Day 27 and 28.
Well we had a nice leisurely start to Saturday in Lodwar. Used the time to regroup, fix punctures and settle in for the easy ride up to Nairobi, only 550km, good road. We even started discussing breaking the journey to enjoy the country side.
Don’t rush this is Africa.
We left Lodwar and the road lasted all of 500m then disappeared. Basically it had been worn away. There was about 5-10% tar left, incredible pot holes in between and a rut up to 1 metre deep work where the trucks run. I don’t think any maintenance has been done for 20 years. We went really slowly. It was difficult riding and we didn’t want to break the bikes. The locals gave very varied reports of how far it was. Numbers varied from 40 to 140 km. After riding for about 7 hours and covering about 210km I flatted. It was nearly dark and some villagers directed us to the local police camp where we found some reasonable grass to set up on. Also there was a stream nearby for washing in. Supper was in the village where we ate the toughest chicken ever cooked in Africa! There was more bone than meat and at tough as cat tyre. We were so buggered by that stage we ate it and went to bed.
Well Sunday dawned and we had budgeted for another 140km bad road before some improvement but miraculously we were onto reasonable tar almost immediately. The next section was very pleasant. We has started in Lodwar in semi desert, very dry and hot, but up in the highlands it was green, lush and looked very fertile. I can understand how the Brits fell in love with this place.
At Eldora the road joins up with that the road that feeds Uganda and then the proverbial hit the fan. It would appear that Uganda is fed by road, this one. Go out and kiss the nearest taxi driver and tell him he’s a saint. These bastards up here are 100 times worse. The last 200 km in to Nairobi was very frightening. There was no question of taking these trucks and taxis on. Survival was the name of the game; there was no room for error.
Anyway were now at the Jungle Junction, it is overland stop over. It’s been ideal. Clean, good beds and lots of space. Almost home from home. Last night we headed out for supper and then collapsed. Today we’ve got to service the bikes and repair some broken welds on the panniers. My front wheel is also out of shape.
We plan to head out of town tomorrow hopefully by some lesser used back roads, certainly not via Mombasa which had been on our original route.
Jim.
Well we had a nice leisurely start to Saturday in Lodwar. Used the time to regroup, fix punctures and settle in for the easy ride up to Nairobi, only 550km, good road. We even started discussing breaking the journey to enjoy the country side.
Don’t rush this is Africa.
We left Lodwar and the road lasted all of 500m then disappeared. Basically it had been worn away. There was about 5-10% tar left, incredible pot holes in between and a rut up to 1 metre deep work where the trucks run. I don’t think any maintenance has been done for 20 years. We went really slowly. It was difficult riding and we didn’t want to break the bikes. The locals gave very varied reports of how far it was. Numbers varied from 40 to 140 km. After riding for about 7 hours and covering about 210km I flatted. It was nearly dark and some villagers directed us to the local police camp where we found some reasonable grass to set up on. Also there was a stream nearby for washing in. Supper was in the village where we ate the toughest chicken ever cooked in Africa! There was more bone than meat and at tough as cat tyre. We were so buggered by that stage we ate it and went to bed.
Well Sunday dawned and we had budgeted for another 140km bad road before some improvement but miraculously we were onto reasonable tar almost immediately. The next section was very pleasant. We has started in Lodwar in semi desert, very dry and hot, but up in the highlands it was green, lush and looked very fertile. I can understand how the Brits fell in love with this place.
At Eldora the road joins up with that the road that feeds Uganda and then the proverbial hit the fan. It would appear that Uganda is fed by road, this one. Go out and kiss the nearest taxi driver and tell him he’s a saint. These bastards up here are 100 times worse. The last 200 km in to Nairobi was very frightening. There was no question of taking these trucks and taxis on. Survival was the name of the game; there was no room for error.
Anyway were now at the Jungle Junction, it is overland stop over. It’s been ideal. Clean, good beds and lots of space. Almost home from home. Last night we headed out for supper and then collapsed. Today we’ve got to service the bikes and repair some broken welds on the panniers. My front wheel is also out of shape.
We plan to head out of town tomorrow hopefully by some lesser used back roads, certainly not via Mombasa which had been on our original route.
Jim.
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