Nairobi to Arusha, a Little Bit Late – Mostly Just Rider Paparazzi

This post is chronologically before the Safari one, but I didn’t get a chance to write it then, so here it is now, completely out of order!

The ride from Nairobi to Arusha was only 2 days, but they were long. At least the one day I did was. lol.

The first day was 158 km I think, from Nairobi to just before the border crossing. We had a bunch of new people with us too, Heiner, Michel, Martyn, Sally-Anne, and Erma. It was fun riding with them the first day and chatting to new people. The 7 km of dirt we had that day elicited some complaints and minor mechanical problems… Hopefully the dirt post-Arusha went well for them… Perhaps Birgit and Leah’s guest post will address that! 🙂

The day was long but fun, and the camp was at a pretty nice place with a store, lukecold showers, etc.

The next day we crossed the border, and everyone had to ride to and across the border, since somewhere at the border they were going to be charged $250 per staff member so we all had to pretend (well, the staff had to pretend, and the rest of us couldn’t be mistaken as) staff members, so we all biked across the border. It went pretty quick considering all 50ish of us arrived at once. Sounds like the Tanzanian side had some scam going about trying to overcharge for the vehicle crossings and pocket the extra. Oh, and I rode to the border with Bina telling her about how I hadn’t gotten a flat since Sudan and got a flat in the 4 km ride to the border. Vunderbar.

On the other side, my vehicle raced ahead to flag the route, though we were delayed by the border crossing skimming off the top BS. Justin, Bina, eventually Hannah, and myself tried to find our way to the hotel in Arusha and got some bad directions from locals, so Alex (who’d been there before) and Wolfendave beat us there and officially tied for the race.

Sadly something happened with one of our riders in to Arusha, we’re not sure, but it probably involved getting hit or getting wind-blown by a vehicle, and he ended up in the ditch not remembering the accident with 6 broken ribs! 🙁 Peter went home after Arusha, just days after his wife left in Nairobi. Sad. 🙁 Hope you get better Peter!

We got some nice pictures of people as we went through though! Some are below.

A local rider passed us on this piece of crap bike, haha. We passed him easily on the next hill though. ;)
A local rider passed us on this piece of crap bike, haha. We passed him easily on the next hill though. 😉
My friend Niccole's initials are NMG and the town we were headed to was Namanga. These signs marked every single km.
My friend Niccole’s initials are NMG and the town we were headed to was Namanga. These signs marked every single km.
The last Tusker? I think so. Different beer brands in Tanzania. This was Birgit's, I haven't been drinking all too much on this trip..
The last Tusker? I think so. Different beer brands in Tanzania. This was Birgit’s, I haven’t been drinking all too much on this trip..
The biggest moth ever! Just over the border! Luckily haven't seen many of these since...
The biggest moth ever! Just over the border! Luckily haven’t seen many of these since…
Everyone hanging out on the Tanzanian side of the border.
Everyone hanging out on the Tanzanian side of the border.
Yanez the cook rode today for the first time!
Yanez the cook rode today for the first time!
Justin snapping a quick picture of the beautiful panorama. Forget the name of this mountain now though. I'll look it up some day...
Justin snapping a quick picture of the beautiful panorama. Forget the name of this mountain now though. I’ll look it up some day…
Birgit! Stopping in behind us, declipping from her shoes..
Birgit! Stopping in behind us, declipping from her shoes..
A military march I caught a little bit of!
A military march I caught a little bit of!
Christian
Christian
Ian
Ian
Martyn, almost missed him.
Martyn, almost missed him.
Erma
Erma
Jennilea
Jennilea
Amanda and Helen
Amanda and Helen
Cam ("Trout")
Cam (“Trout”)
Mateo, terrible shot by me but had to post him happily getting his photo taken... doesn't happen often!
Mateo, terrible shot by me but had to post him happily getting his photo taken… doesn’t happen often!
Dedan, our paralympian local rider. And his friend, probably a Bob or Bobby?
Dedan, our paralympian local rider. And his friend, probably a Bob or Bobby?
Ina
Ina
Ross
Ross
Diederik
Diederik
Chris W
Chris W
David G w/ Chris W visible behind...
David G w/ Chris W visible behind…
Sigrid
Sigrid
Chris D
Chris D
Wolfendave and Alex
Wolfendave and Alex
And again
And again
Catharine
Catharine
Mike J
Mike J
I walked around Arusha A LOT, even though there's not a lot to see there, it's more of a staging place for Safaris and Kilimanjaro hikes... But I found a cool market along the way.
I walked around Arusha A LOT, even though there’s not a lot to see there, it’s more of a staging place for Safaris and Kilimanjaro hikes… But I found a cool market along the way.
I'm rich! ... these are like $5 a piece.
I’m rich! … these are like $5 a piece.

4 thoughts on “Nairobi to Arusha, a Little Bit Late – Mostly Just Rider Paparazzi”

  1. Hello Scott,

    Nice pictures again, but I miss Michel.
    Is he really in the tour? (ha-ha)

    Enjoy your little holiday.

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