Day 46 Monday February 26 Thika to Nairobi by bus

By Henry

Today was a transportation day. We are being bussed into Nairobi, because there is no way to ride into the city safely with so many bikers, given the state of its roads and traffic.

After today, we will have two additional rest days in Nairobi, so we will not be biking for three days.
We had the luxury of not having to drop off our bags until 7 AM, so most of us slept (or stayed in our tents) until 6 AM. Breakfast buffet was served by the Sunstar Resort staff at 7:30 AM.

Waiting to be loaded onto the bus after breakfast.

We departed for Nairobi in a caravan with the other TDA vehicles by 9 AM.

Big church as we approached Nairobi.


Major city; five lanes of highway in each direction.


Vendors encroaching upon available space for vehicles on an overpass.


As this truck passed our bus, no one was sure if the gentleman in the red jumpsuit was hitching a free ride, or actually works for the trucking company.


Many bigger, more modern buildings noted in Nairobi.


A few modest skyscrapers seen downtown in the distance.


Bikes being unloaded after our arrival at Wildebeest Eco Lodge in Karen, a neighborhood on the southern edge of Nairobi. TDA staff is incredibly skillful at getting bikes up onto, and down off of, the trucks.
Wildebeest Eco Lodge did not have any upgrades available, and the 4 Spokane riders checked into rooms at the nearby Radix Hotel.

Linda met with a local bike mechanic to get her derailleur replaced. She hopes to pick up her bike tomorrow.

Geoff from Philadelphia also met with the mechanic as he had five spokes pull out of his rear rim 2 km from the end of the ride yesterday. When the spokes popped out of his wheel, they thrashed his derailleur, so he needs both his rear wheel and derailleur replaced. The timing could not have been better for this type of incident to occur. It’s also an exciting day for Jeff because his wife is arriving in Nairobi today to join us on the tour.

I went to the Decathlon store at The Hub (a mall) on Langata Road with Jeff to look for extra tube patches and some socks. Jeff was looking for disc brake pads. We had lunch at the mall.

After a brief return to the hotel, Linda, Jeff, and I went to another bike store at the Galleria Mall, in the other direction on Langata Road. We had dinner there at a Java House, which is a chain of restaurants similar to Panera. Because it was dark by the time we were done, we hopped onto a matatu, minibuses that are used as shared taxis everywhere in Kenya. The matatu ride cost each of us $0.20.