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Diary - Kenya - Moyale to Nanyuki (15th Jul to 27th Jul)
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No matter how many borders we cross we are still surprised at how instantly the people change. We quickly and easily passed through the Kenyan immigration with the Dutch. We headed off to find a campsite we had seen a sign for. As with all signposts in Africa they disappear as you get nearer to your destination. We ended up at a large iron gate painted with the Kenyan flag thinking it looked promising. Sandy jumped out and knocked on the gate, only to be greeted by a man in uniform with a large gun. Our first thoughts were “wow good security”, so she asked if we could camp here. The man looked rather confused and explained that it was not possible to camp here as it was the president’s house (later we were told it was the District Commissioners house). Rather than just closing the door on us as you would have expected, he vanished to return with a young guard. He explained that he would guide us to the police station, where they would be happy for us to camp. The four of us giggled all the way to the police compound at how on our first night in Kenya we had tried to stay with the president. Instantly impressed by the Kenyan hospitality we dined on super noodles and pasta.
With a quick money stop and to get some bread, a proper sliced loaf, we headed off to Marsabit. If you ever wanted to be violently shaken, deafened by rattling and made to feel sick with the constant worry for your vehicles strength then you must travel the Trans African Highway. The road/track/stones/washboard call it what you will, is basically the first 450km from the Ethiopian and Kenyan border down to Isiolo. We always new this was classed as the worst road in Africa, so to our surprise the first 100km was a pretty good dirt track, allowing us to make good time. Then we made the mistake of stopping to pee and change drivers. Now was the turn for the ladies, unfortunately we entered hell only 5km down the road. For the remaining 350km the road varies between gravel, dirt and sand, what stays consistent is huge corrugations, each one fighting to be the destroyer of cars.
The only joy from the first day was arriving at Henrys Camp in Marsabit and meeting some South Africans who only entered Sudan as we left Addis Ababa. We even didn’t need to worry about cooking as Katie managed to persuade them to share. We did offer plenty of conversation and tales of our adventure as a pudding though.
We slept well in Marsabit, not knowing that the following day was going to turn into a day of destruction. The instant we got back onto the main road we realised that it was going to be a whole days worth of 20-30kmh driving with no rest bite from the vibrations. We managed okay to start with but each time we stopped we gave Gweneveer a quick check over and realised the shock absorbers were getting red hot, as if they had been an oven for hours. With no other option we persisted and tried to stop more frequently, only to miss time it and the sudden smell of burning oil letting us know something had just gone wrong. Jumping out it became instantly obvious what had happened with the wheel arch steaming and oil everywhere. Whilst we were parked on the side of the road waiting longer for ours and the other vehicles to cool down, we were passed by half a dozen vehicles, most tearing along at unthinkable speeds.
Twenty kilometres further and the other front shock absorber burst under the pressure. So with 60 kilometres till camp we continued slowly forward, to our amazement the road did gradually improve, though still in the classification of crap! Of course by the time we had reached the Samburu Women’s Camp in Archers Post to recover we had issues with the brakes, the anti-roll bar, along with a few other things that had rattled loose or fallen off.
Now we have reached a more developed country it did not take long to find a mechanics and get the Land Rover in working order, well all except the brakes. It did mean that we had to return once they had got the part but we were planning to have some rest days anyway. Not quite realising that our rest days would involve mostly cleaning out the car. The amount of dust inside was just ridiculous, Steve wished his friend Sarah was here to help with cleaning as Katie’s attention to detail is not always the best. Luckily the Timau River Lodge is in a beautiful location and has a multitude of pets; tortoises, puppies, rabbits, turkeys and even a little kitten that sat on Steve’s shoulder for most of the day while he cleaned. |
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It is a wonderful feeling walking through town and not only the shops looking like shops but also having signs outside explaining what they sell. For the past three months we have been guessing what we were buying and spending ages finding even the simplest items such as bread. After several countries where one wooden shack or building blends into another with no defining features as to what is inside, Kenya marks the return of signs and pictures. We were like school children in a sweetie shop in our first supermarket. By English standards it was just a small Co-op but to us it was full of no ending choice and excitement. Plus everything was priced! We treated ourselves to some fresh milk, the first since Turkey over 2 months ago and some ham, so we could stop the monotonous Laughing Cow cheese sandwiches.
Having to return to the same place was actually really enjoyable and nice as similarity is something that isn’t common to being on the road. Whilst the car was having some TLC again Katie spent some time having fun with the curio sellers. Katie isn’t keen on bartering so she has found her own unique way of getting a good price. She explains to the stool holders they have one chance to give her a good price and that’s it. They quickly understood and after first two stools she had a queue of people all shouting “Give me ago”, “I want one chance”. It worked brilliantly and she came back with a massive smile on her face. And a handful of gifts!!
It turned out when the bill was made up that confusion and a misunderstanding had happened with the garage. To our surprise the Vacuum Pump, which needed replacing for the brakes to be perfect again, was quoted at 80,000 KSH (£650, though discount made it £450), we thought the part was going to cost 8,000 KSH (£80), which is similar to the UK cost. By this time however the part new part was on the car and panic set in. To our amazement that after a nice chat with the manager about the mess, they offered to refit the old part and not charge us, so we could get one sent from the UK. I have never met such helpful people before and there willingness to be helpful was very uncharacteristic of mechanics.
This meant we had to rethink our plans for the next week whilst we waited for a new part to arrive by DHL. We decided that as the car was drivable that we would perform a loop so that we would not waste time waiting for our delivery. We decided to go west across the Lakipia Platue in the hope of seeing our first amount of Kenyan wildlife. Having pulled off a dirt track following the signs for the ranch, we were thrilled and amazed with how many animals we saw. The region is all private ranches but left open for the animals to roam free. We saw so many herds of Zebra, Giraffe, Buffalo, Warthog and many more. Having found the ranch, it was not quite what we had expected as it had its own private airstrip. This would explain why the camping costs were six times higher for one person than we normally pay for both of us. The owner was very understanding and agreed if we stayed to one side we could stay for two nights for less than a quarter of the cost. Delighted we set up camp next to the electric fence, only to find an elephant less than fifty meters away having rest in the shade.
Included in the cost was a game drive in Gweneveer with a guide. With only two seats it meant one had to play lion bait and sit on the roof. We each took it in turns as you benefit from spectacular 360 degrees views over the stunning landscape. The only downside was how wobbly it gets up there over the rough terrain. It turned out to be amazing and saved us a huge amount compared with national parks as they want 170US$ for 24hrs and camping.
After a stop off camp where we simply relaxed and realised how awful some English accents can be from some school kids we headed further south to Thompson Falls. With the stress of the last few days almost behind us it was a wonderful tranquil setting with gardens overlooking the waterfall. The hotels security guard even took us the back way down to the base of the falls, avoiding the fee and to look after us. Katie decided to show the locals how some English have a severe lack of balance as she made her way across boulders in the river to reach the other side. The falls are impressive and great to see from down low even though we both hated the walk back up over rough and uneven, steep steps. We were then taken to the nearby water hole to see the local hippos. As it was a Sunday lots of locals were also there whiling away their time doing the same, but when we arrived it seemed we became the attraction. Feeling like we were light bulbs in a dark room as everyone was just watching us, we just carried on our business and focused on the hippos and the small children around us. They seem to have great amusement standing next to white people and looking back at their friends and laughing. We are so use to it by now. It was strange though speaking to some tourist just here on holiday and finding out they find Kenya very intimidating and nerve-racking. Where we find it to be amazing compared with the countries we have driven through. |
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| Finally as we went back to Nanyuki we got to see the equator and the magical water drainage trick. For those not in the know water drains clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, anti-clockwise in the Southern hemisphere and straight down directly on the equator line. Very bizarre, but a fun way to mark another milestone in the adventure. |
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| Broken Suspension |
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| Little Monkey |
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| Nanyuki Mechanics |
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| Sort Out |
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| Lots of Dust |
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| Shoudler Kitten |
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| Giraffe |
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| Katie on Safari |
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| Thompson Falls |
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| Hippo Smile |
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| The Equator |
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