From 3am to 6am I managed around 1 hour sleep. The bus touts didn't stop talking and there was a stray kitten meowing outside the bus every 5 minutes. I had a quick breakfast and got Nigel off the roof and my bags from under the bus. Everything was just how I left it only with a bit extra dust on the bags and some dew on Nigel.
The sun was just rising and it was a lovely brisk morning. All the Kenyans were wrapped up in layers with woolly hats and gloves and I was still in shorts and T-shirt. As I set Nigel up I had a few early morning beggars. Two "give me money's" before 6:15, that was a record!
My first impressions of Kitale was how green it was. I wouldn't say overgrown compared to Ethiopia I would just say there were a lot more trees and bushes. I felt like I was in a jungle as I cycled down the road to where I sensed there would be nice hotels.
As i cycled for the first time in a while, something felt strange. Nigel was ok, I was ok but it was something to do with the surroundings. It took me a while to put my finger on it and then the penny dropped, I was cycling on the left! For the first time since Dover I was back to cycling on the left hand side. I just naturally went with the flow of traffic and didn't even think about it at first.
I didn't cycle far before I asked a lady where a good hotel may be. I was on the right track, West Side Hotel was 200m down the road. "Does it have wifi" I didn't care about the price today, I just needed wifi to contact home. She said it did so I was happy and even more happy when I saw what it looked like. I felt like I was in a holiday resort, it had a pool, breakfast buffet and an en suite room where everything worked!!!
It was much more expensive then anywhere I've been but still pretty cheap for English standards. I had to wait for the receptionist before I could check in. I didn't wait long, she turned out to be the lady i asked on the road. I ended up having another breakfast at the hotel and went back to my room chill out and check the wifi. The wifi was broken, typical! It was the only reason I chose the hotel! The receptionist had so many chances to tell me but in standard African fashion, customer service and communication didn't exist.
The receptionist said they were trying to fix it and they had the phone company sorting something out so with a bit of luck I would be able to contact home later. I didn't want to sleep during the day so I went to explore the city centre. At first i went looking for an internet cafe but there was nothing to Kitale. A lot of supermarkets selling the same stuff and car garages. As i walked around the whole town, Beirdre is really starting to attract a lot of attention and the Kenyans aren't afraid to say exactly what they think. The majority of them are just jealous of the next growth I think.
I had a wander around a couple of supermarkets to see if any of them sold anything other than biscuits, bread, maize and cake. They don't. I did find one shop that had a DIY section and so I sat down in front of the box of loose nuts and bolts to see if I could magic up a bracket to support the rear rack. I found just the right clips and was very happy with myself.
I got a quick lift back to the hotel on a motorbike and began bracing Nigel for the umpteenth time. His rear wheel now looks like a young Forrest Gump's legs but I'm very chuffed with the outcome and I don't think I will need to be worrying about buying another rack in Nairobi.
After fixing Nigel I wanted to go outside and even up my tan lines around the pool. No such luck, the heavens opened for a quick downpour and I struggled to remember the last time I saw rain. I'm pretty I haven't been caught in it since the Alps in August! It remained overcast for the rest of the day so I ended up inside watching TV.
My phone was still not loading any Internet pages which really annoyed me. It would mean I would have to spend another day searching for another hotel with wifi in my next destination. On very much my last attempt I just gave Skype a go and amazingly it worked. The Internet didn't but Skype did so I finished my night off with a great chat with my family and some late room service.
I knew I would need some energy for tomorrow as it was my first day back riding properly. I was really looking forward to it but didn't want to go too far so a 40 mile ride to Eldoret was the plan.
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