Distance: 105.9 km
Ride time: 6:50:14
Average: 15.5 km/h
Max speed: 46.1 km/h
Total: 50921 km
Today would mark an important milestone on this African adventure. In my mind, the ride has always been divided in three parts: The first would be South Africa and Namibia, the 2nd part would be the ‘real’ Africa along the big lakes of Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya, and the final part would be Ethiopia and up through the Sahara towards Sudan and Egypt.
The second part of the trip through the central/eastern part of Africa has generally speaking been pretty comfortably and easy-going. There has been plenty of beautiful spots to check out, the roads have been OK, and the weather has been pretty perfect for cycling. I think the next part of the ride will be more challenging. Things will get remote and the road very bad along Lake Turkana, Ethiopia will be super hilly and the kids there have a reputation among cyclists as being a pain in the *ss. Finally there is the whole Sahara crossing in Sudan and Egypt which will be very hot at this time of the year.
With those thoughts on my mind I was rolling down the mountain towards Lake Turkana, enjoying what I imagine could very well be the last “easy” day in Africa!
A couple of years ago the tribes in this part of Kenya were fighting each other, and once in a while a tourist would get couch in the middle of the conflict. Now the region is more peaceful, but I was still pretty excited as I entered the Turkana region through the green mountains.
After passing a few villages on the way down towards the lake, the sealed road suddenly stopped, and found myself on pretty much the worst road I ever remember cycling on – I was usually cycling faster than the few cars battling the road, and I was only going at 10 km/h.
After the descend out of the green Rift Valley, the scenery got remarkably hotter and drier. I’m still fascinated by how fast these changes can happen. And the scenery was not the only thing that changed. The small villages (mostly consisting of huts) were now inhabited by the very local looking Turkana tribes, the men often carrying riffles. I suddenly felt I was far away from civilization, but at the same time I very much enjoyed the adventure.
In Kainuk I was happy to find a cheap guest house (without electricity or water) and I settled in for the night. I have only been in Kenya three days by now, but I gotta say- it’s full on adventure here!
Wow. What wonderful scenery, and certainly a drastic change!
Dear Thomas, what a great adventure! Are you still cycling the globe? Or have you already finished your circumnavigation by bike? I’m an English teacher in Murnau, Germany, and my topic with my 8th form is “circimnavigation” at the moment! I told my pupils about your great adventure and they said, what you are doing is as interesting and courageous as what Sir Francis Drake did about 450 years ago!
So all the very best wishes for you!
Petra Zellinger
Dear Petra. Thank you so much for the nice comment, and so happy to hear about your English class in Murnau. My best wishes to all the students! Yes, I finished my ride in Copenhagen two weeks ago after 58000 km and 6 years on the road. I’m still updating the blog posts from Africa simply because I’m so far behind. I rode through the western part of Germany on my way back to Denmark, and I’m looking forward to write about this nice experience on the blog. Best wishes, Thomas.