Day three

Day Two

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE



All our bags are packed, we’re ready to go

We’re standing here at Heathrow

We hate to leave you here and say goodbye

But after all the training and early morn’s

The plane is waiting to take us on

Already we’re so pumped up we could fly



Send wishes and smiles with us

Tell us that you’ll think of us

Think of us as we go on our way

Cause we’re leaving on a jet plane

In 2 weeks we’ll all be back again

Oh, we can’t wait to go



There’s so many miles we’ve rode around

So many roads been up and down

I tell you now, they don’t mean a thing

Every mile we ride, we ride for you

Every hill we climb, we climb for you

When we come back, we’ll have done a brilliant thing



Chorus



Now the time has come to leave here

To do our bit for cancer research

Any minute now we’ll be on our way

As we think about the reasons why

We’ve all made this sacrifice

We know it will all be worth it in the end

Woke at 5:30 am…….that’s five thirty AM. The only time I’ve ever been up at 5:30am was when I’ve been coming home from a night out!!! Still, excitement meant that we were buzzing and ready to cycle the massive 99km (61 miles) from Nyeri to Nyahururu. After breakfast we saddled up and set off, back through the town which was now far quieter than the night before. Eventually we got out into lush countryside, with views of Mount Kenya, encountering some massive hills along the way…and I mean MASSIVE!!

It was here we started to learn about HENKISMS.

The things our guide Henk said were not technically as they were and throughout the trip we started to realise this. The first thing we noticed was that “undulating….a few small hills…nothing to worry about,” actually meant, “By the time you get to the top of the MOUNTAIN, you’re knees, eyes and lungs will have exploded from the sheer strain of dragging your bodies up there.”

 Sugar coated….I think so!

It was on the stretch to lunch that I met Angela – a representative from Ovarian Cancer Action- who was cycling on the trip with us. We were both a bit worn out I think by that point, but as we got chatting we soon found our pace again and before we knew it we were at the lunch stop! Bonus. Here a field kitchen provided us with the buffet we came to know and love every day (I say love….I know a few people who won’t be considering rice for their meals for a few weeks after this trip...sick of the sight of it!)

Lunch was also were I had my first long drop experience.

Not one I want to ever repeat.

 We in England are very spoilt when it comes to public conveniences – very molly coddled. As a westerner you come to expect a nice clean toilet, perhaps some sparkly white sinks with a little mirror above them where you can check your lippie.

Kenyans don’t have toilets like these. Nope. They have a hole in the ground in a shed (if you’re lucky). There’s no toilet roll, no nice sinks and….well no nothing….except a hole.

The smell is just indescribable.

However, that’s how the locals live and we all tried in vain not to moan about it too much as said locals had been kind enough to let 100 women use their facilities – would you like one hundred sweaty women tramping through your toilet?!

Whilst we were at the lunch stop, a local school came out and performed a few songs for us. The children were incredibly sweet and well behaved. Before we left we presented them with a collection of things – namely pens, pencils, paper, footballs etc – that we had all brought with us from England. The locals have nothing out in Kenya and so these things make a real difference (one of our bus drivers told us that they aren’t actually starving though as the soil is very fertile, meaning that they can grow their own crops).

After a little recuperation – talk about throwing us in at the deep end, we set off again. Through tea and coffee plantations where we stopped for a talk from one of the farmers who told us how they make the tea and coffee. I brought a sample for mom and dad, which might have been a mistake at that point as every time I opened my bag for the rest of the trip, I got a nose full of coffee!

Another school came out to sing for us at that point and again we gave them a selection of goodies. They waved us on our way, wishing us all the best for our epic journey.

The people are in fact incredibly friendly in Kenya. They line the sides of the road in most areas and used to shout “Jambo!” at us – Swahili for “Hello!” and “Howa yooou,” which we got used to shouting back breathlessly.

That afternoon we reached the equator. I’d been looking forward to this for a long, long time. I don’t know why, but the idea of crossing that imaginary line just excited me, but then so does popping bubble wrap – I’m a simple person!

I had started to find the journey quite a struggle before we reached this point and because I had been alone for a short stretch- having lost the people in front of me and being too far in front of the people behind - had really had to fight to get to that line. It was like my body was giving up on me. I was incredibly worried – I’d signed up for this challenge and now it seemed I was struggling to do it.

It wasn’t until I reached the equator that it became apparent why.

I stumbled off my bike, jelly legged and dizzy and managed to stand still long enough for someone to take my picture at the sign that tells you “You’ve reached the equator,” before one of the ladies said to me “You look a bit grey!” I then proceeded to be violently sick.

Lovely!

To this day I don’t know why I was. Kenya is actually higher than any point in Britain and so altitude sickness is extremely common, the food might have irritated me, the water…anything. Whatever it was made me very ill.

I had to laugh though. At the equator – as with many of the stopping points – were locals trying to sell their goods – jewellery, pottery, certificates, the usual – they’re a bit keen to say the least, which is fair enough – these guys have to make a living after all and money is extremely tight in Kenya. One of the ladies was so keen in fact that as I was bent over being sick she was trying to show me some of her souvenirs and couldn’t quite understand why I wasn’t overly interested at that point!!

We spent that night at Thomson’s Falls Lodge. I shared a room with Vikki and Becki, poor girls. I’d only met them that night and I spent most of it sleeping. I didn’t even make it to dinner. I was just so desperate to get my body better for the next day so that I didn’t miss any of the challenge.

That room was interesting. As with many of the rooms we stopped in over the week, there was more inhabitants than we first thought. Cockroaches and giant beetles were rife out there and you would often wake to find one had shared your pillow with you! Normally I’m quite squeamish, but I decided to embrace Kenyan life and actually got a bit disappointed if there wasn’t a little guest in a room! Crazy….must have been the heat!