This is an authorized translation in English of a post in French by @terresco: De Cape Town à Mombasa, 3 mois, 8 pays, 12 500 km – Le Kenya

^{As my primary language is not English, there are probably some mistakes in my translation.}

Remember that the person who speaks here is NOT me, Vincent Celier (@vcelier), but @terresco, a French guy.

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And finally we go to Kenya, the purpose of our trip. Just a way of speaking, the purpose of a trip is the trip itself. The crossing of the frontier was new to me. We present ourselves and we are told to go to the first village, find a bank, withdraw a ridiculous sum which will be used to pay, only in the local currency, the Kenyan shilling. From there come back to do the entry formalities. We started our stay as illegal.

The country was tense, the first round of elections had just been canceled and a new date was being negotiated. There were demonstrations in the big cities, including Mombasa. We still wanted to enjoy our last days of travel, without being able to completely get rid of a little worry. We absolutely had to go to Mombasa to find a way to put the car on a boat going to South Africa.

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The track surprised us by new encounters. While we did not use the camera for some giraffes or antelopes, not because we were jaded, but we were rather worried about the future sorting of thousands of photos, we rushed to immortalize our new encounter. Exoticism is relative.

We were not expecting them in East Africa

Welcome to the rain

We thought we would cross the Tsavo National Park entirely and conclude with a few hundred kilometers of easy trails our African adventure. The rain decided otherwise. Nobody expected it any more, absent for three years it had become an abstract notion, a miracle they hoped without believing. The huge clouds accumulated during the morning could not convince the inhabitants of its arrival, and they ended up convincing us that we would end our trip on dry land.

And yet ... while being seated in front of our first meal in a restaurant that had accepted that we camp on its backyard, a few scattered drops began to tingle the dust with dark spots. These heavy drops did not escape anyone, the tension was palpable: cooks, waiters, bosses, customers everyone had interrupted their activities as if the slightest movement could frighten or discourage the shower.

And suddenly the tension was released, the sky opened and everything was flooded. The too dry land could not absorb all this water that overwhelmed it as the emotion overwhelmed the inhabitants. For camping it made things much more difficult, but what a pleasure to share this moment of pure joy, instantaneous and unexpected. Water is life, and it is when you miss it that you realize this.

A few meetings just before the rain, the animals are the color of the earth they smear on themselves to protect themselves.

The last kilometers of the trip

The rain did not stop when we woke up. Information taken, it is necessary to change our plans. The tracks of the Tsavo are closed and probably impassable. Those who have already driven on the wet laterite, this beautiful red earth, know what I'm talking about. Laterite is not used to water, it becomes slippery like an ice rink. Almost impervious it creates puddles of variable size, able to hide many dangers.

It will be the main road, the one that joins the two major cities of Kenya, Nairobi the capital and Mombasa the port. There is nothing to fear, it is THE paved road most used in the country. And yet ... the rain had collapsed a part of it and we find ourselves caught in the most fantastic traffic jam. More than twenty kilometers of trucks locked in a joyful atmosphere.

On the advice of our new truck driver friends, companions of misfortune, that chance put in the middle of our path, we will try to pass along the road, for a few kilometers, looking for tracks, passages. A little stressful at first we realize quite quickly that with a little patience and a lot of caution we will get there. We take advantage of the last kilometers of off-road trip.

We will even make new buddies en route because some do not hesitate to try the adventure with cars not suitable. Buried a few dozen meters later, they must be towed back to a road they left angry and find again with relief.

The coast and Mombasa

Two days on the coast to find the Mozambique channel that reminds us of so many Malagasy memories and friends that we left there. Those are two days of work of storing and cleaning the vehicle to prepare it for its sea voyage. Given the services rendered, we owed it that.

Finding a forwarder in an unknown port that will guide you in finding the right boat, shipping company, customs is not the easiest thing of the trip. The surroundings of a port are rarely the most pleasant neighborhoods. It will take us three days but helped by efficient people, tidy in a closed container, the car will wait patiently boarding for Cape Town via Durban. For the anecdote, it will arrive later than expected but in perfect condition.

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For us, we will fly back to Europe at three o'clock in the morning with a taxi booked in advance and arriving at the last moment, a rally to the airport, a police barrage idle, Africa up to the end.

The end ... thanks to those who patiently followed our walk through Africa.

-- @terresco

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Africa, the long crossing
From Cape Town to Mombasa: South Africa
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Namibia
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Botswana
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Zimbabwe
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Zimbabwe, part 2, by @terresco
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Zimbabwe, part 3, by @terresco
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Zambia, by @terresco
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Malawi, by @terresco
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Tanzania #1, by @terresco
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Tanzania #2, by @terresco
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Tanzania #3, by @terresco
From Cape Town to Mombasa: Tanzania #4, by @terresco

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All pictures are property of @terresco