A really wonderful 1st day in Northern hemisphere...90km to Nairobi!

Beyond the Saddle ....Cairo to Cape Town
Howard Fairbank
Sat 10 Mar 2007 20:26
Position: 00:42.442S 37:14.696E

About 30km south of the town of Karatina, at a wondeful campsite right on the Tana River. (one of Kenya's bigger ones)

Cycled 100km today..... one of those real special days, where, scenery was good, villages and people experiences good, and mostly downhill with a slight tail wind!

Basically the route took me away from Mt Kenya, and decsending all the elevation I had climbed yesterday.

Stopped at the bustling town of Karatina, where bthere was a huge and very busy market...great fruit and fruit drinks, amongst all the other goods being traded. Had a 'tree tomato' fruit for the first time...like a small kiwi fruit but red like a tomato...tastes sweet and juicy.

The road although tarred was in pretty bad condition, often requiring me to switch to full suspension mode.

Interestingly I saw for the first time 'value add' retail outlets on the side of the road, like nurseries, fruit stalls, local rice delicacies, curio shops etc. This amongst the lush green, maize and banana plantations.

The weather is still amazing, and I will be sleeping under the stars next to the river tonight..... even been lucky with mozzies, but tonight could challenge that!

Big 40km police escorted convoy into busy Nairobi tomorrow, for a well earned rest day on monday, celbrating the end of this stage, and the official halfway point for my adventure.....As I think of the last 2 months I can only say its been truly amazing.

I'll be working on a newsletter for tuesday next week....

Take care