Nairobi
After leaving Lake Naivasha we stayed in Nairobi for six days working on the bikes, in particular Beau's starter mechanism. Internet there is pretty expensive, and now we are at Tiwi Beach on the Indian Ocean coast, south of Mombasa.
Where internet is a decent price again.
Generally things seem about three times more expensive in Nairobi than in rural Kenya. That's a bigger differential than London prices back home.
So now an update:
While at Lake Naivasha we visited the Red Crater Lake Nature Reserve for a day. One of the few reserves where riding around on a motorbike is allowed.
Zebra at Red Crater Lake.
"I say, there's something very tasty strapped to this mudguard!"
And some gazelle.
And bird life.
And butterflies.
I think this was a dragonfly but don't really remember.
More gazelle.
And monkeys keeping the warthog company.
Then it was off to Nairobi, aiming to arrive the same day as my old starter clutch, to go inside Beau's engine.
And we were lucky. We arrived at 'Jungle Junction', the Nairobi stop-over used by just about all overland travellers passing through Kenya, the same day as the clutch.
This place is basically a sizeable house in the suburbs with a garden and driveway large enough for quite a few overland trucks, bikes and tents. There are sufficient bedrooms for those preferring them, a kitchen and lounge area, and a large fully-equipped garage with two full-time mechanics, which serves Nairobi's biker communities as well as the riders passing through.
A sort of biker's home-from-home.
All owned and managed by Chris, who also fills in as part-time mechanic when things get busy.
Beau claims a piece of workspace amongst the trucks and four-by-fours.
And commences the dismantling of the alternator.
Nearest to furthest: The old clutch from my TTR, Beau's wornout clutch still attached to the alternator, and the third starter pinion which engages with (and should release from) the clutch.
And the end of the crankshaft poking out of Beau's crankcase.
A close-up for those who like close-ups.
We were grateful for the loan of Chris's air-operated tools to remove the flywheel bolt, and of a larger bolt from his junk box to act as a flywheel puller. The alternative would have been to remove Beau's rear wheel, as its spindle doubles up as a flywheel puller of the right size.
It wasn't only Beau's bike that received attention. I fitted a new front tyre to mine (Chris keeps a stock of new tyres for serious travellers, and used ones for the not-so-serious).
I also repaired the inner-tube that was punctured at Lake Baringo.
All three of us also did oil changes.
I don't think this photo works, but when draining the oil from my bike I noticed a pretty large dent in the sump guard, which itself is pretty thick and solid. Obviously one of those big rocks on the Moyale-Isiolo road.
So, all that's complete now, with the starter mechanism on Beau's bike behaving itself so far.
The following day we departed for a few days at Tiwi Beach, a little way south of Mombasa, stopping at one or two wildlife reserves on the way.
We haven't seen much of Nairobi, except to discover that its traffic jams are far, far greater than anything London can offer, (or even Croydon!) And prices are about the same as in London, which is considerably higher than the rest of Kenya.