The Third World as seen from the saddle – 16th of June 2019. The Old Legs Tour – pedaling from Harare to Mt Kilimanjaro to raise money and awareness for Zimbabwe’ pensioners. The Swahili phrase Pole Pole means slowly slowly. It was first coined by a cyclist, on his way up up up the Kitulo... Read More

The weather has reverted to the usual dry sunshine around here. But a few days ago, there was another snow storm on the trail. I hiked close enough to the next town – Wrightwood, California – that I would arrive the day of the storm, walking only a few hours in the snow. As I... Read More

The Third World as seen from the saddle – 1st of June 2019. The Old Legs Tour – pedaling from Harare to Mt Kilimanjaro to raise money and awareness for Zimbabwe’s pensioners. Finally, after months and months of training and preparations, the Old Legs Tour to Mt Kilimanjaro is underway. And what a send-off we... Read More

The Pacific Crest Trail has a reputation as a dry trail. About a week’s worth of rain usually falls on a thru-hiker, over the course of five or six months. Well, it’s been two weeks of the PCT and there have already been six days of rain. Even more surprisingly, it’s been cold and windy... Read More

The Old Legs Tour – pedalling from Harare to Mt Kilimanjaro to raise money and awareness for Zimbabwe’s pensioners. The Third World as seen from the saddle – 22nd of May 2019. I labored on my way to last week’s training ride with the herd and arrived at 6.30 start line 5 minutes late. At... Read More

The map shows the whole of the Pacific Crest Trail. The arrow shows how far Mike has walked. He is currently at Big Bear Lake right on the bend of the trail. The following is his latest blog: As with the Appalachian Trail, the PCT has Trail Angels. Various groups of volunteers make sure that... Read More

The Pacific Crest trail begins next to the US-Mexico border, a few strides and you could touch the barrier. The country is mountainous desert here: low-lying spiny bushes, dry grasses and a variety of cacti. More cacti than I knew there were, and each with a distinct flower. The towering white ones stand over the... Read More

Two weeks ago, one of the ZANE helpers, Jane*, was going away on leave and asked us to keep an eye on Felicity* who is 82. She has lived in Trafalgar Court, an old block of flats in Harare, for many years. The lift has not worked in that building for as long as we... Read More

Mike, it seems, is joining the elite group of totally InZANErs on a nearly permanent basis! Having completed the Appalachian Trail last year, he has decided to take on the Pacific Crest Trail for 2019. The trail starts on the US border with Mexico just south of Campo, California traversing the Colorado desert before ascending... Read More

The Old Legs Tour – pedalling from Harare to Mt Kilimanjaro to raise money and awareness for Zimbabwe’s pensioners. To prepare for the ride to Mt Kilimanjaro, now just 3 months away, Adam spends time on dodgy internet sites like www saddle sore bottom dot com and www pain wears black Lycra dot com. He... Read More

Dear Family and Friends, When a couple of dozen bees scouted out a route under my roof and into my ceiling this week I fiddled around blocking holes with bits of newspaper and the odd squirt from a tin of fly spray but then the main swarm of thousands arrived and I knew I had... Read More

The Old Legs Tour – pedalling from Harare to Mt Kilimanjaro to raise and awareness for Zimbabwe’s pensioners. A lifetime ago I had a Staffy Terrier who didn’t answer to the name Fred, especially when she was chasing something, which was almost always. Fred was in hot pursuit of a too fast duiker on the... Read More