Lamu to Jade Sea

16th May today, we started this stage on the 4th, which seems like a long time ago. After lots of discussion, we decided that it really was an elephant that came to investigate at 1am, although Tom was too terrified to unzip the tent for a look - breathing noises sound much closer in the dark than they might actually be. The lunar eclipse mainly happed behind trees and then we left camp as soon as we could. First stop was a school which had a rain water tank - with a long day ahead we needed to keep topped up wherever the opportunity arose. We have drunk a lot of water from these tanks in the last two weeks and they made finding water so much easier than if we had come in the dry season. The main challenge of the day was to cross an unmapped 5km stretch that linked our road on the West side of the "valley" to the one on the East side. This looked clear on the map but there was nothing there! After some discussion we headed off to "bush whack"...

It's not really called Lugga No.5 of course but that was the focus of attention all day. We managed wake-up, eat-up, pack-up + set off in 90 mins and realised that neither of us had really spoken, except to the very helpful manager at Ol Malo, Paul, who was able to check the security situation on our proposed route. The route was taking all our thoughts, now on its third iteration, thanks to a very helpful map from Helen Douglas duFresne: This showed cartographic prowess and even flair but it took Eric back in Nairobi to turn into a GPS track for us, as we had not managed on just our phones. Incredible landscapes all day After 40km we stopped for sweet tea, chapatti and to take on more water. Then turned left into mainly uncharted territory between the Kirisia Hills and the Mathew's Range. This route would cut a day off the journey but is not on any maps. By 1230 it was very hot (~30-35 degrees?) and we stopped under a tree for 2 ...

Back on the road today, heading north. Just 40km to Ol Malo, which is closed for the off season but has welcomed us with our little tents, none the less. Our route ran out this morning. All of a sudden there was no road at all, not even a motorbike track. Anyway, that is part of the fun of finding our way. It felt very remote and wild with a few lion tracks in evidence. Scattered settlements of just a handful of bomas.  This chap here was also on the lookout for something. He was not working there, that much we ascertained; slightly incongruous.  So for now we can concentrate on more route planning for the next 3 days and get our tents up.

We are having a rest day today, before pushing on through to the Ndoto Mountains over the next 4-5 days. Here is a map of where we have been so far over 1,150km.  Many thanks to Mick van Hasselt who has made an interactive version you can click on  here. We are packing and trying to cut down as much as we can because we need to carry 4 days food and as much water as we can. Daniel says he has packed already.   PS this is our luxury day off, it's not been like this all the way!

We have been on the go for 8 days and ridden over 500km in this stage. Today  we got stuck in to Laikipia proper, passing the rare Grevvy's zebra, giraffe and elephant. But before that we went through the town of Rumuruti. It's not really a town at all, because it's tiny, more like a mini version of Nyahururu yesterday. One signature of our journey this week has been the electioneering. Here, a ubiquitous Toyota Probox has a running generator in his roof to make as much of a racket as possible, using it to run his mega set of speakers. No need for a roof rack, the flattened cardboard box saves the paintwork. We have decided that chapatti, boiled egg and avocado makes the perfect lunch on the road. Some care is needed though, because in 30+ degrees of heat, you can't unroll your chapatti too early or it might go crispy. For a short clip of Tom's shadow when cycling on the equator at midday,  click here. We have arrived at Laikipia ...

Started off the morning with a 450m climb from Subukia, the final lift out of the Rift Valley and feasted our eyes on the Lakipia Plains on arrival at the summit. Luckily we were on tarmac, which made it much easier than a rocky road.  Tom had a moment of geographical disorientation, asking if we had gone "further north than Nanyuki yet?" having crossed the equator again just 15 minutes before (for non-Kenyans, Nanyuki is well known for being on the equator). Then we went to a town! Nyahururu. Our first since Malindi way back on Day 1. The place has a great feel to it, as we were welcomed at every turn. Tom had himself weighed for 10 shillings, went to the bank to stock up on 50 shilling notes and Daniel bought 37 shillings (25 pence) worth of petrol for our cooking stove. Back on the forest tracks we had a chat with Kigen, a policeman at rural control point. He is a Kalenjin, well known for producing the legendary runners. Kigen did not dissapoint, hi...

Alastair asked for more pictures of wildlife so here is a Sykes monkey enjoying Daniel's newly washed shirt. As you can see from the furniture, we are not camping tonight. We are on the Zig of a zigzag and looking forwards to heading north again, on the Zag, tomorrow, up to the North end of Rumuruti Forest. We realised that yesterday we have covered 1,000km of walking and cycling from Malindi! There was no line in the track though and also no line for passing into the Northern Hemisphere, which we also did. A short day today, just 37km in the saddle but some of the roads were pretty dicey. You can see that there are many more 2 wheeled users than 4 wheeled ones. Suits us. They did not deter Kiranja, the local bread delivery man though. He seemed pretty unphased and gave some good banter as well;  while we enjoyed a packet of his buns with other passers by. Subukia Bandas is a 20 acre haven amidst midsized farmland. It'...

Where on earth is Nyalilpuch? You might well ask. Well, it is perched on a ledge above Lake Bogoria. Here is a map of our route over the last 6 days. We started on the red line at the bottom of the picture and the days switch between red and blue (except there are 2 reds in a row at one point!) Daily life continues on the road: And near a place called Solai we went through a huge macadamia nut plantation. Being a geographer, Tom couldn't pass this erosion by without stopping. It looks like a relief model of an entire mountain range. We came over the final hill to find Lake Bogoria spread out below us. There are no car tracks to this camping spot, so we don't think it's is frequented by many travellers. The dryland forest spreads as far as the eye can see.

We never said we would cycle in a straight line... Main roads have two characteristics: they go the shortest route from A to B and they do so crossing as few contour lines as possible. We are avoiding main roads and take the scenic routes. We may not like crossing contours, but we just get on with it. Wow, Eric picked a special route for us today! You will know from previous posts, that we firmly decreed a maximum of 65km a day. Well, add to that a maximum of 1,000 metres of ascent please. Aï! We did 1,100m today which is 3,600ft in old money. We would be pushing the lever for another gear, only to find that we were in 1st already and there was nowhere else to go but dig deep. Our route went through the amazing Dondori and Bahati Forests. They are both plantations, but surprisingly beautiful. In parts a reminder of Perthshire! After 2 hours of riding through the forests, there was still this much left to go: The snag (apart from the hills) was the mu...