Daves Travel Pages

A travelogue site

Cycling from England to South Africa    July 2006 - May 2007 



Full list of Travelogue updates in order

From where to where

A brief summary describing what happened

Northampton to Dover I tried to use mainly Sutrans routes, first from Northampton to Oxford, then from Oxford to London, and finally, from London to Dover.
Dover to Charleville Halfway across France, and a no worries mate thing happening.
Charleville Mezziers to Strasbourg This travelogue page update comes from the border between France and Germany.
Strasbourg to Blaustein  Details of the start of the River Danube cycleway section of my cycling trip.
Blaustein to Schonau Over 2000kms covered already. Still following the River Danube cycleway, and close to .
Schonau to Budapest A successful end to the River Danube section of my cycling trip. Budapest is a lovely city, and I took a couple of days off to let my legs recover!
Budapest - Carta Cycling through the south of Hungary and into Romania, the home of Vlad the Impaler and , erm, Vlad the Impaler.
Carta - Madara Lots of lovely hills! This section covers the last part of Romania, and through into Bulgaria.
Madara - Istanbul This travelogue update follows my journey through to Turkey and Istanbul, which now I look at it from the map, seems a long way from England and even further from South Africa!
Istanbul A week off in Istanbul, where I rested my legs, and got the bike serviced. (hmm.. still unsure about the quality of work though!!). My brother flew over for a pint or two, as you do, and we had a good time catching up.
Istanbul - Ankara A minor chain disaster meant that I had to re-route to Ankara to buy more spares.
Ankara - Goreme Reaching Goreme and seeing how spectacular the landscape was, I decided to take a few days off from cycling and be a regular tourist for a while. 
Goreme - Antakya This update covers my cycling journey from Goreme to Antakya.
Antakya - Damascus I cycled into Syria, and I have been amazed by how friendly and hospitable everybody is. Check out this travelogue update for more! 
Damascus - Petra The cycling journey through Jordan could have been more enjoyable if the kids didn't throw stones.
Petra - Suez I finally finished the Kings Highway in Jordan, and caught the ferry over to Egypt. I've just cycled through the Sinai, and am now in Suez which is officially on the African continent. Check out this travelogue update for more! 
Suez - Cairo A few days off in Cairo, where visa applications and pyramid visiting was the done thing.
Cairo - Luxor This update covers my visa applications for Sudan and Ethiopia, as well as my visit to the magnificant pyramids at Giza. Check out this travelogue update for more details.
Luxor - Khartoum This travelogue update is the largest so far, but it's been a pretty intense experience cycling through the deserts of Sudan. 
Khartoum - Gondar Happy New Year 2007 from Ethiopia!! After leaving Sudan, the roads turned to gravel as they crossed the highlands of northern Ethiopia. I reached Gondar in one piece though, and had a well deserved shower!
Gondar - Addis Ababa It took longer getting through to Addis than I thought, and I had a broken spoke along the way, which didn't help matters. I'm now thirty five years old. Is it time to settle down yet? My arse it is !
Addis Ababa - Nairobi Its difficult to desciribe just how much I hate Ethiopia, but i finally escaped, and am now in Kenya. Sausage, egg and chips followed by Guiness. plus, they drive on the left... it can't get any better!!!
Nairobi - Dar Es SalaamAnother update, another country! Now I am in Tanzania. The people are friendly, the roads good, and the weather VERY hot! I am having a few problems with my tyres and inner tubes, so it looks like I will be here a week whilst I get some sent over via DHL from England. Ouch. Thats another item on my tab to pay off when I get back home !!
Dar Es SalaamThis is probably not the most exciting travelogue update that I've ever made, but then again, it hasn't been the most exciting week either! Basically, i've been waiting in Dar Es Salaam for a package to turn up from England with my new tyres and inner tubes. I suppose I could have gone over to Zanzibar for the week, but I've walked on a thousand beaches before and will probably walk on another thousand in the future. I've never spent a week being mind numbingly bored before though, so this is an important first for me. Life is about experience, the ups, the downs, and the in-betweens, so I thought I'd give being bored a go !!
Dar Es Salaam - MbeyaBack on the road again, and it feels good!! I've blasted across Tanzania, and am just a day away from the border with Malawi. Plus, I got to see some elephants!!
Mbeya - LilongweThings are still going well, and I've enjoyed my time cycling beside Lake Malawai. I am now in the capital, Lilongwe, where I am spending a couple of nights before crossing into Zambia.
Lilongwe - LusakaIn my first country beginning with the letter Z !! Welcome to Zambia.
Lusaka - LivingstoneThe journey continues through Zambia, and even though the landscape was pretty uninspiring, I eventually reached Livingstone and Victoria Falls which is just awesome.
Livingstone - GaboroneMore elephant sightings as I cycled towards Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. There were some pretty long days, but the roads were good. Botswana is a little more expensive than the other countries I've travelled through, which was a bit of a shock to the system though!
Gaborone - SpringbokI've made it into South Africa at last! When I look on a map and see how far I have travelled on the bicycle, I can hardly believe it. There is still about 600 kms to go though, and as the bike is now held together by pieces of elastic and good will it might not be as straightforwards as I would like!
Springbok - Cape TownI've finally made !!! After ten months of cycling through 20 countries I've reached Cape Town, and it's time to party! 







 


 

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