Lamu to Jade Sea

 We have travelled about 650km across Kenya so far. A number of people have asked for an overview map, as otherwise it looks like a string of names, so here we are: We have also had feed back about the Relive videos / pictures / maps, so if you have a couple of minutes, you can see one of the whole route so far strung together  by clicking here. Our next stage is sailing from Lamu to Malindi and we'll let you know as we are about to set off. Finally, please do take a look at our page for Rhino Ark, where we are raising funds to plant 5 trees for every kilometre travelled! You can see that here

So... 365km cycled since we finished the walk and 670km total. Today we went from our camp along part of the route to Suswa (we are not cycling through Nairobi). Now its half term and our children are coming home. So we are taking a break. Hooray! Daniel's front pannier just fell off this morning - on a very smooth bit. Tom's back tyre decided to lose air on occasion over the last 3 days, but there was no rhyme or reason for this. Thankfully we had no major break downs.  What will we do differently on the next leg? Take less food: Daniel found some great ready meals (thank you for being the mule, Jonathan) but we took too many on this leg, as we could always find lunch en route. Apart from that we used everything we carried (bar first aid and every single tool). Next time we could really do with a chair each for camping - may be a challenge?  We are now taking a break for 3 weeks and will be back with the sailing leg, that we meant to start with. Thank y

We set off with some trepidation today: 30km uphill follwlowed by as far along the flat / downhill as we felt we could go - and camp wherever we ended up. The climb went well, up through forests on very small tracks, some of which were pretty hard going.  We were on a fairly large track and were surprised to find it closed off with thorns, as part of a Masai "Boma". We were travelling through an area marked on the map as Marble Quarries. This is the only place in the country that has them. We are no experts, but it looked like pretty low grade stuff coming out. Nothing big enough for a cheese board, let alone a kitchen. And then we were over the escarpment and down the other side. We had a route but it ended up in a river, or in another quarry or somewhere impassable so there was a lot of picking our way. Here the road crossed a river with what would be an impressive waterfall!  Great lunch in Mile 46, the staple of

It turned out that we were closer to the action in Lengesim than planned but managed to sleep through most of the nighttime dogs barking / livestock braying etc. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get up, pack, cook porridge, eat, take down tents and pack bikes. Hope to get this down to an hour soon! We were blown away by how welcoming the Masai have been all along our route so far, especially in Lengesim.  We rode up through the Mailua Forest and then had a great view of the Kajiado Plains. The road surface was smooth for 90% of the day. We saw 5 cars in 5 hours. But plenty of cattle! You can get an idea of the riding by  clicking here. Then it was time for a chapati with Mama Banana Catering (pic at top). Tamu sana. Next door I noticed they had petrol for sale, in the local way: Our decision on how we cook will be in another post... but Daniel needed to fill up our petrol bottle, so where better than at this duka? As you can  see by clicking here.  There th

Amazing 67 km today! We started out from Kimana Sanctuary at dawn, meeting our first elephants while cycling - I think there will be video evidence on  Insta .  Then through open Masai country bordering Amboseli National Park. Various warthog, zebra, wildebeest and giraffe on the way. Miles and miles of open expanse with few people, even fewer vehicles and no tarmac to be seen. You can see the route  by clicking here.  And a bit of chat from Daniel  on the road here .  At lunchtime, we rolled in to Lengisem, a small Masai settlement. First priority was lunch! Chapatti, beans and cabbage, delicious. But seeing the "No Idle Sitting" sign, we did not hang around.  Next business was to find the Chief's Office, to pay our salaams, where we were warmly welcomed.  We walked back in to town with the Chief who introduced us to his nephew who took us to a great tree to camp under, with a boda boda driver. He was then dispatched to get 40 litres o

We are on our first "proper" cycle. We have talked about this for so long that is great to hit the road in ernest. Bike looks full, but we think we will use everything anything else can be ditched for the next leg. We each set off with 5 litres of water, which may be needed on the longer days. It was mostly up hill for the first 40km, climbing the ante-foothills of Kilimanjaro, which we just saw through the clouds Despite carrying water and snacks, the opportunity to stop for a mandazi and soda could not be missed. Daniel entertained the locals royally for 10 mins and we heard some great insights into the forthcoming election Further on was tomato village, we have never seen so many being grown at once or being sold in such quantities, with 10s of pickers in the adjoining fields.  67km later and we are at Kimani Sanctuary, what a gem. We are taking their tents rather than pitching our own. You can see why! We have al

Today was pencilled as a day of preparation but that turned out to be the afternoon's activity.  This morning we took the opportunity to sneak in the 20km ride to New Chyulu Gate, thus making tomorrow's ride more manageable. It was great to cycle through the Chyulu lava fields, a mere 250 years old. You can get the drift in this clip  here.  We also got an insight into corrugated roads - but more of that in the days to come, I am sure!  This afternoon, we packed and repacked and attached things to our bikes. We think we are set for tomorrow. Here is Tom on a test drive.  We said goodbye to Catherine and Emma. We had a very special walk with them and it is odd to come back to things like masks and people. We did not talk about Covid once in 11 days. Who else can claim that?! 

We made it all the way across Tsavo! Here we are at midday, after today's 5 hour walk and 187 km, East to West gate to gate. Happy days. Here are some feet that have walked: We had a photo with the scouts, with whom we have walked in single file for 11 days. They are consummate professionals at their craft, from Samburu, and our safe passage is down to them: As ever, the morning started out with a bit of an adventure, as we crossed the only bridge for miles around, that had seen better days. It was washed away in the 2015 (?) floods, although there are signs that it is in the process of being renovated.  Walking past Mzima Springs was a green oasis. The 2nd half of the morning we had a wonderful walk across the plains to Old Chyulu Gate. There was lots of plains game and so our sitings of lesser kudu, wildebeest and a tortoise brought our count of animals (excluding flying animals and insects) to 40. Luckily the lava fields did not ma

Soon after the start of the day, we walked through a wonderful gorge, clinging to the edge with our fingertips, as it wound its way for a kilometre upstream. There was a very enticing looking cave, where a leopard must be living! We left the river and in the plains came across interesting dimples in the rock. They were early "flour mills" where people used them with a rock as a pestle and mortar, probably to grind grass seeds.  Birds today: white headed buffalo weaver, African grey hornbill and thick knees. We put up a flock of Guinea fowl and their tiny few-day-old chicks were left behind, shortly to be reunited. We are now in the hottest campsite anywhere in the world (but we have not got to Turkana yet, so may have to recalibrate this assertion!). There is no shade. Turned out Daniel's thermostat was not fully recalibrated yesterday evening but he has done admirably today and is back on track.  We are nearing the end of the walk and

The Mortons have tried to stay at Kudu Camp a couple of times before but never actually found it. Well, here we are, after 9 days of walking this time. 15km done today.  But I jump ahead, as it is now the end of the day and we should start at the beginning. The river had gone up about 6 inches during the night, it even tried to rain as we woke up at 6am. We are now very well drilled at the morning routine and have enjoyed the luxury of a 7am start to walking in Tsavo West. But there was nothing glamorous about crossing the river, it was now the colour and consistency of hot chocolate, after the upstream rain storm, leaving any clothes that got wet that colour all day.  Tom foresaw this and, to much hilarity, crossed wearing little but just about retaining some modesty. Catherine did a great job preparing her feet for the day's walk, in Aquamist of course! Also note fetching gaiters; they will catch on in Town soon, we have no doubt.  We kept runn

Do you reckon we are camping in the same spot as the picture? We continue to be impressed by many of the things these men acheived: today we came across the original water pipe from Mzima Springs to Voi. This was often a victim of sabotage in the war of attrition with the Germans, on their part simply to draw Allied resources away from the Western Front. Today was shorter in distance, only 13km walked but no less hot! The river has developed a meander, narrow but cutting deeply into the rock in places. We went up, over and down various shoulders to cut these corners. Many hippo today (fascinating close-up through binoculars, with course whiskers) but we did not see any elephants, even though the name of our camp means "head of the elephant"  Today we saw striped hyena (very rare, "you are running out of new mammals to see") and African hare. Tom wants to see a zorilla, so may need to go on a night game drive but is fast asleep by