An epic ride was coming up for Jamhuri Day: Escorting the Around Africa team to the Ethiopian Border. 🇪🇹 After Moyale, taking the slow route home sounds amazing to enjoy some Northern terrain!
With work winding down, I leave the laptop at home for this three birds with one stone trip: Sending off my good friend Havana and her team on their historic ride (more info here), enjoying some magical nature in Samburu (#rideAndHike), and testing my new bike off-tarmac 🥳
The day before, I packed the camping stuff and grabbed my hot weather mesh gear (and food, and rain gear, and tools, and water filter, and spare water, and bikini). In the end, the bike looked a little heavy, probably 250kgs without me 🙂
Day 1 – Quick dash to Marsabit and lunch in Isiolo
While everyone else meets at Nairobi Chapel for an impressive send-off, I get a little delayed in the morning and leave just before noon. Sagana is not far when your bike has above 100 HP. I meet a number of bikes along Thika Road, who are already returning from escorting for the first 50km. An amazing community!
By the time I’m in Nanyuki, it’s nearly 3pm and the maths for a daylight arrival in Marsabit town look tricky. I decide to skip lunch at Isiolo and simply get some samosas at The Outpost in Kisima.
I plan to fuel in Isiolo and that’s when I catch up with the big group! We exchange greetings but I decide not to interfere with their ride formation and keep moving until Mt Ololokwe.
I promised Havana we’d take photos there together, and I’m keen to catch up with her. The core team was riding in front of the escort teams… At the security stop after Archers Post I tell the officer that I’m part of the bikers who already passed. He looks at me with puzzled eyes.
The A2 highway is EMPTY. Ololokwe is always an incredible sight!
A few bikers catch up and we pose for pics together. At this point we have 201km and about 90 minutes of sunlight left to Marsabit town. Doable!?
The ride through Samburu and Marsabit counties with setting light is simply beautiful!
On arrival in Marsabit I fuel at the Total. To my suprise I find only one bike in the hotel’s parking lot! Where’s everyone? I make calls and learn that the entire team was behind us. Only Mbuthia had stuck to the plan of a daylight arrival. Everyone makes it safe to Marsabit this night and hoards of bikers pour into three different hotels.
Bikers from the LaKiKi neighbourhood. We’re more likely to meet in Marsabit than Nairobi 😂
Marsabit county is huge! The second largest county after Turkana – with about 67,000 km².
Day 2: Moyale, here we come!
It’s about 250km to the border and we don’t expect a formal fuel station in between. Fuel is usually sold in bottles from barrels in the North. As we all assemble at the Total, I realize how big our convoy is! Lots of good vybes – new and old faces!
And off we go!
Imagine me being the sweeper on a legit group ride! I love this bike! And being the sweeper means I can stop at this beautiful crater for photos!
One thing about this generation of bikers is that they combine their loves for the adventure and their family. The best dad award goes to Champ Mohamed today, who is caging in the coolest BMW convertible (is it still caging if there is no cage?) and is taking his cutie daughter along all the way up to Moyale.
Can you imagine what the locals think when they see us rocking up in their desert like this?
Yes, we are in a hurry but a selfie stopover at 37° lazima!
The A2 up here is probably the best road in East Africa. No pothole since the Subuiga junction. Reflective paint. Well-marked bumps. Signage for bends. About 500km of bliss.
Our stopovers in towns excite kids and adults alike.
Around 1pm we get to the last junction before Moyale.
Moyale town is up a few twisties and we enter the border area (a One Stop Border Post) and park the bikes directly at the fence. We find someone who exchange KES to Birr.
As the core rider team proceeds to the customs office, the rest of us request a security guard to watch our bikes and take a stroll to the Ethiopian side. It looks like the bigger part of town is on the other side. How amazing that Kenyans can enter Ethiopia without a visa. The Ethiopian border guard even recommends a restaurant (Koket Hotel) and we crowd into TukTuks to take us there.
Embarassing! This Kenyan probox cuts off our tuktuk driver.
We find a great variety of non-alcoholic beers at the bar, and order a few mixed plates of Ethiopian dishes to share. I have a feeling that this food will be very spicy, so I order Shiro instead.
It is time to say by to the core team who are riding onwards into Ethiopia. And just as we finish paying our bills, they enter the restaurant.
Enjoy your journey, many beautiful encounters and safe roads always!
PS: Look at the photo bomber at the back! 🤣
Day 3: Moyale to Archers Post
Before riding back to Marsabit, we have to get fuel. We’re about 15 bikes and that takes some time. It’s just before 5pm when we leave Moyale town.
This ride has some amazing people! Such diverse bikes and even a drone!
The playlist is zen, the skies are clear and the full moon bright. The last smooth bends before Marsabit through the hills are absolutely magic and meditative.
Day 3 – Exploring Marsabit and back to Archers Post
Most bikers are leaving early to attend to commitments back in Nairobi. Nyawira and I want to see a bit more of town, and are also keen to visit the Botanical Garden of Marsabit. We are warmly welcomed by the team and they help us to arrange bodas to go see the place.
Good chats and safe riding with the boda riders!
Riding out of town through backroutes we see farms and red soil. It had rained briefly in November. Marsabit town is farmland, while most of the county is pastoralist land. It is great to learn more about the vision of the Botanical Garden, and their progress. Preserving some of the indigenous trees and medicinal plants of Kenya is an urgent and important cause, but how to make it work when the rain seasons keep failing year on year? They hope to grow much faster once they secure a water source. We hope to come back one day through our partnership between Miti Alliance and Women Bikers’ Association!
Sunscreen plus offroading without helmet = trouble
And then we check out of the hotel and head southwards, back to Samburu county, past Ololokwe to Archers Post.
Then we meet these two incredible cyclists, on their way from Cape Town (!!) to Addis (!!). What an achievement 💪
At some point we are waved down by one of the other bikers on their way back with a chain issue. Sadly we don’t have the right tool to help, but a local rider manages to get it from his house.
Back at Ololokwe Nyawira is doing the most to secure the best shots.
The security check takes us a little longer to clear this time round. They are doing a thorough job and requested to examine all our luggage. We still get to Archers Post before sunset and ride into the beautiful Lions Cave Camp.
What a beautiful journey this was!
Two more bikers join us here for the offroad saga that’s to come: We want to first hike Mt. Ololokwe (yes!) and then cross over through some scenic trails in Samburu, Isiolo and Laikipia.
Get all the pics and stories in Part 2 of this article! Both are motocross racers. Well, at least my bike has the Dakar sticker 😉
PS: The photos on this article are not all mine. They are from various riders in the escort team! Thank you all for an amazing time together, and the great comradery 🏍️🏍️💨💨💨