The past 2 1/2 weeks were well spent in Arusha and Nairobi catching up with a friend, Elvis and making trips to embassies. Not much different from Seattle hanging out with friends, we spent time at local bars, hiking, and visiting the village to visit the Elvis' grandmother.
Riding north past Nairobi, the bike is sorted as well as visas for Ethiopia and Sudan :)
The 400 km of unpaved road in northern Kenya is all that remains for overlanders travelling the traditional Cairo to Cape Town route. The next challenge for me will be customs in Ethiopia and Sudan. My paper work for the motorcycle has expired... so we shall see what magic I can do at the border . On the road to Marsabit in Kenya, I saw elephants, camels, kudu, gazelles, and of course lots of people.
A shooting at the overlander place I stayed at, rattled me enough to move on. Surrounded by an eight foot wall, steel gates and razor wire, a gang still tried to rob the place. The loan unarmed guard tackled two of the men without getting shot. Three shots were fired. Unfortunately a guard dog was shot but will survive. Myself and three others quickly went to assist the guard, and the get-away car was left running as three of the bandits fled on foot. In the end ,we were all okay, but way more drama than I needed. Somehow I feel safer at local places than tourist places. International travelers have cash, computers, cameras, and make the places targets for gangs to hold up. I have lots of respect for a guard making but $2.00 per day to put his life in such danger to protect visitors, as well as the two guard dogs who play around like all labs do, but know when to attack.
Next stop is Moyale before crossing into Ethiopia.
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