I awoke to a glorious sunrise at 7:10am and a number of sleepless cyclists, deafened by relentless snoring (Tent 13 had been blackballed), grazing hippos and a rowdy dawn chorus!

Our route wove through Hells Gate National Park, named after the stern cliffs that flank the entrance to the Reserve. We saw Rock Hyrax and a rare breed of vulture, called a Lammergeyer. After lunch, we cycled to Elsamere, Joy and George Adamson's outpost popularized worldwide by "Born Free." Overlooking Lake Naivasha, we ate a sumptuous cream tea and fed the resident Colubus monkeys.

The insomniacs rose even grouchier due to the phantom snorer! My colleagues pointed out that my back looked like bacon, sunburned on both sides of a white patch in the middle where my Camelbak had sat!

After negotiating a treacherous dirt track peppered with gaping potholes (Matt did an unacrobatic somersault over one, taking a nasty gouge out of his leg), we lunched after 41km on a hillside overlooking Lake Elementata, and soon discovered we were two short - Nick and Gerard overshot a checkpoint and added an unnecessary 15km.

A slow puncture dogged me for the final 12 kilometers but the group banter kept us motivated. At the finish line, the stopwatch showed 3hr 17mins.

The potholes had taken their toll and with the sun tipping 28°C, we flopped to the ground exhausted. It amazed me to see Kenyans cycling past with woolly bobble hats on! It must be like wearing an Arran knit in a Turkish Bath!

We were rewarded with a magical tour round Lake Nakuru National Park, with spotting leopard perched 40 feet off the ground in acacia trees, male and female lions and a family of black rhino. Most impressive were the thousands of flamingoes that fed on the lake's shores.