As mentioned yesterday, our camp last night was directly at Lake Victoria. However, “don’t expect to see the lake”, Tallis had warned us already, “they’ve had an invasion of water hyacinths.” In the morning when I went to the shore, I saw it for myself: The entire lake covered by water hyacinths, as far...
Day 39: Watch where you put up your tent!
We’ve been camping directly at Lake Victoria today. When we arrived at camp, the whiteboard announced that we could camp anywhere we liked, but were recommended not to put up our tents underneath the so-called sausage trees (to avoid potential injuries from falling sausages). So we all tried to find shady spots underneath the...
Day 38: Good stories deserve to be told, over and over again
“I’ve had a great day today,” Muzz would tell everyone at camp, “the best day so far. I’ve had a woman chase me for 10km!” “How come?” we all would ask. “I had a chat with this woman while I stopped when it rained. She was there with her four children. . . . I...
Day 37: Racing through Africa is stupid—for me that is
OK, so now I’m making this very public and official to ease the pressure on myself: I will no longer give a dime about my racing times! So far, I’ve ranked third overall in our race (select Overall Standing and All Stages), and that didn’t help to put the competitive devil inside me to sleep....
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...
Visiting the African Heritage House
In the evening of day 35, Phil joined me for a tour and dinner at the African Heritage House—one of Africa’s most photographed villas, owned by Alan Donovan. Alan has travelled all of Africa and collected art from all of the continent’s corners. Once he arrived in Nairobi in the 1960s, he built his...
Impressions from downtown Nairobi
Once back from the safari on day 34, I took a so-called Matatu (mini-bus) into downtown Nairobi. After an hour stuck in traffic jam, I finally got off at Kenyatta Avenue to stroll through the city centre. Impressions: Nairobi is a strikingly green city. There’s trees everywhere—very pleasant. After a month in Muslim countries, Nairobi comes across...
Early morning safari in the Nairobi National Park
In the morning of day 34, I joined a few riders for a safari in the Nairobi National Park, kindly arranged for us by Murray. We had to leave the hotel at 6am, but getting up early proved worthwhile: We saw most of the park’s animals, including lions and rhinos close-up. Only some of the...
Our oasis of recovery in Nairobi—Wildebeest Eco Camp
This week has been a week of relaxation and recovery. Check out our beautiful camp site in the outskirts of Nairobi, the Wildebeest Eco Camp—what a treat TDA had in store for us!
