dee-tours
1st Dec 2005 - 11th Dec 2005Biking in Kenya Bought our bikes in Nyahururu. Not as easy as it sounds - we had to pay to get them fixed b4 we could try them out. This is normal in Kenya. Not that they got the brakes going. canterlever brakes are pretty new in these parts and so are gears for that matter. Great feeling to be free of the matatus and on the road with the rest of the country. So we packed our bags and started on the back road to Ol Kalou. Scenic fertile farm land near Lake Ol Bollasat. Biking down the short cut we´d been told about was great. Just the bikes didn´t appreciate it. The only traffic was and could only have been bikes. All the other bikes were sturdy steel single speeds. People don´t bike for fun they transport produce to market. Up to 60kg at a time - furniture, veges, animals or people. Our "mountain bikes" didn´t get too far before they needed repairs. In all on the first day we had a pedal fall off, crank fall off thrice, carrier fall off 4 times, mud guard fall off twice, light fall off, gears lost, both our baskets broken but amazingly no punctures. At every breakdown someone was there to help. People are amazingly friendly here. Although I am getting sick of saying jambo and salama (hello) and habari (how are you). When the rain sets in we take shelter under a hut with several others. They think it´s great mzungus getting off the beatten tourist track and biking as a lot of the country must. When we pull into Ol Kalou we find a decent enough hotel for the night for 250 shillingis (=$5). Then another $2.50 ea for dinner. We shop around for bits and pieces to fix the bikes and get brakes working. It´s amazing what you can fix with super glue and sizel. Standard breakfast of chai and mandazis (like donuts) and we´re off to Gilgil. A proper road this time and amazingly not too much traffice. Fortunately it´s mainly down hill as my gears go again. Gilgil in no time and find a cafe and place to stay. Drop off our kit and make our way on a disused tarseal rd (very strange for Kenya) to Kariandusi. Kariandusi is a human archeological site. strange to think that for 500,000 years people were making stone tools at this workshop. Not a bad business, most businesses these days are here today gone tomorrow. Plus the obsidian was got from a mountain 25km away in a straight line. In those days there was a swamp in the way of the straight line and the track was probably more like 50km. This place definately has a history, this all happened 700,000 to 1.2mill years ago. My bottom bracket bearings go and even though they don´t have the exact replacement parts they are able to fix it like one of the more standard bikes. Next day up early to get on the western road of Lake naivasha. Even on the main road there´s plenty of wildlife - punda milia (zebra), tommi (gazelle), swala pala (impala) and Nyani (baboons). Find the turn off but unfortunately more traffic than expected. Huge flower farms and I mean huge. All European owned, sending flowers to europe same day as picking. All guarded and with big electric fences to keep people out. There´s a ridiculous gap in the wealth of people in this country. When we get further down the road we´re able to buy supplies for dinner for about 20c. The town is a pig sty but people are amazingly friendly. I guess mainly workers for the big flower farms. Plenty more wildlife and dust on the road. Crank falls another 3 times and I´m getting sick of it. Finally we find our campsite for the night. A dusty campground but some wicked surroundings. Nearby is a crater lake with pink flamingos, camel, colobus and supposedly leopard. Crater Lake lodge caters for the rich. I guess thats why we were there. Accomodation goes up to US$130 per night. But even at that price you can´t trust the water like we did. We´d been drinking untreated kenyan water for a while now and it had to back fire soon. So we ended up staying 3 more days there as we were rather incapacitated. But the people were friendly and the wildlife right on our back door step included giraffe, lots of hyena, buffalo, all sorts of gazelle and of course punda milia. Finally we get out of that place and head for hells gate NP. But 1st, stop for chai and mandazi at the hippo lodge cafe. Here you can get complimentry flies in your tea and your sugar if you´re lucky. Just down the road at the other Hippo Lodge people pay US$1000/night and they don´t even get those sort of extra tidbits. The NP´s in Kenya are quite elitist, 99% of the people can´t afford to go there. This becomes particularly apparent when asking directions to the NP. When you get in there the majority of the people are mzungus. By the time we´re half way through I start getting flash backs of the last few days and to make it worse we can´t find the campsite. When we finally get to the campsite we have to deal with an over inquizitive baboon who seems to want us to pay him rent money in food. Stomach getting better. We make sure we´re away early in the morning before the Nyani returns. We bike a short track and go look at some uninteresting caves. There´s some good rock climbing in hell´s gate if anyone is keen. In case you´re wondering Hell´s Gate is named so because it´s a geothermal site. It now has a geothermal power station on it. I´m not up to much so we cycle out of the NP b4 our 24hr is up and find another campground. The YMCA is a good spot quite relaxed compared to the surrounding area. There´s also a jua khali to get my headset fixed. Another buggared bearing. Supposedly these were new bikes. That night president kibaki announces his new cabinet. He´d sacked (on full pay) the last lot 2 weeks earlier. These guys get an average of 700,000sh (NZ$14,000) per month nearly all tax free and with all the trimmings you can think of plus a few others that we normally wouldn´t think of. Anyway the next day 19 of the the cabinet ministers rejected their new positng. Politics in Kenya is always interesting. Next day away and feeling better. We stop at a Duka for some food. Quickly surrounded by a dozen kids. We give a bun each. Unfortunately the nice quiet one missed out and the noisey greedy one gets two and there´s no way he´ll share. I guess that´s real life. My crank falls off 3 more times till it´s fixed with tigs and super glue. Lots of road works. New road paid for by the EU to get the flowers to the Dutch mkts. Long up hill and getting hot. Stop at Logonot for plenty of refreshments. Then downhill - wahay! Stop in the dussty, windy dirty town of Kijabe. Only stop there bcos they have Picana (the best fruit drink in the world). The road out is a steep narrow one with a heap of trucks. Kenyan diesel is not quite that. They often put parafin in it to make a buck or two. Next day take Pugeot (shared taxi) to Limuru- see photos. From Limuru cycle toward Nairobi NP. Get our 1st flat tyre. Our pump didn´t work too well. Fortunately find some boys who can fix it for us. It seems that in Kenya if you have a problem with your bike just ask around and ASAP there´ll be someone to take you to their back yard mechanic centre. You might even get cool water while you wait. Cycling on things are changing. In Kikuyu we see a truck load of polo ponies???. Around the corner and into Ngong and Karen the wealth is obscene in comparison to the poverty of Kibera. The average wage of a working kenyan is US$500 pa. If you use that average with the Ngong vs Kibera comparison I´d imagine many people don´t even make US$100pa. And Kenya isn´t that cheap to live. Finally make our convoluted but reasonably pleasant journey to NP campsite. Next day bike sth to Kisirian. Then take matatu to Isinya bikes tied to the back. Dodging cars and massive potholes on the way. From Isinya matatu to Namanga on the Tanzanian border. However we only get as far as Kajiado 1/2 day drive from our destination. The matatu didn´t have the right rego to get thru the police check. So we wait 4 hrs for a matatu driver that is willing to bribe the police. A few beers and some shillingi works pretty well. Once away from the police areas and Nairobi we pick up more and more people and cargo. We get overloaded by about 4 pax, 2 bikes and 1 goat. In Namanga we realise we have to get rid of our bikes. End up giving them to a church to give to needy children. Then try to organise cheap safari to Amboseli NP. This takes 1/2 the day. Talk to plenty of locals, use their networking to get a ride, buy various trinkets to pass the time. Masai sales women are EXTREMELY persistent. End up sharing roomy landrover. Great drive in until the park gate. No smartcard, no entry. Finally get around the bureacracy with more bureacracy. Campsite is very nice. Just need to watch the cheeky little monkeys. Next to us are some voluteer workers from Mombassa. They agree to take us to Mombassa the next day. Next day wake to a beautiful sunrise with Killimanjaro ever present. Travel to Masai village, which is great till the heavy sales comes on again. On the way out lots of wildlife including a usually night lurking Hyena. Then lg drive to emali and on to Mombassa. Stay in Mombassa the night. Mombassa is actually half decent. The food is superb and there´s Picana flowing in every corner. The only thing is the heat and mugginess. We visit the guys who took us from Amboseli at the Likoni aids orphanage Project (LAOP). If anyone ever gets to likoni visit the aids orphanage and on the way stop at Freedom cafe - Pilau and passionfruit juices for 2 for about 150 shillingi. With the change you can give a decent donation (as we did) to the orphanage - not corrupt like other organisations. Take matatu and taxi to Twiga resort at Tiwi beach. This is luxury we´re not used to, but the camping is still cheap. Go snorkelling the next morning in pools shaped like Africa and Aus - wicked. Buy fruit from Mango man - he had the best pineapple I´ve ever had. Then get fresh snapper from some guy on the beach. Share this with others in the camp ground and everyone is happy. Next day get some coconuts off the palm to eat. someon has a machete (panga) so we can open the damn thing. People staying here are pretty interesting and have some amazing travel stories to tell. If you´re ever in the back blocks of Ethopia be ready for people to be in your face. Take care also in the sth of Sudan - talk to the locals 1st before going anywhere. Meet up with Roberti our rasta snorkelling guide. What a hell of a nice guy. He´ll get you fresh coconuts from the tree then you can hang out in their shelter and drink coconut milk and chin wag. If you´re ever at tiwi walk down the beach toward Diani and at the river out let ask for Roberti. He also does homestays - Kenya style. Remember don´t walk on the coral. Next day we leave and visit LAOP again. We bring plenty of fresh fruit which the kids are greatful for. They give us a display of traditional dancing. wicked energy and the young kid on the drums just keeps beating. We get up and dance too. Make our way to the train stn where we´ve got 1st class tickets booked for Nairobi. The train experience is luxury and a relaxing overnight journey. Fortunately the train breaks down during the night and we get to see more of the country side during the day. Getting into Nairobi centre this time seems a cruise compared to our first time. Still it´s not much of a city. Stay again out at NP campsite. Next day try to go to Nat museum - closed for rennovations. So do a little shopping then cruise home for a late lunch, relax ready for our early flight next day. Of course there´s a police rd blk on the way and they find find some minor thing to get some money out of our taxi driver. The police are supposedly the 2nd most corrupt people in Kenya. Politicians are no. 1. There was a big police recruit scam bust while we were there. It´s a pity as most kenyans are helpful and generally honest. It´s just that money is king. Travel tips for kenya: - When the menu says toast it probably won´t be. get Mandazis instead. Or if on the coast lime and coconut pancakes are the ultimate heart starter. - Take lots of sunscreen with you. You won´t find it on the shelves and when you think about it, it´s not surprising why. Also low dose antibiotic anti-malarial pills make you more sun sensitive. - Take coffee if you´re a coffee drinker. Amazing in the worlds 2nd biggest coffee producing country all you can get is Nestle instant. More corruption and bureacracy. - Take coffee filter paper. Again can´t get obviously? but good for pre filtering dirty water prior to sterilisation. - And do sterilise your water even if you think its a up market place (or maybe especially) we got slack and paid the price for a few days. Next entry : Germany
|
| 2507 Words | This page has been read 657 times | View Printable Version |