Kenya does rock - indeed and there's lots of mud too! I don't think I expected it to rain so much in Kenya. We arrived after a very tough day of riding at our rest stop in a little town called Marsabit. We stayed at a Catholic campsite - set up for summer camps we guessed and it was pretty nice accommodation.....for hotel options in Marabit check out Gerald's descriptions on www.africanride.blogspot.com! I usually opt for my tent - at least I know what is or IS NOT crawling in my sleeping bag!
For those of us who opted for the camp there were showers and nice patches of grass for our tents. There were not many restaurant options in town (3km walk from the camp) so the nuns stepped and feed us three square a day and even fit it in morning and afternoon tea. They served up cakes after dinner too - we dubbed them Nun Cakes and ate loads.
On our riding day we woke up to rain. Rain + off road in Kenya = mud. And there was lots of it. I really enjoyed the muddy ride - it was hard work on a cyclocross bike but my Jake is a little monster and together we worked it out. We arrived at lunch to find one of the TDA trucks stuck in a hole - deep in water on a washed out road. When I rode passed the truck my bike dropped in too and I was thighs in muddy water. I loved the different riding conditions and the scenery changed too. The lava rock fields turned into lush green mountains and forest and within 75km we were back to bush and desert.....the landscape here is truly amazing.
The people are also incredible. We passed the most beautiful people on the roads in this part of Northern Kenya - I have been told that they are not Masai but belong to another group. They wear the most decorative head pieces, bright colour necklaces and clothes. It felt surreal to see so many beautiful people just walking down the road - really I knew I was somewhere far, far from home on these days of riding.
I rode the truck on the rainiest day to day in Kenya - not because I was afraid of getting wet - I was wet anyway but because I was sick.....again. So much for things being different here. Different bug maybe, different water source - or simply the same bug rearing its ugly head again - who knows!?! It is hard to ride the truck (that is my third sick day) but unlike other riders I do not ride when I am sick. That is a personal choice but the right one for me, I think.
I am feeling better now which is good and have had two good days of riding. The last couple of days have been a luxury - 85km yesterday and 71km today. That means early into camp - time to sort through laundry, have a shower (if available) and drink a beer (if available) and for the last two days we have camped at hotels with basic facilities, including showers and really cold beer which makes very tired riders very happy. Today was the 71km climb and it was a treat! We climbed for the first 30km towards Mt. Kenya and descended for the rest of the ride. Because the day was so short - in terms of the ride - I hit the lunch stop at 10:15am and found they were making french toast -it was more like a brunch stop! French toast - WOW! The littlest things can make you so happy on this trip. With only 30km to ride after lunch I arrived at camp at 11:30am and that is almost like having a rest day! The camp was at another hotel with green patches of grass for the tents, a restaurant and hot showers. We are being spoiled!
We are heading to Nairobi due to arrive on Friday. So that means about 105km tomorrow (only 600 metres of climbing and 1900 meters of descending -YAY!) and probably the same on Friday.
More from Nairobi and probably a few photos shortly.
Leah arrives in Nairobi to participate in the Tanzania section of the TDA ride - it is going to be fun to share this adventure with a friend!
Jx
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