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18th November 2006

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Distance Travelled: 12 300 km

The source of the mighty Nile beckoned as we departed Kampala and headed for the adventure capital of Uganda, Jinja. White water sports are big business in Jinja, and although we were mainly content with our Zambezi exploits, Nic dabbled in a bit of kayaking in the frothy waters. With thoughts of the Sudanese visa deadline still in the back of our minds we made a beeline for the Kenyan border and after checking in with seven day transit visas, were caught in a thunder storm which made Hurricane Katrina look like a patch of fluffy cumulus. Soaked to the bone we hunkered down for our first night in Kenya.

The bikes spluttered as we crossed the high ranges which marked the edges of the Great Rift Valley and despite dog attacks and stomach ailments, we made it to the Lewa Wildlife conservatory to stay with intrepid motorcycle traveler turned game park manager, Simon Dougdale. We had a great time at Lewa spotting Rhinos, telling macho bike stories and tuning the bikes for the hard road ahead, a big thanks to Simon for his fantastic hospitality. Our departure from Lewa saw the odyssey initiated to the joys of driving a bike in deep mud. An overnight downpour had left the roads leading out of the conservatory almost impassible and we skidded, slid and pushed the bikes for two hard hours to cover the four kilometers back to the main road!

The Kenyan government, like most African governments, has a tenuous grip on parts of its country. Unluckily for us, we needed to drive through a lawless region which travelers affectionately refer to as “the bandit highway”. It is the only road which leads north to Ethiopia and beyond. Vehicles often travel this stretch of road with an armed guard but due to our reluctance to double a local with an AK we decided to take our chances.

Shaking in our boats but trying not to let each other know how scared we were, we left the last “civilized” town of Isiolo, pointed the bikes north and crossed our fingers. The road quickly deteriorated into a rocky corrugated track which seemed to constantly threaten to shake us and our steeds to pieces. The occasional local we encountered changed from streetwise beggar to someone more reminiscent of a “Gods Must Be Crazy” character.

We spent two nights camping on the bandit highway in police camps where the officers wore army camos and carried heavy machine guns. Stories told by the police of rampaging Somali militia didn’t exactly calm our nerves. We had one breakdown on the road which involved Juls wrestling with a chain guard which lodged itself in his front sprocket, while the rest of us looked nervously off into the bush. After three hard days ride of corrugations, rocks, mud and more corrugations, we emerged in one piece from the bandit highway, greeted by the wild west frontier town of Moyale.

Entering Ethiopia the drive from Moyale up to Addis Ababa was a dream after the hard roads of northern Kenya. People mob us every time we stop the bikes here, but apart from a petty theft and the odd thrown stone from delinquent kids they are most welcoming. This is the last stop for bike repairs until Cairo so the bikes are being gone over with a magnifying glass. Next up it is the most African of all landmarks: the Sahara. Roll on the desert!

Kampala to Addis Images

Chronicle blurp

It was time to enter Kenya for a 7 day mud infested tour of the wet and wonderful country. We booked it from Kampala to Jinga where we relaxed at the source of the Nile then gapped it for the Kenyan border into hail storms and tent eating dogs. An unfortunate birthday gift for Phill. We passed the great rift valley and cruised into Lewa conservancy just shy of Isiolo and hung out with Simon Dougdale (a kiwi hookup) for an action packed couple of days where we encountered rhino and thick thick mud. After trying to leave for Marsabit at 7am we travelled 5km in 2 hours just getting out of the Lewa gate. It was tough going and hot work. We made a small town and stayed with the police for a night on the bandit highway. It was recommended to get an escort through the last 250km of road to Ethiopia but we decided to flag and gap it for a small town and sleep at the police station again. We just made it as the last light was failing. The last day to the Ethiopian border town of Moyale was the toughest, Juls had a breakdown with his chain guard getting caught in the sprocket during heavy rain in mud waist deep from truck tyre tracks. After the two hour delay we managed to negotiate the mud, Juls bailed numerous times and Jerry even fell twice. After a few river crossings and running out of food and water we made Ethiopia and wonderful food and harassing people. We relaxed for a few days and then travelled through to Addis Ababa on roads littered with people and donkeys carrying all manner of goods.