Moshi - Nairobi Cycle Experiment

The last week has been a bit of an experiment. The four-day cycle from Moshi to Nairobi was meant to test out a few things; what is wild camping like, how hot is it in the middle of the day, where can one get food and water? Luckily, after four days cycling, the bottom line is that its all good.

I was lucky enough to have company for the first two days in the form of a KCMC mosquito expert, Rick (who shares the name of Rick - my future long distance cycle companion). We set off from Moshi at 5:30am as the first rays of light streaked across the still starry morning sky and Kilimanjaro lit up to our right. Our aim was to cycle around the mountain. When we reached the other side Rick would complete the loop while I headed north into Kenya, roughly following the Mombasa road into Nairobi. It’s a fairly well traveled route into Kenya, especially since the road on the Kenyan side of the border has been tarmaced. 

We hung on to the early morning mist and coolness as we rose toward Sanya Juu and made lunch at Engare Nairobi just in time before torrential downpour turned the main street into a temporary river. We sat this out in the company of a local water engineer enjoying lunch over a Kilimanjaro beer, or two. He explained how the local Hai district had recently become one of the first to have a reliable, chlorinated water system, however this district (Meru) was yet to be declared safe. As a result he played safe and only drank beer while he stayed in the area. As with many Tanzanian government employees he often works a long way from home, for him however faithfulness during these stints wasn’t a problem as he was “not a reptile”. We congratulated him on his warm-hearted approach but were quickly corrected us. “No, no, I am not erectile”.

After a couple of hours the rain abated and we said farewell to our Chipsi Mayai lady and Engare Nairobi. The afternoon got tougher as we climbed through the rainforest and the 3900m Shira Plateau slowly came into focus above us. Colobus monkeys and local farmers cheered us on until, nearing exhaustion, we slowed and started looking for a camping spot. We asked a local farmer if we were anywhere near any local town. Happily he informed us that we weren’t too far from the park gate! Realising our wrong turn was some way back down the hill we sheepishly descended to the much more friendly alternative route. As a consolation however we did very soon find a campsite with a magical view overlooking the sunset beside Mt Meru. 

 

In the space of two days we rode through a huge variety of landscapes, from starting on the coffee plantations between Moshi and Arusha, the huge foreign owned arable farms on the Western slopes, the interspersed Tropical rainforest, the Masai and Chagga villages, the more arid acacia bushland and finally to the commercial pine and eucalyptus forests on the Northern side. Throughout these the mountain sweeps down to the hotter plains of the Arusha National Park and Amboseli Reserve.

Our second day was punctuated with several muddy sections that tended to slow us down. At one point we were in danger of struggling to make the border area to camp, however we were quickly reprieved by a perfect tarmac road and huge pine forests that helpfully retained the some mist and shade. Cycling along the tarmac amidst the forest felt at points as though we were somewhere on the West Coast of the US. The highlight of the second day was undoubtedly a superb camping spot, overlooking the treetops of a lush ravine and a stunning sunrise view of Kilimanjaro. 

Rick and I parted company at the border post of Tarakea the next morning. At the border I was welcomed into Kenya with shocking efficiency; perhaps this administrative competence was a sign of things to come in Kenya? Despite this timeliness I had a way to go to get across the Amboseli plain that day. The map showed a completely straight road and only one town, Mkutano, about half way across. It was during this morning that I came to appreciate probably the most important thing from the cycle - it get seriously hot very early in the day – and by half 9 I was sweating my way up the hill to Oloitoktok. The good news was that the general direction was down the mountain and so, with the help of several litres of water, I made it by half 12.

Mkutano was a series of tin shacks one of which I dived into for lunch – a hearty bean and sweetcorn stew. The lady who served me was smiling Masai lady, very much contrasting with the Gasta-Rap posters that adorned her shack. Seemingly, the two main publicity exports from the west/global north/whatever you choose to call it are football and rap. Two days previously, while watching the downpour from the Chipsi spot in Engarutu Nairobi I saw three umbrellas go past: Manchester United followed by Chelsea and Barcelona. In my experience it’s rare to find a town in East or West Africa in which you can’t find the premier league. It’s an evangalism that seems too easily propagate itself. The worshiping faithful can be found on a Saturday afternoon in the “Stahere Screen” house, adorned with a satellite dish, reveling in the stories of their dubious Messiah, Wayne Rooney. One local police officer I met confessed his pilgrimage dream. “My dream is to watch Manchester United play at Old Trafford”. (He was at that point sadly mourning their 6-1 loss at home to Manchester City).

After three hours in a corrugated lunch shack I was well refreshed and, as I followed a heavy shower in front of me, things had cooled considerably meaning I could make Emali with half an hour before nightfall. Emali is very much a stop-over town on the Mombasa – Nairobi – Kampala road. Despite its hustle and bustle it never quite feels like someone’s home. It fitted well the description of one of the towns through which the AIDS epidemic would have initially spread – along the arteries of the major roads spread by truck drivers and other temporary visitors. 

I picked one of the better looking motels for the night, only sharing my room with a few dozen hungry mosquitoes. Throughout the four days there had been mutterings of “Al Shabab” by local, following the recent incursions into Somalia by Kenyan forces, and the grenade attacks and ongoing threats to Kenya by Al Shabab. I found that in Kenya things were more open than Tanzania, some people would see me arriving on my ladened bike and say “Look, its Al Shabab!”. This motel bar was no different and as I ordered some food and a beer, the lights went out with comedy timing. One a group of drunk men pointed at me and shouted – “Eh, its Al Shabab”. One of his nearby friends clearly found this laughable and he corrected him “No, this man is a donor, he is helping us fight Al Shabab”. Donor or not I was a very tired cyclist and I was asleep and in bed by 7:30. For the first time in my cycle the terrain and road for the next day was going be a complete surprise to me. I had in mind however that if I made good time, I might get to Nairobi the next day.

Giving myself the best possible chance, and any failing to find any sentimentality for Emali, I left town at 5:15, catching the first rays of sunlight after a Dave Biles inspired Muesli breakfast. The morning, and day turned out to be some of the best cycling I had. The mist clung to the shambas and the surrounding hills cast morning shadows across the road as it slowly wounds its way up to towards Nairobi. In my naivety I hadn’t quite appreciated that Nairobi sits at about 1600-1700m, while my starting point that day was not more than 1000m. For much of the early morning I shared the road with school children who, in comparison to their later-in-the-day alter egos generally watched me cycle past in inquisitive silence. Up to this point I was much more accustomed to running shouts of: “Give me money/sweet/chocolate”. The question of why and how this behavior is one that I have struggled with, but isn’t for discussion today. Through the morning I enjoyed a couple of 20 and 30 minute climbs happy that I was bi-winning gaining altitude and coolness, without the likes of Pete Randolph, Timmy the Tiger, Phil Williams (and Matt Bell?) pushing the pace. I made my lunch stop of Machakos just as the heat was becoming less bearable and I became more concerned about an imminent lack of water (in the previous town I had only managed to get 2 cartons of long life milk to add to my fluids, a step up from a cucumber i once shared with Rob Hughes). I was keen to press on, as it was looking likely I would make Nairobi that day, so after a quick lunch I cut back to the Nairobi-Mombasa road and my attack strategy into the city. As soon as I got to the road it was fairly obvious that 5 minutes would have finished my and I bike off; lorries and buses thundered past at 100 kph in long snaking trains. I took the tactical decision to thumb a lift and within a couple of minutes I was hopping into the pick-up of a friendly plumber, happy for the company (it seems plumbers banter is an international skill) and for my skin intact.

This little hop was my first cycle in East Africa, building on several trips in Europe and one in West Africa. It’s been a mini-experiment for the longer Kampala – Maputo/Jo’burg trip in the New Year. As always I am happy that its been the best way to get from A, for anyone who hasn't experienced that feeling, give cycling somewhere a go. I’ve seen some stunning sights,  expected and unexpected, and met some excellent people. For my longer though there have also been a few of important lessons. Firstly, that things are unpredictable, if it had rained heavier the sections on a dirt road could have taken twice as long. As a rule the combination of bike, panniers, road and heat mean its much more difficult to cover ground than in Europe (perhaps not surprising). On the subject of heat, it’s a lot hotter than I expected; even by 09:30 the heat can get unbearable without litres of water to cool you and to drink. Despite these challenges and once you avoid some of the very main roads around the biggest cities, that it’s definitely the way to travel. Finally, it goes without saying that my backside was eternally grateful to Matthew Burman, Rebecca Shepphard and Charlie Reid for their kind attention in the shape of a Brooks saddle.

As always if anyone has any comments or thinks there are things that should change about this blog please put your thoughts down here/facebook/email. Also, if anyone has any thoughts on what shouldn’t be missed on a trip through East Africa (or places to stay), thoughts definitely also welcomed.