Kenya - 19 June to 3 July 2007

Our trip through Kenya was done in 2 phases - the initial 2 days were to pass into Uganda from Tanzania along the safer Eastern border of Lake Victoria . We overnighted on the 4 th June in the car park of a hotel in the Kakamega Forest after aborting our attempt to reach the campsite due to nightfall and thick slippery mud.

The second phase saw us get a better taste of the dramatic landscape and its friendly people, despite some challenging roads. Our first stop over was in Eldoret where Ash and Raj, of Naiberi Campsite showed us true hospitality. The magnificent 'Spirits of the Earth' type bar/restaurant was an inspiration as was Raj's home. Thanks guys for a well set out campsite, great food and your generosity. Then the basic fig tree campsite along Lake Bogoria followed, where the evening came alive with zillions of insects forcing us into our campers. The hot springs and the soda lake Bogoria fringed with thousands of pink flamingos against a stark background of mountains more than compensated. Travelling south again we overnighted along Lake Naivasha and then hit the capital.

Nairobi seemed to be an injection of first world razzmatazz with its shopping malls, supermarkets and yuppie crowd. We needed the week at Jungle Junction to mainly organise onward visas and stock up with supplies for the tougher northern part of Africa . We were especially chuffed to get our Sudanese visa within 24 hours - a record. After a major service of the land cruisers at Ndovu, we were off north to tackle the 'supposedly' worst road in Africa to Ethiopia .

This arid region required patience, resilience and a lot of luck. Our first stop over was the frontier town of Isiola after seeing a cloud covered Mt Kenya to the east and crossing the equator for the seventh time at Nanyuki. We enjoyed the traditional 'Nyama Choma' - braaied goat with the local tusker beer. The next day saw us battle corrugations and rocks on the feared road to Marsabit, which lived up to its reputation when Dean shredded his rear tyre. Not a joy replacing a tyre in 37 degrees heat!

The overnight stop at a Swiss guy's farm was spent replacing another of Gary 's mounting bolts, fixing loose batteries, aerials and all nuts that had rattled loose. The showers and homemade bread were quite welcome. The next day saw us face the even more legendary and deserted 260km to the Ethiopian border at Moyale. Dean added another 2 punctures to his list which now stands at a whopping 7!

It was fascinating to see the camel caravans and changing features of the people as we travelled north - a clear influence of the Ethiopian blood. The colourfully decorated nomadic Rendille tribe's people along the way were great for stealing snapshots and video footage even though they were not very happy with this to the point of actually picking up stones and attempting to throw at us! The roads proved tough but safe as we slipped through without an armed escort and thankfully no rain as mud would have been impassable.

Kenya was also rather sad, as we had to say farewell to a great travel buddy, an engaging, entertaining and helpful friend Waldo. The 3 ½ months with you were awesome. The void you have left in all our hearts in different ways is tangible. Deidre missed that extra driver with Eddie's feet still symptomatic. She however copied quite well dodging potholes! The kids and 'My Van' are going to struggle with your absence. It was really sad to have such a forced short goodbye at the strict Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi . Here's hoping and praying that you will join us again seeing that you are the face of Globeriders for our sponsorship drive.

Gary (on behalf of Goberiders Cape2cape)