Day 16: Cycle to Olomayiana (Bissel)

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 then followed 10 minutes of explaining our kit and our route, with much laughter. 

Uphill all day, although a gentle gradient:
Now we are with Yo Chavasse at their amazing house in Olomayiana. What a gem. So, no roughing it tonight, but how could we refuse? Thank you Yo!
We have had a request from an avid reader to talk about "some of the tech" we use. We thought this would be a good idea, so plan to add an occasional "Practicalities" section.

Practicalities - solar power
We have three main things that use power: GPS, phone and GoPro.Tom has a fold-out solar panel:
This has a rating of 21Watts which is a fair size. It's best to charge the battery, rather than the phone directly - as the current fluctuates with clouds etc and phones don't like that. The battery will charge a smart phone 2 or 3 times. Priority each night is the Garmin GPS (more on that another day) which uses very little and charges quickly. Tom carries the solar on his tail bag, but folded up, because an afternoon's charge is typically enough.

Daniel has a larger battery bank with a tiny panel built in (not enough to charge the battery very much!) and so will be taking the opportunity of charging it courtesy of the Chavasse's grown-up solar power this afternoon. 

At University, Tom had a lecturer who said, "the best way to be energy efficient is to generate your own." How very true, in this context. Daniel has his phone on aeroplane mode all day, except when actually sending a message...

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 18, 2022 at 1:40 PM

    and dont forget to always charge your phones/tablets in aeroplane mode - it speeds the charge hugely!

    ReplyDelete

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