I have included below a set of observations and tips, things that I have discovered along my journey that might be of use to others wanting to undertake a similar adventure. In part 1 I am covering the practical side of the equipment whilst in part 2, I will actually give you a run down of each country. However seeing as I haven’t been through all the countries yet the second part will have to wait a few more weeks. Incidentally in a bid to be home with Katie for Christmas I have seriously increased my daily mileage and I am almost out of Malawi.

So what would I consider to be indispensable equipment when cycling through Africa? Well the truth is I would only say that you actually need 4 things: A bike (and I think that Herbert has proved that it can be pretty much any old bike), a set of cloths (as much to protect you from the sun as for common decency), your passport (with any relevant visas etc.) and money. Thats pretty much it. Of course there are a number of other items you can bring that will aid you on your journey but that is actually all you NEED.

The items that will make your life more comfortable and considerably easier are actually pretty limited as well. A map is a huge help and I would recommend getting a waterproof one even if its going inside a waterproof pouch. A waterproof bag that fits onto your handlebars to put everything in that you can take off easily and carry around with you. A first aid kit is an excellent idea but you can buy most basic drugs in towns and cities so don’t go OTT with a medi kit that will allow you to perform open heart surgery on the side of the road!!!! Most importantly make sure you have what you need to clean cuts and cover them up. Malaria tablets are a good idea and although they are considerably cheaper out in Africa they have a huge problem with counterfeits so be careful. A tool kit, the reason this isn’t on the essential list is because no matter where you go, no matter how small the village, somebody will have enough tools and knowhow to fix your bike. That said I give you about 5 days before they drive you completely crazy with their ‘African Way’ of fixing things so I would probably recommend taking a good multi tool with you, a few spare parts such as an extra inner tube and a pump. Incidentally something that we never found written anywhere in any of the ‘Cycling Africa guides’ before we left, was that African pumps are designed exclusively to fit to their special African valves and they wont fit on standard European valves!!! Depending on the countries your planning on cycling through, a helmet is also not a bad idea. I was torn between putting the next item in the essential list but decided that it was in fact just a very useful item and not critical for success… a bell (make it as loud as possible). Something that I never really used until reaching Malawi were water purification drops (iodine). Up until Malawi you could buy drinking water on the side of the road every few kilometers (its relatively expensive but worth it) but its a real rarity in Malawi so I would just check with somebody that has been to your destination before deciding whether to take any. A cycling computer can be both your best friend and your worst enemy but in the long run is probably a good thing. Not so you can gloat over how far you have cycled but so you can get an idea of distances between towns and villages. Unfortunately on a bad day you stare at it every 2 minuets and painfully watch the kilometers creep by.

No trip is complete without it’s luxury items. My luxury items constitute about 70% of all my equipment amazingly. This is predominantly cameras, batteries and chargers. When ever I look in other peoples equipment they have the most obscene amount of adapters to convert plugs for one country to another, which take up vast amounts of space. If space and weight is a premium, as it is on a bike, then cut out the middle men. At almost all borders you can buy plugs for that country (just the plastic housing with the relevant contacts), if you take your one off and give it to them, they will usually exchange it for the next one you need. Aside from all my electronic equipment that I use for filming, taking photos and writing posts my most useful luxury item is my ‘Panga Knife’ (It’s basically a 50cm machete). On top of acting as a generally very useful tool (for opening coconuts or cutting pineapples etc.) it is a good deterrent and protection against animals. You can pick them up pretty much anywhere for about $3 to $5.

One of the things that I have deliberated over quite considerably is my tent… To take a tent or not to take a tent? In conclusion I would have to say that there is no real need for camping equipment (tent, mattress or sleeping bag). Almost every single village and town has rest and guest houses that cost between $3 and $7. In your room you usually get a towel, a shower, a bed and a toilet. They are designed for truckers to stop at and so some are slightly on the noisy side and prostitutes are no rare sight but they are perfect for a traveler needing a rest and a wash. The reason I have started to prefer these to camping is that the room is more spacious than a tent, cooler, they have plugs and all your kit is together and out of sight. On top of this tents are usually soaking in the morning from dew, condensation or rain and if they are designed to be animal proof then they will probably weigh in excess of 10kg.

Of course it is going to depend on the purpose of your journey as to what equipment you will take and you will have to make the decision to balance up what you are going to take versus the amount of effort you will need to peddle it along. However I hope that you will see from what I have put in the indispensable list that actually you really don’t need much kit at all. Africa is pretty much designed to accommodate its own people and by extension if you can live like them it will also accommodate you.

 

Well as you are all aware now, Katie has returned home for her operation and after considerable deliberation we decided that I should stay out here and finish the journey. The last few days have been difficult for everybody and I just wanted to thank you all for the support you have given Katie since she got back. Just to add to the already complicated situation we have had the video camera that we are using to document the journey stolen!!! This in it’s self has caused us a major headache logistically. I can’t carry on without it and we have no idea how long the insurance company will take to get us a new one. In any case we are working furiously to try and solve the problem and I’ll let you know as soon as a solution presents itself. I also noticed that loads of people have emailed complaining about the security code on the comments not working so I have removed it, very sorry about the inconvenience.

In the mean time I thought I would tell you about the ‘African Way’!!! So what is the ‘African Way’? Well it would be slightly presumptuous of me to generalize all of the following as endemic to all of Africa but I can certainly say that they all have happened in varying forms along the journey so far!

The first of these phenomenons is that everything is done in ‘African Time’! African Time is a concept that was specifically designed to drive you completely crazy if you let it. In England if you happen to be one of the ‘cool’ gang you turn up fashionably late to events. Personally I find it discourtesy to turn up late (even if it is cool) but I can understand arriving half an hour late or so to a function as that is your prerogative. Over here however the meaning of ‘fashionably late’ is taken to a whole new level, in fact I would go as far as to say it is just plain ridiculous. If you arrange to meet somebody at a given time (as we did a short while back) you would expect them to turn up some time vaguely resembling the agreed one… not a bit of it! Everything happens at least 1-2 hours late and if you make provisions for this, it will turn into 3 or 4. It’s truly unbelievable that people turn up to meet us 5 hours late without batting an eyelid!!!

The next ‘African Way’ I would like to introduce you to is the law of subtraction! This is the simplest of all rules and it dictates that by African standards it is always better to remove parts (or modify parts) rather than add them. OK so this doesn’t sound too bad on the face of it but let me give you a small insight into the kind of thing I am talking about. A few days ago a nut fell of my bike (again) and I had to push it to the
nearest village (again) to get a spare. I went to a bike repair shed, pointed out the problem, asked for a replacement nut and went to the shop next door to buy a bottle of water. When I came back I found the man hitting my bike with a hammer! I let out a yelp and rushed over to find that instead of simply adding a nut like I asked he had hit the end of the bold with his hammer so hard that it had splayed out and jammed itself into its slot never to be removed. He then sat open handed with his toothless grin waiting for me to pay him for his ‘fantastic service’. My burning desire to hit him was increased exponentially as he tried to charge me for the use of his hacksaw when I tried to cut the bold out! This rule is basically true for all things. I have seen fixes going on in workshops that would quite literally make you stand and stare a gasped! I was discussing this phenomenon recently and I was told a story about a man who’s brake pads (on a car) were completely worn down and instead of getting new ones he simply padded them out with cardboard and was upset when he was pulled over by the police with flames pouring out the side of the wheel!!! They start with the smallest of problems and instead of fixing it properly, they make the problem exponentially worse with each ‘fix’!

Whilst I am on the topic of mechanical fixes I thought you might like to have a short run down of all the parts we have been through since we started our journey one month ago. This is partly due to the fact that in order to make the parts affordable for local people they are produced in China at a less than perfect standard. The other day when we were repairing her rear wheels first puncture we were amazed to find 5 other repair patches on the inner tube! Quite amazing considering we bought her brand new wrapped in bubble wrap and card board!!!

Inner tubes x 3
Puncture Repairs x 9
Chains x 5
Brake cables x 2
Brake cable sheaths x 2
Brake pads x 4
Wheels x 1
Steering column x 1
Saddle post x 1
Rear sprocket x 1
Peddles x 2
Whole bikes x 1
And counting….

The next ‘African Way’ is the statement ‘I think this is not possible’. I have now heard this statement so many times that it has begun to make me laugh. In retrospect I think this statement is trying to say one of three things; either ‘I can’t be bothered because it sounds like hard work!’, ‘I have no idea’ or ‘I genuinely don’t believe this can be achieved’. The latter of these meanings is only used, I think, when ever I tell anybody what I am doing. This statement seems to be a standard default statement when ever I ask a question that requires a person to actually help. Just a few days ago I tried to draw some money out of an ATM but was faced with a message on the screen saying that the machine was currently out of service. So I asked the security guard where the nearest ATM that worked was. He looked at his watch, made a deep and purposeful noise as he sucked air through his tightened lips and promptly said ‘I think this is not possible for you to get there today’. Being only 9 am on a Tuesday in a major city I was perplexed by the statement. The only rational reasoning I could conclude to this when I found the next ATM no more than 250m away, was simply that he couldn’t be bothered to get up out of his seat, walk to the street corner to point to it.

Of course the ‘African Way’ drives me completely crazy but it does have a certain charm in its own special way, you simply have to accept it and let it go over your head.