Sitting in my hotel room in Yabello with rain pouring down. Not a town you need to visit if you don't have to. Past week riding was quite hard with a Mondo day with some 2500m of climbing. In total we climbed more than 5000m in 4 days. My borrowed tent got flooded the night before the Mondo day and we cycled the 1st 60km in pouring rain. Ethiopia has definitely no flat roads but I enjoyed the hill climbing, just not very fast up the hills. Completed all the days. Due to the chaos in northern Ethiopia they shorten this section by 1 day. We are now back on schedule.
Chatting to a local at a “coke” stop.
YABELLO TO MARSABIT(written Saturday 6 March 2010)
We had 2 days cycling to Kenya border. We cycled hard to get to border crossing before it closes from 12 to 3pm. Arrived at 11h05 to to told it closed at 11am. After some negotiations it was re-opened. The general mood of the group improved as we crossed the border. Spend the night at Moyale on the Kenyan side of the border. Wednesday we tackled the the 1st dirt section. Road was in fair condition and was quite nice change from tar, although very hot. Spend the night at small village, Sololo, we could use their local drinking water dam, which is just like a small “plaasdam” for a wash.
The next day conditions the road conditions deteriorated and we hit the infamous lava rock dessert the afternoon but managed it quite well, except for the heat, 41.5 degrees at noon. Spend the night next to the road sleeping between the lava rock. Not a night to remember but at least the rain stayed away.
At warm “coke” stop just before lava rock section.
Friday was another Mondo day (considered the toughest day of the tour), 86km of lava rock to Marsabit. To cycle on the stuff is difficult as it is dirt road covered in loose stones/rocks. I made lunch and did another 10km thereafter but then decided to quit as the heat was unbearable and had lost control over the bike twice falling down and did not want to get injured just to try and do another 30km. Only about a third of the riders finished the section.
Sitting in Marsabit only hotel (charging R30 a room) and waiting for food, while the rain is pouring down. Marsabit is another town you do not need to visit. We have another 2 days of dirt road before reaching Isiolo, that is if the rain stop
The cellphone reception should be good from their and will hopefully be able to send daily updates again. Still enjoying myself, although camping is though especially the lack of facilities. Have no idea what is happening in the world.
At another coke stop with David (Sa born Canadian, Peter (Sa), Eric (Canadian). Don't worry we do cycle between coke stops.
My number in Kenya is + 254 71 940 9009.
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