The North Circular to Nairobi and The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread (Actually Better than sliced bre
Sat 4th March
Convoy day. Apparently our last convoy before Cape Town. My tent pitch was a winner. I woke up with a largely dry tent, and the water hadn’t formed a river through it either. My one ailment of the evening had been sharp abdo pain again, I did some 2am yoga/stretching along with pummelling of my tummy. It worked pretty well, and relieved some of the discomfort. Lessened again by morning, but not completely. We were all a bit grumpy this morning, for no reason in particular. David had decided he was going to ‘put the hammer down’ as people seem to say, and push it to see how quickly he could go. Alistair, Jenna and I walked our bikes back up the cobblestone drive that the camp was at the end of. We then had 1.3km of dirt back to the road too. Prime time rush hour and the traffic was comparable to yesterday. I was a bit concerned because there was a long climb to Nairobi - over 1000m of continuous uphill from 20km to 90km. I warned the others just to leave if I was too slow. I actually ended up having the best cycle I have had in over a week. In fact, since we have arrived in Kenya. Maybe the lazy afternoon at camp, and the ice cream, paid off. Or maybe i haven’t been 100% and just hadn’t realised, but today I was feeling strong. We rode more or less as a three for the first 20km, with Alistair in front. I overtook him on one of the uphills and then he sat behind me, there was a slight head wind, so it worked well. The traffic was heavy, this time it reminded me of when I rode to Thetford with a constant stream of cars and lorries passing within a foot of the bike. There was a shoulder to the road but it was pretty rough, and seemed to feature a speed bump every few hundred meters/km. These aren’t normal speed bumps, but short sharp rolls of tarmac about 5inches wide, and 5inches tall. Really slow you down, and increase energy output. I ended up cycling on the line again, the smoothest part of the road, but does require concentration. I was ‘in the zone’ and one point, and really enjoying the ride. Head down, eyes on the line, upper body fixed and legs feeling strong turning the pedals when I heard Alistair shout from behind. There was a truck heading straight towards me on the wrong side of the road. The expectation is that you get out of the way, still. No beeping, or notification. It is difficult when you are not expecting full speed oncoming traffic, and are focussing on traffic overtaking from behind. You really need to have your thoughts in both directions, which is different from cycling at home. Cycling behind is worse than cycling in front. When cycling behind you witness how close vehicles are passing, and are powerless to do anything for the rider who you are watching. At least when you are in front all you worry about is yourself. As it was a convoy day we were going to be waiting for the last rider at about 90km, so we could safely ride into the city together. On days like these we are advised not to speed off, as there will be a long wait at the convoy point. Tom, Alistiar, Jenna and I came off on a slip ramp (must be a proper road with one of those!) and found a cafe with a garden! The cafe workers were very eager to please, perhaps because they had no other business, and didn’t often have white people. We ordered three white and one black coffees - ‘Yes, yes, I will get them right away!’ and he speeds off. There were mugs! No more little espresso cups/tea cups of coffee. Although he did turn up with a pot of warm milk, a pot of warm tea and four Nescafe sachets. Bring back Ethiopia fresh coffee! He opened each sachet and poured them into our mugs, white coffee then had the mug filled with milk, black it was filled with water. A mug of milk and sachet of instant is Kenyan white coffee. We passed a pleasant 40mins sitting in the garden by the now dual carriageway. The weather has been overcast since the Marsabit, and today was no exception. A slight chill forced us back on the bikes. Only 5km to lunch. The road had opened out into a dual carriage way and was therefore slightly more comfortable riding. Lunch was at a hotel called Blue Hotel, served by Ryan and the lunch truck. We were however able to use the facilities of the hotel - very flash. Sit down toilets, undiluted soap, toilet paper provided! There was also a cafe overlooking a huge waterfall. And plush wooden fittings. Another 40km to the convoy point. The dual carriageway approaching Nairobi was like cycling the North Circular near London - the buildings, the traffic, the busyness. The worst places I found were the on and the off roads, because it was nerve racking crossing them, wondering if a car/truck/minibus was just going to pull into you. Alistair saw a goat get hit by a car ‘whack kdonk’ he described it as, and also said he then imagined it begin him not the goat! The convoy was a long affair. We had the Hilux in front, and the lunch truck behind. The traffic was nose to tail and we were moving at the speed of the vehicles. It took about 1.5hours to go 14km, in the sun. Some people even bought ice creams from a street seller and ate them while in convoy. The smog and traffic fumes from the day weren’t appreciated either. Finally we made it the Wildebeest Eco Lodge - camp for the next two day. The rooms at the lodge have been sold-out for the last week. Last night David and I made the executive decision to stay elsewhere, and thus avoid the guaranteed rain predicted for the next 48hours. It did seem like a lot of effort, and excessive at the time. WE tried to order a taxi from the lodge to our accommodation - they reckoned 1000shillings. We had a look on Uber - it was 500. On the way to the house the heavens opened! There were rivers of brown water running down the road, the windscreen wipers were on full pelt. We both felt very smug.
The place we were staying was 6km or so from the lodge, a home stay called ‘Royal Park Maisonette’. The woman who owned the house - Pamela lived there with her housekeeper and husband, and their 2 year old son. She met us at the gate and we made a mad dash with our bags. Well we made about three mad dashes as there were 4 big bags between us. Pamela showed us both our rooms - ensuite, double beds and dry! The downside was the shower water was cold :( I was already chilly and had been expecting warmth. I was clean nonetheless. I remember Julia (Matt’s sister) telling me about the low point on their trip to Africa being a cold shower in Uganda (Ithink) when she was already so cold…I was grateful i had somewhere to warm up and didn’t have to go back to a wet tent. Pamela also provided am amazing spread of tea, coffee and goodies, which we tried to resist, and failed.
David and i assumed that being a house, there would be a washing machine. We looked out our washing and asked if it was possible to do laundry, for a fee. She said yes. it wasn’t until 10pm that evening that I realised she was washing it all by hand, i could hear her from the room. it also cost 25USD for the batch. A bit steep, but we are both over spending hours doing washing. I can honestly say that the best thing since sliced bread, actually better thing than sliced bread, is the washing machine. Imagine having to do all your washing by hand, all the time. i have spent years pondering the question ‘Best thing since sliced bread’, and it has taken me 2 months of cycling through Africa to come up with an answer! That evening a group went for dinner at a restaurant called ‘Carnivore’. It was recommended by Frank. It does exactly what it says on the tin. You arrive and it is dimly lit, with flames and covered lights. In the centre of the entrance is a fire pit, with various meats cooking over the fire.
You are shown to your table, with a small Lazy Susan in the centre. They serve a drink called ‘Medicine’ - a cocktail of vodka, honey, lime and soda water - i think, along with a starter of soup and some bread. After the starter formality is over, the meat eating begins. The Lazy Susan is filled with 6 garnishes, and a few bowls of salad. Hot plates are placed in front of you. The waiters come round with various meats skewered by swords. There is unlimited meat provided, and a white flag in the centre of the table that you lower when you have had enough. While the meat is unlimited, the restaurant are pretty strategic. They bring the first round out fairly quickly, and then slow down and start to ask what people want. The more rare meats, like Ostrich, are phased out pretty promptly, and the Sticky BBQ ribs seem to keep reappearing. Nonetheless it was a fun evening. The roast Ostrich was my fav. While the others got a taxi back to their wet tents, David and I retired to internet, beds, ensuite, and dryness!
