Soul of Africa Tour - Copenhagen to Cape Town

Although I hadn’t asked for a wake up call, mr Gamal took it upon himself to give me a call at 07.00 as I had told him the evening before I wanted an early start. I haven’t used an alarm clock for years, and always wake up 5 minutes before the time - almost to the second, so I was ready to go to the rooftop restaurant for breakfast, when he called.

My police escort let me off the hook about 500 meters from the Alhambra Hotel in Luxor, where I had booked one night. They called the manager of the hotel, and a few minutes later he arrived on his small Chinese motorcycle, to show me to the hotel. It was well hidden on the westbank of the Nile. Walking into the fenced courtyard from the sandy, dusty and narrow alleyway outside, was just like entering an oasis (see pic). Very neat and tidy place, run and managed by Mohamad who turned out to be an incredibly helpful and caring host.

Leaving Luxor early the next morning I was delighted to find that there was no police vehicle waiting to escort me, so I could get on with my 300 km trip to Aswan. The first 50 km I drove along the eastern side of the river, with it’s numerous speed bumps as well as many small fires right next to the road. It’s the Egyptian way of getting rid of all their rubbish. You just cannot avoid the smoke and it gives off really nauseating fumes, which on the bike with a helmet can be quite sickening.

Arriving at the Sudanese Consulate at 11.00 I was told that my visa was ready, and he would bring my passport as soon as he had finished attending to the pile of applications on his desk. Take a seat in the waiting room, and I will be with you shortly, he said. 

On the Sudanese side I started proceedings by offloading all bags on the bike for screening. On to passport control which took about half an hour. I also tried to contact the person that Osama at Hotel Tuya had told me about. After a while a man turned up and asked for the various documents, and he would get me through the system. He asked me to sit down and grab a cup of coffee while he did the running around. Twice he came back and told me how far he had gotten in the proceedings.

I left Karima early in the morning as I wanted to see if I could reach Khartoum before evening. It was a trip of some 500 km, through desolate desert most of the way. I filled both fuel bladders to the brim, when I finally - on my third attempt - found a fuel station with fuel. It would turn out to be a good decision, as there was no fuel available on the few stations along the way, and I had to empty both bladders into the tank, to reach my destination.

Osama, the manager of the Tuya hotel in Abu Simbel, is a really helpful man. He found out that I would have to be at the ferry around 06.30, to sail across Lake Nasser to Quasar. He then asked the young man, Mohamed, who had checked me in the day before, to arrange for coffee at 06.00 and also get me a breakfast packet to take along. He also called a friend in Wadi Halfa, where I could stay the first night in Sudan. As if that wasn’t enough, he gave me the name of a person at customs on the Sudan side, I should ask for when I arrived there. 

I left the German Guest House already by 5.30. The guy drivning the tuktuk knew me from the two previous days when he had driven me to the Ethiopian Consulate, so I just jumped in and we were on our way! The plan was that I would collect my passport with the visa, go back to the German Guest House, pack my bike and be on my way. I hoped to leave around 10.00. 

With a population of some 110 million people, Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa after Nigeria. Driving along the Ethiopian roads you quickly find out that it can be quite difficult to find a spot where you stop without interference from anyone. To take a picture, enjoy the view, check your bike, have a bit to drink or eat. Usually, within minutes you will have any number of friendly Ethiopians watching you.

Just before eight I spotted Richard at the entrance to the lodge, and we went straight down to the entrance where I paid for the 50$ ticket.

I had a fair distance to cover to reach Lalibela, so got an early start, driving in the most glorious sunshine back towards Gondar. No cars, no people, no animals.

My original plan had been to spend a day or two at Wim’s Holland House in Addis Ababa, a meeting point for many overlanders, and I had really looked forward to meeting other travelers. A quick calculation of the remaining distance to the Kenyan border at Moyale, made it clear that there would be no chance of a stopover at Wim’s - I would have to go straight for the border to meet the 28/9 deadline.

Debre Sina to Addis Ababa is a distance of about 200 kilometers on good roads. Approaching Addis the roads started getting a lot busier. I didn’t want to go through the centre of the capital, and drove through the city on the eastern side. Lots of construction in progress, with buildings going up everywhere, both residential and business. On the way to Addis I also passed several major Chinese industrial estates. I hope the Ethiopians haven’t sold their soul to the Chinese!

Immediately after the guard had opened the gate to let me into Kenya, I realized that I would now have to drive on the left hand side of the road for the first time since leaving Denmark. It was midday, and perfect driving conditions for the 260 km to Marsabit - once again on a superb road with virtually no traffic. I was now driving through “real Africa” terrain, savanna as far as the eye could see, in all directions. After all the mileage I had done through the desserts of Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, I so enjoyed this change in scenery.

Leaving Denmark at the beginning of August was not ideal from a climatic point of view - 2 or 3 weeks later would have been better. The first two months of the trip I encountered extreme heat until I reached Ethiopia. It is incredible, however, how the body adapts to all sorts of challenging exposure from the weather. Hydration, no doubt, is the key to a pleasant trip. I rather drank too much than too little, and when John and Oddrun from Norway, took petty on me in Khartoum, Sudan and offered me John’s Camelbak hydration pack, it became a “piece of cake” to stay tanked up!

Bible and Mission Centre (BMC) in Denmark is doing a great job with a number of churches in Africa. One of the stars in the crown has to be BMC Arusha. I had left a message for Pastor David to contact me, and Saturday morning I was fetched at Malaika by Joy, a minister at the church (worship). 

I had a long day ahead of me, and left Malaika early. Arusha is a sizable city and traffic wouldn’t let go until I was about 10-15 kilometers out of the city. While in Arusha, I had admired Mount Meru, with a hight of 4562 meters, the fifth highest mountain in Africa. Today I didn’t get much of a view, with the weather being overcast and a light drizzle. Later in the morning I would be skirting the famous Mount Kilimanjaro, at 5985 meters Africa’s highest mountain, and hoped to get a good view of the peak. Sadly, that was not to be.

Approaching Zanzibar, our ferry “The Flying Horse” found its way around a few container ships and yachts, and soon we could all disembark at Stone Town, the capital of Zanzibar. Most people refer to the capital as Zanzibar. Although the archipelago is part of Tanzania, you still have to go through security check and customs, and fill in an entry form for “The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar”.

For 3 straight days I would be heading almost due west, traversing Tanzania from Dar es Salaam to the border of Malawi, and mighty Lake Nyasa. It turned out to be 3 glorious days of motorcycle riding in supreme weather in central Africa, through changing landscapes. Peaks and valleys, farm land, pine forests, pineapple fields, and even lush green tea plantations in the southwestern part of Tanzania. Some of the best riding days on the trip so far, the type of conditions every avid motorcycle rider dreams of.

It was a short 120 km drive from Utengule to the border crossing. Malawi is one of several African countries that has increased visa fees considerably in the past two years. The visa fee is now $ 75,00 + $ 20,00 RAF (road access fee) - payable in US$ only. The exit from Tanzania was fast and efficient, passport stamped, carnet for the bike sorted and I could drive the couple of hundred meters to Malawi customs. It took about an hour for the Malawi side to issue my visa, stamp my passport and fill in and stamp my Carnet de Passages.