day at the town cemetery to watch
the Whirling Dervishes, where danc-
ers spin themselves into a trance like
state. We felt privileged to witness
“the real Africa”.
Crossing into Ethiopia the roads
began to ascend almost immediately.
The roads here are regarded as a wide
footpath; pedestrians, sheep, cattle,
camels and donkeys all vying for po-
sition. Chaotic! We really had to keep
our wits about us.
The Simien Mountains is bik-
ing heaven. Very long and winding
twisties, dramatic mountain passes,
it seemed every inch of Ethiopia was
one giant made for motorcyclists’
road. Staying at the highest lodge
in Africa added to the appeal of the
superb country that has long since
TRAVERSE
34
shaken off its “famine” reputation.
Reaching Kenya from the Ethiopi-
an highlands it seemed our expedi-
tion had entered a new phase. We’d
entered the epic Savannah grass-
lands. Plains chock full of animals.
Hells Gate National Park, our first
national park and just after we had
crossed the equator. Again on bikes,
this time human powered, we had
our first glimpse of ‘serious’ wildlife.
Giraffe, warthog and zebra.
Nairobi,
essentially
halfway
through the expedition, was a chance
for some much-needed maintenance
on both machines and riders. While
most of the guys took some time to
relax over the three days, Bayne, our
mechanic was kept busy assisting
everybody with chain adjustments,
oil changes, repairing brake calli-
pers, replacing mirrors, windscreens
and of course a few tyres. He certain-
ly deserved a well-earned beer at the
end of it all.
Over the next three days in The
Serengeti National Park, we spotted
over 30 lions, dozens of elephants,
thousands of wildebeest, zebra, a