Across Africa Part 13: Finishing Up. Thoughts And Stats.
It was a great relief to reach Luanda and finish this journey. Despite having several bouts of malaria in the previous 7 months, I had arrived safely - no traffic accidents, injuries, or incidents of theft during the ride across Africa.
I could write something about how the trip changed me, and my perception of people and the world, but I won’t because actually it didn’t. I already knew how most people, in most places, are fundamentally good - a much-used but nevertheless true travel cliché.
A journey in Africa, of which I’ve done many before, always reminds me of the relative freedom and privileges I have to travel, in a way that many I meet don’t have. The freedom to choose is something that should never be taken for granted. That I should choose to ‘struggle’ - a word often used when people saw me sweating, or covered in dirt and dust sat on the roadside - was of course my own decision.
The struggle many Africans face on a day-to-day basis is often one of necessity, not choice. Around 80-90% of people on the continent work informally, meaning they have no salaried job or regular guaranteed income. That I feel women struggle more in Africa - juggling childcare and work in a deeply unequal and patriarchal culture, is a topic for another conversation.
While wealth and standards of living are improving for some on the continent, I also feel the gap between rich and poor is widening. Population continues to grow rapidly, especially in urban areas where there are more opportunities for work. Meanwhile, life in many villages feels little different in some ways to how it must have done a generation or two ago - except that resources now are not as plentiful, and changes in climate are forcing people to adapt. It’s not surprising that many people on the continent, struggling to find work and make ends meet, look for a better life elsewhere - be that in another African country, Europe, or Asia.
Enough pontification. Time for a few statistics. This particular journey in Africa adds to many others I’ve made on the continent by bicycle over the last decade and a half - covering around 70,000 km in 38 countries. I hope to return again, but there are also more places in the world I wish to see.
Across Africa - and a few other bike rides over the years, dating back to 2008, when I arrived in Egypt by boat from Jordan.
Initially I had komoot planning a route from Nairobi to Luanda that was less than 5000km. I always knew the distance would be more.
I also realised that the 120 days I initially had given myself as part of a booked return air ticket, might be too short.
Less than half the total number of days spent in Africa this time consisted of cycling days. I’ve never been good at travelling quickly!
My cycling days were never especially long. Most days I would be cycling for between 4-6 hours, and with a lot of rough surfaces, rarely very quickly.
Zambia was predominantly flat, and I was fortunate for a lot of the time to have a tailwind.
Had I wanted to I probably could have predominantly cycled on paved roads rather than unpaved surfaces, but I always preferred smaller and quieter routes, even if that meant they were much slower and harder.
That looks like a lot of elevation, but spread out over 97 days of riding, it only equates to just over 500m of elevation gained per cycling day, which is not especially high.
Most of this trip was done at some elevation. This meant it was rarely particularly hot nor humid - daily temperatures perhaps 25-32°C, and night time temperatures 10-20°C, - much better for camping.
It was quite easy to work out what my total cost was for this trip. I took $800 with me in cash to change when necessary, else used one of two bank cards (Starling or Revolut) to either withdraw money from ATMs (both cards have free ATM withdrawals) or pay for items where necessary. In most of rural Africa cash payments are still the norm, so I withdrew small amounts where and when necessary.
Travel in Africa for most visitors is likely to be far more expensive if it includes any paid for tourist activities, such as going on an organised safari - something likely to cost hundreds of dollars per day. The national parks I did cycle through and the animals I was lucky to see was done independently, without paying. I would have likely seen far more from the comfort and safety of a safari vehicle, had I joined a tour. By predominantly eating local food and staying in budget accommodation my costs were lower. I was also fortunate to have received free accommodation from being hosted by friends and contacts throughout the journey.
I camped about 25% of the time on this journey, almost always in the bush, but occasionally pitched my tent inside schools and churches when it rained.
I camped in many beautiful places, but this spot beside the Calendula Falls in Angola stands out.
Budget accommodation, costing between £3-£15, can be found relatively easily in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and to a lesser extent Angola. I rarely ever booked accommodation in advance. My priorities were just to find a clean and quiet room, and preferably one with enough space to wheel my bicycle inside. These days there are apps like Ioverlander, which have more up-to-date information than would be found in a guidebook.
I was fortunate to be hosted a number of times, either from people I already knew from my time living in Tanzania, or those I met and/or was put in contact with while travelling here.
It was only ever planned as a week stay, but I ended up falling sick with malaria here, then reassessed the end date of my trip while staying with a friendly and welcoming couple (top pic). It became easy to stay.
Twice in Zambia and once in Angola, although the second time was likely a relapse and not a totally new infection. I decided to not take anti-malarial medication, having lived and travelled in parts of Africa before without getting malaria when not taking prophylactics.
In hindsight, if I were to have done a similar trip like this again, I would likely have taken mefloquine (Larium) as an anti-malarial, having taken this before at times in the past when I travelled and cycled through Africa without the side-effects which the medication is often known for.
Madeg from Canada (bottom pic), who I met in Tanzania and later in Zambia, and Aline from Switzerland, who I met in Angola. I only cycled with both for a short time. Prior to this African trip I cycled in Greece for 2 months and met 19 cyclists.
Not technically a puncture as nothing penetrated the tyre. The sidewall of this tubeless tyre developed a split where it met the rim, causing sealant and air to escape. Super glue and duct tape held it together for a number of weeks before I replaced the tyres.
Despite the challenges in communication, Angola was the most interesting and rewarding of countries to cycle through on this journey. People were friendly, many of the landscapes and places I camped were beautiful, and there was some adventurous riding on remote dirt tracks through the bush.
That’s 16 refills of my Primus fuel bottle. In countries where the availability of other sources of fuel can never really be guaranteed to use for a camping stove (gas, alcohol, wood), petrol was easily available, even if I ran out and needed some in a small village.
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