March | 2014 | Scotty Town

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.

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..

A military march I caught a little bit of!

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?

David G w/ Chris W visible behind... — David G w/ Chris W visible behind…

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.

I don’t even know where to begin! 3 day Safari on our break days from Arusha… 24 hours in Serengeti, a camp on the crater edge of Ngorongoro Crater, and then a day in the crater too!

Overall it was an amazing experience, so many animals! SO MANY! 7 of us were on the 3 day tour: Birgit, Erica, Sonia, Mike J, Christian, Ross and myself. The animal viewing was cool, but the guiding was a bit off. It was set up by the lunch truck driver, Steven, someone in his family organized it for us… They forgot stuff like a table and chairs for us to eat on! And kind of smelled as we shared the small vehicle with them.. Oh well, on to the animals!!! 😀

I may add a list of all the animals we saw here later, I just don’t have time for it tonight and I want to share my most immediately favourite photos! Enjoy, people! May have a tiny blog later about the two days of riding from Nairobi to here… Mostly just pics of some riders. 🙂 Tomorrow I’m off to Zanzibar for more break while the tour continues on 7 days through muddy rainy hell. Next blog about the tour will probably be a guest blog by Leah and Birgit! 😀

Pictures!! 😀