I’m tougher than you! Ethiopia vs Kenya!

27th May – 26th June 26, 2007

We can not believe that it has been a month since we last updated you all!! So much has happened since our last communication from Addis Adaba in Ethiopia yet we are not really that much further south!

Where to start? Well, we are still alive and kicking, though both Bula and us have had a few ‘set backs’ along the way but more of those later. Probably best if I do my usual & work backwards picking out a few juicy high lights.

We are now in Kenya and have been since the 7th June and are currently staying in an old Tea House in the heart of tea growing country, in a place called Kericho (approx 300 km NW of Nairobi) & are on our way south to the Masai Mara National Reserve. So far Kenya has been the story of two halves and quite contrasting ones at that! We crossed into Kenya via Moyale on the Northern border and were immediately confronted with our most challenging roads so far – Ethiopia eat your heart out! We (at this stage we were still traveling with Ed and Sue) had decided to take the more ‘adventurous’ route from Moyale to Marsabit and then west across the very remote Chalbi Desert to the even remoter Lake Turkana (of Constant Gardener film fame). This route took us across some of the toughest terrain we have ever driven (huge credit to the two defenders(and the drivers)) – over desert sands, rocky gullies, volcanic lava plains, slippery mud and the most treacherous, steepest ascent ever (where we almost lost our tent!). It took us five days to cover approx 500 miles with an average of 5 hours driving a day, so as you can see the going was pretty slow; however, the scenery was spectacular and we had plenty to occupy us along the way. Our only contact with civilization was the odd nomadic tribal village, the occasional passing truck and one or two American missionaries (who on one occasion we had to tow / rescue out of the mud), so all in all it was pretty remote and certainly on a par for ‘adventure’ with Northern Sudan. We finally reached the northern frontier town of Maralal in desperate need of some ‘R & R’ but unfortunately both Bula and I collapsed, me with a stomach bug which knocked me out for three days (he was very brave!), and Bula with broken rear shocks, leaking rear breaks, a leaking / sticking clutch and numerous bits and bobs falling off! On the other hand Clare was in tip top condition and proceeded to drink my share of Tusker (local beer) while I was bed ridden – and some of you thought she was too wimpy for this trip!

From Maralal we ‘limped’ down to Nairobi via a few of the rift valley lakes – Baringo (where we had hippo grazing under the tent!), Bogoria and Nakuru – to find sanctuary with Roger (Steve Rees’ Father in Law) who has a wonderful house near Thika and proceeded to look after us fantastically for four days / nights. We recharged our batteries, got Bula fixed and were superbly entertained by Roger (huge Thanks Roger) before setting off north again for a night staying with friends of Mum and Dads (the Coverdale’s) at their dairy farm near Nanyuki. From here we proceeded into Meru National Park for three wonderful luxury nights at an exclusive Lodge (Elsa’s Kopje) with Simon and Claire Marinker who flew in from the UK – a top spot and some serious luxury to enjoy! However, this was slightly tarnished by first Clare, followed by me, coming down with tummy bugs which we meant we had to abstain from the all inclusive drink and most of the food – heart breaking! It was fabulous to see Simon and Claire and we had some fantastic game viewing while in the park including excellent sightings of Elephants, Lion, and Rhino. We are now on route from Meru to the Masai Mara (400 mile trip) to hook up again with Simon and Claire (they flew!) for two nights before they head off to Pembu Island and a bit of sun and sea and we head to the Mombasa coast for hopefully much of the same.

So as you can see Kenya has been ‘eventful’ but extremely enjoyable thus far. We have driven across the equator 5 times already, crossed through extremes of terrain, seen loads of wild life, and met up with some great friends so what can the remainder of our stay offer????

However, in the all the excitement of Kenya we mustn’t forget our last 10 days in Ethiopia! These consisted of 4 great days and nights in the Bale Mountains where we camped in freezing (and very wet!) conditions at over 4000 meters but saw the extremely rare Ethiopian Wolf and mountain Nyala – Bale is truly a wonderful area, though the access road to Bale is right up there with the top 3 ‘worst ever’! Bula escaped unscathed but Ed and Sue were not so lucky in their Defender and had to return to Addis to fix broken rear bushes, a snapped front spring and replace the drivers door window which had shattered, plus repair the front wing after a horse decided to give it a good kick, so we don’t think Ed and Sue will have quite the same fond memories of Bale! It took a few days for all this to get sorted so Clare and I relaxed in a camp site on Lake Awassa, which we shared with a friendly troop of Colobus Monkeys, and prepared ourselves for Kenya.

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed Ethiopia but it is a tough country to travel independently through, both emotionally and physically. We have talked about the roads which take there toll physically, but it is the people who make it so emotionally tough; you can never get away from them and their ‘expectations’ (money, food etc), after so much western aid, it is a constant challenge. However, it is a fascinating and beautiful country with so much to see and do.

Well, I think that pretty much covers the highlights although I am sure I have missed out loads. We hope everyone back home is in good form and work, families etc are all well. We will do our best to keep you up to date more regularly as we continue our adventure through Africa.