I was the last one out of camp again this morning. Today, however, this was neither intentionally nor due to lack of energy. Going back and forth from my tent room to our meeting place, getting my bags loaded onto the truck, and navigating my bike through the stair alleys between the permanent tents...
Day 49: Birthdays need to be celebrated
Muzz had organized a buffet dinner for our group at our lodge tonight. That’s usually the easier solution, because no kitchen in Africa can handle 30+ hungry riders putting in their individual orders. As desert, Muzz had organized a special surprise for me: The waiters brought three beautiful birthday cakes, Liz stuck a Happy...
Day 48: Always carry rain gear when cycling in rainy season
The sun blessed us with its warmth during breakfast. We were expecting one of our hardest climbing days so far—up 1,400 meters in altitude. Based on that, I didn’t pack my rain jacket. Even if it rained, it would be too hot anyway to wear, so I thought. Half an hour into our ride,...
Day 47: No tire is puncture-proof
Since Jinja, I’ve been cycling on my wide knobby mountain biking tires. They are a bit tiresome on good tar, but give me a good grip when it’s muddy. “At least I don’t have any punctures,” I keep comforting myself when pushing my heavy bike on perfect roads. Some other riders have been busy fixing punctures...
Day 46: Camping during rainy season simply sucks
For the first time this morning, we’ve had to take down our tents during heavy rain. It had started raining as soon as our alarm clocks went off, and wouldn’t stop until after the last ones of us had reached the next camp. So far, so good. With a bit of proper organization and...
Day 45: Don’t resist medication that helps
The antibiotics had done the trick and killed my diarrhea overnight. I was no longer feeling sick in the morning, just low on energy. No surprise—I hadn’t slept properly in days, and not eaten much the past 48 hours. “Alex, how are you today?” Tallis asked as I poured myself some hot water in...
Day 44: One photo says more than a thousand words
We’ve been bused out of Kampala today, followed by a ferry ride to an island. This is because of the crazy traffic near Kampala. There wouldn’t have been any reasonable option for us to cycle that stretch. However, most of us liked that opportunity to rest and close our eyes. In my case, I...
Day 43: Thrive on adversity
I was the last one to take down my tent this morning. “You’ve slept in today,” Paul was surprised, used to me normally being one of the first riders up. “Didn’t sleep all night,” I commented briefly. That last half hour of snoozing was probably the best sleep I had gotten all night. “What would you...
Day 42: Rest days are meant for resting
We went on a boat trip to the source of the White Nile this morning. Afterwards, most of us wanted to go to Jinja town to obtain a local SIM card and to buy some essentials including water (which is always ridiculously expensive at our camps). We negotiated with our boat drivers to bring us...
Day 41: Trust, but verify
We’ve been crossing the border from Kenya into Uganda this morning. The procedure was relatively smooth, only the sheer number of riders in our own group to blame for any waiting times. The immigration office for Kenya and Uganda was in the same building aside of the road. Afterwards, we passed by a police...
