With my bike taking a battering since Addis – all in all eight new rims where bought I decided it would be prudent to spend some time and money in Nairobi getting it properly fixed. I couldn’t really keep buying new wheels every 100km or so to Cape Town and even good roads become uncomfortable when your axel is off centre. After much running around town trying to track down parts I finally got it sorted – its actually running better now than it has done in months. Big relief. (Cyclists – I’ve put some practical info on getting your bikes fixed below)
My original plan had been to head due south from Nairobi, past Mount Meru, through the Tanzanian capital of Dodoma and onto Malawi. The road south from Nairobi was initially brilliant and with the bike back running well it felt really good to be back in the saddle. This is Africa (T.I.A.) however and which means things rarely go to plan. Once over the Tanzanian border I started asking questions about the condition of the road ahead to be told that it was in poor order at the best of times and the recent rains had washed out bridges and making it terrible. With my bottom still able to freshly recall just how uncomfortable riding along bad roads can be I didn’t fancy it. Instead I took a rather lengthy 1200km detour, flirting with the foothills of Kilimanjaro, down to the coast via Dares Salaam and Zanzibar before heading back in land towards Malawi.
Cycling down on the coast and around Zanzibar was incredibly hot and humid. As anyone who had the dubious privilege of sharing an office with me can vouch I don’t like the heat (now safely the other side of the world I confess it was me who used to nudge the air conditioning down to 16 degrees… Sorry.) I find cycling when it’s anything over 25 degrees hard going but when it’s a humid 35 degrees its incredibly tough work. Just sitting in the shade makes me sweat and pedalling in the hot sun is so exhausting. Even at night the temperature scarcely seems to drop.
The upside of my detour was cycling through Mukumi National Park. I assumed that cycling through a National Park that contained lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo would be forbidden. Apparently not - maybe the park wardens assume that no one in their right mind would attempt it.
I set off towards the park half expecting to be pulled over at each police roadblock and told I wouldn’t be allowed to cycle through. Quite sensible – we don’t want any tourists being eaten now do we, bad PR. Unbelievably no one did. I cycled past the sign warning me “WILD ANIMALS NEXT 50KM” and with the park gate unmanned I was in. The next 50km were amongst the best cycling I’ve done so far.
I cycled past countless antelope, had giraffe so close I could nearly touch them, crept up on elephants not 20 yards away, skirted round a huge herd of buffalo, pedalled alongside a family of zebra. It was incredible. Whilst in Kenya I’d seen hyenas, ostriches and far too many monkeys and baboons to recall I’ve not seen any large mammals and certainly not in this density before. I think on a bike you go so slowly you see much more and so quietly it possible to creep right up on the animals without them noticing.
I’ve got to admit whilst it was a wonderful experience it was pretty nerve wracking. Every time the bushes around me rustled I’d turn round fearing lions. I must have looked like easy pickings. At the back of my mind I recalled that someone had described my black and white profile and eye-like reflectors as looking like a giant zebra in reverse. Definite lion fodder. What really got my adrenaline pumping was the realisation that I’d spent far too long enjoying gazing at all the animals that I’d not noticed dusk was drawing in and that rain clouds had appeared on the horizon I started to recall my conversation with the locals the night before. “You should be fine cycling during the day so long as it’s dry – the lions won’t come up to the road.” Does that mean when its dark and wet they do…?
Time to pedal a bit faster. There’s nothing quite like fearing being eaten by a lion to encourage you along. Lance Armstong himself couldn’t have covered the last 10km any quicker.
Well I’m writing this so I’ve made it through – but if you ever want an adrenaline buzz skip bungee jumping go cycling in lion country.
Whilst in Northern Africa I scarcely met any other travellers – only the hardiest overlanders brave it. East Africa has however been awash scarcely a day goes by without seeing someone drive by. I’ve not bumped into anymore cyclists but it doesn’t concern me. I’m really enjoying the independence and freedom you get travelling alone and being anti-social for days on end. Strange as this was my greatest fear before leaving home.
Having had to make a considerable detour already I’ve given the final section of my route some more thought. Originally I was going to head from west from Malawi through the Caprivi Strip and down through Namibia to Cape Town. On talking to people coming north I’ve heard good reports that Zimbabwe slowly opening up again for independent travellers so the latest plan is to skip through Northern Mozambique, Zimbabwe, cut the corner of Botswana and belt it down to Cape Town. I’m down to my last 5,000km (I think I’ve done around 15,000km now) and the extra couple of thousand through Namibian desert just sounds too much like hard work.
Take care
George
Advice for cyclists.
There is a TREK shop / franchise in Nairobi (out towards Karen Nukumatt opposite St Christophers School). It stocks a limited range of spare parts but as of January 2010 not many of these were of particular use for touring bikes. They do however have chains (including 9 gear), brake pads, clothing. Most the stock they have is more geared towards mountain biking. Their manager is called Joyce and her Kenya no is (+25)(0)721496217. The shop didn’t actually carry out any repair work themselves.
The shop did put me in touch with a great guy called Kinjah. He’s one of Kenya’s top cyclists and runs a really good programme for young Kenyans to try and get them into cycling. He aims to produce a top Kenyan cycling team known as the Safari Simbas. It’s run as a charity and well worth a visit. One of the roles Kinjah takes on is training the young boys in bike mechanics. I took my bike there and they did a great job. Kinjah also has a good collection of bikes and is really helpful in tracking down parts for you. His number is (+25)(0)722620623. He’s located a few kilometres out of town and his base is hard to find so give him a call.
Elsewhere the whole of Northern and Eastern Africa has been awash with bicycle mechanics – normally found under a tree in most towns. There are almost always parts available – even if you end up doing what I did and just buy good parts of local cyclists. The problem is the parts are normally pretty poor quality and the workmanship is variable. Watch everything they do to make sure it’s done correctly. Labour is cheap and so are Chinese parts – but don’t expect to get too far before they fail!