Cycling From Cairo To Capetown: Sudan - Ethiopia

Monday 4th February - 7th We went back to the desert again. Mudhut cafes are every 10kms or so and they break up the monotony of the landscape. I drink about 10 pepsi's/chi t's a day. We are covering 420kms to the Ethiopian border.

A distance like that would have scared me off 6 weeks ago but seem like a trip to the shops right now. I can reach speeds of 35kms an hour on the desert roads as they are paved. The desert scenery is gradually getting a little more tropical. Baboons and snakes are becoming travelling companions as I look around. There are also a lot of trucks with 2/3 trailers. These can be a great ally with unpredictable desert winds.

As they approach cycle faster. Get right behind them as they drive by. You are now "drafting". Riding their Eddie waves. You can keep the same speed as the truck and move along the back and to the side of the vehicle. It's possible to reach speeds of 80kph doing this !

The buses in the desert are wreckless. I was cycling with my ipod on. I was looking at a dead camel on the roadside. As soon as I turned around there was a bus on my side of the road. It never even beeped at me. I had to jump clean off my bike greazing myself pretty bad. These buses don't care and it's obvious from all the dead animals all over the road.

I stopped by a tiny village near the border of Sudan and Ethiopia where I saw a group of children playing soccer. I tried to organise a game (they had a pretty good ball and pitch with goalposts) however they were so ecstatic to see someone in cycling gear with a fancy bike that it was like being swarmed by a group of hungry journalists. Everyone was crowding around my bike asking what everything was for. These people are the poorest I have encountered to date. The amazing thing was that not one person asked for money and I went back to drink some chi tea at one hut, then we had a game of "in the middle" with a soccer ball. This was a great way to leave Sudan, the most hospitable place I have ever been fortunate enough to visit.

Thursday February 7th : Ethiopia

First beer at the Ethiopian border

I had a few friends cross the border with me so we decided why not see Ethiopia at night. Every bar wanted to get us in there drinking. I initially thought this was because we were Farraingis (Amharaic for foreigners) it was actually because we were white and the town was full of brothels ! Every girl in every bar was really friendly and it took about 4/5 bars to realise that everyone in the town was for sale. Guys and girls ! just slightly different to Sudan ! It's a very popular destination for male Sudan holiday makers, for the aforementioned reason.

This didn't suffice and they surrounded us. About 16 of them. None of them were very big but they had strength in numbers. They began to push us around a little bit. I had to pay a cool 18 birr ($2u.s.) to get out. This was an expensive lesson but what to expect in sleazy border towns.

8, 9 February 2008 The next morning I cycled with my first hangover of the trip. A good 13 hour session will do that to you. Ahead of me was 110kms of corrugated roads. No pavement. Lots of rocks. Bit of sand. Intense heat and rolling Ethiopian hills. We climbed over 6000ft in our first 2 days. This made a starking contrast to the flat deserts of Sudan.

I also encountered a side of Ethiopia that I only heard about in legend. The children are everywhere. I would imagine the average age is 12. The country is all about the agriculture and as you pass each kid who is either jogging to school or to work on the farm they shout at you "You You You". It's impossible to stop and talk with every kid so as you cycle by they throw rocks at you.

I met one lady who had a pretty big bruise from these rocks. It's a part of their culture and we've all been kids and done silly things. But rocks hurt. No matter how many Amharaic words you learn like Salam Habasche (hello Ethiopian), ish ish (cool cool), Tao (stop) or Hedge (P*ss off) they are relentless rock throwers.

I haven't done my research but I would imagine this is how they got rid of the Italians after less then 6 years ! I can't imagine anyone successfully conquering this country of hills, mountains, thin air and heat only to face an array of stones.

As I stopped in for a bottle of coca cola on my way to the old capital of Gondar my camera was pickpocketed in a local village. This was very frustrating as all my photos were on the camera. Everyone was friendly in the village- but that didn't bring the camera back. I searched all the mudhuts and found a girl who spoke English. She said she knew who stole the camera but couldn't say who it was or she might be raped or attacked by the perpetrator once I left.

I'm pretty sure this will be the only time I will be cheated in Africa, right ?

This was a no-win situation and even though I offered to wait a few kilometers uphill and pay money to a 3rd party to deliver the camera, no agreement was reached. These negotiations took almost 3 hours and left me with a horrible feeling of injustice and disgust for the person who stole my camera. Every rock that a kid threw hurt that little bit more as I battled uphill to Gondar.

One kid ran almost 4 kilometres with me talking in pigeon english all the way. I didn't realise however that he had removed my spare tube from my saddle bag as he jogged just behind me. I chased him but he got away ! The people are extremely fit here. They don't smoke and everyone jogs everywhere - school, work, home. To them uphill makes no difference.

10 February 2008 It was a relief to finally reach Gondar. A town of 6 castles and a lot of history. It was made built at such an elevation so to keep mosquitos and malaria away. As well as being a great viewpoint for invaders. You can visit where England carpet bombed the Italians (during their brief occupancy) and there is a great bar scene.

After a day rest we set off toward Bahir Dar. There are lots of eagles, wolves, hyenas and baboons on the roads and of course children.

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