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Diary - Kenya - Nairobi to Nairobi! (28th Jul to 13th Aug)
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Arriving in Nairobi was meant to be the completion of solving our problems with the vehicle, as we could collect a parcel being sent from the UK. Unfortunately the past week has been a catalogue of issues and problems, giving us almost one good day followed by one bad day all week. It is safe to say that we are currently back in Nairobi to accept another collection of goods being hand delivered, and are both in a pretty fed-up mood as it has been a tough week.
To our surprise Nairobi or Nai-rob-you as it is also know, is not as terrifying as we first thought based on the stories you hear. In fact it is pretty relaxing and many areas look reasonable to live in, better than any other capital in Africa so far. Of course all entrances have guards and either broken glass or razor wire spread across tops of walls, but this is just the norm so it almost becomes invisible. We even braved going into town on the big council bus, choosing to avoid the mini buses as they are just crazy drivers, more often using the pavement than the road. The feeling of finally reaching a town that seemed to have everything a town should have is a pure delight. We even decided to top-up our culture and went to the National Museum, which occupied us for a few hours and was interesting with some of the most stunning photos we have ever seen.
Thinking collecting a parcel from the DHL was going to be straight forward was a mistake; especially as we were informed our Carnet de Passage had been incorrectly completed by the Kenyan officials in Moyale. Instead we sat patiently like true Brits with our reading books in one hand and coffee in the other in the foyer of the DHL building for six hours. Eventually customs agreed to put the shipment against Steve’s passport so we did not need to pay the £100 import tax (note to selves to always check documents carefully!). Thankfully there was a little bit of brightness to the day as when we reached our place to stay, Jungle Junction, we were surprised to find our French friends and their big red truck, along with the most overlanders we had seen in one place.
It was a strange feeling travelling from one area of Kenya to another, simply to see other friends and celebrate their birthday, but it turned out to be a great 48 hours with Roy and Sandy. The four of us stood there in the evening watching Hippos that munch the grass just metres from your car in the cover of darkness. Their size and grace is impressive for such hefty creatures, but they did strike fear in our hearts when one growled or maybe just sneezed towards us, which ever caused us all to run away. Triumphant in our defensive manoeuvres, we sat down for dinner laughing at how stupid the other campers must have thought we looked. We did nothing but cook, eat and relax for Roy’s birthday especially as we finally flicked through our camping cookbook and found some great, easy recipes, the favourite being BBQ Pineapple. |
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Then the week started to take a turn for the worst when we headed north, most of which we will not go into details for the sake of not boring you all. The short story is Gweneveer did not want to go up to Lake Boringo and both times we tried she refused to go, breaking down in various ways. The most dramatic was the first when a front wheel bearing destroyed itself, meaning we had to make emergency side of the road repairs to fit a new bearing. Safe to say we didn’t make our destination and we stopped for the night shortly after. The next day was then spent rebuilding and sorting any further damage caused by the metal grinding itself together. Steve is now holding his head high and making the most of the continued praise from Katie for his new mechanical skills!
The biggest frustration of the last few weeks comes from our Dutch friends who we have spent a lot of time travelling with. As much as we love them and have the best times, travelling with them is annoying, as every time we meet something on our landy breaks. Whilst the only thing that has gone wrong with their car is the front seat had become loose, they did need to borrow our tools to fix it though! We would not want anyone else to have the difficulties we are having but it has been reassuring meeting other travellers in Nairobi that aren’t all having a smooth journey. It is also nice to see the reactions of others at how good Gweneveer looks considering she is nearing 200,000 miles (320,000Km) and not having had the easiest of lives.
During our second attempt to head north failed after only 30km, when the engine developed a severe rattling noise, causing us to return to Nakuru and take it to a garage. After spending 8/9 hours sat about whilst they dismantled and rebuilt the entire engine, including the head gasket, she was good to go again. During this time they depressed us further when they told us that the pump we had fitted a week before was also ruined! (Steve was not a happy boy). The day did provide good, uninterrupted reading time with Katie flying through over 500 pages of her new book, keeping her nice and quite.
With Gweneveer giving us clear indication she didn’t want to go north we decided to stick around the area, giving us time to see Lake Elmenteita and Lake Nakuru National Park. Camping on Lake Elmenteita would have been near prefect for the amazing views over the flat lake surface covered in thousands of flamingos and the warm glowing sun setting over the hill tops. This slice of heaven was dampened by the smell from thick, gloopy flamingo poo and mud that surrounds the shoreline.
Lake Nakuru National Park was a delightful place to escape the strains of the past few days and to recharge our batteries. The National Park is renowned for its Rhinos, Pelican and Flamingo populations. To Katie’s excitement you could escape the cars steel cage at the shoreline and stand meters away from the thousands of pelicans and flamingos. Watching the pelicans gracefully flying through the air and then seem panicked as the they swoop down to land, flapping their wings frantically trying not to nose drive or crash into a comical mess with another Pelican was very entertaining.
Our favourite experience in the park was having lunch with a family of Rhino’s. With us sat in the car having a sandwich and four rhinos, including a youngster only a short distance away resting in the shade. It’s lovely to spend time sitting and just watching, rather than like the crazy tour buses that briefly stop for photos before dashing to the next animal. Being left alone we sat and enjoyed the experience, whilst laughing at one adult Rhinos multiple attempts at trying to sit down next to it’s mate not realising how big his bum was, almost wedging the other ones horn somewhere painful. |
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Returning to Nairobi, which was always planned, we thought we were safe, only to realise a couple of other issues had risen! This included bolts missing from the anti-roll bar (fitted by a garage two weeks before) along with a rear shock absorber leaking. Thankfully we were distracted by new faces as well as old and a tasty meal supplied by the French. The great thing about staying at Jungle Junction is that not only do we get to relive our amazing stories, (our writing does not do justice to them) but also get tantalised by their stories for the countries we have yet to go through. We had the best meal of the trip, a true South African Braii made by Dawn and Wolf. We are continuously surprised and impressed with the amount of dinner invites we get but also the quality and variety of the food that people manage whilst camping. We tend to opt for the easy choice that even includes a bowl of porridge that Katie produced the night before. At least we now have more recipes to offer people, including fresh beer bread that Dawn made, maybe one day we will be confident to offer dinner invites to others.
Although the week has been one tough moment after another, the key is that we are getting through them. Thankfully through speaking to people from home and those around us here you are reminded how fantastic and unique the trip is, making the hassles seem less concerning and the focus on the positives. Those positives being that we are in the heart of Africa, not sat in an office in England! Every hurdle we overcome does make us stronger, more confident and fills us with more knowledge about us and the vehicle, most of the time earning Steve lots of useful brownie points from Katie.
We have spent the last few days in Jungle Junction working with Philippe to rebuild all the hubs, tinker with other bits and learn a few more bush mechanic techniques using all his experiences. Of course most men can’t help observing a car in bits and all offer up other tales of breakdowns and solutions. Due to all the stress from our continuous break downs we decided to take her to Schuhmacher 4x4 for an inspection, resulting in a rather long list of things that need changing, most being due to maintenance than breakage. However they are very fancy Land Rover experts helping to give us the confidence that she will continue to fight on till Cape Town. |
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| For more photos please see the Gallery. |
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| Stork Stealer |
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| Camp Fire Time |
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| Baboons Gob |
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| Strange Statue |
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| Landy @ Lake |
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| Katie in Gloop |
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| Curio Shopping |
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| Flamingoes |
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| Evening Heaven |
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| Giraffe! |
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| Sitting Rhino |
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| Lake Nakuru |
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| On Safari |
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| Local Farm |
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