Long Hard Ride

A week ago, Steph and I ventured, for the first time, to drive our motorcycle from Najile to Ngong.  In the past, we’d driven about 1/3 of the way to the MIDI demo farm, but never to Saikeri (halfway) much less Ngong (2.5 hour drive).  We had various meetings and things to do in Ngong without a tight schedule so we thought it may be a good time to overcome our Ngong-fears.    Steph and I set off around 9am full of hope.  The day looked nice and just 2 days earlier we had taken a matatu to/from Ngong and the roads didn’t look bad.  We first stopped at Najile for fuel.  Unfortunately, the sign saying “Petrol Here” was a little misleading in that there was no petrol.  The station regularly runs out, so we had to head to Ewuaso for fuel.   

Ewuaso is about 20 minutes away, but in the opposite direction of Ngong.  We drove quickly to the petrol station and filled up.  It was here that we made our first mistake.  Instead of just backtracking to Najile, we decided to look for the road that connected Ewuaso with the Ngong road.  The road was easy enough to find but in poor condition.  Despite the divets, holes, and crevices, I was feeling confident and was zipping right along for the first 15 minutes.  Then we hit the sand.    For me the worst road condition for motorcycles is sand.  Have you ever tried to ride a bike on a sandy beach?  It’s not fun or easy.   The first few sandy spots we skirted or just held on tight but we came across a patch of thick sand and we quickly were on the ground.  Unfortunately, the bike landed on my ankle-twisting it and leaving me a bit gimpy (Praise God it was just a bruise).  Worse than my ankle, my confidence was gone.  Soon we fell a second time, and before we were even on the main road I already was doubting if we’d make it to Ngong.   

The road from Najile to Ngong has many hills and generally the road is just large loose rocks.  When you aggressively ride up the hills, you can usually push through these parts.  When I reached these hills, I was tentative and soon stalled out.  Over and over again we fell, or stalled.  Normally falling was just tipping over at 10 kmh but it continued to erode our emotional strength.      As we approached Saikeri, we had reached our limit.  We prayed hard for a way to just be done with this ordeal.  God provided.  A vehicle which we had passed earlier saw us and agreed to meet us in Saikeri and then drive us the rest of the way to Ngong.  We inched our way into town and left the bike at a small shop.  Our good Samaritan helped arrange for our bike and made sure we were ok.  He told us, “I recently was in America and everybody treated me like a king.  So, I wanted to make sure I treated you the same way.”  We were touched by the man’s generosity and made it to Ngong by 1pm.    While the bike trip did not encourage us in regards to using the motorcycle, it again showed us God’s faithfulness and the hospitality that pervades the Maasai culture.