I just finished my first long distance tour from Alaska to Argentina, and I'm looking for the next challenge. I think South Africa to Norway would be sweet, but crossing Africa seems like it could be complicated. My ideal route would be to start in Cape Town, ride the Dragon's Spine Route to Zimbabwe and then cut back across and continue up the west side to Gibraltar.
If anyone here has ridden something like that I would love to chat. My main questions are about how to get visas (I'm from The US), what resupply is like, and how to wild camp safely. It seems like there are a lot of awesome national parks in southern Africa. Is it possible to ride across them, or are they just for safaris? Also any route advice and recommendations would be welcome. Thanks!
by Hammagua
8 Comments
I think you’re going to struggle doing that route solo. There is a great YouTube series by a guy called Russ Cook who ran that exact route (via Namibia not Zim). Probably worth a watch to get a sense of what you have in store. He had visa issues etc but most importantly did it with a support vehicle. These are challenging places to be solo, makes LatAm look like Switzerland.
Do you speak French or Arabic? You’ll find it easier if you do!
What’s wrong with a modified Cape to Cairo route?
Is this like a long weekend?
I have been following Heike’s blog for a while – she travelled around the world more or less and spent a lot of time in Africa, including several countries in West Africa. You could have a look here:
[https://pushbikegirl.com/category/africa/?lang=en](https://pushbikegirl.com/category/africa/?lang=en)
I did a tour in Morocco a couple of years ago (Casablanca-Marrakesh-Fes-Rabat).
For starters, You must Bless the rain down in Africa.
Dont!
Josh Allgeier did the same thing from North to South solo. Check him out
Try not to die
Do not ride south to north, especially across the Sahara. The prevailing wind is from north to south and really strong through the desert. You’ll be putting in max effort and struggling to get 15km/h. There’s little water available and a long ride between stops. Do it north to south instead, but be prepared to spend a lot of money on visas. Depending on your nationality you could be spending £2000 on visas alone.