by Henry
Overnight, for the first time since Egypt, I heard packs of dogs howling.
95 km ride today, with 1800 m total elevation gain. High temperature 26° C. Overcast in the morning, but the sun came out by 11 AM. No rain. Wind was not a factor.
It was another challenging day. My legs were tired from all the climbing yesterday. There were repetitive rolling hills until lunch at 62 km. In addition, there were two separate 300 m relatively steep climbs, one before and one after lunch.
Early in the morning, we passed two platoons of Ugandan runners heading the opposite direction; perhaps 30 in each group. They were moving quickly so it was hard to get a good picture.
We were once again the main attraction for many villagers along the highway. Young or old, they have no qualms about staring at us. We would hear a shouts of “muzungu”, their local word for foreigner. We heard countless times “How are you?” with a sing-song lilt. I heard a few times “well done“.
View of the distant mountains and valley after our first climb.
Curious onlookers at our lunch stop.
After our second 300 m climb, we arrived at the Uganda – Kenya border, which was one giant construction zone with heavy equipment. We were stamped out on the Ugandan side in an open air garage, then rode a half km to another building to get stamped in, fingerprinted, and mugshots were taken on the Kenyan side.
The remaining ride to camp was very pleasant, consisting of a gentle downhill with minimal climbing. The countryside already looked different. There were large agricultural fields which were clearly worked with tractors and other mechanized farm equipment, and not by hand.
We arrived at our first bush camp under a grove of eucalyptus trees. No facilities at all. Zero bars for cell service.
We were each apportioned a partial bucket of water with a cup. We had a choice of washing up in the pictured tent, or au naturel behind the bushes.
The main course tonight was delicious grilled barbecue chicken.
As a primitive camp, shovels and disinfectant spray were provided for you know what.
We have now concluded 20 days of riding, officially over 1/4 of the 77 scheduled rides. There will be more climbing in Kenya.
WARNING: Do not read further if you are squeamish, but I suppose no one will stop here.
Our tour leader Colleen had a piercing injury to two of her fingers with a fiberglass sliver from her tent pole early this morning at 5 AM, but the medics did not tell me until the end of the day.
She was sliding her hand along her tent pole, when a fiberglass sliver broke off and skewered her small finger to her ring finger.
After “releasing” the ring finger.
The sliver was cut short on both ends, and the medic was able to remove the embedded fragment from the small finger.
Oral antibiotics were started immediately, and her fingers will be watched closely for the next several days to make sure she does not develop an infection.
It was a tough day overall for Colleen, because a truck ran into her later In the day.
After our second 300 m climb, we arrived at the Uganda – Kenya border, which was one giant construction zone with heavy equipment. We were stamped out on the Ugandan side in an open air garage, then rode a half km to another building to get stamped in, fingerprinted, and mugshots were taken on the Kenyan side.
The remaining ride to camp was very pleasant, consisting of a gentle downhill with minimal climbing. The countryside already looked different. There were large agricultural fields which were clearly worked with tractors and other mechanized farm equipment, and not by hand.
We arrived at our first bush camp under a grove of eucalyptus trees. No facilities at all. Zero bars for cell service.
We were each apportioned a partial bucket of water with a cup. We had a choice of washing up in the pictured tent, or au naturel behind the bushes.
The main course tonight was delicious grilled barbecue chicken.
As a primitive camp, shovels and disinfectant spray were provided for you know what.
We have now concluded 20 days of riding, officially over 1/4 of the 77 scheduled rides. There will be more climbing in Kenya.
WARNING: Do not read further if you are squeamish, but I suppose no one will stop here.
Our tour leader Colleen had a piercing injury to two of her fingers with a fiberglass sliver from her tent pole early this morning at 5 AM, but the medics did not tell me until the end of the day.
She was sliding her hand along her tent pole, when a fiberglass sliver broke off and skewered her small finger to her ring finger.
After “releasing” the ring finger.
The sliver was cut short on both ends, and the medic was able to remove the embedded fragment from the small finger.
Oral antibiotics were started immediately, and her fingers will be watched closely for the next several days to make sure she does not develop an infection.
It was a tough day overall for Colleen, because a truck ran into her later In the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment