Day 179

Sleeping location: Hotel Chomazone, Lodwar, Kenya
Distance (km today/total): 0 / 12528
Estimated climb (m today/total): 0 / 91500 
Time spent awestruck in supermarket: 45 mins
Day in three words: Back to comforts

After being in the wilderness for almost a week it was very exciting to be in the heaving metropolis (pop: 48,316) of Lodwar. For breakfast we had some exciting new treats of yoghurt and muffins and jam, and Rebecca managed to cover another guest with smoke whilst making coffee (the fuel bottle is down to the dregs and apparently the dregs are very dirty).

We both had things to buy, and urban Kenya to explore, so we hit the town eagerly. After getting SIM cards and medicines we found a supermarket bigger than anything we’d seen since Cairo, and wandered around in a daze for 45 minutes before buying absolutely loads*. I was particularly taken with a box of 72 ginger biscuit packets, which of course wouldn’t fit in my panniers and is now strapped to my front rack. I also found an emergency saddle for £3 in case anything goes wrong with my bodge job. It has a classic flame-on-black motif and is made by “Bicycle” so it must be high quality. Unfortunately there was loads of begging*, which often started with a hello and a handshake before the inevitable “I am hungry”. This is a shame because it makes us much more guarded when anyone tries to talk to us.

Back at the hotel it transpired that the cleaning lady had done an unrequested but very thorough wash of my cycling shoes, which was nice, but also potentially passive aggressive as they are an affront to nature after 12.5kkm of riding. We went out for dinner at a cheap eats place and learnt a little more about Kenyan food. General principles:
-Flavour, spice and seasoning is to be feared
-Everything comes with ugali, a “maize flour porridge” which comes in big claggy chunks and is like a vacuum for taste and fun
-Your non-carb options are usually beans, cabbage, meat stew or some combination of the three
-(Thank god) most places also sell pretty decent chapatis. We buy these in bulk and eat them for breakfast with some combination of yoghurt, peanut butter, fruit or jam. This is invariably the best meal of the day.

At night we enjoyed some Extra Strength Guinness*, then absentmindedly looked at the weather forecast, which showed lots and lots and lots of heavy rain. Given the previous day’s flooded road situation, and the fact that we had to cross another river to leave town, we were a bit worried about being trapped in town, to the extent that we then convinced ourselves that we would be and stayed up until 1am playing cards and drinking. After running out of Guinness we tried some more of the homemade spirit we accidentally got given near Lake Turkana, but it was absolutely foul and had to be discarded. This is probably for the best.

*Possibly the tastiest readily available thing in Kenya

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