THE PLAN
I'd love to say that the idea for the trip came to be in a flash of inspiration, but I don't think it did. There was no lucid dream, or alcohol fueled revelation; I just came home from work one day and said to Chloe "I want to take a sabbatical and cycle to Ethiopia before we move back".
She dealt with it pretty well, but it soon became clear we had very different perspectives on what 'organised' or 'planned' means. The haggling over how much time we could bear to be parted also began fairly swiftly. We've agreed on 3.5 months, with a Nairobi to London via Addis Ababa (airport only) booked for the 15th August. If I begin on 01st May, as I intend to (Chloe flies home to UK on 27th April) then I have 106 days until the flight out of Nairobi.
ROUTING & GENERAL DIRECTIONThe idea came to me fairly recently, and there are obviously quite a lot of elements to straighten out and get organised. Like all great plans, this one has been changed, partly due to a couple of things I wasn't quite happy with, and otherwise because I have gleamed some insider knowledge. After a boozey strategy session with a very boots on the ground mate - one Brett 'Mr Africa' Abrahamse, I have made a few changes to the first half of the route - some big and some small.
It's fair to say that the main changes are the additions of two new countries to the route: Botswana and Mozambique. These were initially excluded due to logistical/supply, and safety concerns respectively. I have been assured that these are both unfounded so they're back on the table. Below is a rough outline of the route so far: |
Country 1 (or 2 incl. SA): Botswana
As I said above, I was always keen on Botswana as I haven't been there yet, but was worried about the big distances and sparse population. To my mind this meant difficulty finding supplies and having to hump around 10kg of water for days (which would not be fun at all). I seem to have been overthinking things and have been told that unlikely to be any issues in that regard. It's a very safe and overlanding friendly country so it's probably a good place to go first in order to find my feet. |
Above is the route I intend to take from Johannesburg to Gaborone. I have had some issues with dodgy Strava planning on my first training ride, but now that I am equipped for dirt, there should not be too many issues I hope. The other nice thing about doing Botswana is that it is only 270km to the border, so I can get out of SA and into territories new. This will make things feel a lot more real, and get the adventure started earlier. I hope to do Gaborone in 3 days, and I'll figure out where I aim to stop further along the line. I know I want to do a big first day as it would be a bit shit camping 50km from home (although I will technically be homeless by then!).
If you go on google maps and fiddle around looking at Botswana, you'll quickly realise that it's a big country with not many roads. Thus, my route up to the top of the country is pretty straightforward - national highway A1! Seems a big scary cycling on the Bostwanan equivalent of the motorway, but a quick google streetview shows tar (good), a decent shoulder to fit Tina's fat arse on, and not many cars. The main town on the way is Francistown, situated where the line doglegs back to the NW. I considered crossing into Zim here and taking in Bulawayo and up to Vic Falls, but have decided I would rather do the cool ferry crossing at Kazungula which takes you through where the 4 countries meet and then dumps you in Zambia. I'm in contact with a friend, Ed, whose Mother lives in Gaborone, so I'm hoping to scrounge a meal and a bed there. A friend Ben has also intimated that he can help me out in Pandamatenga, which is right up North on the border to Zim.
Country 2: Zambia
So the plan is to scoot up to the top of Botswana and cross into Zambia via ferry over the Zambezi. Here I will aim to get a KAZA Univisa which, for $50, allows me to border hop between Zambia and Zimbabwe however many times I want. This is quite good value as, for a start, it allows me to see Victoria Falls from both sides of the river. I won't be doing a huge amount in Zambia down in the south: Kazungula to Livingstone is only 65km. But I will be in NE Zambia later, and probably cross the Zambezi a couple of times to get my money's worth from the visa, depending on the existence of bridges and/or ferries. |
Country 3: Zimbabwe
I plan to enter Zimbabwe via the iconic Victoria Falls bridge (expect a photo or two to be taken here) and then once taking in Victoria Falls etc, I will start shadowing the Zambezi, heading East along there towards Binga and Kariba. As per Brett, there are little tracks and roads with great bush camps right on the river all along that stretch. Apparently there is an awesome dam at Kariba, which you can cross over into Zambia from. I might head up to Chirundu and cross back into Zimbabwe further up, as per google map shot below. Livingstone to Kariba is about 500km. |
Whatever I decide to do at Kariba, probably depending on how energetic/lazy I'm feeling, and whether I'll be allowed to cycle through the Charara safari area (although a lift/game drive would also be awfully tempting), the end goal is to head SE down to Harare (via another A1).
Country 4: Mozambique
As mentioned, I was a bit worried about N Mozambique as they tend to have a bit of a scrap every now and then, so initially I ruled it out. Plus, check their flag: a bayonet-fixed gun and mattock - both perfectly suited to human extermination from a variety of distances. Let's focus on the book instead, and the fact that we've driven around the lower 1/3 of Mozambique in the truck and had an extremely pleasant time (I particularly enjoyed seeing Chloe getting stopped twice, and fined once for speeding within about 150km). I won't be in Mozambique long, as from Zimbabwe border to Malawian is only about 230km, but it's nice to have a look around up north, and will give me a chance to try out the old Portuguese (I have downloaded a few podcasts). The main thing for me is that it gets me into Malawi lower down than I would from Zambia. |
Country 5: Malawi
Also known as 'The Warm Heart of Africa'. This is the country I am probably looking forward to most (and then Rwanda). The new routing puts me in just below Mwanza, and from there I will wobble to Blantyre a large-ish town, and then onto Zomba, know for its colonial architecture. After Zomba I will head dead North pretty much, up to Monkey Bay and Cape Maclear. This is at the very bottom of Lake Malawi. I plan to mostly follow the coast of the lake, possibly diverting to Lilongwe, and mix that up with a few sorties into the mountains that lie slightly inland to the West. The lake is supposed to be very backpacker-y with hostels and camping on the sandy beaches. Malawi is well-known (relatively) for it's gin, so I'm sure a few G&T sundowners will be consumed. |
So here is my rough bash at Malawi on the Strava route planner. I expect to wing it a lot more, using paper maps and asking questions, rather than follow this. But it gives you an idea of the distance to be covered. I've also left the elevation and climbing profile on there for you. I expect this is something that most people would ignore, but if you take a look at the climbing, over 7,000m is a bloody shit tonne, and you can see the spikes in elevation as I cross and recross the mountains. Obviously along the lake it's flat, and if you compare the route profile with Botswana you can see there is a huge difference - Botswana is flat as a pancake basically, and Malawi is pretty lumpy. I think the lakes might get a bit same-y so it will be nice, despite the hills, to get inland a bit and explore there. I've heard great things about Nkhata Bay, so I look forward to some beach R&R there. It's a perfect chance to over-indulge and get fat just in time for the mountains. I've found a wicked campsite called Mushroom Farm up in the mountains at Livingstonia where you camp overlooking the valley. Livingstonia is an old Christian mission set up back in the day and named after that guy Dave. After that I will push on and leave via Chitipa in the NW corner.
Zambia (again)
From Chitipa I will head to Mpulungu at the bottom of Lake Tanganyika, covering about 350km. Apart from having a great name, this is where the legendary ferry MV Liemba runs from every Friday. It's an old German vessel that has an interesting history in itself. From there I will take the ferry to Kigoma (which is about 2 days I think) and disembark in Tanzania. The ferry does go up to Bujumbara, but in Burundi they are definitely fighting so going to avoid it I think. |
Country 6: Tanzania
I'm not sure how you pronounce it (zaneer or zaynia?), but I'll be heading there anyway. Kigoma is where Livingstone met Stanley, so it will be cool to check out the haunts of a few adventurers who beat me to it. I will then head up and round Burundi and enter Rwanda via Rusumo Falls, where my E African tourist visa is awaiting me. It'll be a run of about 400km within Tanzania, and it looks to be disgustingly hilly - Strava is saying 400km and almost 5,000m of climbing. Not nice, but worth it to get into Rwanda. Looks like there isn't much in W Tanzania, and part of the reason for getting the ferry is to dodge a bit of it. |
Country 7: Rwanda
This is the country I'm looking forward to second most. I've heard they have great roads, are really friendly, love cycling and don't litter. Hopefully this will make up for it being called 'The Land of a Thousand Hills'. It's a rather foreboding name when you have about 45kg of bike to pedal, but apparently it's common practice to just grab onto the back of a truck and have tow you up the hills - sounds like a bloody great plan! The country also has a harrowing, but deeply interesting history, and I think it's both fascinating and fantastic to see how far they've come since the genocide in the early 90s - I look forward to inspecting progress first hand, including a litter survey or two. Depending how many pennies I have, I'd love to go and see the mountain gorillas (at about £400 it ain't cheap). |
I've not really got round to planning Rwanda yet. I will definitely go to Kigali, and I also want to do a bit of skirting along Lake Kivu. I might even look into visas for the DRC. I'm budgeting about 500km in the country, and a lot of uphills.
Country 8: Uganda
As a bit of a burgeoning birder (binos are on the 'maybe' section of the pack list), I'm a big fan of the Grey Crowned Crane - Uganda's national bird. I'm even less sure of what to do in Uganda than Rwanda, but Chloe has a volunteer/school-running friend in Kampala called Lara. I have already abused her visa-issuing resources so I have a reasonable debt to settle I would imagine. I will also press for some tourist tips from her before too long. After that I would like to get up to Murchison Falls - the most powerful waterfall in the world, apparently (where the Victoria/White Nile is forced through a gap only 7m wide). It adds a lot of km though, and not sure if I will have time to head up there. Perhaps I leave the bike and jump in a taxi mini-van. |
Country 9: Kenya
I'm a bit worried about Kenya in terms of road and traffic as I expect it to be very busy like SA, so I'm not sure how much of it I will cycle around. It's about 650km from Kampala to Nairobi, with about 1/3 of that within Uganda. On the other hand I've heard it's very beautiful and I look forward to seeing some more unusual parts of it. I also like speaking Swahili so that will be fun! We have friends in Nairobi who I intend to abuse, not just for pre-flight accommodation, but also for tips on where to cycle in Kenya. The last 3 countries are a work in progress to be honest. I quite fancy a bit of a train journey, so might look into that too. |
Country 10: Ethiopia
Doesn't really count as I culled it from the itinerary, but deserves an honorable mention as an also-ran. I'm also spending a couple of hours in Addis airport so even more reason to include it. If I hadn't heard they were such shits, I'd probably be going there, but I think the decision not to brave a country where you're plagued by a chorus of "YOU, YOU, YOU, where you go?" and the occasional salvo of rocks is a sound one. 4 hours in departures is plenty! |