By Henry
We were at the hotel breakfast by 5:30 AM, then took a 6 AM Uber with our daily bags from Radix Hotel to Wildebeest Eco Camp. Bags had to be dropped at the usual time at 6:15 AM.
The riding group was larger, now numbering 50 with the newbies.
Rode out of Nairobi today on the first ride of the section coined the “Green Hills of Africa”. Certainly makes me worry a little bit, because I thought the last section of Africa was already quite hilly!
Longer distance at 141 km today. 1100 m elevation gain. 27°C maximum. Mostly tailwind.
We definitely see more “butcheries” in Kenya than Rwanda and Uganda, suggesting that they can afford to eat more meat.
Karen was an incredibly wealthy suburb with million dollar mansions. The wealth disparity could not be more distinct.
There was 2 km of very rough and steep unpaved road at 11 km out. The viaduct in the distance is new and carries Kenya Railways.
The rest of the day was smooth tarmac. Lunch was at 75 km.
Gentle, long undulating hills for most of the afternoon with very little traffic.
We were exposed to the vast open plains of eastern Kenya.
Snake that was actually molting, but didn’t make it through the day.
The riding group was larger, now numbering 50 with the newbies.
Rode out of Nairobi today on the first ride of the section coined the “Green Hills of Africa”. Certainly makes me worry a little bit, because I thought the last section of Africa was already quite hilly!
Longer distance at 141 km today. 1100 m elevation gain. 27°C maximum. Mostly tailwind.
We definitely see more “butcheries” in Kenya than Rwanda and Uganda, suggesting that they can afford to eat more meat.
Karen was an incredibly wealthy suburb with million dollar mansions. The wealth disparity could not be more distinct.
There was 2 km of very rough and steep unpaved road at 11 km out. The viaduct in the distance is new and carries Kenya Railways.
The rest of the day was smooth tarmac. Lunch was at 75 km.
Gentle, long undulating hills for most of the afternoon with very little traffic.
We were exposed to the vast open plains of eastern Kenya.
Snake that was actually molting, but didn’t make it through the day.
Destination was Maasai Bush Camp. This was the worst campsite I’ve ever encountered, with overhanging acacia trees with giant thorns, and small thorny seed pods that stuck to the bottom of everyone’s shoes. We had to carry our bikes in 200 m from the main road to our campsite and leave the bikes upside down so that tires did not get punctured by the seed pods or acacia thorns. To add to the fun, there were cow piles everywhere.
Some of us ended up camping on a spit of sand. Even though some tried to smooth out the ground with a shovel, it was impossible to remove all the treacherous seed pods. None of us could sleep on our inflatable mattresses because the small thorny pods poked through the bottom of our tents.
Queue for the bush camp bottle shower. Each rider is allotted enough water to reach the bottom ring on the blue bucket.
Some of the Maasai family members who owned the property that we were camping on. Nests built by weaver birds.
The man wrapped in plaid is son of the property owner.
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