While I was on Tour… I had practically reached the end of my cycling tour, riding from the UK to Cape Town in South Africa when I had an email ping in and ask me if I’d be willing to be interviewed for a Ride cycling Magazine in South Africa. Tim the editor of the…
Travelling and Living with Ortlieb Panniers, there’s no doubt that Ortlieb panniers are right up there when it comes to quality and popularity as a choice of panniers for the touring cyclist. Although travelling and living with Ortlieb Panniers can at times be less trouble free as one would like. Don’t get me wrong…
Thank You, Merci Beacoup, Gracias, Shukran, Jeri Jef, Tana Te, Abaraka, Nawari, Asante Sana, Ke a leboga, Ngiyabonga, Ndiyabulela After 10 months on the road I’m now back in the UK.. with a bump! Gone were the brilliantly blue skies when I started compiling this list, warm days (compared to Africa!) and beautiful evening sunsets,…
My remaining time in Cape Town being a tourist, just like many others before me and also meeting other tourists in the places I stayed. I stayed the last few days at the Amber Tree Backpackers lodge, recommended to me by Maurice Raleigh whom I had met at Jollyboys backpackers in Livingstone. Maurice also on…
Malawi, Nkhata Bay and I was talking to Dominicue, a very affable friendly fellow travelling with his family though Africa. After several minutes exchanging our thoughts and details of our respective travels we moved onto discussion of the future places we were looking to travel to and through. Dominicue casually mentioned a cycle event I…
Its been almost nine and a half months, but finally Cape Town, here I am! When I set off from the UK on May 14th 2014 I hadn’t said I was definitely going to Cape Town, the distance was large and I didn’t want to set a goal that I may not have achieved, I…
During my travels and cycle tour along the Garden Route, taking in the scenery and beauty of South Africa I was contacted by a fellow Chippenham Wheeler and cycling friend in the UK, Jay Olsen. Jay has ridden some challenging road rides, one of which I was set to do myself with my ex employer…
Not Far Now and the weather has been very good to me. Most of the time I do not suffer bad weather, luckily being stopped or able to shelter from inclement weather. My luck continues to hold as I near the end of my African journey and as I move further along the coast and from…
Kenton on Sea was a lovely place but merely a taster as I entered the Garden Route, an area in South Africa on the Southern coast stretching from Storms River to Mossel Bay. The climate seems to change as does the fauna and flora, pine trees being grown for wood harvesting and sawmills giving off…
Visas on Tour What a right pain in the butt they can be! It was a subject I found very hard to find quality up to date info about during the run up to my ride in Africa. I tried googling for information but it was hard to find current information.. Visas, costs and requirements…
My slower rate of journey continued in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape. With Cape Town in sight I’m not sure if I’m tapering or just going slow! Either way it’s nice to see places for a while longer and Port Alfred’s a nice friendly town, quiet, not too busy and the home to a…
Decisions Which Route – Cycling South Africa After recovering from my bout of Tick Bite Fever whilst I stayed with Chris and Brenda in Johannesburg, it was time to get back on the road. In all I was stopped for 13 days in Jozi, my bike sat unused in the porch. Chris advised a good…
Malawi and the Lake The Sahara difficult? No it was easy, much easier than I thought it would be. Now parts of Tanzania, er yes parts of Tanzania have been hard. Hot, dry, arid and in some places windy, mostly blowing from the wrong direction oh and hilly. Whilst food and water stops are easy…
My first week in East Africa now completed, and I found circumnavigating Mt. Kenya quite an experience, crossing the equator twice, once back into the Northern Hamisphere on the east side of the mountain and back into the Southern hemisphere on the west side. For most of the route, the mountain is obstructed from view…
After an enjoyable relaxing week at my warmshowers host Giel (pronounced heel) and Wies (pronounced Vees) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, it was time to get the flight to Nairobi in Kenya. Ouagadougou had been a surprise, more modern than other West African towns I’d visited and development going on in many areas. There is a…
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…
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…
