After nearly two weeks of waiting around in Windhoek, I finally set off cycling again. The people I know who’ve travelled in Africa, as well as the blogs I’ve read, all went through East Africa. From here on, as I ride up toward West Africa, I’m less sure what to expect.

Continue reading “Northern Namibia” →

I set off from Sesriem on a road which, rather to my surprise, was tarmac for the first 15km or so. A group of oryx were on the road, and panicked when they saw me. One charged at the fence and rather than jumping, simply crashed into it and basically summersaulted oved. Another tried the same thing and ended up stuck.

Continue reading “Windhoek” →

I’d arrived at my campsite the previous night while it was dark. I therefore hadn’t seen that there were evidently lots of thorns, now stuck in my tyres. My front tyre was flat and my rear tyre started leaking air from several places once I removed the thorns. In the end I found 2 leaks in the front tube and 5 in the back. I think 7 simultaneous punctures is some sort of personal best!

Continue reading “Sossusvlei” →

From Steinkopf it was a 70 kilometre ride through the desert to the border with Namibia, country number 100.

Continue reading “Namibia” →

I’m not sure the word normal can properly be applied to people cycling across Africa. If it can, then Cape Town is normally either the beginning or the end point of such journeys. For me, though, it’s the halfway point.

Continue reading “Cape Town to …” →

I packed up and rode the last few kilometres up the pass. This was to be the final pass before dropping out of the mountains, on my way to the coast and the southernmost point of Africa.

Continue reading “Cairo to Cape Town: Complete!” →

I packed up and started cycling, continuing along the Dragon’s Spine bikepacking route, heading along a smooth gravel road towards the village of Klaarstroom.

Continue reading “The Dragon’s Spine” →

It rained through much of the night, and was still drizzling in the morning, which made it easy to delay setting off. After mountainous Lesotho, merely hilly South Africa could almost seem flat. Almost.

Continue reading “South Africa, for the third time” →

It wasn’t far from Fouriesburg to the border. After 20 minhtes of riding downhill I reached the crossing to Lesotho, country number 99.

Continue reading “Lesotho” →

I’d said goodbye to Linda and Jan the night before, so early in the morning I set off cycling away from Piet Retief. The day began with rolling hills, before beginning a long consistent climb.

Continue reading “Road to Bethlehem” →