Worldtripping Newsletter #7

[Simon and Leah]

Hello from Kenya,

Well, true to childhood form, we are paying no attention to the adults
of the world; only in this case the adults are the British Government.

As planned, we escaped from Ethiopia as quickly as possible. We have
left the land of coffee behind, and are enjoying the old-colonial land
of tea.

Thanks to a combination of karma and good fortune, we heard of a truck
heading Addis way. We hopped on board, introduced ourselves to all and
sundry and spent the last remaining Ethiopian kilometres enjoying
ourselves. The truck was rapidly turning into a haven for cyclists
wishing to exit Ethiopia. On board there was us, a Dutch couple with
similar stories to tell, and a rather bigoted German who had broken
his arm in a stone fight.

The stunning landscape whipped by; soda lakes glistened in the
distance; dirt roads climbed steeply over lush mountains; miniature
antelopes ran alongside the truck; and massive wingspanned birds
wheeled overhead. The children shouted, chased, begged loudly from a
secure distance and for once we were extremely glad to be travelling
faster than pedalling speed.

Suddenly, we were at the frontier of our next country. We inched over
the border into Kenya; and before us lay a day across the Chalbi
Desert to reach Marsabit.
Then another day, accompanied by armed soldiers, to cross the Kaisut
Desert to reach Isiolo. After that, tarmac and chips all the way to
Nairobi.

And it all went quite well. The truck lurched but moved ever onwards.
The deserts were remarkably green after the recent rains and populated
with zebra and ostrich. The Dutch couple jumped out as soon as tarmac
was spotted. The German grew increasingly psychotic and had stopped
talking to us by day two; by day three he had alienated himself from
several other passengers; on day four he tried to take over the
running of the truck by shouting; and on day five he pulled a knife on
the driver, demanding hundreds of dollars for a slightly worn tyre.

Shortly after this, we headed out of Nairobi. A change in pace was
required, and we cycled and freewheeled across the stunning Rift
Valley Escarpement towards a lakeside retreat complete with night-time
hippo watching and daytime Colobus moneys.

And now we are slowly headed West towards yet another country that our
Government says we should avoid.

If everything goes to plan, which it has yet to do, we aim to spend a
few days in the rain forest before heading to Uganda, the source of
the Nile, and a trip across Lake Victoria into Tanzania.

We both hope that everything is well in your part of the world.

Kind Regards,

Simon and Leah.

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mail - simo...@worldtripping.net
site - http://www.worldtripping.net
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All intellectual improvement arises from leisure.
Samuel Johnson.

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