Back on the road

After two weeks in Nairobi, servicing my bike, obtaining visas and partying nightly with eight other bikers, Miles and I head for Ethiopia via Lake Turkana, tomorrow. We will be travelling with Lisa and Darren, an Aussie couple in a Landcruiser. It should take about 4 days to reach the border, a distance of 800 km. The route we will follow is a remote one along the eastern shore of the lake. We are hoping it will be free of traffic, especially the local crazy buses.
As so often happened in the Americas, a place is made memorable by the people meet, and Nairobi is no different. Currently staying at Jungle Junction are bikers from Holland, Germany, Egypt, New Zealand,, Israel, Switzerland, France and South Africa. In addition there are 4-wheel drive vehicles from Spain, England, Australia and France. We all get together to share dinner each night, and the beer flows freely.
Apart from the travelling crowd, the hostel/camp and the good weather, Nairobi is not a place to recommend. It is overcrowded, chaotic and (apparently) pretty dangerous at night.

It seems we are heading into pretty remote areas with little in the way of cell reception, or even food or petrol. Then Ethiopia has no cell coverage and severely limited internet service. But it also promises to be challenging, interesting, and the biggest adventure of the whole journey. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all. Helen Keller.

Nairobi

I parted company with Miles for a few days while he went to Zanzibar which I have visited and didn't need to do again. So I rode solo to Arusha and,now, Nairobi. Arusha had not much to offer apart from Kilimanjaro which was clothed in heavy cloud (and rain), so I headed north to Nairobi which is the half way point of the Cape to Cairo route plus home to all the needed embassies.
En route I realized I had a problem with my rear shock, which was apparently loose or detached at it's top mounting. So I took it as easy as the road conditions allowed. once here it turned out that the top mount was broken, and I am extremely fortunate to have got here unscathed. More luck, the manufacturer, Ohlins, have already couriered a replacement to me under warranty.Further luck, at the hostel/camp site I am at, the owner is a BMW master technician and veteran biker. So a potentially disasterous situation is a mere inconvenience. Jungle Junction camp is THE stopping/meeting place for overlanders, so has an amazing mix of people and vehicles. most incredible are the huge European custom built trucks like those used in the Dakar race. Apparently the cost up to € 600 000! And do 4 km/l. Others smaller land rover size vehicles look more manageable, especially a beautifully built, extremely well fitted, camper on a Landcruiser bakkie. Designed by a Swiss mechanical engineer and built by her, her husband and her father.
I will be here a few more days, get my Sudanese and Ethiopian visas, rejoin Miles and head on up the road.

Dar es Salaam

Well, Tanzania is very different to all the previous countries visited. Much bigger, more hectic, lots of crazy buses and taxis, seemingly much less English spoken in the countryside. A wide variety of terrain and vegetation, altitudes from sea level (in Dar) to over 2 000m. I prefer the latter. here it is hot and humid. Next stop will be Arusha then Nairobi, both higher and cooler, thank goodness.
A big surprise is the cost of things here: much more expensive than South Africa or South America. Thus the shortage of younger tourists, and the very small number of any tourists at all. I feel that Tanzania (and Namibia and Zambia) should possibly focus on the delivery before the price, get the numbers then push the prices.At our current campsite (which is on the beach, fairly well equipped) it is almost impossible to eat elsewhere due to the apparently high level of street crime. So an average breakfast costs US$ 8, dinner $ 8 - 12, a beer $ 2. Compared to even Buenos Aires, the cost: value is very high, I think.
That aside, it is wonderful to ride through countries I have always read about and had no idea what they were like. I can't help thinking that in the olden days (1950's) they must have been paradisical for the colonials!

Lake Malawi

At last some internet access, albeit slow and expensive.
After 6 000 km from Cape Town, via Namibia, Botswana and Zambia, I am at Kande Bay on Lake Malawi, a real tropical paradise. The lake is totally beautiful, the beach is spotless, the resort is fantastic and it costs less than US$ 5 a night.
The highlight until now was a challenfging 180 km ride into South Luanwa NAtional Park which took 8 hour of hard riding, multiple falls in thick sand, the presence of elephant, hippo and lion in close proximity. I doubt I will repeat it, but it was an amazing experience.
So far all the border crossings have been efficient, friendly and quick. As I found with South America, the horror stories of other travellers about inefficiency and bribery have not appeared.
I am heading north to Dar es Salaam to meet with 3 other bikers and hopefully take a dhow across to Zanzibar. Thereafter its off to Arusha to rent a landrover and tour Ngorogoro Crater for two days.
So the journey progresses, unfortunately with no photos due to the very slow internet connections. You will have to wait for the book!