Kenya – Marsabit to the Equator (16. – 19.05.2009)

We are lucky! Jambo! The parts for Juan’s car really arrive Friday at noon. Quickly we bring them to the car repair shop, where they tell us they can fix it in 3 hours… 3 hours become 10, but at least we are ready to leave Saturday morning. At 9 am we leave, however, Juan suddenly discovers he lost his mobile! He wants to go back to town to look for it.  So we continue alone – the second 250 kilometers of the “worst road in Africa”… We manage this part of the road in 4 hours and are not sure which part was worse. Corrugation at its best, potholes we have never seen before and more than once we think the car will fall apart. Another traveler said, you can only do this road if you hate your car, and he was right.

We are more than happy to finally arrive in Samburu National Park. We arrive at a perfect time, in the afternoon, when the big animals come to the river to drink. We are overwhelmed to see herds of elephants, giraffes, zebras, etc. And all of this just some meters away from us!

 

 

 

We put up our tent next to the river, and spotting elephant shit all over the place makes us a little nervous! When we sit in the dark, having dinner, we suddenly hear breaking wood, and we  discover a huge elephant just some meters away from our tent!  Thomas tries to make a photo, which unfortunately didn’t work (maybe due to his trembling hands?).

 

The next surprise is waiting early next morning. While preparing breakfast, suddenly two monster baboons enter our car! When Thomas is trying to kick them out, they knock over the table, spill the coffee and steal our milk powder. Some meters away they stop, open within seconds the lid and enjoy eating it. Only now we remember that the guards warned us that the baboons even open the tents to find food! But only if nobody is around!?!?!

On our way out of the park, we meet Juan, who arrived late at night and tells us the horror story of his mobile. It has been stolen and it took him and the people in the village half a day to locate the thief and get it back! Nevertheless everything turned out to be fine and we are happy that he also survived the horror road.

Together we continue south to Isiolo and then to the highlands around Mount Kenya. The countryside changes completely since we are over 2000 meters now, and the weather as well. It’s cold and raining. We feel a  little like in Germany with all the green and huge grain fields. In Timau, we stop at the Timau River Lodge and like this place so much that we decide to spend the night here. In the end, we stay here for 3 nights.

View from the Lodge to Mount Kenya (5199 m).

 

 

 

Our hot shower is prepared.

 

 

 

From here we go to the Sweetwater Reserve where we see even more big animals.

 

 

Our favorite picture during a visit to the open air toilet.

 

 

 

On the way to this park, we cross the Equator three times in one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are surprised how road  conditions can change after some rain!

 

 

 

Here in the Timau River Lodge it’s time so say good-bye to Juan, who will head for the coast while we plan to go to the Rift Valley. Unfortunately, we will not see him again, since he is in a hurry and has to be in Johannesburg in 3 weeks.  Adios Juan, have a safe trip, hope to see you in Spain or Germany, it was really fun travelling together…

 

 

Our route in Kenya so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog done in the Timau River Lodge on 19./20.05.2009

Kenya – Moyale to Marsabit (11. – 15.05.2009)

Nakuna Matata!

We are ready and happy to leave Moyale. Like most border towns it has little to offer. When we get up in the morning we are surprised that it is raining. We are told that this is the first rain in months and the local people are happy since there is a shortage of water. We are worried because of the trip ahead of us. The “worst road” in Africa. And we have no other option. It’s the only way to get into Kenya! It also will be strange to drive on the left side – surely that needs some training.

We are at the border and the formalities in Ethiopia – even with another power outage – are done within 45 minutes. On the Kenyan side we immediately notice that everybody speaks good English which makes communication much easier compared to Ethiopia. The Immigration and customs procedures are done within 30 minutes and we are ready to move. At least so we think.

Changing money in a bank turns out to be a challenge. First we have to line up for 20 minutes and then they only accept dollar bills from 2003 and later. Anyway we get some money at the end.

We have been told that there are bandits and attacks on the road to Marsabit and therefore it is necessary to join a convoy.  When we stop at the security post and ask the officer he tells us that we can go alone but should take a security person with us for the first 90 kilometers. He wants USD 50 for that but we find out that this price is negotiable. However, since we don’t have a 3rd seat in the car, we talk to Juan. He has been asked by another officer if he could take two security people to Marsabit and they are willing to pay USD 30. Strange world and we decide to go without since we don’t want to carry extra weight on this bad trip.

It is still raining and when we drive out of Moyale, the first minibuses coming towards us are moving right to left on the muddy road. We are getting really worried about the trip ahead of us. Are we one day too late???

The first kilometers are ok and the road is not too bad but then we come to a loamy area. In the distance, we see two trucks blocking the road and at least 50 people who try to push them back to the road and forward. It takes close to an hour to clear the road.

On top of that the road has now 50cm deep tracks (Spurrillen), which are impossible to drive in with our Toyota. So we give it a try and after some spectacular driving maneuvers we manage to pass this 5km stretch of the road.

It is done. We passed the worst mud.

 

 

 

But it even gets worse, the sand and mud is replaced by stones with corrugation(Wellblech) und deep tracks. More than once we hit big stones with the bottom of the car. This is a killer for the car. 250 kilometers and this is only the first half of the road to Isiolo where we will find tarmac roads again.

 

80 kilometers before Marsabit we meet a Spanish couple which is coming from Nepal (!!) by bicycle (Aitor and Laura). They will need 5 days for this trip and we help them out with water and food. They are travelling since 1 year and 3 months and they tell us this is by far the worst road of their whole trip. When Juan is checking his car he finds that one of his shock absorbers is leaking oil and he has lost its oil reservoir. He decides to go back with Claudia for a little distance to see if they can find it. The unbelievable happens. When they come back after 30 minutes, Claudia spotted the part in this gravel. So we are ready to move again and arrive with sunset at 7 pm at  Marsabit. Here Juan sees that he has broken also the second shock absorber!

We find a nice place at Henry’s campground a little outside the village. Henry is a nice Swiss guy who is living here since 30 years! This place is great, we have a nice hut,  a pavilion to sit and cook as well as a nice restroom and all this for us alone. We enjoy staying here.

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Dinner at Henry’s

 

 

 

 

Morning exercise at Henry’s with a real Spanish torero

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There is water shortage in this area.

 

 

 

The news about Juan’s car the next day is not that great. The shock absorbers are broken beyond repair and new parts need to be ordered in Nairobi and transported to Marsabit. So now starts the long waiting and hoping that the parts will arrive soon. We decide to stay with Juan since we have a nice place and it seems to be better to continue with 2 cars on these bad roads. On top we have to take care of some things after 2 1/2 months on the road. Our car is ok but let’s see how the second 250 kilometers will be.

A highlight is the national park we visit. For the first time we see wild elephants. They are coming at sunset to the beautiful lake Paradise, the last lake that still has some water.  The surrounding here is spectacular.

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So today is Friday. The parts for Juan’s car are supposed to arrive by plane at 11am. We hope that everything goes as planned and we can leave tomorrow morning for Isiolo.

Only 250 kilometers but so far the most memorable to be polite.