Nairobi to Arusha, Tanzania.

So we arrived at Jungle Junction in Nairobi, a renowned over Landers stop. This place is an overlanding Mecca with many 4wds, motorcycles and trucks parked in front of a large communal house. A great place to catch up on internet, and suck up information from other travellers. We were also reunited with Max and Jacob, a couple of German guys who we met earlier during the trip. Just down the road, a very modern shopping center, and a large supermarket. We spent a few days here resting, before Craig and I rode north to lake Naivasha, lake Begoria and also lake Baringo where we camped for the night. During the night we had Hippos grazing next to our tent. Perfectly safe we were told, as there was a guard who would shimmy them off if they got too close.



So back to Nairobi where we had left Neil to sort out his clutch cable. Another night at Jungle Junction and we headed for the coast, firstly stopping in Mombassa for some brief sightseeing, then onto Tiwi beach. We were greeted with gorgeous white sand and clear blue water. That afternoon we lit a camp fire and cooked fresh fish. Bloody Beauty mate.

From Tiwi it was into Tanzania. We decided to take the more direct route to the border, which included about 170km of pot holed tarmac and gravel, with the later being easier. We stamped out of Kenya and had to travel down a very poorly maintained road to the Tanzanian immigration. This road really was ‘no mans land’ with some of the slipperiest mud we had encountered on the trip. I dropped my bike four times over a distance of about five hundred meters, discovering that my front guard was choked with mud, and the front wheel was hardly turning. Also our boots had smooth soles making it very difficult to hold the bikes up. Neil crashed when a local guy on a 125 scooter ploughed into him. The stuff of real adventures can be found just between the border posts it seems. Crazy.

With the Carnet stamped, visas paid for, and my front mud guard cleaned out, we headed towards Moshi for the night. On the way we got a glimpse of mount Kilimanjaro, with its snowy peak just portruding out of the clouds. Quite lucky at this time of year. That night we chatted with a Japanese traveller who gave us good info on how to organise a budget Safari to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. So off to Arusha the next morning and onto a Safari we went the next day. Beginning at Lake Manyara national park we watched Elephants, Monkeys, Giraffe and Hippos among other things. The next Day we drove out to the Serengeti, a huge expansive plain of wilderness. There we sighted a Cheetah, Leopard eating its kill, more giraffe, a family of Lions playing and countless Zebra and Wilderbeast. The last day we entered the Ngorongoro crater, an giant extinct volcano renowned for a high concentration of wildlife gathered in one place. We weren’t disappointed when we were greeted by lion sitting at the edge of the road devouring their kill.

So tomorrow its down to business again. We have another 4000 miles to put in before reaching Cape town. Next country is Malawi, followed by Zambia, Botwana and Namibia where we meet Craig girlfriend Eve. Stay tuned.

Addis Abeba to Isiolo, Kenya

From Addis we have been moving fairly swiftly south, making up for lost time. We spent the first night in just out of Shashemene close to some nice hot springs. Shashemene is apparently famous for its Rasta image, and the locals told us there were definitely ties to Jamaica. Interesting.

One more night spent wild camping and we arrived in the border town of Moyale. From Moyale south the road has a reputation for being the worst in East Africa. Large rocks and very rutted gravel. Historically it is also the most risky due to its close proximity to Somalia. The road has been dubbed the “Bandit Highway”. Fortunately for us the Kenyans have discovered oil not far from Marsabit, and hence the security has now improved and the Bandits are no longer. The road still proved rough and very slow going. It took us nine hours to travel 150 miles to Marsabit, arriving in the dark. My bike shaking its way along the rutted surface.



Day two of the Bandit highway proved more of the same, but for a much shorter distance of 90 miles till the new tarmac road. In Marsabit we awoke to our first African rain, making the first section of road quite muddy and slippery. It was short lived as soon we were back into dessert. We had a few kids throw rocks at us, with Craig landing one right in the chest. The locals are poor, and are shouting, or have their hands out for money at every other twist in the road.

So now as I am writing we are staying in the small town of Isiolo. We are yet to see Mount Kenya, which is still shrouded in the mist, hopefully we’ll get a glimpse as we head towards Nairobi today.

Khartoum to Addis Abeba

So we emerged from what seemed like endless dry dessert into the very green and mountainous Ethiopia. Quite a relief as we climbed higher into highlands and we felt the temperature falling from the forties to a much more bearable mid twenties, even requiring an extra layer in the evening. After another difficult border crossing we spent our first night camping at the side of the road, after Ed hit a giant rock, pinching his rear tube. Ethiopia is a country of 80 million people, making wild camping less than ideal. We were greeted in the morning by the local village kids who informed us that our tent had squashed a tiny piece of crop. One US dollar and they seemed happy.



So onto Gondor the next morning after a great roadside breakfast tasting our first Ethiopian coffee. Good atmosphere in the town, and the gateway for a side trip to the Simian mountains national park. We climbed to above 3000 meters, camping inside the National park for two nights. Some good fun gravel riding, even though my bike was struggling to breathe in the thin mountain air. Spectacular scenery all around. The nights were very cold, with frost in the morning.

We said our farewells to Matt, Kim, Ed, Dave and Steph back in Gondor. We had been travelling with them since Egypt. Craig and I needing make fairly swift progress from this point on, as we were held up in Egypt for three weeks with visa/ferry issues. Neil has decided he will travel with us for the time being. The ride south was an easy one through very nice Ethiopian rolling green countryside on decently sealed roads. My bike was still lacking power due to altitude which slowed the progress at times. We took three days to ride down to Addis Abeba where we were hosted by a very helpful Finnish family. They gave us a room to bunk down in, took us out to a German restaurant (Plenty of international influence in Addis) and even cooked us a proper breakfast. A slice of western comfort for three weary travellers. Thanks to Paivi and yuha for the great hospitality.

Sand, sand, more sand, Tarmac never looked so good.

We all departed Wadi Halfa with excitement in the air. We had heard so many conflicting reports about the Nubian dessert. For the less adventurous, or perhaps more sensible there is now a sealed road all the way to Khartoum. But we had been looking forward to this for a while, so the dessert was the route of choice. Only a few meters into the first sandy bit and I dropped my bike. A few more meters and I was off again. Could it really be this difficult for the whole 230 miles.



About ten miles in and I looked back to see Dave and stephs landrover and a few of the bikes gathered round. Kim and had a nasty fall and sprained her wrist. Fortunately an Xray in Wadi Halfa later showed that it wasn't broken, although she would not be riding for a while. Craig and I decided we would ride on hoping for the sands to become firmer and easier. Day one we managed 70 miles. We pitched our tents with both of our bikes stuck in the sand near station 4 (there are railway tracks you can follow for easy navigation). A nervous night camping with many unanswered questions hanging over us. Would this ride take three days? We don't have enough water for three days? Will it get easier? The next day we set off early Hoping to make better progress and finnish the dessert section. We had heard of tarmac only 100 miles ahead (this later proved false, but it gave us a motivational boost nonetheless). A signalling man from station four pointed out in the dessert indicating that we should ride well out away from the rail tracks. Turned out to be good advice, as we found firmer sections and managed to pick up the pace. All in all I think we must have dropped the bikes in excess of 20 times. Very hard work, although by the later sections we were becoming more confident and relaxed, loosening up on the bars, essentially allowing the bike to be partially out of control in order to gain control, and finding that 35 MPH was about the minimum speed for keeping the bike up on a level plane. Eight hours and 150 miles later we reached station ten, where we found the best tasting coca cola in the world! What a relief as now it was Tarmac all the way to Khartoum.

After a night at Abu Hamid we reached the Meroe Pyramids and were reunited with a german Couple (thomas and Dakmar, sorry if the spellings wrong) travelling by truck. We camped with them for the night, and they cooked us a fantastic meal complemented with a continuous flow of red wine. Fantastic and a big thanks to you guys!

Now we are in Khartoum and have met back up with the rest of the group. We have found a great overlanding garage, with a very helpfull local man taking care of us, even arranging an appartment for us to stay in and inviting us to his families home for dinner. Despite the political troubles, Sudan is a very welcoming place, with the local people pleased to see us here.

Egypt to Sudan

So today we arrived in Wadi Halfa, Sudan. Still hot as ever, still sweating like mad in the 40 degrees plus heat. First impressions are of a very friendly relaxed town.

We have come from Aswan in Southern Egypt by way of a long and crowded ferry. The bikes arrive either tomorrow or Thursday on a separate barge. Our last days in Egypt were spent sorting out official paperwork. First we had to get new number plates fabricated. This was due to the fact that the Alexandria port only issued one plate, and they require two in Aswan. The choice was either to seek a police report saying that one plate was lost/stolen, or make new plates, an easy task given that they are only painted in the first place. Seems an absurd thing to have to do, but this is Egypt and the later option saved us much hassle. The next day we set off for the traffic court, to obtain a slip of paper stating that we had not committed any driving offences. As expected this was a typical Egyptian Beurecratic nightmare, coming in at initially four hours, after which we realised all the slips had been handed out to the wrong people, with various numbers mixed up. The smile grin and bear approach followed with another two hours of waiting in the court office making small talk with the court chief and we finally managed some progress. Then it was back down to the Nile river ferry company to buy the tickets.



As for the ferry itself, certainly a hive of activity. It only runs weekly, and serves as the main way for the Sudanese to get all there supplies from Egypt. We saw all sorts of things dragged onto the ferry including a stack of dated 14 inch TV’s and kitchen sinks.

So far on the trip, the bike has been running well, especially given the 60,000 miles on the clock. Most of us did oil changes in Luxor/Aswan. I did manage to drop mine in the campsite in Luxor, breaking the rear right indicator. Didn’t really need that anyway! Also smashed my right rear vision mirror trying to man handle the bike into position on the back of the very full barge. Oh well.

From Wadi Halfa we head through the Nubian dessert to Abu Hamed and onto Khartoum, where Neil needs to get his Ethiopian visa. We’ve heard various reports about the route, all of which seem to be a bit vague. Tune in again soon.

Cairo to Hurghada

So we finally got our visas for Sudan and Ethiopia after a long 9 days in Cairo. Neils Sudanese visa took a day longer meaning that due to weekends and public holidays he will have to wait until Khartoum to get his Ethiopian. We rang the ferry company in Aswan only to find out its fully booked till next Monday. This is the only route into Sudan, and the ferry operates weekly. So its three weeks in Egypt, and much longer than we’d hoped. After Egypt its land border crossings the whole way, meaning that we should be able to make up for lost time.

Currently we are residing in Hurghada, after a easy ride out to the Suez Canal and down the Red sea coastline. Our first night of wild camping was spent in an old metal quarry a few minutes off the highway, followed by our first swim in the Red Sea the next day! The warmest sea water I’ve ever encountered. Since reaching Hurghada we spent a day out at a coral reef swimming and snorkelling, with Craig and Ed Diving. Certainly beats English grey skies. Todays a rest day, before we bust it across to Luxor tomorrow where its supposedly about five degrees hotter. There’ll be no respite from the heat until we reach Ethiopia.

Still in Cairo...

So we're off to the Sudanese embassy tomorow to hopefully collect our Sudan visas. Then its a race over to the Ethiopian Embassy to apply for a visa there. Should be overnight processing. It'll be a relief to have those in our passport, as it means we can get moving again!

Today we spent the day with an Egyption guy named Alli and his family. Neil stumbled across him on the street last night, and managed to strike up a conversation. He offered to show us some of the sights and cook us a feast at his place. Turned out to be a huge feast, followed by visits to some pyramids and our first encounter of riding through sand! Alli seemed to enjoy riding on the back of Neils bike all day, making gestures to all his fellow villagers. Check out the pics...