The last two weeks have whizzed by since leaving Jollyboys backpackers in Livingstone, Zambia. I’ve ridden just under 900 miles through Botswana quickly despite stopping in the capital Gaborone and arrived in South Africa, the country of my final destination, Cape Town. The time spent at Jollyboys backpackers thoroughly enjoyable, staying longer than originally intended…
After riding through most of The Gambia, I thought there wouldn’t be that much more to see in this small country. I continue to be drip fed surprises and new things as the travel continues. It’s always a highlight to see animals in the wild not seen before, like a troop of baboons, a mongoose…
While staying with Cherno and the cycling club, we were able to catch up on some things like washing clothes, bike repairs and taking time to see the beach at Gunjur. Cherno and his wife fed us well with African food, rice with fish, black porridge (rice with sugar and groundnut) and Cherno’s wife’s famous…
After a lovely week resting at 7 Palava, it was time to get going again. Another cyclist from Belgium Wouter arrived a couple of days before and he was planning on heading further into Africa. Wouter had been in contact for a while after being told by a Moroccan Gendarmerie checkpoint that there were cyclists…
If I were to be asked to sum up Mauritania in five words from my experience up to Nouakchott they would have been: 1. Desert 2. City 3. Iron Ore 4. Railway Line 5. Sand The country is mainly desert. After receiving my Senegalese visa I was able to leave Nouakchott and continue on the…
Riding into the Sahara during summer isn’t something most cycle tourists do, most go through either before or after (I’d originally planned before). Luckily the route you take which starts in Morocco, follows the coastal route for much if the Moroccan part which helps to keep temperatures at a manageable heat. Throughout the crossing the…
14th June, my Birthday. Woke up on the beach at Calarbardina the night after Spain got beaten in their world cup opening game. Renas gave me a birthday present, one of his cotton shirts that he’d not worn much with long sleeves. I had no shirts with long sleeves to protect my arms from the…
Normally, I don’t do hot weather, however throwing myself into a warmer climate and adding on top cycling, I’m surprising myself at how well I am coping with the heat. Since meeting Norman and Renas, the schedule I was working to seems to have gone out the window a little. I was planning on doing…
The last week saw me spending my last few days in France, leaving the Workaway placement in Olargues and arriving in Spain. After going to the local festival of the cherry’s (Cerises) Local Festival in Mons Trivalle Elke and Norbert saw me off, sending me away with bread, locally cured sausage and the ever so…
What do you do and where do you start about getting a bike that would be suitable for a long bike ride or to go touring on? It’s bewildering, when you start to look into the multitude of options there are for choosing a suitable bike to go touring on, what frame material, what gears…