken so less easy to get on and off. Still warm and dry which suits us. Sunday 10am meet bikers.

Ewan

Bliss! I have just had a swim in a pool at this luxury hotel on the outskirts of Mbarara, which also has a much faster internet connection, so we have uploaded some photos.  Tom and Katy found it last night.  The pool feels so good and gets some other muscles moving as well.  It has set me up nicely for today, which feels as though it is going to be hot.

We ate well last night and this morning we actually had toast with peanut butter, honey and or jam.  what luxuries.  

On the way here we did some shopping and found a bakery with sausage roles, and jam donuts, so we should eat well today.  I left one of my cycling gloves there, which is irritating.  WE go past there to get back on our route so I will see if I can find it.

Mo says the cyclists from Kisiizi have been practicing and can do the trip in an hour.  If the distance is right on the map we are going to be struggling to keep up with them.

We now reached 71% of our target. Brilliant.  There are still some friends who have said they will donate, so it will keep increasing.  Thank you.

Ewan 

Greetings from Mbarara, a bustling university town we reached today after covering 43 miles at a good pace.

We stayed in a very pleasant hotel in Ibanda last night – quiet, with working electricity and warm showers.  The food was good as well.  We are learning to order when we arrive in a hotel so we don’t have to wait for ages while it is cooked.

We had a more leisurely start this morning – breakfast wasn’t till 8 and we did the bike maintenance afterwards, rather than the previous evening as we have other days.  The bikes are running well but everything was covered in dust and the dust absorbs the oil so the chain and gears don’t run smoothly.

We stocked up with water from a shop. Fortunately it is widely available, even in small villages.  It takes about 7 litres to fill all our bottles, and as you gather we get through it during the day and have to refill in villages.

we started with a long down hill out of Ibanda on tar, which was a good way to start.  We were all a bit tired after yesterday, but we set a fairly good pace.  On tar we ride as quite a tight lie of 4 to get the benefit of slipstreaming.  It really does make a difference to the amount of effort you have to put in.  We swap leaders regularly.

Tom spotted some avocados on a roadside stall and we bought a couple for about 10p, then stopped by some rocks, which we sat on to eat them – they were great.

The terrain gradually flattened out so we began to get wider vistas of the African plain with hazy blue hills in the distance.

About midday we stopped again for a snack.  We had some sweet buns and I had a couple of tins of mackerel fillets in tomato sauce, as emergency rations for the previous evening . unconventional but very tasty.  You will gather that food is important when you are doing daft things like this. – our bodies are still catching up with the demands from yesterday.

The traffic hasn’t been bad and the roads are wide enough that we haven’t had problems.

On down the tar to Mbarara.  We have found nice hotel in the back roads which should be quiet.  We sat in its garden for a late lunch and catching up on fluids.  The food was the best we have had and we have ordered  Fish tikka masala for tonight.  remains to be seen what it is like.

Tomorrow is Katy’s birthday.  Not quite sure how we will be able to mark it.

We have opted to take the more direct route tomorrow.  There were quite a few unknowns about the other route and we hope the road isn’t too busy.  We tried a bit of it and is seemed okay, but we will be on for several hours as it a bit over 40 miles again.

Thank you for your interest and support.  We have now reached 69% of the target.

Thanks to Ed Lamb for uploading my txts. Not sure when I will next have access to the internet.

Ewan

(sent via text message from Ewan in Uganda)

Dusty & tired but elated to have arrived in Ibanda with less than 1hr of light left. Tom says its the hardest physical challenge he’s done.

Parts of the road were rough, corrugated, or like a forest track – stony, sandy or potholed. It was hot – over 30C? Each drank over 4 litres of water. K And T bought a picnic lunch which was good.

Weary and saddle sore after the 72 miles, it should be quieter tonight. Only 40 miles tomorrow, so a more relaxed start.

Ewan

 

Tom and Kate update:

This was a very hard day, parts of my body are sore that I didn’t even know existed! (When you buy cycle shorts why don’t people tell you not to wear underwear too!!!??? SOME chafing…) The road was endlessly hilly and for a fenlander that isn’t a comfortable environment. Admittedly going down hill was fun, and there were glimmers of good surfaces, especially at the start and about 3/4 of the way through. 

Distance: 72.39

Max speed: 35mph

Calories: 2165.5

Time: 07.23.26

Av speed: 9.7 mph