Cycling Cairo to Cape Town: What an Experience
Ex leading camera retailer Paul Farrow talked to us about his epic ~12,000 km cycling journey through Africa with his wife Wendy.
Married with four children, Paul enjoys athletics, running marathons, fly fishing and cycling. He remembered attending a course titled: “The Psychology of Winning” and valued learning an approach based on the idea that: “If it's meant to be it's up to me".
Some time ago Paul also saw the value in makiing a “Lifetime List”, also known as a bucket list. He is currently on his third one.
He has also learnt that when you are at the start of large project the end can almost seem impossible so, instead of letting the brain say: “I can't do it” he decided instead to take the approach of thinking to himself: “I can” by taking one step at a time along the journey.
Paul had already completed various trips of increasing length on bikes and, after learning about the Cairo to Cape Town trip, Wendy and he decided to give it a go.
At the start of the trip Paul and Wendy found that their equipment was over the weight limit and had to spend an additional $3,000 to cover it. Their second challenge was medical insurance as this was not available for 9 of the 12 countries involved. Getting sufficient cover cost more than the airfares.
Prior to the trip, there was a terrorist attack in Egypt and his daughter tried to persuade them not to go but the challenge was too enticing.
With respect to equipment, they chose to purchase heavy iron bikes that included solar power. This. However, didn't always work when the temperature rose above 30 degrees. Another challenge was that the bikes ended up arriving at a different destination to where they did but they finally turned up[ at the correct place.
While some competitors did the whole trip, others came and went for various sections along the way. The total journey averaged out at 128 km per day plus rest days.
Travelling through Egypt had some risk and they were surrounded by armed forces and transport for much of this journey which made them feel like diplomats.
Every day involved a 5:30 a.m. start. After 80 km they stopped for lunch with support vehicles carrying supplies. They had to manage navigating which proved challenging at times as kids along the way stole guide tape markers.
At each stop they had to buy buckets of water to wash with but often found using wet wipes was a better option. After a meal and freshening up it was off to bed at sunset feeling exhausted.
On their best day they achieved 120 km at 40 kph thanks in part to a good back wind. They continued all the way to Sudan escorted by guards.
When they got to the Sahara Desert the roads stopped and the temperatures rose to almost 50 degrees Celsius. It took 8 hours to go 80 km. On their second night many participants suffered from sunstroke but got their temperature down by using ice packs and intravenous drips.
On going through the capital, Khartoum, they were pleasantly surprised to find the Sudanese people friendly and proud. They met one guy who they offered money to but he refused as just meeting them was reward enough.
They also got invited to a local house for tea which had no roof as there is no rain there. One old bloke asked how old they were. When Paul told him that they were in their 60s his advice was: "Stay close to the mosque".
Ethiopia was a challenge and disconcerting as they had stones thrown at them. The other downside was that in the Sudan they had to do without alcohol as the penalty was 50 lashes.
At this stage the group skipped part of the ride due to high risk and flew on to a safer place to continue their journey from.
In Kenya they received overwhelming support with people racing out to meet and wave to them. They also got the opportunity to rest and also caught up with their daughter who works there as a nurse aide.
“By this stage we were physically and mentally fatigued by the many issues we had faced and getting close to a point where we wanted to give up” said Paul. Many did leave but they joined others who decided to carry on.
The pollution in Kenya was horrific but on going into Uwanda they found to their surprise that plastic bags are illegal and their luggage was searched to make sure they wenren’t bringing any into the country. Paul also mentioned that once a year everyone cleans the streets on a given day in order to help keep plastic bags at bay.
Another highlight of Uwanda was the gorillas. They had a person protecting them from them but this seemed to be more because of the risk from terrorists.
The next stage through Uganda included a rough section of sand and rocks. They also had food poisoning go through the camp with those affected being taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. When they left they were worried about what the bill might be but it only cost $17.95 which was amazingly cheap.
Malawi was the poorest country they experienced and from there they went on through Botswana and Zimbabwe where Paul finally got to buy some Kentucky Fried Chicken. What a treat it was! Also, at this stage, some of the vegetarians on the journey reverted to eating meat as most of them had lost a lot of weight and needed to ensure they had enough reserves left for the rest of the trip.
Paul also espied a Crusaders flag at a camping ground in Botswana as the locals are huge rugby fans. They also experienced lots of animals and at 2 am on night an elephant walked through the camp looking for food in the tents.
While in Namibia they noticed that the locals mostly talked German as they still had a strong connection to their past. It was a very scenic country and quite a few of the group took the opportunity to attend a Dawn Anzac service. “Other attendees wondered if they were a bunch of nutters when they were told we had cycled all the way from Cairo and they wondered why we bothered doing this.
“Four months later we finally made the finish line in Cape Town. It was an amazing and memorable experience and we look forward to our next challenge with interest” smiled Paul.