A Holiday in Kenya

Our mental 36 hour truck trip down from Moyale had left us 10 kilometers north of the Equator in the small town of Nanyuki. After arriving at half past nine the previous evening we had managed to find a place to stay and had enjoyed a comfortable nights rest. We thus woke up the following morning reenergized, ready to take on the day and make our way to a little retreat in the foot hills of Mount Kenya that had very kindly been made available to us through a contact of a contact whom we had met in Addis Ababa. After stocking up on food and funds in the quaint, quiet and colourful little town we decided to set off. I soon found myself south of the equator for the first time since I had left home and after a wonderful morning’s cycle with amazing views of the hugely impressive, snowcapped Mount Kenya we found ourselves entering the gates of Karichota where we would be staying for the following week.

We had been invited to make ourselves feel at home and that week we certainly did. After the intensity of Ethiopia and our epic journey down from Moyale, Karichota was exactly what our fatigued bodies required. We caught up on sleep, were cooked amazing meals by Robi (a student staying at the retreat and studying the plants in the area) and were allowed ample time to read and relax. I also took the opportunity to do a bit of drawing for the first time since school and managed to do some incredible bird watching with the neighbour who had lived in the area for some 30 years and had an astounding knowledge of the flora and fauna within the region. We also got treated to an awesome guided walk in the Mount Kenya National Park which not only plays host to the second highest mountain in Africa but also a magnificent forest which is apparently home to some 600 elephant. Unfortunately we didn’t come across any on that particular day but we did get to see Dik-dik, the Black and White Colobus Monkey and a huge variety of birds including two great sightings of Narina Trogon which I was rather excited about. It was a wonderful week which inevitably had to come to an end and it was then time to mount our noble steeds and progress towards our next destination.

We had three days of truly special cycling as we headed for Nakuru. It quickly became evident that the rainy season had arrived in Kenya as we made our way through a magnitude of contrasting but equally magnificent lush green terrains. The mornings often comprised of clear blue skies and as the days progressed the clouds would build up to eventually culminate in incredible formations. These formations would often let through beams of sunlight and when coupled with the blue skies and lush green environment it made for some exquisite settings. In addition to this we were welcomed by the friendly smiles, waves and chants of the locals who seemed more than happy that we were travelling through their beautiful country. The third day’s cycle stood out as one of my favorites of the trip so far. That morning we decided to stop off and picnic at the awesome Thompsons Falls which were particularly impressive at this time of the year. After cooking up a delicious breakfast feast of chapatti, eggs, onions, tomatoes and avo we got going again and found ourselves heading down into the Great Rift Valley. We had spectacular views from the top and a fantastic descent which seemed to continue all the way into Nakuru. We had arranged to stay with one of Busters old school friends and her family and once we arrived we were shown the homely cottage that we had been allocated and were once again told to make ourselves feel at home. We were more than happy accept the offer and settled right in. After unpacking our things we joined the Robinsons up at their beautiful home for a braai and a few cold beers and after hearing that there could potentially be some fishing on the cards the following day we decided that another night was most definitely in order.

Two days and a somewhat unsuccessful fishing trip later we decided that we were going to abandon the bikes and head into Nairobi using public transport. Not only would this allow us to forgo the horrendous roads and shocking drivers that we were bound to encounter upon entering the city but it would also save us having to back track and do the same route twice as we planned to go back via Nakuru on our way out. We hadn’t planned on spending much time in Nairobi as we had arrived with the sole intention to secure Ugandan visas. However, once we were welcomed into the beautiful home of the hugely hospitable Blake family (who had kindly offered to host us without ever having met any of us) we found it increasingly difficult to uproot ourselves. In no time at all we had surpassed the two days that we had initially intended staying. It was only on day six, after enjoying several delicious three course meals, good South African wine, a day talking to scholars at Peponi Junior Primary, experiencing  a raucous party at the over landers camp and finally a hangover from hell that we decided to make our way out of the Kenyan capital.

From Nairobi we had arranged another stop over at the beautiful Fisherman’s Camp on Lake Naivasha. We had struck lucky once again as the camp was run by cousins of some of our good family friends. Nigel and Sarah were incredibly kind to offer us substantially discounted rates to stay in a bungalow overlooking the magnificent lake. The following day we decided to take full advantage of the bikes they had for hire (I guess it’s a bit ironic that we had to hire bikes whilst on a cycle trip through Africa but ours were still in Nakuru) and cycle through the nature reserve that runs alongside the lake. We were fortunate to see a variety of game including Eland, Zebra, Giraffe, Impala, Hartebeest, Warthog and Gazelle but nothing could have prepared us for what we encountered after about 15km of cycling. As the road forked down toward the lake we noticed a tremendous amount of pink contrasting against the dark water and blue skies. As we continued we noticed the extraordinary mass of flamingos which had congregated on the lake side. We cycled down to within twenty meters of the quarter million flamingos and with no one else in sight decided to lay down the tarp and settle in for an afternoon picnic. Whilst enjoying the idyllic setting a couple cheeky monkeys caught us by surprise and made off with one of our prize pineapples and half a sandwich that Chen had just taken pride in making. I have no idea how the bloody thing scurried up the tree so quickly with a piece of fruit bigger than itself but it was quite a sight and it definitely added to a day of vast entertainment.

After two nights at Naivasha we thought it prudent to make our way back to Nakuru as Tom and Matt only had three weeks until they were due to start their volunteering in Rwanda. We made it back without any hassles and managed to get our things ready for the road the following day. After getting some food in our stomachs we once again mounted our steeds and made our way towards the Aldama Ravine. It was awesome to be back on the bike, the roads were quiet, the people were pleasant and the scenery was simply spectacular. We had a bit of gradual climbing but nothing hectic and after crossing an equator sign for the umpteenth time we came across a bunch of locals and decided to stop and find out whether we were still heading in the desired direction. Thankfully we were and it was rather coincidental that one of them had just returned to Kenya after a 15 year farming stint in South Africa. He offered us a place to stay for the evening which we unfortunately had to decline because it was still early in the day but was more than willing to share advice for the trip that lay ahead and finally after wishing us well on our journey we said our goodbyes. We continued up through the ravine and managed to find a fantastic little restaurant that overlooked the valley below. We satisfied our appetites with a decent burger and chips and replenished our water supplies before subjecting ourselves to the heat of the day and contending with some fairly challenging climbs. By four that afternoon we had decided to call it a day and with no towns in sight decided to take refuge in a police compound. With the weather looking ominous we asked the sergeant in charge whether it would be possible to pitch our tents under some sort of shelter and in no time at all we were escorted to a building containing old jail cells and told that it was ours for the night. It wasn’t exactly our coziest barracks but it was perfectly adequate and the kindness and constant flow of officers who came for a friendly chat further enhanced our positive attitudes towards the Kenyan people and made for a really enjoyable evening.

The following morning we were up early and reaching Kapsabet was the day’s goal. Some of the officers came to say good bye and a bit of small talk prompted one particularly chatty officer to give us his recollection of being targeted as a government official during the previous elections which had ended in conflict. It was a fascinating story told in a manner you’d expect to hear around a fire in a small Kenyan village-with vigor and enthusiasm that would be difficult for anyone to replicate. Anyway we eventually set off and after reaching a town that was appropriately named Hilltop we stopped off for a refreshing cup of tea. Not long after we got going again we found ourselves experiencing conflicting emotions of frustration and awe as we were forced to traverse appalling roads that made their way through magnificent tea plantations glistening in the sun. It turned out to be a day that required us to concentrate on the traffic, the roads and the scenery a bit more than usual but we reached our destination, sat down to enjoy a tusker and hoped that the following day into Mumsia would be a little less demanding.

Our hopes were founded as we awoke to a beautiful Sunday morning and headed out onto the deserted roads. We passed through a few fantastic little villages and after about 20 kilometers we arrived at the turn off that we had been advised to take. For the first time on the trip we made our way off the tar and onto the gravel to travel through the Kakamega forests, one of the only tropical rainforests remaining in Kenya. It turned out to be a magical 20km of gravel road tunneled by dense rain forest on the left and the right and towering trees that formed a canopy above. We thoroughly enjoyed the shade, sounds and sights that this extraordinary forest presented and found ourselves a little disappointed that it couldn’t have gone on for a bit longer. We pushed on though and after a further 45km we reached th little town of Mumsia moments before the heavens opened. That night we managed to watch what will most probably go down in history as one of the most enthralling climaxes to a Premiership season. I’ll never know quite how City managed to clench the title in those dying seconds but I’ll never really care because to be honest I (like everyone else in Mumsia other than my fellow cyclists) was just super stoked that it hadn’t gone to United.

The next day marked our last day in Kenya. We had a beautiful flat cycle through the country side which was now covered in fields of soaring sugar cane and we were able to coast into the border town of Busia. There we found a really cool little restaurant to enjoy our final Kenyan meal. As I sat there I reflected on the month we had been in the country and couldn’t help but feel that it had been a bit of a holiday. We hadn’t done a huge amount of cycling and the cycling we had done had been a breeze compared to the previous two countries. The weather had been kind, the scenery had been magnificent, the roads and terrain weren’t hugely challenging and the people had been phenomenal. Initially I found myself thinking that another two weeks would have been wonderful because perhaps that would have given us time to get down to the coast and up to lake Turkana but I quickly realized that it wasn’t a huge problem because I will most definitely be treating myself to another holiday in Kenya, hopefully in the not too distant future…