Big News

I know it has been ages since I last posted - oops. I could give you the excuse of not having great internet and not wanting to stress out about it, but while that is part of the reason I also just didn't feel like writing. I've now posted several updates to try to make up for it. I have done tons of exciting things since the last post and illness and injury have been much less of a problem for me. This trip has been an amazing experience so far and I can't believe how close to the end I'm getting. 

SO.

I've decided to stay in South Africa for a while after the tour ends. I'm not sure what my plans are after that but the chances that they will include returning home are slim. The thought of leaving South Africa so soon made me quite sad and although making this decision was extremely difficult I am very happy with my choice. I will miss everyone at home but am so excited about all the new experiences and adventures that I will have.

A Day in the Life

Here is a bit of a generalized rundown of an average day on the TDA to make up for my lack of posts lately.

Wake up between 5:00-5:30, depending on breakfast time

Pack up, eat and hit the road between 6:30-7:00

Bike and bike until lunch, normally around 10:00 am

Bike and bike to camp, arrival time varies depending on the length of the day - often around 2:00 pm

If we are in an organized campsite tent goes up and you get a shower! If we are in a bush camp tent goes up and you get a baby wipe bath or bucket shower.

Hang out in camp until dinner, trying to shelter from the hot hot African sun.

Dinner at 5:00 or 6:00

Tea and a struggle to stay up until it is a reasonable time to go to bed - normally between 8:00 or 9:00 but it has often been earlier

Sleep and do it all again

A Little Behind... A Brief Update

It's hard to believe that I haven't posted since Ethiopia and I am nearing the end of Botswana.

Kenya flew by. I took several days off to rest my ankle and it started feeling much better. We cycled past Mt. Kenya and over the equator, found frozen yoghurt and ice cream in Nairobi and started practicing useful Swahili phrases.

We had three rest days in Arusha, Tanzania which I was lucky enough to spend on a safari through the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. The safari was absolutely spectacular, I had no idea that we would see so much wildlife. Animals everywhere. Cycling through Tanzania was a lot of fun and the children were definitely some of the cutest yet.

Malawi was stunning, the lake was amazing. Very jungle-y and some beautiful climbs; the landscape was indescribable. So many people on bikes! Bikes were everywhere, carrying anything you can imagine. Chickens, sticks, goats, other bikes, small families - anything. Malawi was over really quickly too, we didn't spend many days there.

Time seems to have flown - Zambia was over quickly too. Spent one day in Lusaka surrounded by shopping malls and South African chain stores/restaurants. Three rest days in Livingstone (Victoria Falls). The falls were awesome - proper awesome (heh). So much water went thundering over, you could see the spray from ages away. Standing near the falls you got positively soaked. Look left and the falls disappear into the mist. Look right and the falls disappear into the mist. Look down and the falls disappear into the mist. It's unbelievable. On the last rest day I got to go whitewater rafting on the mighty Zambezi and we lucked into a sunny day. Wow. Rapids that were big enough to be fun but not so bit that they were scary. Didn't flip but got to hop out and float down the river for a bit and it was wonderful. Absolutely worth every penny.

Crossed into Botswana the next day and started seeing elephants! Four days in a row of elephant sightings, the riding might not be exciting right now but the elephants sure are. We stayed in one bush camp where we heard lions roaring in the night, prompting everyone to move their tents closer to the trucks. Now we are in Maun and several people have gone to do flight seeing tours over the delta. I'm not one of those lucky folk but am excited to see pictures and hear about it. 

Can't promise where the next update will come from - hopefully I will pull it together enough to write one soon!

Kenya Bound

It seems that we have been in Ethiopia for quite a long time now, and while I feel that there is so much left that I would like to see I am quite ready to move on. Ethiopia has been challenging. It seems like they really weren't kidding when they told us that everyone gets sick in Ethiopia - nearly everyone did and it seems like no one has full recovered. The belief is that the illness seems to vanish at the border though so fingers crossed! It would be lovely to have a full contingent of healthy riders again. 

So between illness and injury I have been on the truck for what seems like forever now. Some days I have managed part of the ride though so that was nice. One of the more challenging days in this section is the Blue Nile Gorge day - a bumpy, windy, 20 km downhill infested with rock-throwing children followed by a 1300 m climb over 20 km. I am absolutely not a climber but surprisingly I really enjoyed that day. Unfortunately, the day didn't end on a great note. Walking down some stairs in the dark I tripped and turned my bad ankle and it has been refusing to get better. Not an injury that I expected to be dealing with on a bike trip. That has been getting me pretty down some days. I am always hoping to be biking tomorrow, while also trying to make the right decision in order for my foot to recover. 

The hills have been stunning and being at a higher elevation was awesome with the cooler temperatures. Addis was really really interesting, I would love to go back with more time to explore. One of the other riders has a friend in Addis who was kind enough to invite a few of us for dinner. We had an incredible evening sitting in a house and socializing with people that we hadn't been living on top of for the past six weeks, although we were all a little shell-shocked and took a while to adjust to being in polite society again. 

Ethiopia has some pretty kickass food and wicked juices. The juice is basically fruit blended with a bit of water, and they layer different fruits together - normally mango, avocado and papaya. Delicious. I could live off that and will miss it dearly. The food can be quite spicy and is always accompanied by a large sort of pancake thing called injera. Injera is a slightly fermented bread that you use as edible utensils. So tear off a piece (using only the right hand), scoop some yummy gook off the plate - which may also be made of injera - and go to town. Definitely an Italian influence too, lots of pasta and pizza - not exactly as we know it but still pasta and pizza. I don't know enough to give a full history lesson but the Italians were here for a few years and have left a bit of a mark.

There are people everywhere. Everywhere. No privacy. Eating lunch; people watching. Setting up camp; people watching. Trying to find a pee spot; people watching. Sitting on a hill waiting to vomit; people watching. Not normally watching silently either. We are constantly serenaded but youyouyou, moneymoneymoney, farangi!, and where are you go? I try to interact but when I'm asked repeatedly as I'm sucking wind and struggling up a hill "where are you go? Where are you go?" My answer becomes a rather irritated and breathless "up the damn hill". Kids all over. Some are so sweet and so happy and you can just make their week by waving at them. Others throw rocks and sticks and jump in front of your bike or otherwise make the day miserable. Some days keeping a good attitude is very very very challenging. Between to roads demanding attention and the kids demanding attention and the desire to look around at everything riding (when I get to actually ride) is mentally quite draining. 

We have had some lovely rest days, first in Gonder which I wrote about earlier, next Bahir Dar. With only two days if riding between rest days Bahir Dar felt like a real REST day during which I did nothing. Wandered around a little, drank a lot of juice and tea and sat and all sorts of wonderful things. Two rest days in Addis and now one in Yabello. Yabello is a pretty small place with one Internet cafe (that I am not currently at so I will post this later). Not too much to go and see, which is kind of a good thing - it forced me to do my chores and rest my ankle. Our next rest day is in Kenya! I can hardly believe it. Three countries down, seven to go.

Kenya Bound

It seems that we have been in Ethiopia for quite a long time now, and while I feel that there is so much left that I would like to see I am quite ready to move on. Ethiopia has been challenging. It seems like they really weren't kidding when they told us that everyone gets sick in Ethiopia - nearly everyone did and it seems like no one has full recovered. The belief is that the illness seems to vanish at the border though so fingers crossed! It would be lovely to have a full contingent of healthy riders again. 

So between illness and injury I have been on the truck for what seems like forever now. Some days I have managed part of the ride though so that was nice. One of the more challenging days in this section is the Blue Nile Gorge day - a bumpy, windy, 20 km downhill infested with rock-throwing children followed by a 1300 m climb over 20 km. I am absolutely not a climber but surprisingly I really enjoyed that day. Unfortunately, the day didn't end on a great note. Walking down some stairs in the dark I tripped and turned my bad ankle and it has been refusing to get better. Not an injury that I expected to be dealing with on a bike trip. That has been getting me pretty down some days. I am always hoping to be biking tomorrow, while also trying to make the right decision in order for my foot to recover. 

The hills have been stunning and being at a higher elevation was awesome with the cooler temperatures. Addis was really really interesting, I would love to go back with more time to explore. One of the other riders has a friend in Addis who was kind enough to invite a few of us for dinner. We had an incredible evening sitting in a house and socializing with people that we hadn't been living on top of for the past six weeks, although we were all a little shell-shocked and took a while to adjust to being in polite society again. 

Ethiopia has some pretty kickass food and wicked juices. The juice is basically fruit blended with a bit of water, and they layer different fruits together - normally mango, avocado and papaya. Delicious. I could live off that and will miss it dearly. The food can be quite spicy and is always accompanied by a large sort of pancake thing called injera. Injera is a slightly fermented bread that you use as edible utensils. So tear off a piece (using only the right hand), scoop some yummy gook off the plate - which may also be made of injera - and go to town. Definitely an Italian influence too, lots of pasta and pizza - not exactly as we know it but still pasta and pizza. I don't know enough to give a full history lesson but the Italians were here for a few years and have left a bit of a mark.

There are people everywhere. Everywhere. No privacy. Eating lunch; people watching. Setting up camp; people watching. Trying to find a pee spot; people watching. Sitting on a hill waiting to vomit; people watching. Not normally watching silently either. We are constantly serenaded but youyouyou, moneymoneymoney, farangi!, and where are you go? I try to interact but when I'm asked repeatedly as I'm sucking wind and struggling up a hill "where are you go? Where are you go?" My answer becomes a rather irritated and breathless "up the damn hill". Kids all over. Some are so sweet and so happy and you can just make their week by waving at them. Others throw rocks and sticks and jump in front of your bike or otherwise make the day miserable. Some days keeping a good attitude is very very very challenging. Between to roads demanding attention and the kids demanding attention and the desire to look around at everything riding (when I get to actually ride) is mentally quite draining. 

We have had some lovely rest days, first in Gonder which I wrote about earlier, next Bahir Dar. With only two days if riding between rest days Bahir Dar felt like a real REST day during which I did nothing. Wandered around a little, drank a lot of juice and tea and sat and all sorts of wonderful things. Two rest days in Addis and now one in Yabello. Yabello is a pretty small place with one Internet cafe (that I am not currently at so I will post this later). Not too much to go and see, which is kind of a good thing - it forced me to do my chores and rest my ankle. Our next rest day is in Kenya! I can hardly believe it. Three countries down, seven to go.

Through Sudan and into Ethiopia

Yes, yes it has been ages since I last posted. My excuse? Infrequent Internet access and illness. Africa has beaten me. I have spent more time then I would have liked with some form of sickness. Hopefully I'm just getting it out of the way now so I won't be sick for the rest of the journey! 

Anyway, trip updates. Sudan was really something else. A lot of heat, a lot flat roads and lots of days blending together. I don't make it sound like much fun but don't get me wrong - what really stands out from my time there was the people and the small rural villages we cycled through on our off-road days. One of my favourite experiences from the last month was in Wadi Halfa, the first town we encountered once we entered Sudan. After spending a few weeks in Egypt in the off-season when everyone you pass seems to want to get something out of you, you start expecting it and become quite cautious about any interaction with locals. A fellow cyclist and I were wandering around and saw a tea seller, so we decided to sit down and try some. A local man who's English was hardly better than the tea seller's - she spoke none whatsoever - was already sitting there. He sat us down and helped us to ask for some tea, then we attempted to communicate for a while before he proceeded to pay for our tea and leave, refusing to accept our money. Such a change from Egypt and a great introduction to the friendly and helpful people of Sudan. 

So far I have been astonished by the abruptness of border crossings. Crossing into Sudan, suddenly the people were darker, the people were more friendly or even (gasp) ignored you as you walked around, and even the weather was suddenly much hotter. Crossing into Ethiopia was surreal - women were less covered and interacted with other people very differently, you heard western music and there was alcohol again. I can see how someone travelling into Ethiopia from Sudan would think that Christianity and booze made people crazy. The border town of Matema was nearly overwhelming for a bunch of exhausted and ill cyclists. The landscape changed too, now very hilly. It is gorgeous but has made for some hard climbing days although the higher we get the more it cools down. COOLS DOWN. How exciting is that.

We have a double rest day here in Gonder, and I have been using it to try to recuperate a bit. Recovery has been a little like a roller coaster though. Hopefully I will be feeling well enough to ride tomorrow - only two riding days until our next rest day at Bahir Dar. Riding in Ethiopia is laced with challenges, not only the hills. Although so far I haven't had much trouble yet we are repeatedly warned about children throwing rocks and sticks and damn those kids are accurate. Most of the kids have been very friendly even if it does get on your nerves to cycle to a chorus of "youyouyouyouyouyouyou" every day. Hopefully a good attitude will get me through the next month with few problems. I will update again sometime in the next three months hopefully.

Rest day at Abu Simbel

Sorry that you haven't heard from me. It is Tuesday January 20 and I am in Abu Simbel. I think the place I am staying at has wi-fi but I was lacking battery power when I had the password and I am now lacking the password but has power. Some power. 

It has been an interesting few days. From Idfu we biked to Aswan and stayed in a Nubian village camp. The ride was rather stressful due to some incidents with kids in the towns along the way, but the camp was beautiful and homey. A couple of us went into Aswan to explore. Ended up grabbing some wonderful falafel and taking a felucca across the river to look at the tombs in the valley of the nobles. By then it was time for dinner - yes, eating again - in this crazy posh hotel. We weren't allowed into the fancy dining room but the food was incredible. Got some great photos, looking rather scruffy in such a fancy place.

From Aswan we rode to a desert camp along a long flat straight road. The desert is flat flat flat and it is really hard to find a pee spot where you aren't giving people quite a show.

Made it into Abu Simbel yesterday, our ride was just over 150 km and once again my long day was stretched even longer due to flats. Not my bike, the poor soul I was riding with had a slow leak and we played pump and go for the last 50-70 km. Getting into camp felt wonderful. Showers were cold and the beers expensive but there was paper in the (flush!) toilets and that makes everything okay. Great timing for a rest day too.Went into town for breakfast and to visit the temple this morning. The temple at Abu Simbel was moved, piece by piece, up away from the water when Lake Nassar was created by the Aswan Dam. My brain understood this until I saw the temple. It is astonishing. I can't wrap my mind around the fact that it was disassembled entirely.

Today has been a lovely slow day. I have done at least one of my chores - laundry is done but I still haven't patched my spare tubes. Lovely sunny day and starting to get hot during the day, stil, cooling off at night but not so much. It's a bit of a change from the snow at home but I may be dreaming of it soon. We cross into Sudan tomorrow and I think I may melt riding during the day. In the sand. Who signed me up for this shit. 

I'm kidding, I am having a fucking riot and never want to leave. I will see you all in 2025.

I am getting Internet! Hope it posts :)

Catching Up - Update from Idfu

I have been on tour for a full week now and it has been awesome. We rode through the desert for the first few days, that's why my post about the first day came on about the fourth. Tailwind and sun, then the nights got quite cool. Our second day was the longest yet. I wouldn't say the hardest though. It was long and flat, we ended up cycling around 170-175 km that day. I got flat after flat and couldn't figure out why, especially the last 30 km. I ended up racing the sun into camp, there was no way I wasn't riding the full distance. We got to the Red Sea on the second day and followed it until Safaga where we camped on a beautiful beach. Short day (84 km) into Safaga so we got to enjoy the sun and beach all afternoon. Day five was a big climb in the morning and a headwind after lunch - a bit of a push but the scenery was gorgeous and I was fortunate enough to ride in a group for the afternoon, that helped a ton. Day six was short again - just over 90 km - and that brought us into our first rest day in Luxor with all afternoon to get chores done and see some sights. 

Luxor was amazing. The afternoon we arrived there a few of us went to check out Karnak and dear god was that beautiful. Everything is positively huge. We hired a guide at the entrance and he talked non-stop for an hour. Pretty funny dude, he was very secretive about things he knew and the other guides didn't. He liked to wait until no one was around to tell us or show us some things about the temple. I took about a billion pictures of columns that no one will want to see simply because there are so many of them. Beautiful columns though. We went late in the afternoon and ended up being the last group in there, as I was walking out it felt like I had the whole temple to myself.

We have been relying pretty heavily on Nate in Egypt. Probably because he lived in Cairo and speaks Arabic. He took us to a wonderful restaurant for dinner and we wandered around after dinner for a bit. Found a bike shop and tried to buy tassels for handlebars. They were only on the kids bikes though. We were all admiring this extremely impractical horn though no one actually bought one. I bet I have one by the time I get back though. Looked at Luxor temple but didn't go in, it was really close to closing. It is light up beautifully at night. 

Up super early the next morning for hot air ballooning. Yep. Over the Valley of the Kings. It was indescribable. I am so so so happy that I got to go. Spent the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon on the West Bank checking out Valley of the Kings and getting in trouble at Hetcheopsut's (spelling?) temple - you need a ticket to be in the parking lot and we didn't have one and didn't know. By the time we got back to the east bank it was a little later than we expected so Will and I went on a short walk into town and got hassled continuously by taxi drivers. Besides that it was a great wander. It would have been great to have a day or two more to poke around a little but, hey, that's not what I signed up for this time.

Today (Friday, Jan. 16) we biked to Idfu, just over 100 km. Fucking beautiful day, incredible landscape and lovely weather. I've been riding in a group for the last few riding days and as much as I did enjoy riding alone sometimes, chatting with different people and having some company has been a lot of fun. We got in pretty early and went to (another) temple. Idfu is home to the temple of Horus, one of the most complete temples. It is huge and beautiful. My favourite was still Karnak, although I had so much fun exploring all the twists and turns of this temple. I am going to get lost inside one of these, just because I have to see every corner and the end of every weird staircase.

I will try to write a post for photos separately so that this goes up even if the internet sucks and pictures don't. Hopefully I can post this soon because I know I've been bad at keeping home informed of my doings. If you want to see more about the tour check out the TDA website, they have a tour blog and other riders are blogging too - some have links on the tour blog that you should be able to find with a bit of hunting. I think I am just going yo get worse and worse at posting so checking up on other blogs and #tourdafrique on Twitter and Instagram are pretty good ideas. 

First day out

First day of riding today (Friday January 9) and it felt great. Fairly flat road, about 130 km, beauty of a tailwind. I was flying. We started from the hotel in Cairo and in a convoy made our way to the Pyramids. There we took a few pictures and officially started! We stayed in a convoy for the first 30-40 km then we were on our own! Day went by so fast and it felt great to get going. Camping in the desert tonight and I think close to the Red Sea tomorrow. No pictures today, I haven't gone through my camera or anything yet so that will have to wait.

Merry Christmas!

So it's Christmas. Coptic, I believe but I could be wrong. 

After many hours of travel I arrived in Cairo but without my bike. Still dealing with that. Got in late so went nearly straight to sleep. Yesterday I tried calling the airport about my bike but couldn't get through so decided to go to the pyramids first and deal with the bike later. Pyramids were pretty cool and I had a lot of fun, but it was crazy windy so sand got everywhere. As well as the pyramids we saw kind Cheops boat and I think I was more excited about that than anything.

Getting around at the pyramids a few of us were on horses, a couple were pulled by horses and one rode a camel.

 I loved looking at the camels face it was so droopy and wrinkly and I thought it was just great. 

After we got back to the hotel a couple other people who lots luggage and I went to the airport to deal with it. Apparently it takes 67 times longer than you would think to get that done so I couldn't get mine last night. I think things are happening today though so I'm praying that I will have it built pretty soon.

Cairo has been good so far! First day of riding is on Friday - I'm getting really excited to head out. Wish me luck!

Holy Sh*t

Am I allowed to curse in my post title? Apologies. I am leaving. I am also freaking out. I know I'm not actually flying out until tomorrow but I have said goodbye to my house and mountains already, and to the cold and snowy weather! In the last couple of days we have FINALLY got some real winter. A bunch of snow and it was -37 this morning! I'm glad I got one day of it, plus the sun made it over the mountains today so it was gorgeous.

Yes, packing has been crazy but my bike is bundled up in its box and my duffle is stuffed full of crap I think I'll need, all ready to go. I assume I will be re-packing stuff in Cairo, yuck. Packing blows. Thank god for all the little mesh bags I have, they make me feel like I can pretend to be much more organized.

My last glimpse of those monstrous mountains for several months was sponsored by a dear friend who may have chased me down an icy road a little to say goodbye. Goodbyes have been a little gross, somewhat frantic and hurried and very sad. My mom and I were talking on the drive to Whitehorse today about a Winnie the Pooh quite that we find applicable. I don't have the exact wording correct but it describes how lucky one is when goodbyes are so sad. I got a lovely and extremely appropriate card from my grandparents today:

A little redhead on a bicycle! It must have been made for me.