Day 183
Sleeping location: Guesthouse, Chepareria, Kenya
Distance (km today/total): 57 / 12785
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1100 / 93500
Humidity (est): 100%
Distance (km today/total): 57 / 12785
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1100 / 93500
Humidity (est): 100%
Day in three words: Wet wet wet
We were awoken at 2am by raindrops and swiftly scrambled to pull the outer over the tent before it got too heavy, which it soon did, with thunder and lightning pretty close by. In the morning it was still coming down hard so we hid in the tent until it abated. Most of our things had been covered but the rain had been so heavy that it had “bounced” the sandy soil upwards and covered a lot of things. It took ages to clean and dry everything and put the wet tent and tarp away. We set off towards clouded green mountains with intermittent sun, and soon reached the junction where we had to turn off to take the road which would allow us to cycle across the Great Rift Valley, something which had been highly recommended by a couple of other cyclists. At the junctions as a group of guys on motorbikes who told us that the road we needed was rough dirt (and therefore now mud and wet sand) for 80km, and that two bridges had been washed away and the water we would have to ford was as high as Rebecca’s shoulder. This did not sound viable.
We decided to continue on the main tarmac road and cycle the Rift as an out-and-back from Eldoret, which put us onto a new route which unbeknownst to us kicked off with a 1400m climb. We set off up a steep river valley with a very swollen and raging brown river. It was very quiet apart from the sound of the river, and very green. Weirdly there were big painted signs saying “Fruit trees for life!” everywhere. We stopped in the first decent sized town to use the internet to replan our route and get some food. It felt very different from the Kenya of the previous week, there were no more tribal vibes, no begging and everyone was curious but shy. Maybe this was a result of having left Turkana region, which we did around when everything became green. Also notably, we saw a pig for the first time since Europe. Maybe pork is back on the menu.
Immediately after the town the bridge was out, though thankfully the river wasn’t too big and we could ford it. The water was still at mid calf level and we had to take our panniers off and carry the bikes across. Of course this attracted a large and curious audience, including a large fruit selling lady who offered to “go with me” after we emerged triumphantly on the far bank. After the town we returned to peacefulness and continued to climb steadily past peaks of silvery stone which shone in the sun. One time when we stopped for a rest some kids with actual bows and arrows appeared and watched us from afar. Late afternoon the rain returned with a vengeance and went from zero to torrential in minutes. We tried to shelter under a tree, whilst wearing a poncho, then under a shop roof, but still both got drenched. After it dried up a bit we continued but on the way into Chepareria it started again and was heavy by the time we arrived. We found a guesthouse recommended by a huge friendly man named David, and bought two rooms as they were cheap and tiny and we had LOTS of stuff to dry out. It was basic* but clean, at least until we festooned every available hanging point with wet clothes and camping gear. It was unclear how well this approach would work as the air already seemed to be close to 100% humidity. It continued to rain torrentially on and off all evening; I have no idea how the sky could even hold that much water. We had climbed up to about 1750m and it was also now quite cold, but thankfully we had a bottle of “V&A Imperial Cream” (ingredients: neutral spirit, sugar, sherry flavouring) to warm us up.
*Rebecca had a Thomas the Tank Engine pillow though, which added value
We were awoken at 2am by raindrops and swiftly scrambled to pull the outer over the tent before it got too heavy, which it soon did, with thunder and lightning pretty close by. In the morning it was still coming down hard so we hid in the tent until it abated. Most of our things had been covered but the rain had been so heavy that it had “bounced” the sandy soil upwards and covered a lot of things. It took ages to clean and dry everything and put the wet tent and tarp away. We set off towards clouded green mountains with intermittent sun, and soon reached the junction where we had to turn off to take the road which would allow us to cycle across the Great Rift Valley, something which had been highly recommended by a couple of other cyclists. At the junctions as a group of guys on motorbikes who told us that the road we needed was rough dirt (and therefore now mud and wet sand) for 80km, and that two bridges had been washed away and the water we would have to ford was as high as Rebecca’s shoulder. This did not sound viable.
We decided to continue on the main tarmac road and cycle the Rift as an out-and-back from Eldoret, which put us onto a new route which unbeknownst to us kicked off with a 1400m climb. We set off up a steep river valley with a very swollen and raging brown river. It was very quiet apart from the sound of the river, and very green. Weirdly there were big painted signs saying “Fruit trees for life!” everywhere. We stopped in the first decent sized town to use the internet to replan our route and get some food. It felt very different from the Kenya of the previous week, there were no more tribal vibes, no begging and everyone was curious but shy. Maybe this was a result of having left Turkana region, which we did around when everything became green. Also notably, we saw a pig for the first time since Europe. Maybe pork is back on the menu.
Immediately after the town the bridge was out, though thankfully the river wasn’t too big and we could ford it. The water was still at mid calf level and we had to take our panniers off and carry the bikes across. Of course this attracted a large and curious audience, including a large fruit selling lady who offered to “go with me” after we emerged triumphantly on the far bank. After the town we returned to peacefulness and continued to climb steadily past peaks of silvery stone which shone in the sun. One time when we stopped for a rest some kids with actual bows and arrows appeared and watched us from afar. Late afternoon the rain returned with a vengeance and went from zero to torrential in minutes. We tried to shelter under a tree, whilst wearing a poncho, then under a shop roof, but still both got drenched. After it dried up a bit we continued but on the way into Chepareria it started again and was heavy by the time we arrived. We found a guesthouse recommended by a huge friendly man named David, and bought two rooms as they were cheap and tiny and we had LOTS of stuff to dry out. It was basic* but clean, at least until we festooned every available hanging point with wet clothes and camping gear. It was unclear how well this approach would work as the air already seemed to be close to 100% humidity. It continued to rain torrentially on and off all evening; I have no idea how the sky could even hold that much water. We had climbed up to about 1750m and it was also now quite cold, but thankfully we had a bottle of “V&A Imperial Cream” (ingredients: neutral spirit, sugar, sherry flavouring) to warm us up.
*Rebecca had a Thomas the Tank Engine pillow though, which added value
Comments
Post a Comment