Today was mostly a move day as well.  We were planning to take the bus within 48 km of Mombo, then get on the bikes and ride the rest of the way.  It didn’t quite work that way.  First we got off to a later start than we wanted.  Then there was the traffic in Dar.  And finally there was the rain.  In short we wimped out and took the bus all the way to Mombo.

It was nice to take the bus out of Dar.  It would have been very difficult and stressful to  fight the traffic riding out of Dar.  In our nice air conditioned bus we just sat back and watched the scenery change.  After the heat yesterday the air conditioned bus was a real treat.  It felt very nice to get out into the countryside.  We passed through lots of little small villages.  I was impressed by how much improvement there was in the last eleven years.  The road was in excellent condition except in the places where it was under active construction.  There was also a lot more heavy equipment used than what we saw eleven years ago.

As we approached Mombo I was reminded how beautiful this country is.  Mombo is right at the foot of the Usambara.  Our hotel is actually about 20 km outside of Mombo – and a very nice hotel it is.  Tomorrow we will have about 20 km of flat riding to Mombo then up the hill.  It is not that steep (around 6% prevailing grade) but it is pretty persistent for 17 km.  One significant change from the trip plan: our gear will be transported up the hill for us.  I tried to convince everyone that we should turn down the offer and ride with full gear just to show that we could.  That one didn’t sell well at all .  It will be good to visit the Usambara again.