u/Maximum-Fox-4593

Africa has been on a lot of people's bucket list for cycle touring, but there's a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions out there, especially concerning our Western brothers and sisters. I figured let me try to maybe explain a few things to hopefully cover those fears and misunderstandings. Last year, I cycled from Cape to Cairo, meaning from the bottom point of Africa to the top point (12,000+ km, which is like 7,460 miles). During this time, I learned quite a few things that could help someone out there achieve the same goal in a similar environment.

WEATHER AND CLIMATE Africa is huuuuuuge! That means even though for most parts you have a similar climate and recognizable weather patterns, there are also other weather patterns and seasons. I started my journey in August. In Zambia, August is mostly a windy season, the type of wind that raises up dust and stuff, all the way up to September. Then we have October to November, which is the hot dry season (this is the season that will cook you up even as a Black African, haha). Then from late November to somewhere in early to mid-March, it's rainy season. April and May are sort of relaxed and things are drying up. June and July are cold seasons, and I mean so cold your teeth ought to be shaking. Someone once thought because we don't have snow then the coldness here wouldn't be that extreme, and boy, did they learn the hard way lol. If you are planning for a cycling trip, I'd recommend anywhere between April to October or November, unless you want to experience some rain.

THE PEOPLE This is gonna sound racist but it's not, and I'm in no way degrading anyone—especially my fellow Black people, but Africans love white people. Like seriously, contrary to what you may have heard, Africans are more friendly to white people than even other Black people lol. It's sort of the unwritten/unspoken rule. I don't mean they love them in a weird way; it's just in a much more friendly way. Like if you are white and don't have any friends? Chances are your best friend is in Africa. But here is the problem:

A lot of white tourists assume when an African engages them in a conversation then they probably want to rob them. I'm telling you, there are more chances of me as a Black African being robbed by them than them robbing you as a white person. And there are a few reasons for that: first of all, most believe you are being watched 24/7 and so if they attack you, then your governments might come for them.

That being said, there are also some Africans who see your color and see money. That does not mean they want to rob you; if anything, they will either straight up beg you for money or just ask that you give them a job so that they work for the money. So please know the difference: some just wanna be friends with you and others just wanna hear stories of your childhood and stuff lol.

FOOD I'll divide this into two parts:

1. Food in Africa
2. Food you can eat while cycling (easier to carry and easier to cook)

A). Food in Africa: In Africa, most countries have what's called a staple food, a kind of food that is constantly eaten with something on the side. They farm it, manufacture it, etc. So don't be surprised when you go to a place and find there is one item being served with a side of something. For example, in Zambia our staple food is maize powder; we call it mealie meal and this is also in other African countries. Others use yam and others cassava, etc. But once this is cooked, it can be served with relish, could be beef, sausage, vegetables, eggs, whatever you name it, but it can't go with something like rice because they sort of fall in the same category.

B). Food for cycling in Africa: This is kind of like a personal observation and recommendation, not necessarily a rule. When I was cycling Africa, I knew I needed food I could carry easily and cook faster without wasting time. You don't wanna spend too much time cooking after a long day of cycling, right? So here are a few food items you might want to try out:

1. Rice (obviously lol)
2. Spaghetti and macaroni
3. Soya chunks (now a lot of you might get confused on this because you probably never heard of these, but soya chunks, also known as soya pieces, are sort of a vegan type food made from soybeans which is meant to mimic the taste of meat like chicken or beef. These are well manufactured and packaged in nice little packs and take just a few minutes to cook. I find that they taste perfect when paired with rice.)
4. Cooking oil
5. Salt
6. Peanut butter (because it doesn't melt)
7. Sugar (now this one is very, very important for energy)
8. Powdered milk sachets (these cost about K2 Zambian Kwacha, which is like $0.10)
9. Coffee or cocoa (good for afternoons)
10. Canned beans and canned fish Bonus: Add some vitamin supplement tablets and energy capsules

WILDLIFE One of the most common misconceptions is the wildlife part. A lot of people just assume African wildlife animals just roam around looking for the next victim to attack. Quite the contrary. For starters, wild animals don't like to be anywhere around people and vice versa, so African countries created game park reserves and put fences around them to protect both the animals and the people. You will never see a lion or buffalo just running around out of the reserve. Think of it like a massive zoo enclosure, except it's a large piece of Savannah lands. What about insects?

Insects do exist in Africa just like any other part of the world, but this is not Australia lol (no offense to my Australian friends). In Africa, insects don't even count for what could kill you. Most of them are harmless, not even a bite or sting, and the ones that sting? They are not easily found; you'd have to go deep in the bush to find those. Matter of fact, we don't really have many jungles; it's bushes and Savannah lands at best lol. So no! Insects won't come crawling in your tent unless you give them a reason to, and even if they do, it's probably just for the food bits you dropped in there. Eating cookies in a tent will invite some ants maybe, that's all. I camped almost throughout the journey and I never had any problem with insects. What about snakes?

Yes, we do have snakes, but then again this is not the Amazon as the media makes it sound like. Quite the contrary. Africa is vast, and that means everything has its own place. Let me tell you something about how Africa evolved from a local's perspective lol: here we have people that make food out of anything, and I mean anything, so even animals evolved to know that hahaha. They know if I pass by this place, I'm probably gonna end up in soup or just plain old dead!

Here we kill any animal that is not where it's supposed to be, not to be eaten, but just killed for the sake of killing that animal (not people, I'm talking about animals, and I say "we" because I'm African also, not that I kill things for fun; it's a blanket statement to make the narration easier). So you can't put a tent on flat ground and expect a snake to pop out of nowhere just to come and bite you. Snakes hate people; they don't even want to be around people. They bite out of convenience and security for themselves, so they don't go around looking for trouble.

CONCLUSION I think I've covered a few topics and if I think of more I'll come back and say them.

If you have other questions, let me know in the comments and I will answer them.

My journey began a while back in 2017 when I first discovered bicycle touring. Before that, I only wished there was a way I could cycle forever and enjoy the freedom I felt whenever I was cycling even to shorter distances. So by 2020, I began wondering how I could pull this off. I began by researching as much as I can and to my surprise, there were a lot of people doing this, except almost none were black like me. I am not trying to make this about race, but it scared me because I knew that came with both advantages and disadvantages.

In Africa, and Zambia to be specific, I grew up seeing our white brothers and sisters passing with panniers and bicycles and I always wondered "where do they go?" Seeing long distance travelers by bike was not strange to me, but I never saw even one black person doing it. I'm aware times have changed, but the truth is none of my brothers did it like we saw Westerner brothers and sisters do it.

Being black and African with such ambitions is almost like a taboo in the environment I grew up in. Questions like:

-Why would you want to do that? -Are you mad? -That’s for white people.

These would always come up when I was telling my friends and family about my then-upcoming trip. I knew I had to face all that head-on because if it was up to them, they wouldn't even let me go.

THE COLD START After months of research, finally, it was time for me to go and face the wild. I didn't do any training or trials whatsoever. I remember there was a group from the CTC WhatsApp group who was going in the same direction I wanted to go (up to the north), but I guess they were too afraid to trust me enough to tag along. I reached out to Reddit and announced I would be doing this journey, asking if anyone was interested in joining me. No one joined me; all I got was well wishes and good lucks.

I bought the bus ticket from Lusaka to South Africa because I really wanted to start from there. After reaching SA, I didn't even have time to rest because I had so much excitement. Immediately the next morning, I was already on the road. The first few kilometers were fun and exciting, not knowing what was ahead of me.

THE GRITTY REALITY AND LOGISTICS Let me be honest with you: it looks easy until you do it. This journey is not for the faint-hearted. There were days I spent just pushing through the sands of Namibia with no electricity and no way to charge, I was carrying a solar panel that stopped working upon reaching the third country. In my bags, I carried all the food I needed and barely had any money left for anything else. By the time I reached Malawi, I had the equivalent of about K150 left, which is like a mere $7 in my pocket.

MY INVENTORY: FOOD: Rice, cooking oil, sugar, spaghetti, soya chunks, milk powder sachets, 1 tin of coffee, some bags of oats, and hot water soup sachets of different flavors.

COOKING: A small pot, a small knife, and a firewood tripod stand. I used kerosene for starting firewood because throughout the journey I cooked only using firewood. (And no, I didn't start any wildfires because I’ve known how to do this since childhood.)

WATER: Two bottles of water, each 2.5L.

ELECTRONICS: A DJI Osmo Action 1, Rode Wireless Go 1 mics, mic adapter, 10,000mah power bank, and chargers. I used a Xiaomi Pad 5 for editing 4K footage and a small itel feature phone that would last weeks on one charge.

CLOTHING: I started with a lot but gave most away. I settled on 3 shirts, a reflector vest, 1 short, 2 trousers/pants, 1 pair of slippers, 5 pairs of socks, a beanie, a hat, a winter jacket, and 1 raincoat.

TOILETRIES: 4 rolls of large toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrush, body lotion, powdered soap for washing, 1 roll-on, and 2 bars of bathing soap. CAMPING: A cheap camping tent, a small blanket (no sleeping bag), and an inflatable single mattress which I only used once.

MECHANICAL STRUGGLES AND HUMAN KINDNESS I didn't carry any spare tires, which I regretted later. In Malawi, I started having multiple punctures because the tires were worn out. Luckily, I have a really close friend in Malawi who hooked me up with the spares I needed to continue.

In Tanzania, the bike’s hub axle broke in half due to the weight. I almost got stranded in the middle of nowhere until a friendly guy showed up and offered to buy a new one for me for free. Throughout the journey, I experienced kindness of all sorts, as well as judgment. Because this was very unusual behavior for a person of my color, I would sometimes be suspected of ill intentions by locals, which was scary.

SURVIVAL AND COMMUNICATION Every time I reached a village, I had to get permission from the village headman or chairperson before setting up camp. I slept on the side of roads, in school football pitches, and occasionally in unfinished buildings when my instinct told me it was safe. In more developed countries, I simply camped in people's yards with their permission; they would often offer me food and engage me in conversation.

The language barrier was also a major factor. Starting from Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, there were barely any English speakers. Communication was a headache even with Google Translate because it doesn't get Swahili right. I had to rely on reading signs and connecting what people were trying to say.

REFLECTIONS FROM THE JOURNEY One of the hardest parts was the unplanned situations, I lost a lot of footage when my first memory card got corrupted. It hurts my soul to think about those lost clips from the start of my journey in the south.

I could go on and on, but I share this story to inspire someone. You don't need much to do this, but you must expect pure grit. It will forge you and change you to the point where you will never see the world the same again; it will strip you to the real you. I'm now planning a full world tour and this time I will be fully prepared. You can watch the videos of this journey on my YouTube channel while I work on editing more episodes.

Any questions are welcome in the comments, my last post was called AI slop so I toned it down on the motivational talk and focused more on the story.

In case you missed my other post, I’m just a guy from Zambia with a passion for cycling. I cycled from Cape Town to Cairo with no money and no sponsorship, just me, my bike, and supplies I gathered with the help of friends.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the bike I used. While most people have nice, expensive setups, my case was different. It’s not that I didn’t want a fancy, fitting bike, I just seriously couldn’t afford one! 😅 But I wanted to fulfill my dream despite the obstacles.

THE SETUP: The bike you see in the pictures cost me only about K2,500 at the time (roughly $132). It was brand new and was the best I could find in that price range. I believed that despite its looks, it could take me far as long as I knew it like the back of my hand.

RACKS and BAGS: The Racks: These weren’t specialized touring racks. I bought two MTB racks for about K90 each ($4) and fitted one on the back and one on the front. The "Panniers": I didn’t have the money for even the cheapest panniers. Instead, I searched for used backpacks at thrift stands. Those are what you see in the photos, just a bunch of backpacks strapped together with ropes.

HOW DID IT HANDLE SUCH A HEAVY LOAD? To prevent the tubes from bursting under the weight, I lined the inner rims with a thin rubber rope. I didn't measure the weight exactly, but it was "mad heavy." I was carrying: Over 10kg of rice.

Several kilograms of spaghetti, cooking oil, and other survival essentials. All of that plus my own body weight.

In Africa, I’ve seen men who sell charcoal pack ten 50kg bags of charcoal on a single bike without the tires bursting. I used that same technique to balance mine. People ask if the bike wobbled, hardly! The weight was evenly distributed, even if it looked a bit messy in the picture.

THE LESSON ON THE BIKE: For anyone wondering if they have the "perfect" bike for a journey, I’d say this: the perfect bike depends on whether you can learn to handle it and make it fit your specific goal.

SO WHATS NEXT FOR ME? I am currently preparing for a full world cycling tour. I’ve had people asking "when I’m leaving" and "if I have a Kickstarter" or something, Kickstarter is not available in my country. And To be honest, I don’t feel right asking people for money haha. But if you really want to support me you can do so via the links on my YouTube channel or you can request them and I'll gladly share. Otherwise I’m just here to share my weird adventure and hopefully inspire somebody

Any questions are welcome in the comments,Toodles! 👍🏽.