Cycle 5 Travelogue: Kenya, Ride Prep

KENYA: June 30th, Prep & Travel Day

Up at 6am to head down to breakfast to leave for the airport at 7am.
Went down only to find Holland versus Morocco tied in extra time! [FIFA World Cup]
Ended up going to PK‘s and unfortunately Holland lost! That means we won’t have a Holland Canada match-up.
Into the van, picked up Sophie on the way to the airport, and now checking in.
We have learned to just keep saying yes, so we came in the premium check-in, Goldstar alliance. So far so good!!!
It’s always fun to see everybody’s faces when you roll in with all these [bike] boxes…..lol. Always starts a conversation.
Smooth sailing through to the gate, but after awhile, my stomach started to feel queasy and I had a bit of a runs. Took some Pepto-Bismol and hoping that it kicks in pretty quickly before I have to board this flight.
Boarded the flight and the Pepto-Bismol kicked in, so I felt pretty decent. Right when we landed a young kid couldn’t make it to the bathroom and barfed all over the place. That just about made me throw up.
Once we got off the plane, we boarded a bus to get into the airport. One big jam up as everybody wants to fill out these health forms which you need service for. Finally got ours to load so made it through.
Had a temperature check, checked our yellow vaccination card, and then we hit the money exchange/ATM.
Spoke too soon. The machine just ate our card.
We decided to split up so that our bags weren’t sitting all alone down there. Hopefully we get through this in a decent amount of time so we don’t miss our ride to our hotel.
PL finally made it down to the bikes and I was able to get a hold of our driver so he didn’t leave.
The plan is to wait 48 hours and then to go to the bank to grab our card.
Fun to see us fit our two bikes and two boxes plus me in the back of the little SUV.
Our driver, Lonfrey, was a hoot. He was pretty excited about our bike ride and we had a lot of good chuckles on the way to the hotel.
Started to feel pretty bad once we got to the hotel, so as soon as we made it up there I just flopped into bed.
Within minutes I was throwing up and felt awful. Really hoping it’s only a 24 hour bug.
Spent the night in the hotel, sleeping and watching FIFA.
PL was able to meet with Geoffrey with iDe. He’s been helping us out with logistics. The plan is for him to take us out to a farm just outside of Nairobi on Thursday.

Wednesday, July 1

Up and down for breakfast just after 8am to get ready to head to Radio Generation for our radio show. I had a pretty decent sleep, and definitely feel better this morning.
Grabbed an Uber and then went right to the station. It’s a pretty cool vibe and we’re feeling pretty honored to be able to speak about Cycle 5.
Had an amazing time doing the morning show. Such a great vibe. So far the Kenyan vibe is so fun!
Back to the hotel. Spent some time relaxing and reading while PL had a massage in the chair in our room and then put the bikes together.
Down to the hotel restaurant for lunch while we did some planning and then back up to our room. Not much to do today but for me to rest and to plan.
Had leftovers from lunch in our room and watched FIFA and then in bed early as tomorrow we are heading outside of town to an iDe Canada farm [one of our Cycle 5 to Survive charity partners].

Thursday, July 2

Up at 7:00 to get ready for our trip out of town with iDe. I had a pretty good sleep but PL said he kept thinking about getting around Africa without a Visa. Apparently MC is not as widely used.
Met Martha at breakfast from the US visiting with a Christian NGO and were able to share our stories. She prayed for us before we left. Then met Geoffrey & John from iDe to get updated on where we were going.
Started the 2 1/2 hour drive along our route to the farm. We were able to ask a lot of questions about the route, safety, all things Kenya as we made our way out. (Definitely will be a different kind of ride, as it’s almost all tarmac with a lot of trucks & traffic.)
Nairobi means “place of cool waters” in Masai. So they originated here in Kenya. Moved south to find grazing lands and ended up in the Serengeti. The economic drivers are tourism and hospitality; main exports are crops, Kenyan tea, flowers.
IDE visit with Regina (lead farmer) & a few learning farmers from the area. Had a great tour and then sat down to discuss dreams. Of course PL had them write them down so he can follow up 🙂 Also had a challenge for Jo hn from iDe to show them the numbers.
Took some pictures and then we were off to see the machine at work.
Regina said it was not far, “just over there”, but it was one hour on dirt roads sitting in the very back an SUV.
Finally made it to the farm and we were able to see the full production, which was pretty amazing. There was already a demand for another machine.
Started our way back to Nairobi which took forever. There is only 1 road and everyone is on it. So many trucks and they go so slow.
Stopped for chips & Fanta at 5:30 as we hadn’t eaten all day. What was supposed to be a 6hr trip turned out to be an 11hr one🤦🏻‍♀️
Arrived in a downpour. Not typical for this time of year.
Had a great dinner with Geoffrey & John and then we were up to our room by 10pm to watch FIFA
No credit card yet so it looks like we are staying another day. Leaving Saturday to avoid some of the crazy traffic

Friday, July 3

Up at 6:30 to go to the bathroom. Read until 8:30 when PL woke up. Down for breakfast at 9am.
Plan today is to get our Visa card, get our shopping done, and get ready to ride out tomorrow.
To the bank. Waited for 30-minutes to find out maybe today, but likely Monday.
Oh boy! PL was very persistent and telling them how important it was that we get it today. He asked to speak to the manager, who was extremely friendly and explained what it happened.
Went down the street to grab groceries and lunch and waited for a call. The message came at 1:30 that the card was at the bank! It’s not in our hands yet, but we are feeling pretty good so far.
2pm. Card is in hand and we have cash!!!! Phew! Back to the hotel to get our bikes ready.

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