Down Down to Cape Town (DDCT)…..
Well its not quite as original as Down Right Kenya, or as cool for that matter, but its in keeping with silly names for silly bike rides. So DDCT the rest of this ride will be!
Alas once we all arrived in Gilgil all but myself left after a few weeks of serious resting, back to their respective Unis and jobs, however I didn’t have an option of either back home, so I stayed on in Kenya to look for something to do and with a lot of help as usual from the legend that is Peter King, I managed to get a job for one term in a lovely school called Pembroke House which was JUST down the road from the Green House!
The school is a prep school for richer Kenyans and Ex-pats and I had a great time assisting with sports and living in the boys boarding house looking after the little rascals. After my term was up I also managed to get 3 months of work in a very cool game conservancy called The Ol Pejeta Conservancy. This was through one of the parents who’s kids went to Pembrooke, I couldn’t have been more fortunate, as assistant marketing person I was in charge of following the security and wildlife rangers around, getting photos and videos of rhino captures, cheetah trackings and Lion calling, it certainly beat a lot of things I could have done and I feel I did a very small amount of good of wildlife conservancy (check out the Ol Pejeta Facebook page and website www.olpejetaconservancy.org)
But my six month visa was running out, so due to a lot of ‘if you don’t go the rest of the way you’re a wuss’ type persuasion from the likes of PK and Home Team Solar Andy, I decided as my bike still worked (just) I would see how far I could get to Cape Town with all the skills that my DRK friends had helped me learn cycling to Kenya.
So now I write to you from North Malawi just South of Karonga (if that makes sense (check out my map thing on www.downrightkenya.org/map/mark-goes-it-alone.html) having done about 1200k in the last 25 days or so, and so far all is great.
I started the ride as all good Nash bike rides start, with a bus! My visa ran out on the 9th of Sept and I had just said goodbye to Jack VP (who came to visit for a few weeks) on the 8th in Kenya, I couldn’t pump my tyres up due to a faulty pump and I had about 200k to get to the boarder in one day, that clearly wasn’t going to happen so I did a short ride on a lovely bus to Arusha, got sorted and set off a few days later.
Man was going tough on those first few days, the sun was HOT, my legs were weak and it felt like I had changed my saddle for a square lump of iron, my bum HURT!! A few days in I was put up for a day at Mkomazi National Park in TZ, run by Tony and Lucy Fitzjohn I was ready to go again and from there things have been getting better and better. The roads in TZ have been good if not a little traffic heavy and fast but TZ has been pretty nice, a little safer than Kenya I feel and much greener.
A good amount of cycling at a good pace got me through TZ pretty fast with no major events occurring and a few days ago I got into Malawi which has even nicer roads and easier going people. I pushed it a little bit too far getting into a nice campsite in Chitimba and got a little bit of heat stroke, so have rested for a few days, but tomorrow I am heading off again with my next major stop being Victoria Falls.
What of going it alone? Well so far its been fine, I truly do miss all the DRK guys of corse, and during some of the low points so far its been hard not having one of my team cheering me up or encouraging me on. I feel safe and manage to make good miles, but a lot of the time it does feel more like a day at work than a day cycling with some friends as DRK did. But its all good and im enjoying the travel and new experiences as always.
Ok, internet time is not cheap, so until anon my best to you all, and if you feel the urge to sponsor HSK a little more due to my extra effort please do, click on the website link.
Keep checking for updates.
Cheers, Mark Nash
P.S Happy birthday to Den and Sarah XXX
Filed under: Uncategorized on October 1st, 2009 | 4 Comments »
