Tour d' Afrique - Cycling Cairo to Cape Town

Crossing over the Orange River into South Africa was a wonderful thing.  I proudly put on my South African flag jersey to wear that morning, but then it was so cold I rode the whole day with my jacket on.  The night at Springbok was freezing.  It was one of the riders 40th birthday, and we all stood around with beanies and scarves, and the Canadians and Norwegians could not believe that South Africa could be so cold.  We huddled around the camp fire as there was no shelter apart from our tents.  I was expecting to get really cold, but between my Treklite ll tent and Chamonix 850 sleeping bag I remained quite toasty.  A bit of Old Brown Sherry of course helped.  Just to add insult to injury, the rain came again, but this time it was cold rain.  The first bit of the trip in SA we did along the N7, and then branched off to Vanrynsdorp, Elands Bay and Yzterfontein. It rained on and off from Vanrynsdorp, and remained freezing cold.  The night at Elandsbay it rained so hard the whole kitchen area was flooded around the trucks, and a few riders tents were flooded.  We finally get to see the sea again and its raining so hard we can hardly see it!

  Sunrise in Elands Bay campsite.  Kitchen and surrounds completely flooded.

There has never been a wetter Tour d Afrique!

So there was lots more riding in the rain, and we were just hoping that we would have clear skies coming into Cape Town.  Everyone was getting tired of me saying how beautiful the view of Table Mountain is.

On the morning we left Yzterfontein for the city, it was crisp and clear, and we were so grateful for that.

30km out of Cape Town we stopped for brunch, and all the riders could go onto the beach and have photos taken etc. Lots of happy pics of the end.  The group and Rafiki and I.  My trusty GT Avalanche that saw me through the trip without changing one component.

The last 30km we did in convoy with a police escort.  We really flew in - I have never been in such a fast convoy before, going between 25 and 30km per hour.  It was so great coming into the Waterfront with all the fanfare.  Thanks to all my special friends who were there to meet me - it was awesome!

 Thanks to all my friends who were there and the many more who are not on this photo.  You were the real stars that kept me going all the way! 

Thanks too to all my blog readers who I have never met.  I was overwhelmed at the interest and you in your own way encouraged me in the dark moments.

The challenge now is to fit back into society again and get used to driving and traffic jams and queues and shopping and parking fines.  My bed and my bath are lovely, but I miss all the friends I have made, and wonder how they are settling after what they have been through.  God Bless all those special people.

I have sent some time Namibia before, but had forgotten how beautiful it is.  Most of our journey through Namibia has been on secondary dirt roads.  The roads have been quiet and we have gone for miles without seeing cars.  The dirt roads have been a really good quality so we have been able to move fairly fast on them and have done some good times over long distances.  The days have been tough though.  We have been covering distances of up to 174km which is huge on dirt even if the quality of the roads are good.  The rain continued for two more days after Windhoek, and we had the most awesome day from Weissnenfels camp to Solitaire.  We went over a pass in the rain with the thunderstorm building and spectacular lightening all around.  The sky was so amazing – orange, red, purple and pink. The downhill of the pass was so steep you had to sit on your brakes or get off your bike.  Fortunately no serious incidents in the dangerous conditions.

The quiet roads also allowed for the naked mile to take place which has become a TDA institution.  A group of ladies had a puncture, and there are some very interesting photos of them changing tubes.  I think I will refrain from putting them on the blog.

Riders morale is great as we spend our last off day on the Orange River and cross into South Africa tomorrow. I can sense that everyone is making an effort to mingle with everyone, and saw riders who have had lots of conflict and arguments along the tour standing with their arms around each other.

Quite a few relationships have formed, and now decisions need to be taken as to where they go from here. I know I will miss them all a lot and don’t look forward to the next few weeks as we say goodbye and try to adjust to normal life again.

This will be my last blog post before we arrive in Cape Town, and I will do a final wrap up after our arrival.  If anyone reading this is in the Cape Town area, we will be arriving at the Waterfront between 1pm and 2pm on Saturday 15 May.  Do come and welcome us in – we are all so excited to get there.

My bike, tent, sleeping bag and other accessories are still all performing well after really putting them through their paces over the past 4 months, and I again want to say a big thanks to Omnico for the GT avalance bike and Tess at Circle cycles.  Also to Cape Union Mart for their great gear.

See you soon in Cape Town!! I can’t believe we are nearly there.

I have sent some time Namibia before, but had forgotten how beautiful it is.  Most of our journey through Namibia has been on secondary dirt roads.  The roads have been quiet and we have gone for miles without seeing cars.  The dirt roads have been a really good quality so we have been able to move fairly fast on them and have done some good times over long distances.  The days have been tough though.  We have been covering distances of up to 174km which is huge on dirt even if the quality of the roads are good.  The rain continued for two more days after Windhoek, and we had the most awesome day from Weissnenfels camp to Solitaire.  We went over a pass in the rain with the thunderstorm building and spectacular lightening all around.  The sky was so amazing – orange, red, purple and pink. The downhill of the pass was so steep you had to sit on your brakes or get off your bike.  Fortunately no serious incidents in the dangerous conditions.

The quiet roads also allowed for the naked mile to take place which has become a TDA institution.  A group of ladies had a puncture, and there are some very interesting photos of them changing tubes.  I think I will refrain from putting them on the blog.

Riders morale is great as we spend our last off day on the Orange River and cross into South Africa tomorrow. I can sense that everyone is making an effort to mingle with everyone, and saw riders who have had lots of conflict and arguments along the tour standing with their arms around each other.

Quite a few relationships have formed, and now decisions need to be taken as to where they go from here. I know I will miss them all a lot and don’t look forward to the next few weeks as we say goodbye and try to adjust to normal life again.

This will be my last blog post before we arrive in Cape Town, and I will do a final wrap up after our arrival.  If anyone reading this is in the Cape Town area, we will be arriving at the Waterfront between 1pm and 2pm on Saturday 15 May.  Do come and welcome us in – we are all so excited to get there.

My bike, tent, sleeping bag and other accessories are still all performing well after really putting them through their paces over the past 4 months, and I again want to say a big thanks to Omnico for the GT avalance bike and Tess at Circle cycles.  Also to Cape Union Mart for their great gear.

See you soon in Cape Town!! I can’t believe we are nearly there.

Every day in Botswana has been wet.  It’s supposed to be a dry country and the end of the rainy season, but a special concession was made for us and we had rain every day in Botswana.  So our last bush camp was an interesting experience.  It was raining when we set up camp, and just continued to rain.  The riders have put together a decathlon which they all take part in during the course of the afternoon when they get back from riding which involves all the activities we do on a daily basis like digging holes, eating PVM bars, obstacle courses to do on their bikes etc.  So this was digging holes day, and they dug holes in the wet and mud and had lots of falls in the mud.  There was so much rain coming off the tarp, that we could have a good bath in the soup pot.  Then the Swiss riders moved into the kitchen and made us a delicious risotto.  It’s amazing how their spirits just stay good despite the circumstances.  Some of our riders are training for triathlons when they complete this, so go for a run in the afternoon after their ride.

The day leading up to the Namibian border was the longest day. 207km, and there was rain and hail for some riders, and some arrived into camp really late and it was still raining.  Can you just imagine putting up your tent in a downpour after cycling 207km in the rain all day! 

The lodge and campsite we were supposed to stay in the first night in Namibia closed down, so we ended up having another unscheduled bush camp.  It was a tough days riding coming into Windhoek with headwinds all day, making the 160km day feel a lot longer than.  It’s been a tough week of long days every day, and the guys are tired.  I am seeing a lot of overstrain knee injuries starting to develop this late, and they are mostly the racers who cannot take days off or slow down. 

We have  a good, comfortable campsite in Windhoek with a good bar and restaurant facilities, so everyone is enjoying a day off.  We all went to the infamous Joes Beerhouse for dinner last night where I even saw a vegetarian enjoying a delicious meat feast.  Today the riders are changing tires to fat knobblies as we prepare for the next few days of dirt road. Let’s hope the rain stays away so that it’s not too much of a muddy mess. One thing is for sure, though our accommodation is becoming more comfortable, the ride gets no easier.  Every day is tough – there are just no easy days. This awesome group just rise to the occasion, keep positive and remain a huge inspiration to me. 

I enter the last quarter of the trip with mixed feelings.  Suddenly time is just flying and I am still having too much fun for it to be over, and yet there are days I so long for my own bed and luxuries.  But when I look at my little tent with all my things inside it I have to wonder about how excessive we are with our possessions when we actually need so little.  I have managed perfectly well to live out of this small locker, and when I go home to a big house I don't seem to have enough space for everything I have. 

Livingstone

It has been pretty smooth sailing since Lilongwe, though the distances have been very long.  The riders are tired and sick and many are really worn out.  Mostly we have stayed in campsites with water and often a shower, and on occasion they are even warm. The biggest challenge to the staff is managing expectations.  In Sudan we had so few luxuries.  We had dusty desert camps night after night, and the biggest treat was when someone brought out a bottle of Nutello.  Now everyone has become used to the luxuries and expectations have shifted, and it is now much harder to keep the riders happy than it initially was, though they are getting so much more. We now have two days of rest in Livingstone where everyone can have some fun and get a good rest.  I am sure it will be a happy group that sets off again on Sunday morning (18^th) to Botswana with rested legs.  Botswana is going to be tough as the distances are huge every day.  Next week we have our first over 200km day. (207km). I have my sister and parents driving to meet us in Botswana  and spending a few days with us, so I am looking forward to that. James our chef, is going on vacation this week, and Alison will be taking over the cooking duties.  Quite a challenge.

Zambia has been a pleasant surprise.  The roads are really good, and where they are bad, construction is taking place.  Lusaka felt like any South African town.  All the shops are South African and it was quite a surprise not to be paying in rand when you arrive at the counter.  The downside to the development is that things are rather expensive. Getting in to see the falls costs US$ 20¸and most of the excursions are over US$100.

 One strange phenomenon here is that the local cyclists cycle on both sides of the road, mostly into the oncoming traffic.  We are constantly having to dodge cyclists coming on our side of the road in the opposite direction and their behaviour is somewhat unpredictable.

We have quite a few sectional riders joining us in Vic Falls, and the group will be the biggest it has ever been.  This puts a lot of strain on the other riders and staff as our resources are stretched to the limit.

Botswana

Crossing over into Botswana on the pont felt like a big step closer to home.  The distances here are going to be long, but the roads are so good and so straight. A few people have seen some elephants along the way, but not huge numbers.  I had an amazing experience.  I was cycling up a slight hill and saw some animals at the top of the hill in silhouette.  I was not sure what they were at first.  A local car came passed and slowed down and stopped next to them, so I realised it must be something special.

As I got closer I saw it was a troop of wild dog, milling around the front of the car.  The driver called me over, and told me to stay next to the car as they were showing too much interest in me.  Another cyclist approached, and the two of us then stayed with the car.  He said they may go for us if we are isolated from the car, so we were very glad to have him 'escort' us away from them. 

The next day I came across a lone elephant, but he did not seem particularly interested in me.  Today we arrive in Maun, and I sure some of the riders will go and explore the delta on the rest day. We only have one bush camp left, and then its all formal campsites with water from here.  Too good to be true.

This week I feel like a bit of a fraud as I have spent exactly zero hours on my bike since my last blog post.  Mostly I have worked very hard on putting on the kilograms I have lost so far, and have succeeded magnificently.  All crew are granted 7-days leave somewhere during the trip and I choose the Malawi lake to take my break.  I must say I was starting to feel a bit burnt out after 10 weeks of being constantly on call for the group and working through some tough stuff.  I left Mbeya in Tanzania and had my first ‘public transport’ ride, and so began a series of bus rides lasting about 10 hours.  The border crossing was interesting – the bus stops before the border, and there you are unceremoniously dumped.  I was swamped by about 10 men trying to doing money change, and trying to get me to the border post, which turned out to be about a kilometre away. They were really aggressive and unpleasant, and I eventually just screamed at the top of my voice to leave me alone and they were all so shocked they moved away fast.  Then I found a pleasant old man with a taxi who gave me a reasonable rate to get to the next town where I could get the next bus.

I eventually got to Mzuzu after hours of very interesting bussing, where I had to move onto a minibus.  I was shuffled into an already overfull one where I sat in the back seat with my bag on top of me, so I could not see a thing.  As they started squeezing more people into it and were tying the door closed with a piece of wire I had the distinct feeling that I should not be taking this bus, and the feeling was only enhanced when eventually the bus had to be push started to get moving.  It was a pretty hair raising ride with lots of turns and downhills, and at one point we swerved off the road on the wrong side onto a gravel heap.  Not being able to see made me oblivious to what was going on, but the next day I came across a man who said to me: ‘Hello fellow survivor’.  I was a bit lost and asked him what he meant, and he told me that he was sitting in the front seat and witnessed us losing our breaks going downhill, and spoke the driver through the gear changes and the gravel heap!

Spending 6 days in Nkatha Bay was great.  We pretty much did very little.  Much reading and lounging on the deck of our chalet.  Lots of swimming and snorkelling and walking through the little town.  It is a small trading town with friendly people and beautiful scenery. 

The lodges are rustic, the beer (a Green) or stout not always ice cold but the vibe is great.  Had our fair share of Malawi Gin and some of the best fish and rice dishes one can wish for.  Also had a hair cut at a local stylist who, according to the locals can style Muzungu hair.  R15 later, I was very happy and relieved to be able to cope with the heat and not have a mop of hair. 

We decided to take a bus back to Lilongwe which turned out to be an 8 hour ride all along the lake and then cutting inland towards Lilongwe.  Have a new understanding of how many South Africans travel into the platteland.  Bus was probably overloaded by 15 people and space, or rather the lack of it, was quite a story.  Probably had equal numbers of seated and standing passengers.  We fortunately had a seat as we boarded right at the start of the journey.  The bus conductor requested that a passenger do a prayer for a safe journey before we departed.

Although it was a great break, it was great to meet up with the riders again, who seemed to have a fairly uneventful week.  So we left Lilongwe on Wednesday and headed for the Zambian border.  Has spent the last 2 days on my bike and enjoyed getting some good exercise again.  There are a good few kilos to work off again too.

Nor far south of Arusha on the road to Iringa there is a Snake Park run by a South African couple.  I popped in there on the way out as I have heard that they treat snakebites from all over Tanzania.  Thats were I met 'Ma' who showed me around the clinic where they currently had 5 snake bite victims.  They have become known as the centre for treating snake bites, so people come from far and wide with people who have been bitten by snakes to come for their serum which they get from Onderstepoort. They are woken up at all hours of the night as people arrive their in bakkies having travelled for hours to get to them.  They also run a free clinic for the community and are also starting an orphanage.  They also have a snake park, so you can view all the snakes that people are likely to be bitten by.  Some pretty nasty creatures.   Clinic at Snake park.  "Ma" on left.

More about these guys if you are interested on www.meseranisnakepark.com.

The past 6 days have been really tough.  It was dirt roads all the way, and the roads were rough with lots of sand, corrugations and mud at times.  We were very fortunate that it only rained on the last day, so we were able to have a fairly mud free ride.  The dinner truck did get stuck in a ditch once, and took a while to get out, but they were about 100m from camp so they the riders were able to walk to fetch their tents and clothes.  One the same day we had some technical problems to be sorted out with the dinner truck, so we loaded all we needed to make dinner for 70 people onto a landcruiser, and parked off under a huge tree and started making dinner.  Here is a photo of the bush kitchen with all the exhausted riders waiting for soup to be ready.

Although we felt as though Nairobi was half way, we actually only reached halfway 2 days before Arusha as mileage goes.  Here is a photo of our lunch stop at half way mark.  With me is Dana who has little off road experience and battled through every inch of the dirt bravely with a couple of falls to show for it.  This is her 29 inch bike.  She is one of the amazing riders who just plod on day after day with a huge smile on her face.  So now we only have 5850kms to go!!!

Along the way we stayed on a school field, and as usual we were surrounded by villiage people.  In Ethiopia we have to push a perimeter rope around to keep the people at a distance, but since then we just need to tell people where the boundry is, and they generally respect it.  I put up my tent a bit away from the others as I get up much earlier than the riders to help prepare breakfast and dont want to disturb them.  I saw some kids next to my tent, and as I approached they took off and ran, so I knew they were guilty.  I noticed my torch was missing, and went to some of the adults and told them the torch needed to reappear before we left or there would be trouble.  Next morning the torch was back.  Amazing.  It was may solar powered torch that I read with at night, so I was rather anxious to get it back.  It just amazes me how this network works though. We have had several similar things happen before all along the way, and even had a silver necklace retrieve in the same way before.

The scenery in the past few days has been magnificent - everything is so green and fertile.  We arrived in Iringa in the rain yesterday, and are now enjoying a lovely sunny day to get our laundry and tents dry.  Tomorrow we head off onto a notoriously dangerous stretch of road for 2 days in Mbeya, before crossing into Malawi the next day.  All the staff are allowed to take a few days off at some point, and I am going to spend a few days with a friend on Lake Malawi.  I leave from Mbeya and rejoin the group in Lilongwe.  Till later..............

Nor far south of Arusha on the road to Iringa there is a Snake Park run by a South African couple.  I popped in there on the way out as I have heard that they treat snakebites from all over Tanzania.  Thats were I met 'Ma' who showed me around the clinic where they currently had 5 snake bite victims.  They have become known as the centre for treating snake bites, so people come from far and wide with people who have been bitten by snakes to come for their serum which they get from Onderstepoort. They are woken up at all hours of the night as people arrive their in bakkies having travelled for hours to get to them.  They also run a free clinic for the community and are also starting an orphanage.  They also have a snake park, so you can view all the snakes that people are likely to be bitten by.  Some pretty nasty creatures.   Clinic at Snake park.  "Ma" on left.

More about these guys if you are interested on www.meseranisnakepark.com.

The past 6 days have been really tough.  It was dirt roads all the way, and the roads were rough with lots of sand, corrugations and mud at times.  We were very fortunate that it only rained on the last day, so we were able to have a fairly mud free ride.  The dinner truck did get stuck in a ditch once, and took a while to get out, but they were about 100m from camp so they the riders were able to walk to fetch their tents and clothes.  One the same day we had some technical problems to be sorted out with the dinner truck, so we loaded all we needed to make dinner for 70 people onto a landcruiser, and parked off under a huge tree and started making dinner.  Here is a photo of the bush kitchen with all the exhausted riders waiting for soup to be ready.

Although we felt as though Nairobi was half way, we actually only reached halfway 2 days before Arusha as mileage goes.  Here is a photo of our lunch stop at half way mark.  With me is Dana who has little off road experience and battled through every inch of the dirt bravely with a couple of falls to show for it.  This is her 29 inch bike.  She is one of the amazing riders who just plod on day after day with a huge smile on her face.  So now we only have 5850kms to go!!!

Along the way we stayed on a school field, and as usual we were surrounded by villiage people.  In Ethiopia we have to push a perimeter rope around to keep the people at a distance, but since then we just need to tell people where the boundry is, and they generally respect it.  I put up my tent a bit away from the others as I get up much earlier than the riders to help prepare breakfast and dont want to disturb them.  I saw some kids next to my tent, and as I approached they took off and ran, so I knew they were guilty.  I noticed my torch was missing, and went to some of the adults and told them the torch needed to reappear before we left or there would be trouble.  Next morning the torch was back.  Amazing.  It was may solar powered torch that I read with at night, so I was rather anxious to get it back.  It just amazes me how this network works though. We have had several similar things happen before all along the way, and even had a silver necklace retrieve in the same way before.

The scenery in the past few days has been magnificent - everything is so green and fertile.  We arrived in Iringa in the rain yesterday, and are now enjoying a lovely sunny day to get our laundry and tents dry.  Tomorrow we head off onto a notoriously dangerous stretch of road for 2 days in Mbeya, before crossing into Malawi the next day.  All the staff are allowed to take a few days off at some point, and I am going to spend a few days with a friend on Lake Malawi.  I leave from Mbeya and rejoin the group in Lilongwe.  Till later..............

Absolutely magnificent to be crossing the equator AND seeing Mount Kenya on the same day.  The going has been tough through Northern Kenya, but the scenery has been beautiful.  We had some fun navigating mud and wet riding conditions, but have had 3 wonderful rest days at Arusha.  Sampled ample ice cold "Kili's" and our batteries have been recharged for the stretch into Malawi. 

And one of my highlights ... crossing the equator.  Feels like down hill all the way now ...

So with laundry up to date, Rafiki taken apart and fully serviced by Chris the most wonderful bike mechanic around, and good rest, I am ready for the next stage and until I take a break at Mbeye.

Northern Kenya was certainly an interesting experience.  We had heard so many reports of rain, and were very worried about the mud, for both trucks and riders.  The road is bad at the best of times, but so much worse in the rain.  Our lunch truck had to leave at least an hour before the riders as the going was so slow, it took them so much longer to get to the destination.  The first morning on the dirt it was raining as we left, but everyone and trucks got to the lunch spot without incident.  The fun began after lunch with deep water where our ‘spare’ truck got stuck.  They struggled for a long time and finally managed to get out.  Fortunately the rain stopped for a while and we managed the rest of the day without further problems.  The next few days were fairly dry, and although the roads were still wet making for interesting cycling, we managed them ok.  There were stretches were the corrugations were just endless, and we arrived in Marsabit  with very painful bottoms.  Some people developed saddle sores for the first time on the trip on this stretch (myself included).  It was with great relief that we saw the tar roads again.  The people in Kenya are so friendly and we had a great time on this stretch despite the fact that it was really tough. At Isiolo we changed our tyres back to smooth ones for the tar.

We are now staying in formal campsites more frequently, and it is not unusual to have a hot shower and a cold beer waiting when we arrive, so we are feeling really spoilt.  It’s amazing how soon the abnormal becomes normal – we got so used to going days without a wash that we are not quite sure how to handle all this availability of water.

We crossed the equator shortly after leaving Nanyuki, where Mount Kenya was also visible, though covered in cloud most of the time.  The rain stopped for a while which was a big relief.  It was amazing how the rain would start every morning just as we were waking up so that we had to pack up our tents in the pouring rain and get everything delightfully soaked before packing it in the locker, only to remove it in the afternoon again to put up in the rain again.  My Treklite ll tent has behaved very well, (thanks Cape Union Mart!) with no leaks from the top.  Unfortunately I have picked up some thorns along the way that have pierced the groundsheet, so now it leaks from the bottom.  I have just repaired all the holes I am aware of, and now await the next downpour to see how effective the repairs have been.

The riding from Nanyuki to outside of Nairobi was just gorgeous.  I think the Nanyuki to Sagana stretch has been my favourite of the trip so far.  Rolling green hills with tropical forest, so cool cloud cover and a light breeze.  Our campsite that night was on thick grass next to a river, and we made a fire and had a steak braai.  What a privilege to be part of this.

We rode in convoy into Nairobi and stayed at the Indaba campsite (the home of our trucks). The traffic in and out of town was as mad as expected, and it’s always a relief to have all the riders home safe. We had a number of medical issues that needed attending to, and the Karen Hospital was a pleasant surprise.  Friendly, efficient and most importantly competent staff. 

Fortunately we left Nairobi on a Sunday morning with the traffic much less than a week day.  More rolling hills of green grassland.  Another stunning day for riding.  The afternoon was mostly on rough gravel, so when the riders got a chance to move over to the road that was newly tarred but still closed to traffic, they were very happy.  At first all went well on firm set tar, and then they suddenly hit a patch of wet tar.  One rider went skidding off his bike into the wet tar. We got him off the road and wanted to clean his wounds, but he was just covered in tar.  The truck had stopped so we soaked a rag in diesel and washed him down with it, followed by some Clean Green Engine Cleaner to get rid of the diesel.  There were four of us working on him when a police van pulled over and asked if everything was alright and if they could help.  One of the riders replied: “ We have a man covered in tar and we are now soaking him in diesel before setting him alight!” A very perplexed cop just shook his head and drove off. I could just imagine him saying to his partner: “These Mzungus are crazy.”

We had an uneventful border crossing into Tanzania, and another rough ride down to Arusha where we have 3 rest days.  Most of the riders have gone of Safari, and there are only a few of us left in the campsite.  I am so looking forward to a rest and catching up on laundry and cleaning out the mud from every item I own, and paying some attention to my trusty steed.