mud mud mud

 Hi all,

 

  Firstly, thanks for your mails and sms's. I am back in civilization (Kenya) and have my blackberry email  back, so hopefully I can communicate a bit more frequently now.   Here is the update for the last couple of days.   PS on 4 mar luckily the rain did not come   5 mar Cycling wisdom 101: 1. Downhills never last long. There is always a hill to climb up thereafter 2. Flat roads are always spiced up. With head winds, heat, people who try to pull you off your bike or throw things at you, dirt, mud, sand, loose rocks... 3. Sometimes all the above happens on the same stretch 4. the perfect day exists but very rarely and it usually arrives unexpected   Today was a category 3 day. Reportedly the hardest of the tour. 85 km over loose lava rock, in the scorching heat, including a 1000 m climb and a strong head wind for parts of the day. The terrain was so tricky that you could only cycle it at high speed or you would fall. Needless to say that I was not very good at this game, and only about half of our group managed to finish the full distance.   6 mar Our well deserved rest day in Marsabit started when I was woken up by torrential rain at 4 am. The rain continued into the late morning and converted the town, surroundings and camp into an unbelievable mud bath. The tour vehicles trying to leave camp got stuck in the mud and I dont know yet how they managed to get out. We envisioned the cycling and camping in the muddy dirt and shuddered. So, once again the not so hard core ones amongst us planned an escape route. We hired a 4x4 and went 250 km ahead to the town of Isiolo. The trip was an adventure in itself as the 'road' was barely navigatable. We were slipping and sliding in the mud and feared getting stuck or toppling over more than once. Parts of the road were completely flooded. It was a bit hair rising but we got here in one piece.   7 Mar Isiolo is a little town with dirt roads, lots of half finished buildings and uncountable shacks. It does have a 3 storey hotel though. We rented some top floor appartments with terraces and views over Mt Meru and Mt Kenya and are enjoying the rest   8 Mar Did I say rest? There cant exactly be talk of a good night's sleep. The local night club is opposite the hotel and opens a midnight. It's music kept me awake til 2 am. The rain came at 3 am (and tropical rainfall can be very noisy in a town full of corrugated iron roofs), and the muezzin called for prayer at 4.30.