This is The Beauty of a Kenyan Desert vA 70
So I am still in Turbi but in a much better hotel. And after one day of waiting, one full day of waiting to recharge my batteries, and now it's the morning, and my batteries are full, I'm going to go to have breakfast; and we're going to be able to ride to Marsabit. That's awesome. So, (good) morning, my friends. Let's go to have breakfast first, and then we'll start our difficult day, probably, to Marsabit.
This is for breakfast, no? - Yeah. -Yeah, yeah, I can have this, okay. What does it come with? Huh? Okay, I'd just have some here. -[foreign language] -So you see, very nice. You have the hotel just there, and the breakfast is just here.
[laughs] Good. - Enough? Two? - What comes on the side? - Huh? - I will see. Maybe if it's not enough, I will tell you more, okay? - Sit there. - Sit here? Okay. Perfect.
Thank you. - Yeah, thank you. - [laughs] So you are Oromo Borana, right? - I'm Oromo. - You're Oromo? - Yes. -Just Oromo? - I just eat it like this, no? - Yeah. - It comes with something or no? - Ah, tea.
-Ah, tea is coming? Okay. But I can eat it like this, right? Okay. So this is the Kenyan breakfast, cooked by an Ethiopian man. Mm. It's chapati. Good morning. How are you? - Okay. - Good.
-You are leaving? Yes, I'm leaving today. My batteries are full now, so I can leave. So now, the tea came; and I'm going to have one more chapati. - Yeah, cool. - He was laughing because I'm hungry.
The chapatis are good. -[foreign language] -Thank you. - Enough? - Enough, yeah. Enough.
[laughter] - Okay, thank you. - Yeah. I just know two words in Oromo. I try to use them, akkam and gelatoma. Ready to go to Marsabit. Ahhh. Yesterday, I worked a little bit on the bike. I reduced the size of my chain because over time, it stretches, it was too long, so I removed two things.
Let's go to Marsabit. Okay. - Yes, [inaudible] - Ciao! [unintelligilbe] Bye-bye. So yeah, today is 100, it's going to be a hard day. It's 123 kilometers, with the first 80 kilometers kind of flat; and the last 40 kilometers, it's just a big climb, with almost 900 (meters) elevation gained during this climb. So it's going to be the second part of the day.
It's going to be very hard. And my batteries are kind of full, so hopefully, I have enough to reach Marsabit. [laughs] Yeah. Hey, bye, I'm going, I'm going. - Bye-bye. - Bye-bye. Bye-bye. - [inaudible] [laughs] Bye-bye.
And actually, just to finish, this place is actually infamous, for a sad thing. As I told you, about 10 years ago, it was a lot of clashes between-- tribal clashes. Actually, it was between the Oromo Borana and the Oromo Gabra. They speak the same language but they are different groups.
And they were fighting each other 10 years ago and it was very bad. And actually, Turbi is infamous or a massacre, basically. Thousands of people were killed here about 10 years ago, in those tribal clashes. Anyway, now, hopefully, it's over. And hopefully, they don't fight
each other anymore. Let's go to Marsabit, guys. - Bye. - Bye-bye. - Where do you go? - Marsabit.
Oh, [expletive]. Sorry. I was on the wrong side of the road.
[laughs] And today might be hard as well because I will probably have headwind, a strong headwind all day. - How are you? - Good, good. -Yeah. - Hello. - Hi. Hello.
Hello. So I'm trying to save battery for the morning, so I'm going in a very low help, low assistance with the engine, so it's hard. Hello. Oh, man, the wind is so strong. It's horrible.
It's absolutely horrible. I'm going downhill, and I'm moving at 12 kilometers per hour. Hello. - Good, good.
- Hello. - Good, good. Sorry. The donkey was scared of my bike and ran away in the bush there. Hello. - How are you? Good, good. How are you? - Where are you going?
Marsabit. - [inaudible] - Yeah. Argh! [Beware of strong winds crossing.] Look at this wind, guys.
This is mental. I can't move. I'm going downhill. It's extremely frustrating, going downhill, and still, I go at like 10 kilometers per hour.
[grunting] Okay, guys, so I'm going to stay here for lunch. Let's see if I can hide from the wind under this tree. Oh, my god, the wind. [cringes] So the positive of this morning is that the battery saving is going very well.
I will have, most likely, enough battery to reach Marsabit, but the bad thing is that, I will not be able to reach Marsabit today. The wind is too strong. I just can't-- I moved too-- I'm too slow, I can't do that many kilometers before sunset. So I have to sleep in a city called Bubisa.
There's no electricity there but there is a hotel. So this is mental, I did-- I pedaled three hours and a half, and I did less than 40 kilometers, I think. [lip trill] [So much sand flying around] Oh [sighs]...
Oh, this small 100-kilometer-long desert is really harsh. [lip trill] [There's sand everywhere.] Everything is full of sand. Oh, my god.
[lip trill] Mm. Very good. Ah, my eyes are full of sand. [sighs] Okay, so 32 kilometers left to my hotel for tonight, to Bubisa. Let's go. The wind is still the same.
I'm covered in sand. It's been three days I didn't shower. Oh, my god. Northern Kenya is harder than what I expected, eh. Hello. - [inaudible]
[trike honking] - How are you? - Good, good, good. - [inaudible] - Yes. -Okay. You are travelling up to where? Where are you heading to? - Marsabit. - Marsabit? - Yes. - Okay. - [unintelligible] Cape Town? - Thank you. Huh?
- Up to Cape Town? - Up to Cape Town, yeah. [trike honking] Argh!. 5.6 kilometers left. Oh, my god. Oh, it was hard today.
[lip trill] That was the hardest downhill I have ever done. What the hell? 12 kilometers per hour average on a downhill. [sighs] [grunting] On the 70 kilometers downhill. [expletive].
Oh, my god. [sighs] And I am arriving in Bubisa. Hello.
Hello. Is this hotel? - Yes. - Yes? - [inaudible] Hotel? - Yes, yes. -Yes? [laughs] -Here? Hotel? Okay.
How much? - What do you want? - Huh? -What do you want? Soda? -No, sleep, sleep. - You'll be like sleeping? - Yeah. -There's a lodge and a hotel here. [unintelligible] - There is a hotel? - Yeah.
- And a lodge? - Yeah. -Where? - Let's move this way. - There's a lodge? - Yeah. [indistinct conversation] - Oh, wow. - Oh, let's move, let's move. - Let's move, okay. So there's a lodge, you say? - Yeah, there's a lodge.
And here is Kenya. - Huh? - Here is Kenya. - Here is Kenya, I know, yeah, yeah. - Yeah. - So where is the room? Can I see the room? - Yeah, yeah, [unintelligible].
-Room, room. - I want to see that 100 shillings. - No, I want to see the room first. I cannot give you 100 if I don't see the room. Maybe the room is bad, eh? - [indistinct conversation] - [laughs] [indistinct conversation] [foreign language] [laughs] - He's the owner of the house. - Ah, he's the owner, okay.
-He is the-- yeah. - How are you? - Good, how are you? - I'm good. - Very good. -Welcome. -Thank you. Can I see the room you have? -Yeah. - From Addis or from Nairobi ? - From Addis - Addis Ababa - Addis Ababa, yeah.
- Addis Ababa. - This is under renovation. - Huh? - It is under renovation. - Under renovation, okay. -[unintelligible].
-This is room for your bike, you can put it there. - Oh, I can put the bike inside? - Yeah. - That's amazing. - Hmm. - Fantastic. - the place is safe- - Very safe, yeah. - No problem.
- Okay, it looks great, yeah. - Awesome. - Welcome. So it's the same price, you told me? - Yeah. - It's 300, right? And I'll give him 100 for the -- -[unintelligible] -Yeah, for giving you right [unintelligible]. - So it's 400, right? - 400 shillings, 400.
You deal with him. <i>400 shillings ($2.8) + 100 ($0.7) commission</i> - [indistinct conversation] - [laughs] -I told you, 400. [laughs]
-He told me 400, yeah. And he tells me 400, so we all agree, right? - I'm an honest tradesboy. - Huh? - I'm a trusted person. - You're a trusted person, okay. - Yeah.
-Welcome Okay, very good. And I can put my lock, right? Okay. Perfect. -Bye-bye. -You want me to pay now or I'll pay later? -No problem, you can pay later.
-I can pay later, okay. - Oh, my legs. [children playing] How are you? - Good. - How are you?
- Some are illiterate - Huh? - [unintelligible] - He's not learning, okay. -We didn't get an opportunity to be in school. - Ah, okay. Okay. So no-- - We are here, this community are pastoralists. Pastoralists, okay.
Those people will shift with their livestock from one place to another. - Ah, moving with the livestock? - Oh, yeah. -Because their life depends on the water.
-Okay, okay. But what--? You are a... Here, it's like Oromo Gabra or--? - These are Gabra land. - Huh? Gabra. - Gabra. - Gabra. Gabra, yeah. So you want 100, no? There you go. - Thank you. - Thank you. - Yeah.
- Do you know if there's a fridge there? - There is a fridge. - There is Coca-Cola? - Yeah, there is a Coke. - Is it fresh? - Fresh. - Very fresh? - Very fresh. Ah, I will go there. - Oh…
-I'll put my bike there, and then I will go there. Okay. - Okay. Welcome. - Okay, thank you. [laughs] The bike is here, they're cleaning the room, because it's very dusty, because it's windy all the time here. And let's go to have a Coke.
[laughs] - Hi. - Hi. -Hi. Oh, you're strong. - Yeah. - Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
How are you? - Ah, due to... Today, the weather is cloudy. - The what? - Today, the weather is cloudy. - Is cloudy? - Yeah. - Okay. Tomorrow-- Tomorrow, we don't have any power around here. - Yeah. - We use a solar.
- Oh, okay. - Solar panel. - So the-- - If you don't that-- -Yes? --the fridge is-- -It's not working? - Yeah. - Okay. I will see if it's cold or not This is fridge, no? - No, no. - No, no? - [unintelligible] -You go there to the next hotel. -Ah, the next hotel, okay.
[indistinct talking] Thank you. [indistinct talking] So next hotel? - Mm-hmm. This one? - Yeah. - They have fresh thing--? - Yeah. - How are you? - Very good.
- How are you? - Good, very good. Good, very good. - [unintelligible] - Huh? --How are you? -Good. [laughs] I'm slow in Kiswahili. I need to process. [laughs]
Okay. Do you have drink? Coca-Cola? Do you have it fresh? You have it fresh? - [unintelligible] - Oh, wow. [indistinct talking] -There's a fridge. - Yeah, there's a fridge. - Ah, yes, I want one Coke. Yes. - How are you? - Good. How are you?
-You come from where? - From France. - Okay, welcome. -Thank you. Today, from... -Where are you going to now? -Marsabit. South Africa, I'd go to Cape Town. - Okay. - And the right direction that we move. - Huh?
- Yeah, where are we heading towards? - I'm going to Marsabit. And then Nairobi, and then Cape Town. [indistinct talking] [indistinct talking] -Boya. So your name is Boya? - My name is Boya. - Oh, yeah, okay. -I'm a Kenyan citizen, by blood (natural-born).
-Huh? - I'm a Kenyan citizen by blood. - Kenyan citizen, yeah. -And I'm proud to be a Kenyan. - You're proud to be a Kenyan, very good. - To be... yeah. Now that we met in a short way, and we want to create a friendship... -Yes.
-So we are human beings. There is a weakness that I have and there is a field that you are a specialist and you can assist me. That is why we create a friendship.
-Yeah, yeah, we create friendship. -We are human beings and we have our own personal weakness. -That's true. -Ah, man, the desert. The faces of the desert.
I just love the faces of the desert. Kenya is awesome so far. Look at this flag. Beautiful. It's funny the...
On days like that, I also start not to understand how I made it all the way to here. With this bike. So that was my room yesterday.
Quite a comfortable room, actually. Let's see if I can reach Marsabit today. Ahhh, nice. Let's go. Bye-bye. - Bye.
-Thank you. - You are welcome. - Thank you. So let's go to Marsabit. Hopefully, I can finally reach Marsabit today, but it's a hard day. Today is 47 kilometers, so not long, but it's only climbing, all the way.
And hopefully, I have enough battery left. So let's go to Marsabit, guys. I was supposed to go there in two days and it's my fourth day on the way.
[laughs] Lovely people around here. So far, I'm having a wonderful time here in Kenya. Hello. - Hello. I just started and the wind is already mental. This place is insane. Okay, guys, so I am probably in the worst situation possible.
I already ran out of-- The first battery is already empty. Obviously, by using the battery the way I usually use it, I will not make it to Marsabit. So I'll have to save battery all day today also. But today is a climb.
[lip trill] I mean, that's the worst conditions for my setup, basically. Huge, huge climb, 45-kilometers' climb with very strong headwind. Oh, my god. [And no electricity available] And I forgot to mention, of course, I barely have food left. I have almost no food left.
So this is absolutely awesome. Headwind, super long climb, no food, no electricity, no more battery almost. Haah! What a delight? Basically, the forecast says the wind is at about 30 to 35 kilometers per hour. Right now, it's right in my head. So that means, I probably have wind gusts at about 60 to 70 kilometers per hour.
So that's why it's freaking mental to just move forward. It's climbing, [expletive] hell. And I can't use the battery, basically, because when you use the battery, you just go very slightly faster, but you use so much more battery to go just a little bit faster. Haah! Which is the most frustrating day of-- [speeding car honking] [started] What the…!? What the [expletive]? [Expletive] [grunts] Oh, my god, this is so freaking horrible. And a steep climb with a [expletive] 35 kilometers headwind.
[gasping] The [expletive]! [grunting] [grunting] [grunting] [grunting] [grunting] [expletive] Stop! [unintelligible] this [expletive] wind! Argh! [expletive] This is an absolute nonsense. It's been almost three hours I'm riding. I did 25 kilometers. Okay. So it's time for a lunch break. Look at the grass. Everything goes this way. Okay, so I'm going to try to go under this tree, there, to have some shade for me to eat some biscuits. That's all I have for lunch.
This place is horrible. Oh, it's full of grass. Maybe behind there. Oh, [expletive]. Oh, [expletive]. Look at that.
[cringes] Oh, [expletive]. Oh, [expletive]. There are thorns everywhere. Oh! [lip trill] Oh, my god, this day is horrible. [sighs] Can you imagine having a high mountain climb, 45 kilometers long, with steep slopes? That's what I'm having now because, basically, the wind-- I mean every kilometer of wind, headwind, just adds slope, basically. And the headwind is so freaking strong today.
Haah! I ate almost all the food that I had left. 20 kilometers left. Let's go. Hah! Oh, [expletive] fly.
But still 10 kilometers to the city center. I am finally arriving. I think it's about three kilometers left. I can turn the engine back on. I made it.
That was the most horrible climb ever, freaking six hours to climb 47 kilometers. [inaudible] - Hello. - Hello. - [unintelligible].
Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah. Give you one thousand. Ah, why?
-I'm very, very angry. - You're very angry? - Oh... -Yes, but I am also very, very angry. - Nice one. - Nice. - Okay. - Hello. -Okay, yeah, hello.
- [unintelligible] How are you? - Good, how are you? -What kind of bicycle. - This is a tricycle. - [inaudible] - Trike. - [unintelligible].
-Ahhh. Oh, it's here. It's a bike, yeah, an electric bicycle, yeah.
An electric bicycle. -It's electric, yeah. Yeah. You power it with what? Huh? - What do you power it with? - I have a battery. - You have a battery here? - So I just need to plug it-- - Oh, okay. - for some time, for a long time. -Oh, okay.
- And then it's okay. I can go first-- - So once it's full, how many kilometers? It depends on the-- if it's flat, maybe around 80 to 100. - Yes. If it's uphill, up and down, then it's more like a 50. -Mm-hmm, it's been a pleasure. -Thank you. See you later.
[kids chatter] [laughs] [kids chatter] Hello. - Hi. - Hi. - How are you? - Good, how are you? - I'm fine. - Do you have a room? - Yeah, there is. - There is? - Yeah. - How much is it? - 2,000, bedding and breakfast. - -2,000 with breakfast?
- Yeah. - Okay. I was told it's 1,500 by some friends. -[unintelligible]? - Huh? - How many days are you (staying)? -Maybe three or four days, something like that. I don't know exactly. -Maybe I will talk with the boss.
- Okay. - Then I will tell you. -Okay. So you see the beautiful hotel. Very nice. I managed to park my bike here inside. That's perfect.
I will cover it. And I have a very nice room. Look. I love the beautiful, big mosquito nets. That's absolutely awesome. Then you don't worry too much about malaria.
And it's really clean. I really like the-- They have good accommodations in Kenya. Very good. Look at the bathroom, very nice, the toilet, It's all clean. Shower… Here is this… Very good. That's the end of this way.
That was insanely hard, but I made it to Marsabit. I am dead. I'm completely dead. See you for the next adventures. Ciao, guys.
2023-09-25 08:37
