Today was a day long overdue, I have been waiting for this day for a good 10 days and after illness, injury and terrible roads i was finally within touching distance of saying "Ciao" to Ethiopia and "Jambo" to Kenya.
The first job on my to do list was to get an exit stamp from Omorate immigration and then it was get breakfast and work out what to buy with the £3 I had left to my name. The stamp was easy enough to obtain and I tried to get as much information as I could about what to expect when leaving Omorate and distances to certain towns on the other side of the border.
Leaving immigration with a rough idea of what to expect I bought 2 rolls for breakfast, 2 rolls for lunch and 4 litres of water because I was pretty sure my rack couldn't handle anymore weight and carrying anymore bottles would just be asking for tribal aqua thieves.
I didn't buy anymore dry foods for some reason which left me with £1 that at the time I had no idea why I kept, I just did. I set off down the road that led me to the border, it led me about 50m before I realised I had to get across the river Omo. I asked where the bridge was and for last 5 days, including my probing questions today at immigration, not one person has mentioned the tiny fact that there was no bridge.
The bridge was under construction and knowing Ethiopian building abilities, it will probably be operational Christmas 2020. I looked down the steep riverbank where there were canoes made from hollowed out trees taking tribesmen to and from their villages on the other side of the river. The river was only around 30m wide but I knew it was going to cost, I just prayed it was no more than 30birr. "How much to cross the river?" I asked, "200" he said, I thought he was joking. "200!" I had paid less to cross the Nile! "I have 30birr" I said hopelessly. They all looked at me as if to say, no chance and it was at that point my heart crushed into pieces. What on earth do I do now? A boat was the only way, I had no way of getting money and the nearest bank was just as bad as taking another route, both options were a good 5 days back and whatever else on top to enter Kenya. I was devastated.
I walked up and down the river asking anybody and everybody if they had a boat, pleading with all of them. 95% of them didn't understand English and the other 5% would not even budge at 200 birr let alone drop to 30. One man kept following me despite the fact he had already said he wouldn't do it and he could hardly speak or understand a word of English.
I took up my position of disbelief, exhaustion and "what am I going to do now?" With my arms slumped over the handlebars and head faced down on Nigel, a position I have taken up a few times on this trip and more often than not in Ethiopia, I needed another intervention. "Think Harding, come on, think" I really had no idea what I would do if I couldn't get across the river. I looked at the guy who was following me around, I showed him the 30birr, "please sir." He said something, I had no clue what he said but he pointed down to the river and waved me on. I took that as a positive and walked Nigel down and waited for him to paddle his tree over to me. Amazingly it was wide enough to fit Nigel in with his bags on and surprisingly stable. I crouched down by Nigel as the most relieved and thankful man in the world and the first to experience some Ethiopian Christmas goodwill considering they don't celebrate it until January 7th.
On the other side of the river I was greeted with deep sand and gobsmacked tribesmen. I carried Nigel up the bank to flatland and just hoped that that was the last river I would come across as I was now completely out of money. The fact I kept 30birr in the first place was strange as buying water or more dry food would've been the obvious thing to do.
I set off due south and made sure I followed closely to the river. If I had to stop before any civilisation then the river would be my source of water and I had enough food for a good 3 days so that wouldn't be a problem. I had been told that it would be sandy so I knew a day of pushing would be in order, it just so happens that with the unfortunate timing of previous events, I found myself on Christmas Eve in searing heat, pushing a 40kg Nigel through inches of thick sand. A Christmas Eve like no other for sure and the presence of constant tribespeople kept my mind off home for much of the morning which helped a lot.
I have not taken any pictures of the tribespeople for the same reason I have not taken pictures of a lot of the locals. On the dangerous road leading into Omorate I didn't even have much chance to stop to take them in visually but today I had every second to walk with and soak in everything about them. They tried to communicate with me and I just replied with "Kenya." It was truly out of this world, here I was on Christmas Eve walking through some of the most remote tribes in the world. The ones the other side of the river were used to tourists but these ones were on their own planet and I was allowed to just walk past their villages with very little trouble. Some kids would asked once for Hilan but when I shook my head they would stop and carry on their lives, a far cry from the uneducated kids in northern Ethiopia that's for sure.
After a couple of hours my path took me slightly further from the river but I could still keep the green landscape that lined it insight. As the river became more distant, so too did the amount of human interaction and my mind didn't take long to think back to past Christmases and what my friends and family would likely being doing. I smiled and laughed at the contrast from Christmas last year to this one now. Last year I was on a cruise ship in the Caribbean having a water fight with about 5 kids, and now look at the difference. Can you find two more contrasting experiences? Well the weather was similar I suppose but from living a life of luxury and excess to fighting across a land of nothing its amazing what you can change in a year. It was then when it dawned on me why i found myself in this position and for the rest of the day, despite all my previous gripes, I knew I was in the right place. Yes, I was missing out on a great occasion that I love to share with family and friends and when I do so I soak up every last minute of it. However, I was experiencing what many of the kids I'm raising money for have experienced all their lives. A struggle in very harsh and extreme conditions with absolutely nobody to help them and no real idea of what day it is anyway. My sacrifice of one day that I can recreate when I get back was the least I could do to hopefully raise as much money as possible for kids that have never experienced love, let alone a family with gifts and a feast.
After i made this realisation I was blanketed with a sense of happiness and whatever happened today and tomorrow, I knew I was exactly where I needed to be and I would overcome any challenge that was thrown my way. 4 hours passed, I had been pushing Nigel through thick sand in 30+ degree heat alone for 4 whole hours until I reached a building of civilisation. I arrived at the last point of Ethiopian military before Kenya where I decided it was best to have a rest and some food. The military were very welcoming and after around 20 hellos and a few explanations of what I was doing and where I was going they let me lay down in the shade for an hour and get some rest.
I couldn't really sleep, it was still mid twenties in the shade even with a slight breeze which turned out to be a headwind making pushing even tougher. I set off again around half 2, they told me Kenya was 7km away but I wanted to get there before sunset so i left earlier incase of a standard distance miscalculation.
After 5 minutes of pushing, Nigel seemed to turn into a dead weight and made some absolutely horrendous noises. I just took it as my arms finally giving up and the sand having blown its way into every nook and cranny causing Nigel to scream. The rack looked dodgy so I used a horn off a goat's skull to wedge the rack and stop it from rubbing against the wheel. I then turned my music up louder, got my head down and knew exactly what I had to do. Another 5 minutes passed and I knew something was up, it felt like I was dragging an anchor. I checked Nigel more closely, the rear rack had finally collapsed on me. After weeks of punishment it seems the last few days of shear torture had become too much for him and he had completely folded around the rear tyre.
How's that for timing? Not a tree for cover in sight, about 6km from Kenya and I found myself exhausted in the hottest part of the day with an immovable mode of transport. I should've seen it coming, I didn't honestly think Ethiopia would just give me a surprise river crossing to deal with on what is supposed to be my last day here did I?
Panniers off, water bottles off, Nigel upside down and let's see what we can do with the scraps of bolts and bits that I have kept from previous broken racks. My initial "quick fix" that lasted me a good thousand km's from Khartoum had served me well and now it was a case of taking it off and starting again. After a little bit of umming and a few more arr's I used two braces of metal from rear rack #2 as a bit more of a reinforcement and just repeated what I did previously. It worked, I was delayed until 4pm as I took the time out to purify some water that the Military had given me but I was mobile again and I only had eyes for Kenya. Could I actually get there today?
There were white markers in the sand starting at 22 and counting down in the direction that I was told to head in. I soon worked out they were occurring every 300m so if they actually led me to Kenya then that meant I had just 6.6km to go. The first 9 markers were great, I could cover 300m per song so as I have done in times of need, Robbie Williams was on and I sung my way across no mans land.
When I reached marker number 12 I was then left with absolutely nothing. The green line of the river was very distant and I could see nothing but 360 degrees of sand. This is a recipe for disaster I thought but I knew to head due south. My handheld compass must've been affected by the heat as it was telling me north was South and vice versa but the sun was almost setting in the west so I picked a spot and headed for it. After about 1km I came to a slightly raised section of desert and in the distance I could work out a shadow that did not look like it could be formed by a tree, there it was, there was Kenya!!
My Christmas Eve was fulfilled with a feeling that I will never ever forget and one that will be very hard to recreate. To add to this, the sand became harder and a track appeared. I sat on Nigel and began to pedal for the first time of the day. The first time after over 6 hours of pushing and to give you an idea of distance covered, I pushed Nigel through sand and heat, just under a marathon. My early Christmas present was the irony of getting the feeling so many kids will receive this Christmas, riding a new bike or at least Nigel felt new.
I was about 200 metres away from the Kenyan flag when I was stopped by a tribe of kids. This would be a special moment when I give them my water I thought, an amazing way to end an amazing day. Unfortunately my fairy tale did not end as intended with the kids. This tribe turned out to be savages and after I gave them some water they chased and provoked me with sticks and the most horrendous looks you have ever seen from a child. Wide eyes with anger in their blood one hit my bag. I stopped and turned to stare at the ten or so young teens. I was less than 200m from Kenya. I have struggled, sweated, hurt, bled, cried, forgiven, embraced and cycled for 32 days through Ethiopia, i was not going to let anything stop me now. I looked to the skies with open arms and let out a huge roar, a noise that came from every atom of my body and said something you would expect to hear whilst watching a film like Conan or Thor. "LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH AND POWER!!!" My voice created shock waves from my head down, rippling the ground and the sand beneath my feet. The kids froze solid and in seconds turned and scattered into a distant semi circle behind me.
I turned, faced my target of Kenya and never looked back. I had done it. As the sun set on Christmas Eve, I had eventually done it. Country number 17. Karibu Kenya.
"Hello sir, how are you?" The greeting from the Kenyan soldier at the boundary post made absolutely everything worthwhile. A positive English accent filled me with relief and he went on to say I would be very welcome and safe at the Kenyan police station just an extra 100m away. The station was not how we have back home. It is a distant outpost designed to help keep the peace between two neighbouring and very hostile tribes. There are multiple out buildings of bedrooms for the officers and very few facilities for living. These officers have very little and despite this I was welcomed in like a brother by the main man John and Isaac an officer.
Once again I cannot describe in words how these two guys were. The way I instantly felt like family was purely down to their hospitality and kind nature. John was leaving tomorrow but he rung the boss on duty tomorrow who was also called John to tell him that I would be staying. A lot of the other officers were celebrating at a local village party that they had been invited to so there was just John, Isaac and two Ethiopians that had to stay at the station whilst their animals grazed on Kenyan land.
"You will love tomorrow" John said, "they're bringing a goat and you are welcome to feast with us and celebrate Christmas" Those words were music to my ears and as I had felt earlier on in the day, I knew i was in exactly the right place. "You can stay in this officer's room as he is home for Christmas, you can get showered over there and if you want to cook your own dinner tonight I can get you water and anything you need." This was the instant reaction that I received from a police officer.
How could I be anything less than overjoyed? I instantly felt at home and part of a family and they left me to get my things sorted as they carried on their own business. I had some pasta and thought about putting a few extra sticks in but then grounded myself. "Ease up Harding, i know you're happy and excited but its not Christmas day yet!" After dinner I joined John and Isaac outside to sit and chat and look up at the night sky. The only downside was the nasty bites from Mosquitos but my day ended in my favourite way to end days, made better with two of the most welcoming people I've met on the trip so far.
We talked a lot about the area and I learnt a lot of things. Things that mean I have to think long and hard about how I go about travelling on to my next major towns. They were not worth worrying about tonight so all I could do was sit in amazement of the beautiful nights sky with its shooting stars and the chain of events that I had experienced throughout the day.
A Christmas Eve unlike any other, one I will never forget and I'm sure it will lead to an equally memorable Christmas Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment