Scavenging our way to the Equator
Yesterday we did our scavenger hunt. It was fun day. We had been supplied with our list of tasks, which we had started the day before.
The day was probably the shortest day distance-wise. There was a 1200m climb, essentially we were cycling up and over a hill to Nanyuki. Most riders set off at about the same kind of time. One of the items on the list was ‘Transport 6 raw eggs to camp.’ I had forgotten it said raw eggs, and smuggled 6 of the breakfast hard boiled eggs into my pocket. When we realised I returned them, but forgot one. When getting the bike ready I proceeded to drop and stand on it - hopefully not a sign of things to come! It was uphill for the first 40km, although the directions had implied the climb didn’t start until 20km. I had a hard time understanding why I was out of breath, and only going 14km/h, straight after leaving camp. David’s bike computer shows altitude, and he was able to quell my mind slightly by informing me we were actually going uphill. Allstair had been sick for the last 24hours, and was still feeling the repercussions, so it gave us another excuse to take it a bit easy. Even more people have been struck by the acute vomitting bug that appeared in Marsabit. So far Mo, Aedo, Catherine, Steph, Alistair and crew members Sophie and Harriet. It’s pretty nasty, and the non crew members all cycled with it - great respect, not sure I would have! It is amazing what people will let you do if you ask them. At one point we passed a man riding and oxen driven cart. One of the items of the list was to swap rides with a local, the man was very obliging and David jumped on the cart. The man sat on the cart for a few minutes, directing the oxen before hopping off to get on the bike.
David lacked the oxen driving skills though, and they promptly turned right off the dirt track and straight on to the road. The man, now riding the bike, managed to steer them back with just his voice! Further down the road we passed a man painting a door - we decided this was skill we could learn from a local. This one was slightly more difficult to engineer, for communication reasons. We did, after 3-4mins of crossed communications, manage to explain we would like to paint the door, and have him give us interactions. He got really into it!
Telling David which parts he had missed, which direction to do the brush strokes, how much paint to have on the brush etc! David painted a panel and tried to give the brush back, the gentlemen politely told him he hadn’t finished yet, and still had the middle panel left to do! The view in the morning was very different to those we have had previously. The tar seal was taking us directly towards a snowcapped Mount Kenya, silhouetted against a blue sky. I tried to take numerous pictures, but none of them do it justice. We cycled through cropped fields, and greenery. The soil has changed to a rich red/brown mud/clay, which I now remember from when we came on holiday here over 15 years ago. As we began the steeper section of the climb Mount Kenya disappeared behind some hills over our right shoulder and the land started to resemble South East England, especially as the temperature was dropping and the clouds were threatening rain! The large fields were golden with maize crops, and there were even some John Deere tractors, and farming machinery. Around the margins of the fields and along the roadside the soil was being hoed and turned over manually. I assume that this marginal land is not owned by the large commercial farming enterprises, and is instead farmed by the less well off local community. At 35km, just before the top of the hill, we pulled over at a sign that said ‘Farm shop, fresh eggs.’ We would probably not have pulled over had we not been in need of eggs. It turned out to be am amazing find! A twee farm shop, much like those in the U.K., unsurprisingly owned by a British expat couple. We stopped for coffee - although we did arrive at the same time as a power cut, meaning each drink was brewed over a gas stove! The coffee shop ran out of a shipping container - yes, such concepts have reached here too - and was adjacent to a little shop. The shop stocked homemade jams, egg cups, mugs, bottle openers shaped like bikes…the kind of place I would go present shopping (think Bury Lane Farm Shop).
Many people will know how much pleasure this unexpected little slice of luxury, and home from home will have brought me. I splashed out on a mocha and pork scratchings (never had these before, but was craving savoury things in a packet). Back on the road, only 5km to lunch. Lunch was busy, surrounded by children. Bread is a staple of the TDA menu, and it varies from country to country. In fact, I often look forward to the new country to see what bread will be on offer. Kenya was a big flop. For the last seven days we have been subjected to medium slice white bread, the small slice stuff that really is just an edible plate for whatever spread or topping you desire. Yesterday we branched out and chapattis made an appearance. Still not my fav, but abit more substance. Egypt was pita bread, Sudan was sun bread, and Ethiopia was a flatbread type thing - all freshly made. Kenya is packaged sliced white bread. We had downhill from lunch to the hotel. I enjoy these downhill from lunch affairs as they make for enjoyable and easy afternoons. We stopped along the way again, painting doors, buying fruit for our cocktail, trying to find the oldest looking local. Our drink with a local was at ‘Club Sharkz’ - just off the road, behind a small village. It was painted on the outside, had sawdust on the floor in the doorway, and a right turn at the end of the short entrance hall led you into what should have been a grungy bar...but Justin Bieber was limiting conversation, and a disco ball was providing lighting, and the walls were painted green. It was 11.30am and the tunes were pumping. A young man was behind the bar, talking through the metal grill to an older man sitting at the bar. Drinks were lined up on the shelves behind, no fridge. Alistair and Jenna had a beer, and bought one for the man sitting at the bar - he looked very pleased. Alistair reckoned we had found a brothel, under the premise of a bar - especially when they started guessing which male was in relationship with which female!
We were camped at a large hotel, with a campsite. Again very green. Claps of thunder and dark rolling clouds had been chasing us down the road for the last half an hour. We actually arrived ahead of most of the groups - some and obviously taken the drink with a local point and multiplied it! The upshot of this was that we managed to nab a spot on the stage of the bandstand (i.e. if it rained our tents would be high and dry). I am still not using an air bed, or camp bed, and the floor of the stage was pretty firm, but I am happy with firm bed over packing a wet tent. A few hours sorting our scavenger hunt pictures, and our costumes for the cross dress party. I borrowed Marty’s All Blacks t shirt, cut myself out a beard, wore my Canterbury shorts and went as him. Most people guessed the resemblance. Scavenger hunt judging left alot to be desired, and was pretty corrupt. The crew awarded points for bribery, and cheating, and the actual hunt itself was probably more entraining than it’s culmination! The rain also started falling, and the party was bit of a flop. Who would have thought you could be sitting 4km from the Equator in a tshirt, fleece and down jacket and still be cold! Anton was star of the cross dress party, wearing my pink tshirt and Jenna’s bikini top - he was still carrying around his carrot (entered as most phallic object seen), and almost seemed to be enjoying it all a bit too much! An after dinner chocolate run and the majority of us were in bed by 9pm. Some of the crew and cyclists did stay up and party to the early hours, courtesy of some tequila shots from what I understand! EQUATOR CROSSING Today we had another fairly short day, 104km, and mostly downhill. It was another uphill to lunch and then downhill to camp situation. :) Having said that I am struggling with tiredness at the moment. I am not sure if my tiredness is fatigue from having been on the road, packing and unpacking on a circadian basis, riding my bike, having little autonomy and being surrounded by people; or if it is just that I am physically tired/fighting a bug. I have been incredibly lucky in that I have not been overtly ill at all, I have had a cold, and have had to take medication for an infected wound/ulcer on my leg, but unlike about half of the riders I have not suffered a bad gastro upset…yet! I slept really well, from about 10pm through to 5am. It was cold enough that I slept in my sleeping bag for the first time in weeks, normally I am on top of it and in my liner. We set off at 6.30, after breakfast. I wore my rain jacket for the first time and it was pretty cold. Not the bitter cold of Egypt and Sudan, more the damp cold and threatening rain of what I assume must be characteristic of the tropics?! It was 3.5km from the hotel to the Equator. Pretty cool to have cycled to the Equator! I didn’t even know if I would make it through the first week, anything can happen - could have fallen off my bike and broken my arm, been hit by a car, damaged my bike irreparably…anyhow I have made it, 55 days after leaving Cairo. So when the sign marking the Equator appeared, it was very much a non event.
There were a group of cyclists, around the yellow sign, having their picture taken. It is not cordoned off, there is no line marking one hemisphere from the other, there are no information boards. In fact, we stopped, had our picture taken and continued. I didn’t do a one foot on the South, one foot in the North picture; or think about the coriolis effect. i think the non event will have been multifactorial; partly crossing first thing in the morning and so still being focussed on the cycle to come, partly not really thinking about it because of the events of the day before, and also the fact that there was just a sign. I thought there would be more of an area dedicated to it. Either way, it doesn’t matter. We cycled across the Equator! The ride today was fairly average. So far I haven’t been captivated by Kenya in the same way as I was by Ethiopia and, to an extent, Sudan. It has been nice to move into greenery over the last few days and the riding temperatures have been more manageable, but I don’t enjoy the overcast skies and the threatening rain/humidity as much as blue skies and sun. The morning of the scavenger hunt I was acutely aware of how much sweat I was producing - not because I am sweating more, but because the humidity was limiting it’s evaporation. Today we have been cycling on a busy two lane road - it reminds me of cycling along the A10 in Cambridgeshire, but with less understanding drivers.
Alistair was heckled - ‘Get off the road, you will be killed.’ - by a local policeman, telling him to cycle on the gravel by the roadside. The gravel by the roadside/hardshoulder soon became a preferable option, and it is relatively smooth. I witnessed a red Coca-cola lorry honking it’s horn all the way down a hill, it was fast approaching Anton, there was no way this lorry was crossing into the other lane to overtake, or was it slowing down behind him. At the very last minute, when i thought it was game over, Anton veered off the white line and onto the gravel shoulder. The attitude here is very much that cyclists should not be on the road. It is almost like a lack of awareness. It is different to Sudan where the large buses honked and belted past in a move or die way. Here there is alot more traffic,full stop. Previously there have been many many people walking, and taking public transport…these seem to have been replaced by privately owned vehicles - namely cars. There are still buses and lorries, but these are now in the minority. Car washes and garden centres are ubiquitous.
Kenya feels very colonial, and is definitely more developed than the other countries we have cycled through. Schools are every where, education is noticeable. Kids in school uniforms. Signs for schools. School buses. It is good that education is valued. Amusing interaction Alistair had with a young boy the other day; Boy - Give me money. Alistair - No, certainly not young man. You should go to school, and get an education, and then you can earn your money. Boy - Are you joking?! Even just the level of this interaction demonstrates education. We would never have been able to have such a sophisticated exchange previously due to the level of English spoken. The level of accessibility makes travel easier, but it also makes it less novel. Society and infrastructure is more similar to at home. Population density is increased. We are staying in less bush camps, and more campsites. (Not sure this is a bad thing, I have been able to shower every day for the last 5 days…one was a bucket shower). Running water. Electricity. Phone reception. Internet access. Cars. Smooth roads. Billboards. Sliced bread! Shops with prices on things, and recognisable brands. Men and women in cafes, not just men. I hope this doesn’t come across as an overly negative account. The difference between the countries is hugely interesting, and I greatly enjoy the comparison. It is also teaching me what I appreciate in different things. If I were choosing a country to live in it would almost certainly be Kenya, but as a country to cycle through on the way to Cape Town, others have been more exciting. I am also currently eating an ice cream - which is very difficult to do in other countries due to the lack of dairy and the lack of refrigeration (power!). We are very much whistling through Kenya, with only three days left until we cross to Tanzania. A big day tomorrow - 110km with 1500m of climbing. Hopefully my fatigue passes and I can enjoy it a bit more. We arrived in camp early today, about 1pm. I have been having gut pains/cramps again today, but no nausea so it has been nice to have some time and comfort. It is a pleasant retreat by a river. i had a leisurely shower, in a private cubicle with tepid water (not cold!) decent pressure and no urinal smell. I had some ice cream, and I am sitting at a picnic bench writing this. It could be worse, I could be on call! I have also found somewhere under shelter to pitch my tent in an attempt to avoid the 7mm of rain forecast overnight. I'll try and get a picture. At the moment it is providing a rest place for tired cyclists- looks like I'm not the only one with fatigue!
