Photos of Zambia incl. Victoria Falls
After travelling some of the continents worst roads, it was a pleasant surprise arriving in Zambia to find myself cycling on ultra-smooth, pot-hole free, tarmac roads. From Kasangula on the…
Passing the Time in Congo
Kananga to Lac Mukamba Kananga had enough distractions to keep me occupied for a couple of days – a quiet hotel, a small restaurant across the road selling good local…
A Detour in Congo
Tchikapa to Kananga – 286km in 4 days Diamonds and wetsuits I rested for the day in Tchikapa. A busy town. Dusty streets lined with small market stalls run by…
A Little Less Cycling in Congo
Kikwit to Tchikapa – 343km in 5 days Kikwit – shit, leave quick Always happy to arrive in a town – Good food, cold drinks, a bed, a shower… Usually…
Statistics update: 20,000km from UK to Livingstone
It’s nearly the end of 2010 and I’ve just hit 20,000km – time for some more statistics. Now according to my original plan, I should be in Cape Town by…
Guide to travelling through the Congo – The first 500km
Chapter 1 – Entering the Congo One way to enter the Democratic Republic of Congo is at Kinshasa, by taking a boat from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo. The…
Planned route across DR Congo
I’m currently in Kinshasa and really enjoying it here. It’s a busy city in complete contrast to Brazzaville just over the river. I’ve been planning the next part of the…
Statistics – UK to Congo Brazzaville
It’s been a while since I published any stats, so for those who like numbers – Kilometres cycled: 17,123 Kilometres paddled: 350 Days since first leaving the UK: 427 Nights…
Thoughts on a Rohloff-Equipped Bike
I debated a long time whether to get a bike with a Rohloff hub, or a regular dérailleur system. In the end, not knowing much about bike maintenance and being…
Equipment Review
This is quite a thorough list of how the bike, panniers and racks have held up and problems I have had. Most people won’t want to read beyond this intro,…
Cameroon’s Highlands
Time to hit the hills. Time to take on Cameroon’s Highlands. Top Speed I cycle out of Bamenda, refreshed after the rest. The road sweeps around the green hillsides and…
The Longest Day
Uphill to Bamenda End of the road I decided to take the high road, up to the hills surrounding Bamenda. Told that the tarmac road would end at a bridge…
Two Bright Lads in Cameroon
The dirt road even turned to tarmac in the town of Mamfe. But Mamfe was disappointing and I didn’t want to stay there. Instead, I cycled a little further to…
Finding Helen – White! White! White!
Scene 1 The dirt road from Ekok wound its way round and up and down through the thick, overgrown forest. Everything was big. Trees competing to grow the tallest, to…
A Day at the Border
Ever since originally planning this Africa trip I had wanted to see the highlands of Cameroon. The guidebooks say it is beautiful. My map shows the roads as ‘scenic’. My…
Nigeria – It’s Been Wet
Out of Abuja From leaving the Abuja, it was nearly 600km and five full days of cycling to reach the Cameroon border. But first, back to Nigeria. I had entered…
Nigeria – A Culture Of Giving
I met many Nigerians in the couple of weeks I travelled through the country. In a country of 140 million (one in every five Africans is a Nigerian), this is…
Take On Africa is One!
One Year On The Road I hope you don’t mind this little post – a proper update should be out tomorrow (when I sit down to write it)…. but something…
Nigeria – The Way To Abuja
Officials in Uniform My first full day in Nigeria was a long one. All 161km of it. The day was broken up with checkpoints. 21 of them. But no-one wanted…
Nigeria – First Impressions – Against All Expectations
I arrived at the border to Nigeria, wondering just exactly what would be in store for me. I cautiously changed my remaining CFA into naira, the Nigerian currency, expecting to…