To find general information about Tanzania ,including details of accommodation have a look at Tanzania in the country file section
| Start | Finish | Distance (Km) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanzania Border | Kasulo | 20 | The gradients get steeper as you cross the border – a 12 km continious climb and the up and down. Manageable tarmac |
| Kasulo | Nyakanazi | 45 | Up and downs continued – the road surface getting worse and worse huge potholes but manageable on the bike. Mud on the road after the rain made it very slippery. After a particularly bad patch in a steep dow hill you get to a nice flat valley. Then more ups and downs. A bit after Nyakahura a car offered me a lift – it was raining heavily and the road surface was terrible so I accepted it – my impression from the car is that the road surface seems to be getting even worse. |
| Nyakanazi | Kakonko | 44 | The road flattens but it is a dirt road – however on a bike you can go onto the tarmac road being built . The dirt road is compacted. I found it very maneageable |
| Kakonko | Kibondo | 43 | washboards for approx 13 km. Then the up and down road gets better. Other vehicles in particular buses drive fast raising huge clouds of dust |
| Kibondo | Kisogwe | 46 | An improvement on the road. Don't trust the tarmac in Kibondo it doesn't last. Big sections of washboards. |
| Kisogwe | Kitagata | 64 | The road got better with a fair amount of down hill. Clouds of dust continued |
| Kitagata | Kasulu | 40 | The ups and downs started again and with them the washboards! Look out for the small tracks on the side of the road made by other bikes – a blessing |
| Kasulu | Kidahwe | 59 | The road gets worse after leaving Kasulu but the small bike track is there – then after 12 Km the roadworks start and you can jump in the road under construction – some sections even tarmaced. 12 Km before Kidahwe is loose gravel in the new road so back on the dirt track – lots of sand. Clearly this will change very quickly as the roadwork seems to be moving at speed |
| Kidahwe | Kigoma | 29 | After a few hundred meters of dirt road you reach a roundabout in the making and join the tarmaced road. Ups and downs all the way to Kigoma |
| Kigoma | Kasanga | 0 | 'Cruise' on the MV Liemba – a magical 3 days in Lake Tanganika on the oldest passenger ferry in the world |
| Kasanga | Sumbawanga | 0 | by bus. The first section is very steep on a sandy dirt road. Then it seems to flatten out and after Matai is new tarmac all the way to Sumbawanga. They are building the road so this info will be out of date very soon |
| Sumbawanga | Mpui | 57 | Up and down on a new tarmaced road. I got a fair amount of head wind. Very little traffic. |
| Mpui | Myunga | 77 | Up and down on a new tarmaced road. Very little traffic. Head wind again |
| Myunga | Chiwanda | 58 | Up and down on a new tarmaced road. Very little traffic. Head wind getting stronger in the afternoon |
| Chiwanda | Chapwa | 38 | Good road surface to Tunduma with hard shoulder. Detour at Tunduma in bad dirt road. Then good tarmac and a nice downhill – The road has no hard shoulder. Head wind all the way to Tunduma. |
| Chapwa | Mbalazi | 76 | To begin with the road had good tarmac but a poor hard shoulder. There was more traffic on the road mainly buses – lorries and mini buses. After climbing there is a nice down hill but around the 35 Km mark the road surface becomes really bad in particular for those climbing on the other side of the road so beware of oncoming vehicles. Then from Songwe it gets better. |
| Mbalazi | Mbeya | 20 | Bad road surface and even worse hard shoulder. Some sterp climbs. The tarmac gets better better the second and after a while good hard shoulder. Head wind |
| Mbeya | Tukuyu | 73 | Heavy lorry traffic on the main road and the tarmac has big ruts. There is a hardshoulder but not brilliant. From Uyola de tarmac is much better and the climb starts gently at first and then steeper. After 17 km of climbing there is a glorious down hill but sadly the tarmac is not as good. But if you think the climbing is over you have something else coming. After a while the ups and downs start again all the way to Tukuyu |
| Tukuyu | Malawi Border | 43 | A beautiful road amongst tea plantations |
| Total days | Cycling days | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Tanzania | 27 | 19 | 846 |