5 o'clock alarm on day two for 5:50 breakfast, and then set off at 6:30.
We were sad to leave the Maasai place where we stayed last night, it was quite the most extraordinary experience. After I wrote the blog in the afternoon, we had been serenaded into the estate by the Maasai warriors and the wives in a choir.
We then ‘drank blood’ and entered, then we were shown to our rooms, which are traditional Masai huts, and then we were quickly whisked out for a walk around the surrounding area to see how the Maasai live, the plants that they use, how they keep cattle, all of that type of stuff.
Immediately following that, we went to the fire pit where they were starting a bonfire, and then they took us to practise spear throwing like they used to kill lions in the old days.
We then danced on the sacred hill with the Maasai guys and had a beer, and then came back down to the fire, which was roaring and ate barbecue in the fire and heard stories about how the Maasai lived under traditions, totally unexpected and absolutely extraordinary.
We then had dinner, and then everybody hit the sack. I was asleep by 9:30 and gone.
And so the early start for a much bigger day, about 80 kilometres today, but a lot of it on really hellish rocky roads. So hard work and into the heat in the afternoon. After that, we went on to a main road, and we were well pleased by the gates, but we travelled way up hills, high up on the main tarmac. Before we finally came downhill and stopped for lunch at about 2 p.m.
During that time, something had happened to the pedals that I brought with me, and one of the screws had rattled loose, and so then I hit the big mechanical now, where I can't unclip my shoe from the pedal. I had to manage my way back and then undo everything and try to deconstruct and reconstruct my pedal (not sure I've done it very well). Tomorrow will tell.
Together with that, I've got a massive black toe from where I whacked a rock in yesterday's ride that's only just come up, and so these are the things that come with these adventures.
Again, we passed through settlements, which are a crazy mix of everything life could possibly offer, with some fancy bits and some shacks, everybody living together, a cacophony of noise and colour and smell.
Everywhere we go, the children shout, they sing, they say hello, and they wave their hands. Some of them, when we're going slower, the little ones come and ask for money. We're not supposed to give them money according to the guides, and so we don't, but it feels hard not to chuck a pound to these little kids who have absolutely nothing but are the happiest people in the world.
It's an extraordinary experience, otherworldly, unlike anything I've ever seen before, but as always, and in these last blogs, we're here for the money.
We're at £57,000, almost 58, but we've set ourselves a target as a group to get to £70,000 donated by the end of the week, and so I'll put the link here again, just in case you missed it, or just in case you might know someone who might use it.
Keep updated, see you tomorrow if I've got Wi Fi.
Thanks.
As a little aside, also, the guys I cycle with on a Sunday are called Squirrel Vello Club (SVC) - don't ask!
One of the things we do when we travel around is that we get issued some stickers by Oliver, who's one of the leaders, and we place them in places in different countries if we're there on our bikes.
And so, a little sub quest I have in the middle of this quest to raise as much money for Bridge2Aid as I can, is to stick the stickers on signs.
I asked Whitey, our guiding lead, if it was OK today, and so I stuck it on a sign, took a photograph, as I'll do every day that I'm here in the vain hope that somebody from SVC will end up passing by later and be able to take a photograph beside the stickers (I will show them where they are).
Blog Post Number - 4429
Colin Campbell, Chris Barrow, and an intrepid group of dentists will be cycling across the plains of Tanzania from Kilimanjaro in early February 2026. If you would like to support the charity, Bridge to Aid, and this extraordinary challenge, please click here.
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