Wednesday, June 7, 2017

30 May to 6 June 2017


We left early for Nairobi, knowing that the traffic going into Nairobi was going to be a nightmare, to make matters worse our GPS’s were set to two different destinations!  I was in front and Larry was following which is unusual as I like to ride behind Larry. My GPS said get off the main freeway in 14km and Larry’s said 6km and so the chaos started, we eventually landed up in downtown Nairobi with traffic at a stand still and chaos all around, we got into a huge traffic circle and and Larry managed to push in front of a bus and I couldn't get past the bus and we became separated, I eventually just saw the go-pro camera ahead of me now and managed to catch up to him.  We pulled over in a bus stop and looked at the two different GPS headings, we decided that mine was the correct one and re-programmed Larry’s to be the same as mine.  The destination may be the same but the routing was different (Me: go left in 600m, Larry: No go right in 750m, Me: Ok lets go right, Larry: GPS not happy, Me: mine says go left in 200m, Larry: Ok ) we eventually arrived at the correct waypoint to find nothing familiar from our last trip.  Eventually a local guy on a bicycle came past and said the place you want is behind you, we turned and found Jungle Junction.  The confusion was that they had moved three years ago.  If anyone has driven through Nairobi you will know the chaos that we encountered!!
Chris welcomed us to JJ and Paolo, anItalian doing a round the world trip on a Dakar 650 with well over 260 000km on the clock also came out on his bike to find us in the street.  A well run good stop for overlanders.  Chris promised that he would look at my bike as soon as he got the chance but he was overloaded with repairs.  Uwe Schmidt was also in camp, a South African who rides professionally up and down Africa with clients.  Uwe was a mine of information about which routes to take and places to stay.  We also shared with both of these bikers the route crossing the Gulf of Aden to salalah, as this is not a known route.
Chris eventually started on my bike and found that all was well, just that our friend Jalal had not bled the radiator when adding coolant, this sorted, Chris changed oil on both bikes and gave them both a well deserved wash.  We did a test drive to a very smart shopping centre called The Hubb, bike was running smoothly but once we arrived at the entrance we realized that the Kenyans are taking no chances of a trigger happy gang of terrorists entering the shopping centre.  All cars and the bike were searched and I had to get off the back and was patted down.  The lady doing this was very confused about all the protection in the BMW jacket.  We had the same once we had parked the bike and walked to the entrance.  We managed to do the shopping that was needed and headed back to JJ.
We spent 4 nights there and managed to catch up on some general repairs and I managed to get some work done.
We left Nairobi heading for Arusha, Chris pointed us to the pipeline road and once again we were back in the thick of traffic.  Chris promised us that this was the best way to leave Nairobi and I believe him but it was still horrible, the road was narrow and potholed and chaotic traffic. Once we had cleared the city the roads were not as busy but in shocking condition.  So a slow exit from Nairobi.  We eventually got onto the main highway and it was plain sailing to the border.
We cleared immigration and customs on both sides and on very quite nice roads headed for Arusha.  An uneventful trip and we passed the entrance to Wayne and Brigette’s home and wished we could have spent a night with them.  We headed to Meserani Snake Park for a night of camping. The camping was fine, just a bit noisy with traffic noise and the loud music from the local tavern.  The next morning we met up with Ma and BJ, friends of Ian and Wayne Henry.  We had a very pleasant hour with them.  Also met with Danny McCullem, an old salt in the hunting industry!!
Our next destination was Dodoma, the people that arrived at the Snake Park told us that the road was terrible, Ma quickly gave us the correct route and we set off.  Traveling in Tanzania is slow because of the villages, you have to slow down for each village, some of them only 500m apart, 50km per hour and there are normally police at either end of the village with radar guns waiting to catch us speeding.  Eventually at about 3.30pm we arrived in the city of Singida and decided that we would do well to spend the night there, we went back to the Stanley Hotel, parked our bikes in exactly the same spot as we had in 2011.  Our room once again was basic and clean and we took the top of the range with hot water, but pressure was so low that we had to have a bucket bath.  Early to bed after a long day, but the local shebeen was having some sort of talent contest and the music was thumping! That lasted until about midnight, only problem was we could now hear our neighbors channel surfing, after a thump on the wall that stopped and the night of passion started!!  I started giggling loudly and that stopped that noise, some chemical assistance in the form of sleeping pills and we woke at about 8 for breakfast.
We loaded the bikes and set off for Dodoma and then onto Iringa, over 500km!!  It was a long slow day and we eventually arrived in Iringa at about 4pm with very sore backsides.  We have found a nice hotel and going to have pizza for supper and early into bed.
We managed to get hold of Raymond Theron and will meet with him in two days time and will go into the Ruaha National Park, he is currently working in the park, building lodges.
More soon


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