Day 191

Sleeping location: Forest 2km E of Endebess, Kenya
Distance (km today/total): 95 / 13225
Estimated climb (m today/total): 600 / 98700 
Food: TOO MUCH

Day in three words: Some monkeying around

Finally it was time to leave our little haven, even though we could probably have spent way more time there. Rebecca had to get to Kisumu 115km away so she got away at the relatively sensible time of 9.30am. It was strange and a little sad to say goodbye in the knowledge that we wouldn’t see each other for weeks, having spent almost every day together for the last four months. I had a more relaxed timetable as I was just planning to get past Kitale (75km) and camp whenever, which of course meant that I spent the entire morning faffing, slowly packing and writing a bit of blog with the final Guinness that I didn’t want to waste*. The packing was complicated by the fact that, as expected, I had bought way way way way too much food. I ended up having to rejig things and strap a huge and unwieldy bag of snacks** to my front rack. My food pannier was so stuffed with heavy canned goods that Maggie developed a decided “lean” to the left, which I briefly counteracted by hanging a big bag of empty beer bottles off the right handlebar to take them back to the restaurant as promised.

After all the faff I didn’t leave until 12.30pm, perhaps subconsciously because I felt a bit sad about it. Progress was slow and felt even slower having ridden a zippy light Maggie for the past 200km. There was a pretty strong wind from the right, which exacerbated Maggie’s lean as all the heavy stuff was on the left. I was heading back to Kitale along the same road as on day 185, so for detail on the landscape just read that day backwards. Since initially arriving in Kitale I’ve been determinedly going the wrong way, which is going to be the case for about 1000km. The direct route from there to Cape Town is basically due S or SSW through Tanzania. Instead of this I have cycled 175km to Kabarnet via Eldoret, then the same route in reverse, then I’m heading to Kampala (due W) via a big ungainly route around Mt Elgon. The most annoying thing about this is that I got within 0.5 degrees of the Equator then abruptly turned around and went the other way***. Some day I’ll reach the Southern Hemisphere.

As the road was boring I just powered through for 55km until I reached the place we had lunch in the rain, for old time’s sake, and enjoyed a bang average cheese sandwich that was elevated to deliciousness by the fact I hadn’t had cheese in months. Then powered some more via Kitale through to almost 100km, which was good going considering the late start. Out the other side of Kitale I could see the big squat figure of Mt Elgon looming in the distance. It rises from the plains at 1000m to 4300m but is 80km across so it isn’t that dramatic in profile. After Kitale there was loads of greenery and it was quiet so finding somewhere to camp was pretty easy. I spotted a tiny footpath into a thick forest and decided to check it out, which worked out beautifully as there was a clearing towards the back which was very hidden and quiet. 

After setting up I discovered that I had some neighbours, a little family of Black and White Colobus monkeys who were as surprised to see me as I was to see them. Their den was about 20m away and initially the big male made some alarming cries (which sounded like a huge frog) to warn me off, but they quickly calmed down. I was slightly worried that they would eat my food in the night, or storm my tent if I took it inside with me, but some research revealed they are diurnal and would probably just be asleep anyway. It was weird being on my own in the tent, but also I had loads of space to unleash my full messiness, so swings and roundabouts. 

Some thoughts on Kenya, seen as it’s the last night there. After the in-your-face experience of Ethiopia it was much more sedate, which was welcome but also meant it left much less of an impression on me. It’s been very tough, mostly due to the very off the beaten track route we took, but also very beautiful and rewarding. The Rift and the climb up to the highlands were both cycling highlights. It’s been great to visit proper supermarkets and buy nice things again. There’s Guinness. The people are very nice and friendly, but frustratingly it doesn’t feel this way when you’re on the bike. There’s an innate shyness that means most people just stare at you, and the ones who shout at you are usually trying to show off to their mates and make some funny remark to the mzungu. As previously discussed, the whole “how are you” thing is weird too. On paper it was the best country in ages but feelings aren’t made on paper, and my feeling is that I liked it but didn’t love it. I’m not really sure why.

*This is totally fine as it was almost 11am and it as the “smooth” 4.5% version instead of the usual 6.8%.

**Good cycling snacks (crisps, nut-based things, dried fruit) are hard to find in Africa so whenever I see a good selection I go a bit wild
***Further annoyance was provided by the fact that Rebecca crossed the equator today