Itsalongway

Saturday 22 June 2013

Didn't work out. See you later alligator!

Thursday 16 May 2013

Ethiopia

My trip has sadly come to a grinding halt. I've spent two weeks in Addis Ababa atempting to get a Sudanese visa all to no avail, the best they would do was a 10 day transit visa and would not confirm that I could renew it in Sudan. I was not prepared to take the chance so I've flown home to the UK to try and arrange a visa from here. I'm totally unimpressed with the whole sorry saga but no one said this was going to be easy!

My ride to Addis Ababa was an absolute nightmare, the youth of Ethiopia are the pits, I was stoned, hit with sticks, pulled off my bike and if that was not enough two kids attmpted to stab me. I had read that the kids here were challenging but nothing could have prepared me for what actually happened.

These blokes have travelled from India on their camels, they were headed for Kenya.


Ant hill

Down town Addis Ababa

Northern Kenya (wild, wet country and visa issues)

Northern Kenya is a very beautiful, wild and harsh place. The not so long arm of the law doesn't reach these parts and it's more or less lawless. I cycled through here in the belief that there were no issues, and to be fair I had none apart from the appalling road.
I had been turned back when I tried to ride up the west side of Lake Turkana due to security problems and was told there were no issues here. I only became aware of the risk when I reached the first sizeable town and people wanted to know how I'd managed to get there with out being robbed or worse. I'm glad I didn't know at the time as I had my hands full with the state of the road and the amount of pushing and falling off I had been engaged in.

I arrived at the Ethiopian border in the belief that I could get a visa there only to be told I could not, no amount of pleading or begging was going to change the situation, they were unmoved. I had no option but to go to Nairobi 800km away and get one from their Embassy. To say I was pissed off by this rather unwelcome development would be an understatement. So here I am sat in Nairobi on a Saturday night waiting for the Embassy to open on Monday morning so that I can organise a $20.00 visa! Nobody said this was going to be easy! Damn glad I didn't make it up the west side of Lake Turkana as I would have been faced with at least a 1100km trek to Nairobi, if that had happened I would most certainly have given up the will to live.

Dida Galgalu Desert

Goff Chuba Crater

Dust storm blowing up in the Dida Galgalu Desert

This is a road and not a river bed.

Sigiso Plain

Road partly washed away, building a stone bridge to try and get trucks across. Security in this whole area is very dodgy, highjacking, kidnapping and banditry are the order of the day.

This is how soft the ground is after the rain.

An Austrian couple that have driven around every continent on their way home after travelling down the west coast of Africa, they have done over 180 000km in this 1200cc beetle!

This is what happens when it rains in the desert, how are you supposed to ride a bicycle through that when 4x4's are getting bogged down?

A storm moving across the sunset.

Friday 29 March 2013

Mozambique (better late than never...)

Having had a few months to get over the experience here are the photo's to go with the blog, just to keep the record straight!

A hotel at Xai Xai that originates from the colonial days that's been abandoned. There are a lot of buildings and amenities in this state.

Thursday 28 March 2013

Kenya (so far)

Kenyan Distance runners high altitude training center

Rift Valley

A bunch of lads I met on the way down into the valley

Rift Valley

Francine, Jaz and Larry Carruthers. Larry is a Pastor and together with Francine runs a home for orphaned children along with a church and various clinics. I stayed with them for a couple of days in Kitali, what wonderful people the spirit iscertainly lives with them, of that there is no doubt. I left feeling really inspired and renewed, it was a privilege to meet them.