Taking the Mickey

Tuesday 11th February

After my lack of sleep Sunday night and the day I had yesterday it was inevitable that I was going to sleep for a while this morning. I had a pretty decent sleep last night and only woke up a couple of times to one of the most scariest sounds to date. No "Marco polo" dogs barking this time, no French policemen and no Norwegian snores or Hippo groans. Try Buffalos galloping just metres past your head. The floor rumbled beneath me and it was officially the most on edge I have ever been. I only poked my head out of the tent to see them briefly and they were twice the size of my tent. There were around 5 of the beasts all humorously hanging out by the light at the men's toilet as if they were waiting to do their thing. 

I was too tired to get the camera out so I just slumped back into the tent and prayed I wouldn't receive a midnight buffalo "bundle!"

I was eventually forced out of the tent by the heat at about half 9 but thankfully for me the weather stayed overcast for the majority of the day. I had at least 50 miles to do today and I really didn't want to have to cycle through the midday heat so I was pleased with the clouds and cool breeze.

The first couple of kilometres along the sandy track towards the main road were very tricky for me. A slight turn of the handlebars and Nigel would slip aggressively to the side which could cause me to either fall off or damage my shoulder so I was extra careful to begin with. This continued and helped me for the rest of the day as there were some pretty gritty roads which would do the same thing if I wasn't focused.

To add to the gritty cycle section of the main road I was given a few long inclines as well which were fun. I chose to take the Old Naivasha road as opposed to the newly built highway in the assumption it would be quieter and therefore safer. Let's just get things straight, if it involves Kenyans in charge of anything motorised, nothing's safe. The road was more scenic due to its inclines which I did t mind at all because it was great to feel the burn again but the constant lorries were a bit annoying. Slowly crawling lorries are a lot better to handle than speeding cars though and i conquered the Rift Valley with growing confidence.

I stopped for a snack at the top of a mountain near a town called Limuru Town that overlooked the Rift Valley. There i had a very interesting chat with a man called George about Polygamy. One of the most common questions I'm asked in Africa is am i married? The african men are always shocked that I'm not and George was no different. George had 3 wives, 3 girlfriends and 15 kids. We were both equally surprised with each other's views on women and while I have trouble finding and keeping one woman, George seems to be batting them away with a dirty stick! I jokingly quizzed him on his kids' names and he could only name 14. This doesn't really tell me anything apart from maybe George should've stopped at 14 or no matter how many you've got, there's always one that you try and forget about! 

From Limuru it was all downhill to Nairobi Town and somehow I managed to take a slight detour which meant I rode an extra 5 miles but entered the city via a very safe cycle path so I happily coasted in at around 3pm. The hustle and bustle of a big city was immediately evident as I was coated in black exhaust fumes and had to navigate my way through 3 laned roundabouts to find any hotel that grabbed my attention.

I have been very kindly offered places to stay in Nairobi but seeing as I am only planning a 2 night stay and communication is hard without a Kenyan phone or regular Internet access, I just chose to find an adequate and cheap enough hotel to stay in. My first stop was $60 a night, my budget is £10 a day so I made a swift exit and due to my location, I wasn't really holding my breath for anything cheaper £20. The second one I found was called Hotel Gloria and I don't know who Gloria is but at £8 a night including breakfast, Gloria's price was right.

I was too tired to continue looking anyway and the pavements were ram packed with people, they were no place for a heavily laden Nigel. I was tired but I was also covered in dust and soot so as soon pushed Nigel into the corner of the room, I jumped into the shower. Completely forgetting to check if there were any towels (there weren't) I stood around to embrace the air dry. The knock at the door then put me on the spot but I answered the door as if I was checking out the buffalos, swift peak around the corner. My luck was in, it was the porter with a fresh towel and a roll of toilet paper, Hotel Gloria was ticking all the boxes.

I chilled out and let the burning sensation in my legs ease a bit. It seemed I had timed my ride perfectly as the second I hit the bed, the rain chucked it down and within seconds, much of the busy road that my room overlooked was under water. When the rain stopped I ventured down the road to buy some food for dinner. My short walk made me aware that my room overlooked a rather busy street. A street that not only had loud music blaring from the huge shoe shop but it was also a street that was lined with horn blowing coaches come rush hour. The horns were not every now and then either, they were constant whirring noises getting increasingly louder then stopping for a second and going again. It seemed I wasn't going to get much sleep at all tonight!

The noise continued till around 2am but my mind had been momentarily distracted by the noises I was hearing inside my room. I kept hearing a bag russelling but had no clue why. Then I saw it out of the corner of my tired eye, a little mouse like a golf ball with a tail ran across my bags. I scared it behind the wardrobe and thought that would be the last time I would see it. 

I must've dropped off again for a few minutes because the next thing i knew, i was awake and he was sitting next to me on my mattrice. I don't mind mice but I don't want it crawling on me whilst I'm awake. He bolted before I could get him but I made sure I had no blankets hanging down so there was no way in my mind that he could come back up to my bed.

It was a stuffy night so I just slept under a thin sheet. The noise outside subsided for a couple of hours which gave me a window to drop off in. As I was at last in a deeper sleep I felt something crawl up my bare leg. Knowing instantly what it was, I instinctively kicked my leg out which catapulted the mouse across my twin bedroom. 

If its not mosquitos, its bloomin mice!  I just want one night where nothing crawls on me, I think that might be too much to ask for Africa!