11 000 km and counting!!

9 March 2011

We left Mt Elgon on Tuesday mid-day after we met with Bob who very kindly brought my helmet and our passports with the Ethiopian visas back to Kenya after visiting his children in Grahamstown.  Thank you so much to Bob and Bea for the wonderful time that we had here.  It was really great to see all the wonderful things that you have managed to do in the middle of no-where!!  And wonderful to see where Morny grew up, thanks for putting us in touch with your family, Morny.

Once we left the farm we headed back to the border to find out if the lady from immigration would stamp our second passport, yes she would but would need a little something to help her with this very big task, KS1000 (about R100) disappeared so fast it was unbelievable, but now we should be set for Ethiopia as we will get our entry and exit stamp in the same passport as the visa.  The gravel road for about 25km was really bad and then some tar, but not too generously spread on the road to Kitali and then it got worse, the oncoming traffic heads straight for you when they have a really bad section of tar and pull over onto their side at the very last minute.   Normally speaking on bikes we can travel a lot faster in these conditions than a normal sedan car, but not so in Kenya, but then again you don’t really need a suspension do you?

Bea gave us some really good advice and sent us on one of the most scenic routes that we have been on so far.  We went into the Rift Valley on a really good tar road, lots of twists and turns into the valley and not so over populated, it was really great riding.  The temperature has been pleasantly cool when we were at altitude but as we got into the valley it was like an oven.  From 2300 m, down to about 1100 in the valley.  We climbed out on the other side and headed for a place called Robert’s Camp on the shores of Lake Baringo.  Larry was in birders heaven, Bea told us that they hold the record for the most number of birds spotted and confirmed in a 24 hour period and I am sure they were not joking.  We also had hippo walking around our tent that night, not that they worried us, we had a good night sleep and only saw the tracks the next morning.  The lake was very pretty but unlike the other lakes this one was not clear, it was a muddy brown and not a good idea to swim as there were plenty of hippo and crocs. 

We left there at about 10 heading for Nairobi, to Jungle Junction were we met Harry and Linda from Port Elizabeth and Angela, travelling back to Germany.  We would like to travel the northern section of Kenya to Marsabit as a group as this has been reported as dangerous.  We have met a large number of overlanders and other bikers and each give us a little bit more information about what we can expect further up ahead.

Both bikes are running well and Larry wants Chris from Jungle Junction to have a look at a few odds and ends on his bike before we hit the serious bits further north.

S

On Friday we will leave, for what is reputed to be the ‘tough’ section of the trip, which should take us to Moyale and the Ethiopian border, and will hopefully take us about 4 days.  Not sure how coms will work from here on, but will update whenever possible.

Kenya has been a country of ups and downs.  Some places very high – travelled at a chilly 2700 m for a while today, other times a scorching 900 m.  Roads have been from very good, to very poor broken tarr, the worst we have been on.  The people have all been friendly, with no problems at all.  All the police stops along the way have waved us past.

We have now done nearly 11 000 km, according to the bike speedo, which does over read a bit. The bikes are holding out well, tyres are still ok, and hopefully we will reach Europe on the one set of Heidenhau.

Our expensive self inflating mattresses are not working well, and after about an hour every night, we end up on the ground.  We might try to replace these  tom.