Couple revving to ride around the world

Mrs Wamuyu Kariuki and Mr Dos Waweru Kariuki pose with their bikes as they prepare to go round the world on their motorbikes starting July. PHOTO|THOMAS RAJULA

What you need to know:

  • Daring duo set to join a small group of people in the world to embark on such a feat which they hope will put Kenya on the map besides giving them the thrill of adventure.

Dos Waweru Kariuki and Wamuyu Kariuki are not your ordinary couple.

The 32-year-old finance expert and his 42-year-old wife, a businesswoman, are planning to take a trip around the world— on motorcycles.

Mr Kariuki believes it is doable because in 2015 he went to South Africa on a motorcycle. The couple has set July 2 as their departure date from Nairobi.

Mrs Kariuki is the planning and operations manager at Throttle Adventures, the company organising this undertaking.

The trip will take them through most of eastern Africa, southern Africa, South America, Central and North America, Australia, Asia, Europe, and back to Kenya through Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan.

They say they have spent approximately Sh25 million on buying their BMW bikes plus insurance and the documentation needed to get across the world.

They wanted Kenyan-registered bikes to go with so that anyone who sees them will be curious to find out where they are from, rather than the cheaper option of hiring bikes from the different countries they will pass through.

The couple first met by chance in January 2016, at the Shell petrol station near Lavington Shopping Centre through Mr Kariuki’s friend, Sam Muchai, who was riding to South Africa.

Mr Kariuki had been riding since 2009 while Mrs Kariuki was just starting.

On that day, someone drew her attention to Mr Kariuki after learning that he had already undertaken a similar trip from September to December 2015, but on a 180cc bike, way smaller than Mr Muchai’s 390cc machine.

She was eager to learn more about from Mr Kariuki. It was then that her future husband invited her for a journey to Machakos the following day.

“It was my first ride out of town, being only my fourth month of riding. I was still afraid of many things,” remembers Mrs Kariuki, who until then only rode to her office and back home, a distance of only 14 kilometres.

On their way back, the couple ran into a hailstorm, but they couldn’t stop because it was getting late. From that fateful day, one thing led to another and they were engaged in March last year before holding their ruracio (traditional wedding ceremony) in February this year.

Mr Kariuki developed interest in motorcycling when he was given a lift by Nairobi Chapel Executive Pastor, Nick Kiplang’at Korir way back in 2007. He had never ridden on such a powerful motorcycle before. The lift would open a door of possibilities for him. Three years later, he had bought his first bike, a yellow second-hand 160cc TVS.

Mrs Kariuki, on the other hand, was more involved in motor vehicle racing. Competitive rallying was expensive so she could only participate in time trials, being trained by celebrated Safari Rally driver Azar Anwar.

When she hit 40 years, she was more preoccupied with buying plots and houses to cushion her financially in retirement.

She had taken the saying “life begins at 40” quite literally, and was looking for something exciting, sustainable and affordable. She had been courting the idea of getting into a motorbike-riding training school but had not come across a good one yet.

“I found African Motorcycle Diaries online and put up a post that I wanted to train as a rider. I got overwhelming responses in terms of trainers, bikes to buy, and welcomed into the community before I even had a bike,” she says.

She was first trained on the controls after which she asked her instructor to help her find a motorbike. Her second lesson saw her look at different bikes and by the end of that day she had someone transport her red Hero Karizma ZMR.

The couple has ridden together to Naivasha on numerous occasions. It is their favourite route because it is serene, has less traffic, and is close to Nairobi. They have never camped at the same location twice because Naivasha has so many different places to visit.

The couple routinely ride to and from work together, but seldom do they use one bike, preferring that each rides their own motorcycle. “Maybe we’ve carried each other only five times. It is much better and more fun when everyone is on their own,” says Mr Kariuki.

Mrs Kariuki’s burning ambition to cycle down south has grown over time, fuelled by her husband recounting his escapades on his first trip to the rainbow nation.

“Every time I’d tell him, show me a picture of, say Tanzania, he would tell me about it all the way down to Cape Agulhas, South Africa and back,” says Mrs Kariuki.

NAIROBI TO CAIRO

In April 2016, the couple  signed up for a ride from Nairobi to Cairo with a group of bikers after attending a presentation, but a state of emergency in Ethiopia in July 2017 saw the trip cancelled.

“We sat at the table so depressed. We were the first people to pay for it and were looking forward to sharing memories from the trip. I proposed to her that we just take a year and travel the world on our motorbikes,” says Mr Kariuki.

The following day, he came home with a map and the couple looked at different people who had cycled around the world. None had started from Nairobi.

When they altered those routes that had been taken before to include Kenya as the starting point, it gave them more than a two-year time frame. After considering four options, they came up with their own route that would see them visit every continent.

Mrs Kariuki quit her job as a human resource manager in October 2016 and started concentrating on her business of hosting international guests. Most of the guests, who are bikers from around the world, have given them invaluable advice on how to prepare for their expedition.

“Kenya is a tourism destination in terms of people who are passing by while trying to cycle across Africa. Our expedition should also be marketed, it should not only be about our coastline and national parks,” says Mr Kariuki.

The diverse weather patterns in various continents made the couple change their planned departure date from December 2017 to July 2018.

Along the way, they started realising how much money they would need to get comfortable bikes that would enable them travel tens of kilometres at a time and had support systems. They got support in terms of spare parts and servicing on the different routes they were going to use. Other bikes ended up being too high or some too heavy for Mrs Kariuki.

“We didn’t want to have to throw away a bike or sell it then start struggling from there. We ended up going to Bavaria Motors because the salesperson we got is an established biker who believed in the dream and they were very responsive to us. The previous ones had been cynical,” says Mr Kariuki.

In January, after seven months of paying in instalments, the couple collected their bikes.

To save money they could have used on a househelp, Mrs Kariuki has taken up domestic chores such as cooking and cleaning. The couple also rarely go out, instead preferring to have their own fun indoors.

“Kenyans are doing amazing things around the world but none has done this before. We are not doing this to support any cause and are only going to speak about Kenya when people get curious about it,” says Mrs Kariuki.

They say they are motivated by their quest for adventure, to explore the world and to inspire Africans to feel that the sky is the limit.

Friends and well-wishers have pledged support for their trip but they hope more people will come on board to support them.

“We are not rich. Most millionaires are spending money in pubs, clubs or outfits rather than in experiences. The same money would have given you a worthier experience in one of our beautiful destinations in the country like Maasai Mara or Naivasha on a weekend,” says Mr Kariuki.

Due to limited finances, Mrs Kariuki is apprehensive that they may not be able to undertake the trip beyond a year.

Mr Kariuki says the bikes cost Sh1.6 million each and when they placed the deposits, their accounts ran dry, leaving them wondering where they would get the rest of the money.

BIGGEST PROBLEM

So far their biggest problem is to raise Carnet de Passages, an international customs document which covers the temporary admission of motor vehicles in foreign countries. Most countries charge  150 per cent of the cost of the bikes while Kenya charges 400 per cent.

Otherwise it’s all systems go for them with all travel documents ready.

The couple are optimistic that the president will personally flag them off at State House, Nairobi, on their July 2 departure date.

They also hope to get  support from media, probably being flagged off at Nation Centre complete with police escort, or that a generous petrol station will sponsor their fuel from Nairobi to say, Kisumu.

If any of these does not happen, they will leave from a petrol station accompanied by fellow riders who will flag them off. Whatever the situation, they are determined to make this happen. They hope to do the trip in phases until its completion in 2021.