Take On Africa

90km after Kikwit and the tarmac ended. Abruptly. From smooth asphalt to shocking deep sand. And just at that point it chucked it down with rain. Sheltering in a local hut until it subsided I then spent a good while pushing my bike alongside the truck tracks that are the road in the slightly less [...]

Six days after leaving Kinshasa, cycling 500km on a good tarmac road, and I’ve arrived in Kikwit. It may have been a good surface but the endless hills and scorching sun made it tough enough! Apart from a couple of minor incidents (one corrupt non-official wanting money and screaming villagers chasing me) it’s been an [...]

In the nearly two weeks I spent doing very little in Kinshasa, I did manage to get off my backside and do a short 2-day trip on a less-loaded bike. After seeing the bonobos at the Lola Ya Sanctuary, I headed to the Zongo falls. Here are the photos from the ride and at the [...]

I can’t say I’d ever heard of bonobos before arriving in the Congo. Which is a little surprising since they share 98.7% of our DNA. Perhaps I’ve seen photos of them before and in my ignorance gone, ‘cool chimpanzee!’ But look a little closer and you’ll realise that, in looks, bonobos are chimpanzees keeping up [...]

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 trip – a route to get me to east Africa….here it is: (Link to large map of planned route across DRC on everytrail) (I’m waiting [...]

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 spent in Africa: 339 Nights spent in Africa without paying for accommodation: 179 Most consecutive nights in a tent: 39 Days spent cycling: 198 Number [...]

Here are some photos from the latest part of the journey. I travelled south from Yaounde in Cameroon through Gabon to a small town called Booue. Having drunk some dodgy water and thrown up in the middle of the town crossroads, I thought it best to leave as soon as possible. This I did by [...]

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 inherently lazy, the appeal of a low maintenance piece of equipment won. If, in the unlikely event something went seriously wrong and the hub had [...]

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, which is fine. I just hope that perhaps for anyone planning a similar trip, they may find some of these notes useful in helping decide [...]

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 I look out down the valleys into the distance. I am reminded of an English summer on a crisp, clear morning before the sun warms [...]