Days 32–36: After every detox, there will be a retox

After almost three weeks in a strict Muslim country without alcohol, Nairobi has not only been a time of recovery. Safe to say, some of us have been handling the renewed access to beer, wine and even spirits better than others; and writing all consumption onto our open tabs hasn’t been helpful to stop excesses. No one is looking forward to settling our bills at our lodge tonight!

This is just a short note to honor Australia’s most under-appreciated modern poet, Sir Brad Davis (our communications manager 😉 ), who—like many artists before and ever after—has had one of his biggest breakthroughs in a state of assisted creativity. “What a change not to see you at your computer,” he commented on our first evening in Nairobi.—”I’m not going to blog about the rest days . . .  need a break,” I explained, “. . . and don’t think I’ve learnt anything today anyway.”—”How about: After every detox, there will be a retox.”—How true! That quote seemed blog-worthy to me. 😉

On a more serious note, alcohol has just been a minor aspect of our break in Nairobi, fortunately. A few riders took the train to Mombasa and spent some days at the beach; our Australian and Kiwi cyclists have been waiting to sort out their South African visas (for which—contrary to initial expectations—there wasn’t enough time in Khartoum, nor might there be sufficient time in Nairobi!); some took it really easy and spent most of the time just chilling (that’s me!); and a few took the opportunity to catch up with local friends and acquaintances.

Of course, we’v also taken the opportunity to explore Nairobi, to differing degrees. On my end, I’ve joined a group for an early morning safari in the Nairobi National Park, took a local bus to explore Nairobi downtown, and visited the African Heritage House. You’ll find some more comments and photos under each of the above links, as well as photos of our nice camp site here.