3.1.2012: After we enjoyed our short planned holidays at home and filled up our oil into honey glasses an shampoo bottles, my dad brought us to the airport Munich. Now our adventure seems to be continued. The flight is awesome. Multimedia for everyone. After arriving at the airport in Addis I check at first the weight of my backpack. It is still heavy, which means that our holy liquids, our 15W50 fully synthetic engine oil must be still inside and had been hided good enough to pass all the checkpoints at the airport.
4.1.2012: We change Lucifers oil but we can’t stay in our Hotel, because the room is booked from now on. So we move to the hotel on the opposite where we will stay for two more nights because Tam has had a food poison. German wholemeal bread and Italian Salami should help.
5.1.2012: Trying to change Diablos oil, too. But the bolt is too tight. So we go to find a 19mm ring-spanner in acceptable quality. Luckily we find one. Without any problems the bolt comes out and with it the oil. The locals who watch every step of this procedure must think “these Europeans are totally stupid”, filling honey into their engines. Or they must think “must be good for something, we should try that the next time on ours” I’m not 100% sure...
6.1.2012: Today we do our first piece of the kilometres to Nairobi Tam is almost recovered again. We’re doing quite good today. 420km and one flat tire at Lucifer. After a couple of minutes Susi has to stop she is surrounded by people. Some minutes later there are more than 50 people standing around us as close as possible and giving me hardly no space to breathe and of course no space to change the tire. Luckily there is one local with a big stick, pushing the people back. What a Nut. Easy to guess that he wants to have some money for that afterwards.
7.1.2012: We make the last km to the Kenyan Border. We get the information that there have been fights on the street we want to take tomorrow. We speak to somebody who came from this direction. He got stacked for four days on the street. Hearing these news feels like a punch into the stomach. There are no alternatives, Marianne’s flight is booked already and driving through that area seems to be quite stupid in my opinion. We decide to wait for one more day and ask the officials at the border for the latest news. We get to know Peter and Jenny, also on the way to Kenya with a Landcruiser Prado. We want to build a convoy for the dodgy parts.
8.1.2012: Packing our staff and driving from the Ethiopian Moyale to the Kenyan Moyale. The border crossing activities are done quite fast, the officials are totally friendly. We take a hotel and decide to drive off early in the morning the next day to make the 250km of dirt road together with Peter and Jenny. In the evening Susi realizes that we forgot to fill up our fuel tanks. We’re now on the street for over 13.000km and doing still these beginner mistakes. So we go - together with two locals – to search for some petrol which is rare because of the fights over the last days. We find ourselves again in a dark backyard and I just think by myself “if my Mom just told me one thing it is not to go with foreign people around dark corners”. In the end we are fine, but we don’t get any petrol.
9.1.2012: At 7am the hotel owner comes over with 30 litres of petrol which is surprisingly clean and with 1,70€ just normal overprized (normally 1,00€) This prepared we start our offroad trip which feels endless. Every time we have our destiny in our minds: Henrys Camp in Marsabit where we want to meet Peter and Jenny again. I make a little whoopsy and a seam of my saddlebag cracks open. I will sew that in the evening. Susi has big problems with her forearms because they are cramping. That’s why the last two hours are absolutely horrible for her, but she fights brave till the end and so we reach the camp. Peter & Jenny are already there. We have the camp just for us. After a dinner cooked by Jenny we go to bed. We’re all sleeping in the “muffin”, a beautiful little hut.
10.1.2012: In the morning Tam rides to the petrol station to fill up his cherry cans, too. That takes longer than expected, because he drops Chardonnay on the miserable road and hurts his thumb. But nothing helps; he grits his teeth and goes on. The road today is again offroad deluxe and corrugated as far as we can see. In the evening we will be well shaken, not stirred. After 120km the streets becomes perfect. Brand new tarmac. We’re happy to heve better underground again. Then suddenly we can see an elephant. I get my camera out. He crosses the street 50m ahead and it looks really majestic. The first “real” elephant I have seen in my life. We saw a lot of animals in the last few days. Gazelles, monkeys and funny birds as well. Just some km further on we discover two motorbikes with panniers and a shit load of stuff. We come closer and we see these guys are German. (Igor & Johannes from www.zweidurchafrika.de) together with a Prado (James and Dee, we got to know them in Aswan, Egypt) so we drive to the left and have a short chat. We decide to drive together and sleep on a camping place which we don’t reach, because Johannes’ clutch breaks down and so Igor tows him to the next hotel. It’s a amazing to be such a big group, five motorcycles and one support car!
11.1.2012: The last step to Nairobi. We had the deal that we tell the hotel one hour before we want to have breakfast. That didn’t work too good, at 7am we’re lying still in bed, it knocks at the door “breakfast!” At least it is included in the room price and therefore it’s quite good: Tea, eggs, juice, sandwiches and powpow (similar to a melon). It’s still dark outside so we enjoy a candle light breakfast. Today we take it really slow. The two guys got a second hand clutch which works like a second hand clutch, but it works. We sit in the hotel’s garden. In the afternoon we head off to Nairobi. On the way we get some rain; the first time since turkey. It’s not much, but it feels quite familiar. After heavy stupid traffic on the motorway which remembers us strongly of Egypt. Susis navigation skills bring us directly to our destiny today the Jungle Junction. We enter the courtyard. Everything looks like a big playground for grownup Overlanders. Defender, Landcruiser and off road bikes and a lot of self made vehicles and constructions are standing around. It is obvious that this is the jungle junction the place where everyone comes to who goes from south to north or from north to south.
12.1.2012: Marianne arrives from Austria. She wasn’t that long on the street as we were, but it took one day to go by train, flight and taxi to get here. we should change our name to 422offroad.Today I don’t wanna drive anywhere. I’m looking forward to relax a little bit after these strong driving days. We have a look at Marianne’s new bikes which Chris, the owner of JJ arranged for her. The bike is called “Buzi” now. Marianne brought just on big bag with her. A1 packing skills. We get to know Simon and Remo, two really nice Swiss guys with a Landcruiser. Today Igor and Johannes arrive as well at the JJ and Peter and Jenny make it to here, too. It’s good, to see these two again.
13.1.2012: Today we’re doing some maintenance Since Marianne is with us, Tam seems to be more motivated again. I can imaginge, it must be often quite hard to travel together with a couple and to know that your girlfriend waits at home. We make the experience that you can never be sure that a brand new bike runs perfectly, so we take out the carburator, clean it and put it in again and... it runs! Then I set the valve clearance of Diablo and fill up the cooling liquid. That’s it for the moment. In the evening Ali comes over. He took care about Susi when she had some troubles in Uganda. We go together to an Indian BBQ restaurant.
14.1.2012: Still waiting for the Owner papers of Buzi. And we realize that we don’t have insurance for our bikes for Kenya. We will find a solution. Today Julian and Viktoria join our Jungle Junction community. It looks like all roads lead to th JJ!
