Day 321 Mozambique 19/09/2011, Changara – Guro rest-house, Guro. 46.04miles/73.75km 5hr14minutes, Av 8.8mph.

One year ago today that two inexperienced cyclists rode out of the driveway bound for South Africa. Yes I know that we have been home in the meantime, but it is still a bit of a milestone!

Having slept pretty well we loaded up and were on the road by about 8am. Our first stop was in the town, where we grabbed some supplies for the road. So far we are managing fine with only a little Portuguese. It certainly helps that the locals are really friendly and willing to help.

Today was a tough one on the road. The wind had dropped during the night and with no cooling breeze it was extremely hot going. I seemed to be suffering from general lethargy and the road seemed to climb continually. I am sure that it wasn't actually that steep, but the heat sapped all the strength from both of our legs.

The stretch of road that we were on today was very beautiful but shy of many villages and people. Instead we had the huge lorries for company, one of which was laying on its side. It is difficult to see how the drivers manage to tip their trucks over on what has been a fairly straight road. Since arriving in Mozambique we have seen at least five, clearly speed and lack of driver skill must take some of the blame.

On a lighter note with the lorries, we saw a huge truck towing a flat bed trailer and on it was one goat tied up. We couldn't help but think that it may have been overkill; the goat looked amused as well as it watched the scenery rushing past.

Less welcome company today were the flies. A quick blast down a hill was enough to leave them behind, but these were few and far between. Instead we had to resort to waving our arms around at them wildly or else just ignore them. Fortunately they only tended to be in certain areas, so we didn't have their company all day.

Eventually and with tired limbs we rolled into the town of Guro in search of the promised guest-house. When we arrived outside it didn't look terribly promising, but the room has turned out to be alright. We are situated round a little garden courtyard, which hopefully will block some of the noise from the road and bar. Talking of which, that's where we are off to now for a well deserved beer!