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…
Really, that many? Time has flown since departing the UK. I have now cycled in 13 different countries, 1 British Territory, Gibraltar and crossed 16 borders since the middle of May. Looking forward there are not that many more to go! After seeing an abundance of wildlife near Mfuwe, Zambia my next target location was…
Arriving back in Mzuzu the air feels cooler, coming back up over 1,000 feet in elevation the temperature difference is very noticeable and welcome. The lower altitude temperature by the lake being much higher, but then there is a lake to jump into if you get too hot. Before travelling to Nkhata Bay and Mayoka…
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…
Bamako BMX Fun and Skills This child shows his Bamako BMX fun and skills during my time in in Bamako, Mali I came across this talented child with a worn out BMX and no shoes or decent pedals displaying some outstanding skills on his BMX. The brakes didn’t work, the headset was loose and the…
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…
The Youth Hostel Cloud 9 I stayed in (yes I know I’m not a youth, oldies are allowed as well!) was great. It was my first stay in such a place and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Cloud 9 is situated right in the heart of the Medina, near to everything…
The workaway week in Rabat with Ana and Salah at their school near the Barakas in Rabat was an experience I never thought I’d have in a million years. Only a couple of months ago living in the UK with a comfortable job and taking lots of things that we in the UK take for…
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…
Saw this guy on the way to Viladamat, his road awareness skills could do with a little polishing maybe.
Cycling along the Garrone Canal from La Reole was a pleasant experience, the weather in the most part was fantastic, much of the time I had a tailwind and the scenery was great. Port Sur Blaise At Port Sur Blaise they had a shower for 2 euros and and the weather was heating up nicely,…