Category: Uncategorized
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TOUR D’AFRIQUE 2023: Sliding Headfirst into Botswana
After three glorious days of rest and exploring “The Smoke that Thunders,” we prepared to leave Victoria Falls and cross the border into Botswana, the ninth country we would visit on our tour. The day’s ride was short, only 50 miles, and despite a border crossing, we would arrive in camp early. Early enough to…
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TOUR D’AFRIQUE 2023: The Smoke That Thunders
After experiencing ancient Egypt and following the Nile into Sudan, after innumerable children shouting “How are YOU?”, women along the road toting bundles on their heads, men on bikes and countless coke stops and roadside markets, after celebrating the halfway point in Lilongwe, Malawi we had now been on the tour over 2 months and…
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Tour D’Afrique 2023: On The Road Again – Coke Stops.
We have talked about riding through the African landscape encountering roadside markets, wildlife, colorfully dressed women carrying their burdens on their heads and men on bikes. However, by far the best encounters were the Coke Stops. Coke Stop was the name given to our rest stops. Before cellphones and the internet, it was the internationally…
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Tour D’Afrique 2023: On The Road Again -Men on Bikes
Every day while riding the roads through the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia, we were face to face with people. Whether they were going to work, coming home from work or at work, the road sides were a bee hive of activity of normal everyday people going about their daily tasks.…
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Tour D’Afrique 2023: On The Road Again
One of the most gratifying things a writer can experience is when their work generates a discussion and even better when something new is learned. That happened to me last week after writing a light hearted piece about biking down African roads and seeing women walking ramrod straight carrying almost imaginable loads on their heads.…
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TOUR D’AFRIQUE 2023: Along the Road – But Can She Carry a 5 Gallon Bucket of Water?
Somewhere along the road, it was riding out of Nairobi and into the Masai Steppe; I got the feeling that I wasn’t seeing Africa. All I was seeing, I thought, was the asphalt and gravel roads ahead of me. But I was wrong. All I had to do was shift my gaze slightly to the…
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TOUR D’AFRIQUE 2023 – Duct Tape Failure
It’s been a while since I’ve posted and there are a multitude of reasons which I may or may not get into in due time. I fully expect to document the entire tour but it has not been easy. The following story however almost writes itself. It explains everything and it explains nothing. It explains…
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TOUR D’AFRIQUE 2023 – Ngorongoro – Mother Nature vs. Human Nature
Note: this blog is not in chronological order. These events occurred February 20- 21, 2023 Sometime around 22-25 million years ago East Africa began to split in two. Theories are still debated as to how and why but basically Earth’s crust began pulling apart at the rate of a few millimeters a year. This thinned…
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TOUR D’AFRIQUE – “How are YOU?”
Today, Sunday, March 12, was our first full day of riding in Zambia, our sixth country on the tour. Never in my life have more people been concerned with my personal well being! ‘How are you?” I had decided yesterday that Zambia was the most civilized country we have yet been in. This observation was…