Long Treacherous Stretch Home

At around 4:30pm we leave and that’s where our projected 2 hour or so journey would turn into a 9hr character development course. 17 clicks in, David suffers a puncture but is unable to get us to stop. Screaming down the stretch, we stop some 8clicks down the road for some selfies and watch some giraffes majestically trotting the African Savannah. We call to check up on him and turn back on learning of his predicament. I go ahead and keep him company as the rest get a repair guy at Duka Moja and pillion him to the site. A few minutes, 2 sealed punctures and a few selfies later, we set off.

It’s now almost 6pm.The open road is calling, with very little traffic but with lots of animals crossing so be on the lookout if you choose to use this route. The throttles are almost maxed as the trip picks up pace. At Mashuru we encounter yet another hurdle, The GS loses power and comes to a halt. Seconds later it comes on again and we set off. 2 short kms later, it begins to overheat and Dan parks on the side. On examining the bike, it had enough water so House checks the fan which despite his best efforts comes up short. It’s now going to 7pm and on the road we go but again, we only manage a few kms before it heats up again. We stop and decide to tow the bike to the next town for storage. At this point, David and Jose had gone ahead. It is now a little past seven and extremely dark as there were no lights anywhere close other than our headlights. House and Dan get on a bike and find the nearest homestead where with the help of Dan’s rudimentary Maasai, they are able to secure a rope at a fee.

Once back, the bike has seemingly cooled so House decides to ride it a little further to reduce the distance. It won’t start. He goes,” mteremko iko side gani, skumeni tushtue!” We push the bike downhill for a while but with no success, at this point I strap my helmet onto the bike since I was burning up from all the pushing. I give it one last try and it comes on. Typical House, just turns and sets off with my helmet. “Helmet yangu House”, I shout but with no success. I rarely ride without a helmet (extremely sensitive eyes and nose). At this point I feel like my heart is about to beat right out of my chest (fitness is important, wah!). I walk back up the hill to my bike. Armed with only a balaclava, I set off with the rest following. A Km or less down the road, the bike is on the side again.. Ghafla bin vuu, hapa ndio basic math ikageuka titration🙆. Dan is now visibly stressed lamenting, “Hii place nikiwacha bike, nitaipataje kesho nikirudi”. We decide to have House’s Benelli 300 tug the GS and have Dan pillion our only pillion on my bike since only House and I had previous experience towing. Off we go. The things going through my head hapa, wacha tu. Chui ikiruka saa hii hapa being on a dead bike with zero accelerating ability, nitafanyaje? Simba iko kwa zone hapa na ikam na njaa ya wiki moja, nitatoboa kweli? But si mwanaume ni kujikaza!