Place: Nairobi
Tunes: Still no tunes
There was not much to see on the way to Nairobi, but we did see this beauty.
From now on we will only fill up with Danger Petrol! It is much more exciting and dangerous than normal petrol.
Back in Nairobi. Beautiful.
What's all this then? Rigor mortis?
Jackson (our driver) took us from the Lodge to Nairobi today. The wake-up was early and from there on it was a pretty unremarkable day in a minibus. Shortly after starting off, we were pulled over by the police. Everything was in order but then the police demanded 200 dollars for something. There was nothing wrong and all the paperwork was in order, the whole thing was complete bullshit. The bribe went down to 1000 Kenyan (10 Euro) pretty soon and we were on our way.
From the hotel we got a normal taxi to JJ’s. The bikes were ready and repaired. The boys got their shocks and I got the panniers fixed, radiator cleaned and new lights from a 600cc Yamaha XT dirt bike. With these I can almost see 5 meters in front of me. They are even worse than the BMW lights, but at least people can see me.
We did some tyre trading with Chris and I think he got a very good deal. I was not in a very good position to negotiate and just happy to get rid of the extra Anakee tyre. Some overlanders at JJ’s complain that the prices there are steep and that you really do not have a choice but to pay. Well, it is true. But if the place was not there, you could be really fucked after the Moyale Marsabit road. And to sort out the spares and to find a mechanic here ... that’s an adventure no doubt and probably can be done. Maybe not by a BMW specialist but still. The spares can be expensive, as they must be imported, but the work is not. All in all, I am glad to find Chris and to have my bike fixed properly ...
... or almost. This is when we realised that me and Jukka forgot our helmets in the boot of the taxi. No problem, a phone call to the hotel to take the helmets to reception and we rode back without helmets. Interesting. A couple of km down the road we filled up and me and Jukka discovered a big leak on the seal of the fuel tank. I had one too and we were suddenly leaking a lot of petrol all over the place. Back to JJ’s again (after a pointless trip to the hotel), this time after dark in the Nairobi traffic (with helmets).
The problem was quickly located and the mechanics installed the fuel pump more carefully this time (the seal was not on properly). And fixed some wiring things for me. My fuel pump was taken out even without telling me to try it on Jukka’s bike and then installed just as professionally back. Hence the same problem.
At something past eight we were back at the hotel and I could start packing the bike. Two hours later I was done. After all that tourist business it felt good to be back in the normal flow of things. Now there's also less stuff to haul around on the bikes.
Tunes: Still no tunes
There was not much to see on the way to Nairobi, but we did see this beauty. 
From now on we will only fill up with Danger Petrol! It is much more exciting and dangerous than normal petrol.
Back in Nairobi. Beautiful. 
What's all this then? Rigor mortis?Jackson (our driver) took us from the Lodge to Nairobi today. The wake-up was early and from there on it was a pretty unremarkable day in a minibus. Shortly after starting off, we were pulled over by the police. Everything was in order but then the police demanded 200 dollars for something. There was nothing wrong and all the paperwork was in order, the whole thing was complete bullshit. The bribe went down to 1000 Kenyan (10 Euro) pretty soon and we were on our way.
From the hotel we got a normal taxi to JJ’s. The bikes were ready and repaired. The boys got their shocks and I got the panniers fixed, radiator cleaned and new lights from a 600cc Yamaha XT dirt bike. With these I can almost see 5 meters in front of me. They are even worse than the BMW lights, but at least people can see me.
We did some tyre trading with Chris and I think he got a very good deal. I was not in a very good position to negotiate and just happy to get rid of the extra Anakee tyre. Some overlanders at JJ’s complain that the prices there are steep and that you really do not have a choice but to pay. Well, it is true. But if the place was not there, you could be really fucked after the Moyale Marsabit road. And to sort out the spares and to find a mechanic here ... that’s an adventure no doubt and probably can be done. Maybe not by a BMW specialist but still. The spares can be expensive, as they must be imported, but the work is not. All in all, I am glad to find Chris and to have my bike fixed properly ...
... or almost. This is when we realised that me and Jukka forgot our helmets in the boot of the taxi. No problem, a phone call to the hotel to take the helmets to reception and we rode back without helmets. Interesting. A couple of km down the road we filled up and me and Jukka discovered a big leak on the seal of the fuel tank. I had one too and we were suddenly leaking a lot of petrol all over the place. Back to JJ’s again (after a pointless trip to the hotel), this time after dark in the Nairobi traffic (with helmets).
The problem was quickly located and the mechanics installed the fuel pump more carefully this time (the seal was not on properly). And fixed some wiring things for me. My fuel pump was taken out even without telling me to try it on Jukka’s bike and then installed just as professionally back. Hence the same problem.
At something past eight we were back at the hotel and I could start packing the bike. Two hours later I was done. After all that tourist business it felt good to be back in the normal flow of things. Now there's also less stuff to haul around on the bikes.
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