Lamu to Jade Sea

It was a day of thorns, in a spiky landscape. Tom took a rebound from Daniel that stopped him his tracks as the thorn stuck 1cm into his chest (followed by helpful comments from Daniel about the beauty of 2cm of padding). Daniel also trod on a thorn that our Samburu guide used his spear and teeth the remove, shunning the proffered pair of pliers. And Emma had a very near miss at the end of the day: It was spiny, but very few game animals. So instead, we enjoyed the birds (Eastern chanting goshawk, lilac breasted roller, grey headed shrike). And also the trees, many of which had beautiful fruits - either to eat or to see. No plastic today! The Galana River that we have been on flows from the Athi River from Nairobi. The high water mark is full of plastic detritus. 50% seems to be shoes and flip flops (bizarrely), 30% PET bottles and their lids and 20% other things. But all hard plastic, we don't know what happens to the wrappers etc. B...

We started off with a puff adder, just sitting very still. This was meant to be the day that people don't normally walk, as not much happens... well not today. Firstly we walked to Lugards falls, which are always special.  Then we came to a group of Doum plams that looked pretty good for our first rest of the day. Lion! The first we had come across on foot and then a whole family. Moving in for a closer look we also saw hyena, meaning a kill was likely. And then and enormous crocodile heading back to the river. A few metres on, there it was, a half eaten buffalo. And another crocodile, heading off into the bush. Lion, crocodile and hyena all competing for the same cadaver.  All those terrifying predators were soon watching us from deep in the bush and we moved on, after a short break to let the adrenaline subside. Then a walk through the bush to a raod, where we will pick up again tomorrow. Stop press: on the way back to camp in the Land Rov...

Straight back into crossing the river, which would shave a couple of km off today's walk. Tom's approach to crossing in his walking shoes was replaced by Birkenstocks, with hastily added "heal straps." These were fashioned from the rope we brought to teach Daniel how to tie a bowline, for the sailing leg. The land was undulating, as we walked beneath the Yatta Escarpment, normally see from the distance of the Mombasa Road. We walk in line, at all times. Armed guard, Alex Fixsman our expedition leader, the four of us, then more guards behind. The four of us rotate every 20 mins. And we have to walk in silence! As the men need to listen, smell, even feel for any danger - which can, quite literally, pop out from behind the nearest bush at any moment - which gives Catherine constant palpatations.  The grass seed was prolific again, but seemed to be less aggressive.  We had managed to rustle up 2 pairs of gaiters. So simple yet so effect...

The day got off to an inauspicious start as Tom was stung by a scorpion. Or was that actually just bitten? Either way, he has learnt to keep his shoes indoors at night and not investigate things that feel odd with his fingers. Here is the offending creature. [awaiting photo from Daniel, I am the only one with reception]  By 7am we were wading the river, with a certain amount of trepidation. We were assured that there were no crocodiles in this particular section. Luckily, this proved correct and we were shortly across to the other side, in water that was no more than thigh deep. The landscape during the morning became greener and greener, which was wonderful, other than the grass become longer too and grass seeds went everywhere! All very tickly then verging on irritating. But we could. Not complain, with views like these: Today, we saw Verroux's eagle owl, yellow puppet, Eurasian bee eaters and a host of other birds. As well as a herd of about 100 oryx and another of 5...

A shorter day, just 13.5 km walked, followed by an afternoon with feet up, after 2 fairly hard previous days. But I am jumping ahead... Early on we came across the spoor of a black rhino. He or she was near by, as it was very fresh, but we did not meet, which was probably a good thing. We learnt that the black rhino's teeth leave a very distinctive 45 degree cut to the end of whatever it has eaten: so some detective work needed. Later, Tom was rather enjoying the rock formations that we happened to be walking over when we came across a puff adder, hiding under the rocks. Beautiful colours, and quite actively sliding back and forth, wary of us. We very cautiously kept a good distance, as they can strike more quickly than we can move. Similar cautionary approach given to the buffalo we met as well.  There are many elephants, a very vociferous herd over the river, with a feisty young male being put in place by the matriarch. And then, back on our side, a giant ...

So we have started walking! At the end of a long day we feel our expedition is well under way. We started out under a blissfully overcast sky at 7.30am - any earlier and the hippos are trotting back to the river and are best avoided. Down by the gate looks pretty barren, but full of surprises: We are following the Galana River, snaking through the landscape, sometimes cutting off corners walking further inland. The river is full of hippos, crocodiles and wonderful birdlife. Highlight of the morning was meeting a family of 5 bat-eared foxes, who were very inquisitive - at a good distance. In the afternoon we came round the corner face to face with and elephant and her 2 young. We held our ground nervously, were treated to some flapping ears and then walked a very slow retreat. When Frederick Lugard walked through here in the 1890s, there was a canopy on much of the river, which was still intact when Bror Blixen was here in the 1920s (we found bricks from one of h...

Finally, Daniel and Tom are on their way! We have learnt a huge amount with our sailing practice over recent days but have been really keen just to "get going" on the real thing. We set off from Malindi on the Indian Ocean at first light, around 6am on our road bikes on the wonderfully smooth tarmac to Sala Gate. We both jumped out of our skins when an 11kv KPLC power cable exploded in a blue flash and shower of orange sparks over our heads. Cloudy to begin with, soon the sun was up and the road stretched out ahead. Our excellent support crew for the day, Catherine and Emma, gave us a hearty sandwich at 90km. Tom was starting to "taper" by that stage and the calories were well needed! Then it was back on the bikes for the final push to Sala Gate. We averaged 20kmph over 110km, so a steady 5 1/2 hour ride with 700m of ascent.  On the rides later in our trip, we will be carrying all our camping kit and food - so this was...

 Daniel and I start our trip tomorrow and we are really ready to get going now. We drive up to Malindi with our bicycles tonight, ready for a very early start tomorrow. As previously reported, we delayed our start and will be doing the first sailing leg from Lamu "out of sequence" once we get up to Nairobi. In retrospect, this has turned out to be a blessing as it has meant we have had 4 days sailing together in Kilifi, to get up to speed.  Here is a short video with a couple of clips of us out sailing in the Indian Ocean yesterday afternoon, in our Wayfarer sailing dinghy, The Mousehole Cat:

With just over a week to go until we start, there is palpable excitement (and trepidation) in the air. Today, we have been planning: mainly working out the logistics of which bikes need to be where, and when and what food we will carry on the cycling leg of the journey from Tsavo up to Nairobi. Daniel also showed me that he has learnt how to use the MSR stove. I was always told as a child never to burn petrol, but the stove is smaller than a Tranjia and of course space and weight on our bikes are at a premium.  This morning, I was out on a ride from home in Nairobi. Then learning how to move from the Garmin on the bike to something that I can put on here!  So here is the ride: Tour of Lower Kabete .

  Another picture of Daniel's foot would really be too much, and whilst we are thinking about it quite a lot, we don't need to share it with you. The short story is that his toes are not better-enough to start our trip this Monday the 17th January. We had planned to set sail from Lamu, for a five day journey to Malindi Instead, we are going to start on the 25th January, with our first cycle from Malindi in to the start of our first walking section in Tsavo East National Park.  This is good for a few reasons. Daniel's toes will be fully recovered by then and, furthermore, he won't run the risk of having wet feet for 5 days before the walk - which would probably not aid recovery.  We will still be doing the sail! We will just be doing it slightly later on. A friend asked whether not doing the trip in sequential order would be a challenge. Only a slight challenge, but a much better option than having an incapacitated crew . . .  The delayed start also gives us more time...

Tom and Daniel have been trying to prepare for their adventure - but various roadblocks have been getting in the way. Before Christmas Daniel came down with Covid. He took it on the chin, but of course exercise was off the cards for a while - we had planned to get quite a few miles under the belt together on our bikes over the Christmas period.  Just when full recovery was imminent, Daniel, in an accident usually reserved for boys many years younger, stubbed his toe. Yesterday, he was very brave and had the toenail removed. Clearly, having wet feet for 5 days over our forthcoming sail was not going to improve matters, so removal was the only real course of action.  You can see that he was brave, because he was given a lolly. We are now setting sail on the 17th of January. Hopefully.