"There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than one you are capable of living"
Tour d'Afrique
Arriving home from a three week journey around Tanzania, interest waning at work and (at the time) free of female distraction I found myself coming down with a severe case of wanderlust. Having also spent the summer slowly igniting my interest in motion by two wheels, I began dreaming about combining cycling with my new found love of the African continent – as is widely quoted “you never visit Africa once”. In my wanderings I came across the epic journey know as the Tour D’Afrique, a cycle expedition from Cairo to Cape Town, travelling 12,000km through 10 diverse and incredible countries over the course of 4 months. Starting at the ancient pyramids of Giza, following the great Nile as it winds it way through the Sahara and Sudan and into the ethereal Ethiopian highlands. From there its south through Kenya, along the fertile rift valley and passing in the shadows of the continent's highest point, Kilimanjaro, as the ride enters Tanzania. Continuing onto Malawi, the 'warm heart' of Africa, and across Zambia the journey reaches the majestic Victoria falls before crossing the Kalahari in Botswana. It's then down through the postcard-perfect dunes of Namibia before the tour's climax at the Cape Town waterfront. 90 cycling days averaging 125km per day and 121 days camping under the huge African sky.
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I'm raising money for Maji Mazuri
Tour d'Afrique Route and Elevation
There the idea lay, anything but dormant, niggling away at the back of my mind. It sounded like a great idea, but it’s not something you actually do, right? It’s something you read about and just pass off with a “I wish I could do something like that”, but yet it kept eating away. The more I thought and the more I dreamed, the more I realised I couldn’t think of a genuine reason not to do it. And so, almost exactly a year ago, armed with an inflated sense of my own fitness and a cheap, just about functional, hybrid bike, I decided to commit myself to this challenge.
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Now, three months to go, I’ve started this blog to tell the story of how one goes about cycling the length of a continent, from the all consuming journey of mentally and physically preparing for the trip to updates on the adventure itself. Why write about it? Well because, at least in part, the motivation of embarking on such a journey is surely about trying to tell a story of who you are, and in all the self indulgent glory that a blog entails, I guess this is it. Hopefully some will find it interesting or indeed for anyone considering something similar, informative, but at the very least it will serve to keep the parents up to date on my whereabouts!
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It would be going too far to say I'm doing the Tour D'Afrique for charity, I'm fact it would be wrong of me to do so. However I am acutely aware of the incredibly privileged position I have that enables me to embark on this adventure, particularly when juxtaposed to the position of the peoples of the countries I will passing through. So if, on the back of what I'm doing, and your good will, there is even a small amount we can contribute to raising awareness or to give direct financial assistance to furthering hope and opportunity for those less fortunate, then that is wholly worthwhile. I think it's important to acknowledge we are not best placed to solve local issues, miles away from the developed world, geographically and socially. So in choosing a charity that is best placed to deliver change it was key that it be one run by a local community for that community. As such, I would like to pledge any funds raised to the great work that Maji Mazuri are doing to empower people out of poverty in Kenya. More info on the charity page.
Long Road Ahead