When I first heard about Tour d’Afrique (TDA) over a year ago, I was instantly hooked. It sounded like exactly the kind of challenge I’d been waiting for—to ride Every F***ing Inch (EFI) from Cairo to Cape Town. However, I was an unlikely candidate for that challenge: I had no particular cycling experience—even just pumping...
Day 108: Rest day in the Namib desert
If the photos of the past days haven’t convinced you yet, hopefully today’s shots will: Put Namibia onto your bucket list! This is an absolutely stunningly beautiful country. Come and visit! Photos showing: Sunrise at Dune 45 in Sossusvlei area Dead trees in Hiddenvlei area Sesriem Canyon
Day 107: Dare to get naked and live without regrets
Today has been the day of the (in)famous Naked Mile—a TDA tradition, the origins of which no one seems to know. “No way, I’m not going to participate”, I’d said over the past weeks, and even just yesterday evening. This morning, I’ve changed my mind. Would I regret it if I don’t? I didn’t...
Days 103–104: Beautiful Windhoek—modern, clean & green (and very German)
We’ve had two wonderfully relaxing rest days in Windhoek. What a beautiful modern, clean & green city in an absolutely stunning setting surrounded by rolling hills and blessed with a benign climate! Highlights on my end: Chilling for hours at the Craft Café inside the Craft Center—great food, great service, fast Internet, nice ambience...
Days 89–91: After every LOW, there will be another HIGH
My first two rest days at the Victoria Falls were kind of wasted going to the doctor and resting my swollen feet. Having said that, chilling by the Waterfront pool bar with my laptop was not necessarily the worst spot to recover. While I had planned to update my blog, different riders kept coming...
Day 59 – 61: Serengeti & Ngorongoro Safari
On the special occasion of TDA’s 15th anniversary, we had a three-day safari in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater included in our tour. After six tough cycling days, we were all very much looking forward to this break off the bike. I was in two minds whether to join the safari, having done...
Day 52: Gorilla trekking in Northern Rwanda
We went to see the gorillas this morning. On strong recommendation from Julian, we picked the Susa gorilla family, which is the biggest but also the least accessible. It is also the same group studied by Diane Fossey during her time in Rwanda. After more than an hour’s drive, partly on terribly rocky dirt roads...
Visiting the African Heritage House
In the evening of day 35, Phil joined me for a tour and dinner at the African Heritage House—one of Africa’s most photographed villas, owned by Alan Donovan. Alan has travelled all of Africa and collected art from all of the continent’s corners. Once he arrived in Nairobi in the 1960s, he built his...
Impressions from downtown Nairobi
Once back from the safari on day 34, I took a so-called Matatu (mini-bus) into downtown Nairobi. After an hour stuck in traffic jam, I finally got off at Kenyatta Avenue to stroll through the city centre. Impressions: Nairobi is a strikingly green city. There’s trees everywhere—very pleasant. After a month in Muslim countries, Nairobi comes across...
Early morning safari in the Nairobi National Park
In the morning of day 34, I joined a few riders for a safari in the Nairobi National Park, kindly arranged for us by Murray. We had to leave the hotel at 6am, but getting up early proved worthwhile: We saw most of the park’s animals, including lions and rhinos close-up. Only some of the...
