Africa tour to the equator and back in 40 days
- Thread starter schalk vd merwe
- Start date
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
wildside
Pack Dog
Magical stuff. :hello2:
I actually got goosebumps when I read the part about the giraffes running next to you in the Masai Mara Reserve. They are my favourite animal as well.
So nice to read about this area as we were meant to take a route through there as well but changed it at the last minute and I shall always regret that decision.
Maybe it was a good decision after reading about all that aweful mud!!
Looking forward to reading some more.
Regards
Karen
I actually got goosebumps when I read the part about the giraffes running next to you in the Masai Mara Reserve. They are my favourite animal as well.
So nice to read about this area as we were meant to take a route through there as well but changed it at the last minute and I shall always regret that decision.
Maybe it was a good decision after reading about all that aweful mud!!
Looking forward to reading some more.
Regards
Karen
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
Thanks Karen I enjoy your RR as well, I think you had your fair share of mud as well on your trip-regards Schalkwildside said:
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
Day 25 29/12/2010 Nairobi to The Equator and back to Nairobi 533 Km
The next morning we decided to stay one more night at the Italian Guest house and to take the opportunity to go and cross the Equator that day. So we would travel north over the Equator and then come back again all with no luggage and a distance of over 500 km. After a lovely Italian breakfast we were off to go and face the kamikaze drivers of Nairobi again. It took us about an hour to get to the outskirts of Nairobi. We past the town of Thika on the A2 towards Nanyuki where the Equator line of 0 degrees pass through. For the first time on the trip I felt cold as we approached Mount Kenya which was covered in cloud. Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya at 5199 metres and the 2nd highest in Africa after Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania at 5895 metres. I stopped and put my rain suit on and it really help against the cold. The sun would be close to the Tropic of Capricorn this time of the year and we are now close to the Equator. The sun would pass the Equator twice a year on the 21 of March as it moves north and again on the 21 of September as it move south towards the Tropic of Capricorn which it would reach on the 21 of December every year. The sun would be over the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere on the 21 of June every year. So as we went through the town of Nanyuki I never saw the signboard indicating that we crossed the Equator but as we were going to pass the Equator for the 2nd time on the other side of Mount Kenya it was no problem. Close to the town of Meru we passed some commercial farms much like you would see in South Africa and the first we saw since JHB. This area is beautiful and this is one place where I would like to come back to in future. Just after Meru we reached the Equator again and stopped for photos. At 6846 km from home we reached the halfway mark and the destination that we set as a goal for ourselves. We only had two days of rest on the trip so far with the last one at Nkata Bay at Lake Malawi nearly 4000 km and 14 days of riding in between. We went to celebrate our arrival at the Equator at a take away restaurant nearby which was also the first that saw on our trip so far. On our way back we came across many Kamikaze drivers from the front. As we are now on a different road around Mount Kenya the scenery has now changed and we were traveling on some beautiful mountain passes. On the way back to Nairobi we saw many markings on the road where there had been some head on’s in the past. We reached our guest house after sunset alive and had another lovely dinner with the Italian family and some more interesting history stories of their family in Africa. We were sleeping in the room which use to belong to the young lady when she was still at school and she had stuck stars to the ceiling in those days. There was a mezzanine floor in the room with my bed just a metre from the sloping ceiling and the stars. As the light from outside would reflect on the stars it looked real impressive like a real milky way and I had a real “starry starry night” falling asleep experience that night.
The next morning we decided to stay one more night at the Italian Guest house and to take the opportunity to go and cross the Equator that day. So we would travel north over the Equator and then come back again all with no luggage and a distance of over 500 km. After a lovely Italian breakfast we were off to go and face the kamikaze drivers of Nairobi again. It took us about an hour to get to the outskirts of Nairobi. We past the town of Thika on the A2 towards Nanyuki where the Equator line of 0 degrees pass through. For the first time on the trip I felt cold as we approached Mount Kenya which was covered in cloud. Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya at 5199 metres and the 2nd highest in Africa after Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania at 5895 metres. I stopped and put my rain suit on and it really help against the cold. The sun would be close to the Tropic of Capricorn this time of the year and we are now close to the Equator. The sun would pass the Equator twice a year on the 21 of March as it moves north and again on the 21 of September as it move south towards the Tropic of Capricorn which it would reach on the 21 of December every year. The sun would be over the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere on the 21 of June every year. So as we went through the town of Nanyuki I never saw the signboard indicating that we crossed the Equator but as we were going to pass the Equator for the 2nd time on the other side of Mount Kenya it was no problem. Close to the town of Meru we passed some commercial farms much like you would see in South Africa and the first we saw since JHB. This area is beautiful and this is one place where I would like to come back to in future. Just after Meru we reached the Equator again and stopped for photos. At 6846 km from home we reached the halfway mark and the destination that we set as a goal for ourselves. We only had two days of rest on the trip so far with the last one at Nkata Bay at Lake Malawi nearly 4000 km and 14 days of riding in between. We went to celebrate our arrival at the Equator at a take away restaurant nearby which was also the first that saw on our trip so far. On our way back we came across many Kamikaze drivers from the front. As we are now on a different road around Mount Kenya the scenery has now changed and we were traveling on some beautiful mountain passes. On the way back to Nairobi we saw many markings on the road where there had been some head on’s in the past. We reached our guest house after sunset alive and had another lovely dinner with the Italian family and some more interesting history stories of their family in Africa. We were sleeping in the room which use to belong to the young lady when she was still at school and she had stuck stars to the ceiling in those days. There was a mezzanine floor in the room with my bed just a metre from the sloping ceiling and the stars. As the light from outside would reflect on the stars it looked real impressive like a real milky way and I had a real “starry starry night” falling asleep experience that night.
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
Day 26 30/12/2010 Nairobi in Kenya-----Arusha in Tanzania.
The next morning we left and took the road to the Namanga border post to cross the border back into Tanzania as we wanted to get as close as possible to Mount Kilimanjaro. About half way to the border we met up again with 2 British guys who were cycling from England to Cape Town. At the border we had no problems even though we only had a single entry Visa and used it the first time we entered Tanzania. As we past Mount Meru on the left, we met up with another French man who was cycling from France to Cape Town. All of these cyclist as we chatted to them, I invited to come and stay at my place should they pass through JHB in the end only Marc took up the offer and ended up at my place 10 weeks later. As it was raining he stayed for 3 days. We arrived at Arusha and it was a bustling place with lots of people in the street and lots of hotels as this was the biggest town close to Kilimanjaro (150 km away) and with and airport. The hotels were too expensive and an “entrepreneur” approached us and said that he would go and show us a hotel for about R 350 and as this was more in our budget range we took him up on his offer. Unlike at the other places where we have been to this guy did not run in front of our bikes but we followed him in his car. We met some Dutch tourist there at the hotel and had a nice chat to them in the dining room that night.
The next morning we left and took the road to the Namanga border post to cross the border back into Tanzania as we wanted to get as close as possible to Mount Kilimanjaro. About half way to the border we met up again with 2 British guys who were cycling from England to Cape Town. At the border we had no problems even though we only had a single entry Visa and used it the first time we entered Tanzania. As we past Mount Meru on the left, we met up with another French man who was cycling from France to Cape Town. All of these cyclist as we chatted to them, I invited to come and stay at my place should they pass through JHB in the end only Marc took up the offer and ended up at my place 10 weeks later. As it was raining he stayed for 3 days. We arrived at Arusha and it was a bustling place with lots of people in the street and lots of hotels as this was the biggest town close to Kilimanjaro (150 km away) and with and airport. The hotels were too expensive and an “entrepreneur” approached us and said that he would go and show us a hotel for about R 350 and as this was more in our budget range we took him up on his offer. Unlike at the other places where we have been to this guy did not run in front of our bikes but we followed him in his car. We met some Dutch tourist there at the hotel and had a nice chat to them in the dining room that night.
