My Kenya diary - all the ups and downs

Sunday 12th February 2012 - Green Hills Hotel, Nyeri

Psalm 121: I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

We arrived into a very sunny Kenya this morning after a 9-hour overnight flight. Immediately, we set out on a 4-hour bus journey. I slept a lot during the transfer to Nyeri, but when I was awake, I notice our 4-bus convoy was attracting a lot of attention from the locals, particularly the children who waved and smiled as we passed. I also noticed lots of schools and educational institutes - primary schools, secondary schools, university colleges, even special schools. This is a nation looking for a better future for their children, girls and boys alike.

Onto the cycling then - on arrival at our hotel in Nyeri (after some alarming hills) we were fitted with our bikes. Mine has a green flower pattern which is pretty, but it is a 17" frame, so I feel an awfully long way off the ground. I'm sure I'll get used to it quickly. We then had a short 2km 'warm-up' ride to test the bikes, which involved very steep hills - I was struggling just over that short distance, in particular with my breathing. We are at a high altitude so that won't have helped.

I'm now awaiting tomorrow with great trepidation - we have 99km over similar terrain, altitude and heat. Can I really do today's ride 50 times over? I may have to accept some time on the bus, but we will see what tomorrow brings.

Monday 13th February 2012 - Thomson's Falls Lodge, Nyaharuru

1st day done! Really, really tough but I did it! Had to go on the bus for 14km before lunch as I was too slow but I certainly wasn't the only one - 2 buses full! Carried on in the afternoon and did a total of 85km in the saddle - my longest ever ride.

Some beautiful views, particularly at the top of the (very) steep hills when you could look back at what you've achieved. I pedalled every bit of the 85km, albeit with a lot of breathers - I am now an expert at hill starts!

The team spirit between the girls is fab - supported on the road today by Sarah Wilson, Sarah Moore, Jo Camera, Emma Bridges-Helyer and Mel Frith (and probably others I've forgotten) and of course Henk who came alongside me on some of my lowest moments.

I seem to be developing a slight cold - I was OK during the day (I was out of breath a lot but that was more likely to be hills, heat and altitude) but it's bothering me now at bedtime so fingers crossed for tomorrow.

We crossed the Equator today so now in the Southern Hemisphere. Saw amazing stars tonight including a shooting star.

Tomorrow is a much shorter day with apparently a long downhill stretch, although I am sure there will be some ups as well. Feeling a lot more hopeful tonight about my chances - just hope I don't ache too much in the morning!

Wednesday 15th February 2012

Really tough couple of days. Was suffering on Monday evening, became really bunged up during the night and couldn't sleep. I got on the bus for the first leg intending to get back on the bike for the downhill section, by which point I was feeling so weak and dizzy that I couldn't contemplate cycling. I stayed on the bus for the whole of Tuesday, becoming gradually more poorly - by the evening I had a 39 degree temperature and was coughing up gunk.

I'm now on a course of antibiotics and do feel a little better today (temperature is still high but falling) - less hazy and more able to appreciate things like a beautiful sunrise over Lake Baringo.

Waiting at the top of the 'big hill' as all the others cycled in really made my emotions hits - all of the time, effort and money which has gone into this challenge, and I can't even complete it. I'm determined to finish with the group on Friday but I know I won't have achieved what I set out to do. Just feeling so incredibly frustrated and miserable right now. Everyone has been lovely and really looking after me, but when you feel ill and weak, home is the place to be.

I'm being given a sleeping tablet tonight to see if I can have an undisturbed night - hopefully I will feel better for it.

Thursday 16th February 2012 - Golf Hotel, Kakamega

I'm feeling much brighter today after a good nights sleep and I have managed to eat a little which will help me recover my strength. I am so determined to cycle tomorrow and cross the finish line with the girls.

Everyone here has been so lovely and supportive through what has felt like a lonely few days. We had a bus full today as there were a few sickness bugs and accidents.

I know I'm not the only one who hasn't completed the full challenge because of illness or injury but it is still hugely frustrating - I feel as if I have been robbed of the opportunity to achieve something amazing. The girls here are fantastic and try to reassure me that I have already achieved so much with the fundraising and training and, while I know they have a point, I will always feel that, not only have I been cheated of the experience of completing a challenge, but that I have somehow cheated all those who have sponsored me. I know I couldn't have helped it but I was sponsored to cycle 400km around Kenya and I haven't done it. I'm just so bitterly disappointed and angry.

Friday 17th February 2012 - Sunset Hotel, Kisumu

Woke up sweating and shaking - temperature back up to 38.1 degrees. Day's cycling out the window. Had a pretty miserable morning on the 'sick bus' with lots of tears - I was feeling fairly rotten and so disappointed to be missing the final day.

I did manage to get on for the final 5km into Kisumu, but was fairly out of it. We rode through the town in a block, stopping the traffic. I had no strength at all - it was harder than my first ever training cycle (2 miles in Tiree). Jules cycled alongside me, encouraging me throughout - I honestly think I would have stopped without her support. I cried all the way from sheer exhaustion.

I was very emotional when we finally arrived at the hotel and got my medal - I still don't really feel I deserved it, despite the girls' assertions to the contrary.

The afternoon was spent mostly by the pool, until I crashed and had to come back to my room for a rest before dinner. We got dressed up for our celebratory dinner but, shortly after we sat down, the power went out leaving us in the dark. Then, to make matters worse, there was an impressive thunderstorm and we had to decamp to higher ground. Eventually dinner was had (although I'm still not eating much) but I crashed before the evening's entertainment and came to bed. The lift was broken so I had to walk up 5 flights of stairs which has really finished me off. It's been good to get out and socialise but it's making me realise just how little energy I have.

I'm glad I managed the final stretch to cross the finish line but it did prove to myself that there was no way I could have done any more.

Sunday 19th February 2012 - Ole Sereni Hotel, Nairobi

Saturday

We had a six-hour bus journey to Nakuru in the morning - as I was feeling slightly better I was able to appreciate the Kenyan countryside and people a little more. It is shocking to see large-scale poverty first hand, but what strikes me most is not the people's poverty, but their spirit. No one sits around feeling sorry for themselves (not in rural Kenya anyway, you do see it a little more in the larger townships), they just get on with their work, doing what they have to do in order to survive. Everyone works, from young children herding animals and working the field to old women with walking sticks and heavy loads on their back or head. Women with tiny babies strapped to them carry out their normal chores. People think nothing of sending their children to walk miles to school - usually they go alone, presumably because the parents must stay home and work. Laziness is not an option if they want to live. It makes me realise how spoilt we in the West are. We want for nothing yet we're always after more, usually for the minimum of effort. We could learn a lot from the African ways.

On a less serious note, I was amused by the names of some of the places - it seems that people name their businesses after English words without necessarily a clear understanding of the meaning. I have seen the Starbucks Hotel, Complex Shop, Hangover Hotel, Wool Matt Supermarket and, my particular favourite, the Lazarus Funeral Home. They don't stay dead for long in there... I was also slightly concerned by a proliferation of hotels/butcheries - I'm not sure I would feel too safe falling asleep!

On Saturday afternoon, we had a game drive in Nakuru National Park. I was actually quite disappointed - although I'm glad I went for the experience, it certainly wasn't worth the 14,000 shillings (£115) we paid for it. However, we did see baby rhinos which was lovely, along with zebras, impalas, monkeys, baboons, water bucks, water buffalos, eagles, pelicans, storks and flamingoes. We did see a lion and lioness but they were lying in the grass sleeping, looking very sickly and weak, which was a slightly odd way to see the 'King of Beasts'. I was very disappointed not to see giraffes - apparently the part of the park they live in was too far away for us to get to in the time that we had.

After the game drive, I was extremely fatigued so spent the rest of the evening in bed.

Sunday

After another transfer to Nairobi, we arrived at the elephant orphanage. This was, hands down, the highlight of my week. We saw first of all these elephants under two years old (the littlest was only three months) - they fed, watered, bathed and played. They were very playful indeed, including one naughty one who suddenly ran to the crowd - I got a splattering of mud, but one of the girls got the full impact. She was fine, but caked in mud! After the littlies, they brought the 2-3 year olds out. They are much the same in behaviour, just slightly bigger! I took loads of pictures - they are such joyful creatures and beautiful to watch. It was sad to hear their stories - many arrived there after the mothers were killed by poachers. The work done is amazing - the keepers actually sleep with the younger elephants as they need to be fed every three hours.

Afterward, we visited the Faraja cancer project and heard a little about the work they do and what they hope to do with the money raised. They have received £50,000 from our sponsor money and a further £100,000 on the back of the publicity they have received because of Women V Cancer. As their total budget last year was £10,000, this money will make a phenomenal difference to the services they can provide.

Finally, onto the beautiful Ole Sereni Hotel for a rest and relax before tomorrow's flight home. I am already planning my next holiday to Nairobi!

To sum up the week, it has been incredibly challenging, but for all the wrong reasons. However, there have been some fantastic highs. Reaching the end of the first day and realising I could actually do this. Seeing the baby elephants. Seeing so much of the beauty of Kenya and it's people. And, most importantly, meeting some fantastic ladies and hearing their stories. I hope I will keep in touch with some and we are already planning to meet up again.

Not being able to complete the challenge has been so bitterly frustrating - not only do I feel I have not achieved what I have been sponsored to do, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. Having given it some thought, I am hoping to arrange to complete the mileage later in the year - both for my sponsors and for myself. I had been looking forward to hanging up my bicycle wheels for a while, but I know I won't feel as if I have completed the challenge until I have completed a 400km bike ride. Obviously, I won't be able to recreate all the conditions (we don't get much 35C weather in the UK) but I can find hills and on/off road terrain and cover the same distance. Only then can I say 'challenge done'.

Well, the day has arrived - in a couple of hours I will be en route to Heathrow ready to start my Kenyan adventures!

I've learned many things about myself over the last 18 months:

1) I'm a terrible blog writer! 9 posts in a year and a half is a pretty poor show, so if you have been eagerly awaiting the next instalment to find it unforthcoming, I apologise.

2) I'm not the outdoorsy type - having to leave my nice warm house to cycle in the rain and mud makes me a bit miserable.

3) More positively, I can achieve anything (however far outside of my comfort zone) if I really set my mind to it. Admittedly, I haven't yet completed the 400km, but I have managed the first 2 parts of my challenge - fundraising for a fantastic cause (£3,395.32 to date with promises of more to come) and training (building up from a very slow 2.3 miles just 18 months ago).

There's always more I could have done - I could have done more training or lost more weight or raised more money - but for now I am happy with what I have achieved. Completing next week's ride will just be the icing on the cake. I, along with everyone else completing this challenge, have had obstacles - there have been times when I haven't been able to train because of health or injury, there have been times when I've had to prioritise other activities over my training, and quite honestly there have been times when I just didn't want to do it. Yet, here I am, ready to set off, and I believe I will make it. I know it will be hard, painful and emotional. It will also be beautiful, amazing and quite possibly my biggest achievement in my life so far.

If you haven't yet sponsored me and you would like to, it's not too late. Go to http://www.justgiving.com/mimcycleskenya and help me make a real difference to the lives of cancer sufferers.

Before I go, I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me over the last year and a half, whether through the sacrifice of time and finances, or emotional support (and in many cases both). I could not have got to this point without the help and love of the people around me. Thank you.