How a Tanzanian lady, husband biked to 42 countries

During their conversation, he turned to Anna and expressed his desire for her to accompany him on the journey—a request she initially found odd.

Still, she agreed as a way to keep the conversation going.

They went ahead and calculated the amount of money they would need to save to accomplish such a challenging expedition and jotted it down on a piece of paper.

Anna didn’t imagine the wild dream could be a reality, but that trip would later manifest.

The couple tied the knot and, on their wedding day, purchased the motorbike that would carry them through the piercing cold of Iran, the oil fields of Alaska, and the rough terrains around the world.

When they got serious about the trip, they decided to ride the motorbike from Dar es Salaam to Tabora and see how they would fare on the long journey.

Patrick, who worked at Grumeti in Serengeti, is familiar with riding in Tanzania, and they knew the trial trip to Tabora would give them an idea of what lies ahead.

As they prepared for their journey, they decided to resign from their jobs and inform their parents of their intentions.

With the money they had saved, the couple left Tanzania, heading first to the Kenyan border and then to Uganda, eventually returning to Tanzania through the historic town of Kigoma.

They wanted to see Lake Tanganyika, for they had never seen the longest freshwater lake in the world.

They left Tanzania and biked to Zambia. Through the humongous potholes and thick bushes, the couple held on tight.

The breakdowns were unavoidable in such terrain, but they made it to Zimbabwe, rode south to the border, stamped their passports, and entered South Africa.

Patrick, who had been riding all his life, was cautious of his wife during this long journey.

Oftentimes, he would remind her to speak up if they needed to take a rest.

“He said if it was up to him, he could ride the whole day,” Anna said, laughing.

In Cape Town, they would board a plane, taking their bikes with them to Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina.

From the capital, they got on their bikes and rode to the resort town of Ushuaia, often referred to as the southernmost town in the world.

The ride to Ushuaia is popular with most bikers, but it is also one of the most difficult and windy routes. Motorbikes are swept from one lane to another.

Unfortunately, Anna and Patrick didn’t have warm enough clothes to protect them against the sudden change in the weather, and frustration started creeping in.

“I started thinking, Why am I here? No one is holding a gun to my head; I can just go back,” she thought.

They would later get windbreakers and jackets to shield them from the biting cold.

The couple would later go to North America, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

From there, they mounted their Tanzanian-registered motorbike, headed to Vancouver in Canada, and shipped their bike to Southeast Asia in Malaysia.

Crossing Iran was again a surmountable task they faced during this expedition.

The weather was brutal, and the sandstorm was nonstop, causing poor visibility.

One could hardly see a few feet in front and they had to endure it for five hours.

Unlike Anna, who had a Tanzanian passport and was free to roam wherever she wanted, Patrick, being a British passport holder, was not allowed to travel freely, so Iranian officials had to escort him all through their time in Iran.

For the five hours of the sandstorm, Anna was riding in the escort car, watching helplessly as her husband was manoeuvring through the sandstorm.

“I have never prayed for my husband as much as I have prayed for him on this trip,” she remembered.

The humanity of the people of Iran was heartwarming. Trucks would stand by the roadside and shield Patrick’s bike from the strong winds, which greatly helped him make it through.

The worst was not over when they reached Turkey.

The temperature dropped to -7 degrees, and the bitter cold was more than Alaska.

Anna’s teeth trembled in the harsh winter cold.

At this point, Anna thought of giving up on the crazy idea and just getting on a flight back home.

To their surprise, they came across a guy on a bicycle travelling across Europe on his return to Paris.

Anna’s jaw dropped upon seeing this guy using his legs as the engine, powering through the biting cold.

This gave her a little bit of courage and hope to persevere further.

Throughout the painstaking ride across the countries, Anna was mesmerised by the scenic allure of Peru and Argentina.

She says the breathtaking landscape of these countries will leave anyone in awe.

This trip took Anna back to the United States, where she went to college.

They travelled through several southern states and went to Iowa to visit her college.

One of the upsides of this journey was that it helped tremendously in bringing them even closer and strengthening their bond.

The petty issues that would bother them in their relationship would later look like anthills next to the surmountable challenges they faced along the way that they solved together.

The life lessons they learned from the people they met along the way altered their perspective on life, and they are glad they are young enough to apply the lessons they learned.

“One thing we learned is that the more you know, the less you know,” she said.

Anna insisted that there is so much more to the people, and one has to separate the politics from the people.

“We met amazing people in Iran and Pakistan. When you hear countries get a bad reputation, don’t assume the people are bad; we were amazed by the generosity and love from the people,” she said.

After two years on the road and taking breaks here and there, the couple had travelled to 42 countries around the world.

When they got to the United Kingdom, they had to take time off for Patrick to go and visit his family, whom he hadn’t seen in a while since moving to Tanzania 18 years ago.

As a young boy, Patrick’s mom would read him a book ‘chasing Jupiter’ by Ted Simmons, a contemporary fiction novel about a young boy who embarks on a journey of self-discovery, and now Patrick has lived it.

The motorbike is parked in the UK, and Patrick and Anna are already dreaming of the next phase of their trip, which would be riding the bike back home to Tanzania.

This experience has granted Anna a rare insight into the global tourism industry, and she firmly believes that Tanzania can enhance its position as a tourism powerhouse.

She suggests that Tanzania should accommodate people from all financial brackets, from low-budget travellers to luxurious vacation seekers, so that more people can come to the country.

Also, we should improve the amenities for campers, this will attract more travellers who seek to stay in open spaces and close to nature.