Day 48: Nairobi
Over the past few weeks I’ve passed through Lusaka, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, and now Nairobi.
Nairobi, especially the Central Business District where I am staying, is the most hectic city I’ve seen. I arrived in a matatu / microbus at night, dropped off deep in the CBD, looking for a place to stay. It was a mess of crowds of buses and people, non-stop honking, shouting and fighting.
I was lucky to be walking around the CBD the next day during Kipchoge's historic 1:59 marathon run. Everyone was huddled around small stores showing the run. The street broke out into celebration when be crossed the finish line.
Kipchoge ran a full marathon faster than 20 kmph, faster than I am often biking!
Nairobi has large visible South Sudanese and Somali communities, settling here as a result of the conflicts in the two countries. So I am enjoying Somali cuisine while here: plenty of camel meat and camel milk tea.
In Lusaka, a few weeks back, I didn't have a lot of time to explore the city. But I did have enough time to join this push up competition.
I lost.
From Lusaka, I took a bus to the town of Kapiri Mposhi, the terminal stop of the TAZARA rail line, connecting Zambia to Tanzania.
The roads in Zambia are the most dangerous I've biked on. Barely any shoulders, lots of truck traffic.
Still, taking buses felt a little more scary. The roads are narrow and the drivers aggressive.
I saw this flipped microbus on a day's bike ride outside Kapiri. Luckily no one was seriously injured in the crash according to the gathered crowd.
In Kapiri, I also almost attempted a side trip to the Congo (DRC). I met a Zambian truck driver, Richard, on his way to the Congo from South Africa. He was going to drop off grocery cargo in DRC and return in a 4 to 7 day trip.
I jokingly asked if I could come along, and he readily accepted, saying the bike would fit easily in the truck. I asked about safety and health issues. Security-wise, the worst he deals with is constantly needing to pay bribes at checkpoints—to the army, police, and anyone else stopping traffic. On health, Ebola is only prevalent in the eastern parts of the country, and he was heading the other way. He also seemed like he'd be interesting conversation on the trip: he spent a few years in Japan working in an auto factory and spoke fluent French from his trips to Congo.
Before agreeing, I decided to find some internet to do my own research. It sounded like Richard was right on health and security risks. But getting a last minute visa seemed impossible; it takes foreigners with official invitation letters at least a month. Unfortunately, Richard only had a few hours to spend at the town with the consulate.
On the train, the first passenger I met happened to be Zambian-Congolese. He also insisted the Congo is now a new democracy and safe to visit. Maybe for the next three month trip...
The train was slow, a three day journey. But the scenery enjoyable. I passed time by watching American movies with the staff.
From there, Dar es Salaam, which felt incredibly tropical, an African Phuket.
Then through Zanzibar, with its historical Stone Town, forests, and the beach.
I then biked my way up the coast from Dar and hopped on a bus to the Kilimanjaro region.
A day of hiking near Kilimanjaro, then biking through back roads to the Kenyan border. I came across giraffes and zebras (by the road, not in a park!), and plenty of Maasai villages.
I camped one night at a Maasai family's farm. Their roosters and farm animals woke me up early. The next day, I was hoping to be able to camp in one of the traditional Maasai villages: usually several thatched roofed huts enclosed by a thorny bush fence.
Many Maasai in the area are shepherds, and I frequently saw them herding large flocks of sheep and cattle across roads. They are usually wary of tourists and shout at those trying to take their photo. I got around this with these two women by using an instant printer I carry to give them their photos as gifts.
They got really excited and invited me into their village to have a bigger photoshoot. It was less than 50 meters from the road, but it was invisible to me before I followed them in. The bush fence surrounding it blended in with the wider landscape.
I met other Maasai women and their children and took and printed several rounds of photos. I wanted to work my way up to asking to camp in their village. So I first asked if I could bring my bike in off the road. They immediately made it clear, despite our lack of mutual language, that I was no longer welcome there. As I was leaving, another Maasai man came to escort me to the road and away. He said a lot in Swahili that I couldn't catch, except one word: 'kwaheri' or 'bye'.
Over the next two days, I rode across the border and up to the edge of Nairobi. I hopped into a matatu to avoid riding into town after dark. Traffic was bad, but we went off the side of the road to overtake it. We weren't as aggressive as the bus in front of us though: it zoomed through a sidewalk full of pedestrians to get ahead.
Nairobi was a change of pace as I happened to meet several founders and VCs based here. It feels energetic. Everyone is excited about the future of technology companies in Kenya and the region.
I also met a small social enterprise founder, Julius. I heard about him a while ago from reading this blog post and reached out on Facebook. Julius makes shoes out of recycled materials, using rubber from recycled tires for the soles and extra fabric from local tailors. Before he started his business, he also worked in the autonomous vehicle industry, as a data labeler for Samasource. He proudly told me that he built self-driving cars for two years.
He took me on a tour of Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa, where he grew up and makes his shoes.
I bought a pair to replace my worn out Allbirds. The shoes are genuinely great! You can find some on his website, or he'll make and ship a custom pair. Let me know and I can connect you.
I got myself involved in another business. One of the TAZARA train staff, Deo, told me about his dream of opening up a book-filled coffee shop to promote reading. We talked through its potential business model and, over the ride, persuaded each other to attempt to start small: buy, repackage, and sell good quality Tanzanian coffee.
The Kilimanjaro region, where Deo is from, is home to some of the world's best coffee beans. To help kickstart the business, I got to go to the Tanzania Coffee Board's office near Kilimanjaro to sample their different roasts and grades.
It was clear to all the staff I had no idea what I was doing. But I liked what I tried and bought a small amount. Deo is working on making and printing packaging to resell it in Dar, under the brand Kibo Coffee. He's planning on selling it around offices in Dar, but let me know if you would like him to ship some over. The coffee tastes amazing, with dark chocolate undertones.
From Nairobi, I rode out to Lake Naivasha, in the Great Rift Valley, and hiked around Longonot crater.
I made my way back to Nairobi, and I am currently on an overnight bus to Kampala, Uganda. I've changed my initial plans to mix in more matatus, buses, and other transportation to give me more flexibility. Like going to Uganda, which I initially did not have the time for, and spending more time biking in scenic back roads instead of highways. From Kampala, I'd like to make it to Ethiopia in a week, crossing back into Kenya from northwest Uganda. And less than five weeks after that to make it to Egypt.