Update on Martin's bike. The cam tensioner has had it and needs to be replaced. There are no spares in Africa so we've arranged for one to be sent from the UK. The trouble is that DHL have to clear it through customs which will take 5 days and completely ruin our plans - No Rwanda and no safari at the end so we have come up with plan "B"

This involved friends in the Met (BIG thanks to Mark Thomas) collecting the part from BMW Battersea and taking it to Roz in Twickenham who is an aid worker flying to Nairobi tonight. Upon landing, she will pass it on (rather like the Olympic torch) to a cousin of one of the ACET workers in Kampala who works for Kenyan Airlines and who will arrange for it to be sent to Entebbe. From there, it will be collected by Martin and I on the bike that is still running, and raced like a beating heart to Arthur Blick, Ugandan Motocross champion (x 7) and mechanic extraordinaire who will use it to breathe life back into the old machine.

In order to catch up the two days we have lost, we will ride to Rwanda as planned and visit the genocide museum, but instead of riding the 500 or so miles to Singida, we will travel overnight with the bikes on the ferry from Bakoba to Mwanza.

So that's the plan, but it's a tight schedule and depends on the part arriving safely on Thursday in time for Arthur to get the bike fixed. Otherwise it's back to the drawing board!

So for the next couple of days we are using the time to relax, get our clothes washed and see some of the local sights. Today it's chimpanzee island and in the evening we are going to a local festival for a barbecue and to watch some traditional dancing.

Every cloud has a silver lining....