I would have liked to have stayed at Maneaters Lodge for several days but had to press on to Watamu, only another 140 miles. As I got closer to the coast the temperature increased and with wearing all my motorcycle gear, I really started to overheat which was draining my energy, so I wanted to take the quickest route to my destination. The Maneaters Lodge staff suggested I took a shortcut leaving the Mombasa Road at Mariakani, a bustling and extremely busy town which took me to Kilifi and then on to Watamu. Typically as I did not have my Sat Nav, I wasn’t sure which turning in the town I was suppose to take (there are no road signs) but stopped at the next petrol station in the town to ask for directions as I didn’t want a repeat of yesterday.I rode onto the petrol forecourt with all of the pump attendants ushering me onto their petrol pump and had forgotten how wide my panniers actually were on the bike and as I passed the pump bollard ...you guessed it, I clipped it with pannier and toppled over... a most embarrassing moment! Fortunately there was no damage to the bike other than a scuff to the pannier. After confirming the correct turning for the Kaloleni Road with the pump attendant I jumped back on the bike to complete the final leg of day 2 to Watamu.
The scenery changed dramatically once off the Mombasa road and the journey became a lot more enjoyable to ride. Twisty roads lined with palm trees and not to mention amazing communities under the palm trees with houses made of red Kenyan mud with thatched roofs. I wished now I had stoped to take a photo but as I was overheating in all my kit I did not want to stop, something I will not do next time the opportunity arises.
Arriving in Watamu the temperature had risen to 31 degrees although it was still cloudy with high humidity. My first thought was to get down to the beach and have a swim after changing out of my motorcycle gear.
The road down to the beach is lined with local shops and would you believe it, Italian resteraunts. I later found out that this area is an Italian hotspot.
When I finally got to the beach the tide was out...typical!!!
Still I have the Bio Ken Snake Farm to visit tomorrow that is the No 1. location in Africa for harvesting snake anti venom before heading down the coast to Diani beach.
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