A wedding invite in Watamu to round off 2025. Bikers from our NK are tieing the knot. Joe and I are riding of course.
But which route?
The usual Voi route from Nairobi to Watamu is a long, familiar haul of roughly 580km. This time though, Joe and I are craving something different. So we consider the slightly wilder option through Garissa, stretching it to about 740km in total. This beautiful ride report on YouTube whets our appetite!
740km in one day? Should be doable, since we are both used to 500km+ rides and – well – BMW ✌️. We map out the day hour by hour, starting with a 6am departure at Gigiri, fuel stops in Mwingi and Garissa, and opt for lunch after the majority of kms will be done in the capital of Tana River County, 520km from home, with a 6pm arrival in Watamu. A fellow rider agrees to be on ICE stand-by.
Bright and early I’m on my trusty R1200GS, Joe rolls in smooth and confident on his 1200RT, and we’re ridiculously excited to trade the busy highway for the big skies and emptier roads of Eastern Kenya.
Riding out, Nairobi quickly sheds its usual chaos and once done with Thika traffic and road repairs the landscape starts to feel like a new country.
The road opens up, the kind of riding where you can settle into a rhythm and just flow. We fuel in Mwingi and snack some Mangoes, attracting the usual little crowd of curious looks.
Once we clear a security stop just after Mwingi (where all luggage and ID are thoroughly checked!), the scenery shifts gradually from curvy greener hills into drier, flatter stretches, dotted with scrub and acacia, with the horizon doing that East African thing where it feels endless.
It’s not too hot, and it’s honestly one of those rides where you keep thinking, why don’t we do this more often?
11am. 321km done. Good cruising!
We leave Kitui county and enter Tana River before we know it. Soon we are at the junction to Malindi, which is about 15km before Garissa town. There’s a petrol station right here at the junction. We are tempted to just make the turn south here, but then it wouldn’t be a Garissa trip, right?
Towards town, lots of construction trucks, dug up roads await us, and – even worse – we get no views of Tana River as the views are blocked by construction mabati.
We top up water and fuel. It’s damn hot. A quick exploration round in town, where we encounter the peculiar habits of the local tuktuks. This is the halfway marker (370km done of 740). The ride stops being “a plan” and starts becoming a story and we’re grinning in our sweaty helmets like tourists.
Wanting to avoid night riding, there’s little time for much touring. We head back to the junction and take the turn towards Hola. The road somehow gets even emptier. Long straight sections, occasional wash-outs and that calm you only get when the road is truly yours.
Checking the map (bottom of this post) keenly you’ll realize the highway runs about 10km parallel to the life-giving river. Hence the settlements are along the river, away from the road. With time and a dirt bike a lot of fun could be had here!
We hit Hola at just the right time and ask locals to show us a lunch place.
I swear that pilau tastes like it was cooked specifically for exhausted riders. 😋 Warm, fragrant, properly spiced – we chew in silence because – you know. With full stomachs and refilled camel baks, it’s time for the final push towards Malindi.
We are 100km to Minjila/Garsen (Lamu junction) and 200km to Malindi.
Seems doable! We cruise nicely at 100/120. It rains a bit and stops again. Our jackets dry up quickly.
Then Joe slows down. There is some noise on his bike and it takes us a minute to figure out where it comes from.
The tire is ripped! Could it be the heat? Damn.
How far can this tire still go? And how safe is it to hang out in this spot, about 25km from Garsen/Minjila?
We wave down two trucks and they join us in thinking about what to do.
As much as they are willing to carry the bike, we don’t have enough ropes and can’t see ourselves lifting this 240kg elephant a good 1m above the ground into the truck anyways.
We decide to ride slowly up to Minjila to search for solutions there, Inshallah. The tire someholds holds up but the RT is cruising loooow…
The last minutes before Minjila, refugees have set up tents along the roadside. The town itself seems lively however lacking a garbage management system.
Joe manages to negotiate a pickup truck to take the bike to Malindi and orders a new tire from Nairobi.
Kenya hakuna matata!
We’ve clocked over 600km already, but there’s another 120km waiting for me. I select a new playlist, add some fuel and hit the road solo. Sunset vybes and that coast feeling is setting in!
I make it to Malindi around sunset. The Mambrui security stop has some mad traffic.
“Where do you come from?” – “Nairobi” – “You came from Nairobi today?” – “I left there at 6am”The officer salutes and waves me through.
Google Maps must be tired at this point and takes me to the narrow old town roads in Malindi before I finally get to the main roundabout and navigate the tuktuk chaos with my remaining patience.
A big exhale in Watamu. And a cold shower 😅
Then I see Joe’s message: The shaft of the pickup broke.
The pickup needs a pickup.
They are being towed to a safe destination, where the RT will sleep, inside the pickup for the night.
Wueh!!! 😮💨
How was the wedding, you ask?
The new tire miraculously arrives in Malindi the next day (shout-out to Rad254). The pickup’s shaft is fixed and the bike delivered to the fundi in Malindi. The tire is mounted just in time before the wedding proceedings.
Congrats, Ira and Jimmy!
And then we enjoy the beauty of Watamu for some extra days!
Returning to Nairobi we take the usual highway route, because practicality eventually wins.
Then a moment we’ll never forget: an elephant in Tsavo is calmly having breakfast near the road like he owns the entire world (which he does). It’s the perfect ending to a wonderful trip!
Two legendary bikes, one unforgettable detour and the reminder that in Kenya even the “normal” road can surprise you.
The promised map.