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| Samual wonders where oh where to begin... |
The name of our campsite - 'Jungle
Junction' - conjures up a misleading impression. Far from being surrounded by tropical foliage
and squawking macaws, we're nestled in a peaceful suburban neighbourhood. A modern shopping mall is close, pizza
delivers and best of all there's high speed internet. The only reminder that we're not in
Kansas any more is the electrical blackout that lasts most of one day.
JJ's has been operating since about 1997. The owner, Chris, was a BMW-trained mechanic
who went native, as the Americans used to call it. He lives in Nairobi now, and provides a safe
haven and oasis of mechanical knowhow for the Africa-overlanding
community. German by birth, but Indian
in upbringing, he has an effective personality - Teutonic engineering skill,
blended with the relaxed, pragmatic problem-solving of the Sub-Continent. I find him easy to get on with, and a mine of
sensible information concerning my bike.
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| For when 4-wheel drive just isn't enough |
In the large yard in front of the house,
over a dozen 4x4 vehicles of varying condition are parked neatly: Land Rovers old and new, Toyota Landcruisers,
a Hilux or two, a Jeep campervan, and various monster trucks of Swiss origin. A few of these vehicles are being cleaned up
and serviced by their owners; but most are sat in the long grass, waiting for
the day when time and money permits their adventure to continue. The campsite, indoor hostel, kitchen and
workshop are ready for the owners' return, but there is no sense of undue rush
here.
Laid up around the place are also a fine
stable of motorbikes - KTMs, Africa Twins, Suzuki and Honda dirt bikes, and
quite a few BMW models, old and new.
Before long my own beast of burden has jumped the queue and is up on the
work bench for inspection. I've asked
Chris' team to help with the major service items, and to opine on the cause of
a distressing 'play' that I can now feel on the handlebars.
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| More money than sense? |
The service is done well - I watch attentively
as Samuel, the allocated mechanic, carefully works through the job
schedule. He takes care of the bike -
cleaning anything that might drop dirt into open joints, before removing the
necessary access panels, screws or covers.
It's the kind of attention to detail that was a glaring omission from
the first safari service carried out - on the Silk Road leg of this trip. The big beemer is soon brought up to
expedition standard again.
Meantime, Daan, Mirjam and I go into town
to attend to visa 'issues'. We take two
days, but are delighted at the end to have secured both our Ethiopian and
Sundanese tourist visas. This is an
unexpected score, as neither are easy to obtain, and the odds were that we'd be
couriering the passports back to our home countries and paying agents a hefty
fee.
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| Harder to get than Olympic tickets to the beach volleyball |
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| The ultimate motorcycle accessory...? |
Back at JJ's we continued with our sewing,
mending, cleaning and checking. The
internet was glowing hot with the amount of data we were each uploading or
downloading. Online banking was a
breeze; Skype was clear and easy; Youtube was our willing helper. I was amazed at how much easier everything
became with a decent connection.
With almost everything finished, we decided
to take our leave of JJ's and continue north.
Our 30-day visa for Ethiopia has already started ticking, and we're keen
to avoid asking for an extension. With so much
done already, it feels as though we've been gifted a handful of extra days.
Oh, and the reputation of Nairobi as the most dangerous city in Africa? Well, maybe... but once again we didn't see, hear or feel anything that had us worried. Times change, and reputations need updating.
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| Best of British... although the grass was generally longer under the 'Landies than under the Toyotas |
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