From Nakuru to Naivasha

Our morning in Nakuru was spent at the Lake Nakuru game park.  Our afternoon was spent pedaling through an hour of heavy rain and then several hours of a stiff headwind to Naivasha.

Our team members piled into two safari vehicles and were treated to an amazing journey though the game reserve at Lake Nakuru.  It was like Animal Planet and Nature and National Geographic brought to life.  How surreal to be moving at stone’s-throw distance among massive water buffalo, giraffe, gazelle, impala, zebra, flamingo, white pelican, rhinoceros, and monkey.  Our biggest treat was spotting a leopard just 100 yards from our safari vehicle.   Our joy at observing some of Africa’s distinguishing wildlife was intensified by the commentary of Bob Burtch, our team member who is a retired biology professor.  He told us more about what were seeing than the guide ever could.  What a treat.

After our tour of the game park, we grabbed a quick lunch, changed into our cycling gear and started pedaling toward Naivasha—some 40 miles down the road.  Since reaching Eldoret, we have been heading east toward Nairobi.  Our plan is now to arrive in Nairobi on Friday evening and take an 80 km ride in the Ngong Hills near Nairobi (the setting of the movie “Out of Africa”) on Saturday.  Sunday will be our last day in Kenya.

We didn’t even get out of Nakuru before the rains of a thunderstorm began to soak us, even pelt us.  It was tough slogging for about an hour.  The spray from each other’s wheels drenched us.  The spray from passing trucks splashed us.  But, since the temperature was in the mid-70s, we were not cold.  Eventually, we saw the sun break through far down the road.  And, eventually, we rode out of the rain and clouds and into sunshine. 

But even with the rain gone, we struggled against strong headwind.  That made the few long hills we climbed especially grueling.  What goes on in one’s head during the toil up a long and/or steep hill is quite interesting.  It’s an internal battle to persevere through pain and fatigue and all kinds of excuses to just stop.  Much of cycling—like many other sports or tests of perseverance—is about breaking through threshold after threshold of pain and resistance and to, if nothing else, just stay on the bike.  A number of team members have experienced these challenges and breakthroughs along our route, day after day.