Land!!!

Author: Jelle Veyt

  • Land!!!

    Land!!!

    After two and a half months on boats and being connected to the ocean, I was relieved to find my beloved bicycle in Panama. Alf, the captain, dropped me off on shore and from there on I headed off for what I like to do most: being on land. This whole period I was a bit stressed, nervous and excited!

    Logistics

    Before setting off in Belgium I already had to make a plan to get my bike to Central America. It wasn’t easy, because I didn’t really know where exactly I was arriving. I found the boat with Alf and Susanne heading to Panama. From then on I had a goal and tried to find a good solution to get it there. First I tried to find a shipment option, but soon I found out that this would be a bit complicated. A couple of days later I remembered that my good friends, Janna and Gertjan would go for 6 months to Central America. I asked them if they would like to fly first to Panama and take my bike. They immediately agreed to help me and Gertjan even knew some people living in Panama. He called them right away and in 30 minutes we had a plan and booked flights and luggage. So beautiful how this all works out and people from all around the world are willing to help. Thank you Gertjan, Janna, Liesbeth, family and Marie (my girlfriend) to help arrange all this! 

    Back to Bike!

    So finally on the 21st of January (2023) I set foot on land, in the small port of Carti. I said goodbye to Alf, Susanne, Neil and Nick, my sailing buddies. I had a good time with them on board, but I was extremely happy that this ocean journey was finally over. In the port itself I unboxed the bike and put everything back together. There I was, on my own, in this small port and ahead of me thousands of miles to cover. The first part was going to be difficult and I felt intimidated about the prospects of it. It was a strange feeling, for months I’ve adapted to some kind of protected environment. Always surrounded by a group of people I know and choose to be with. I felt vulnerable at the port, it was all on my own again and from then on it’s just me who had to do it. Despite all the experience I still encounter those emotions of excitement, stress, nervousness, and so much more and I’m so grateful that all of them are there!

    Harsh reality

    With a big (really big) smile, I’m heading out of the port on a dirt road to the jungle. The next 40 km was going to be hard, I read about steep and impassable roads. I thought being conservative in timing and 4 hours would be more than enough to cover this distance to the main road. I was so wrong! I would like to blame it on the steep roads, heat, bad surface, which all of those where present. But mainly because I didn’t do any decent cycling training in months! That first part was a serious attack on my body, I suffered a lot, but I enjoyed it at the same time. It all got me worried a bit, because the 29th my girlfriend was about to arrive in Costa Rica and I still had more than 900km to go….

    New Balance

    The attack on my body continued in the next days. I was still a bit land sick, which means your head is a bit wobbly from all the time on the boat. At the same time I needed to keep my balance on the bike because of the main road I was following. I wanted to get as fast as possible to Costa Rica so I decided to take the Pan-American highway. With months of seeing hardly any traffic it was quite impressive, especially Panama City and the Puente de las Americas where pretty impressive. Another adaptation was getting out of the watch rhythm that I had on the boat. We had watches at night and naps during the day disturbing a normal sleeping pattern. Now I cycled for 8 to 10 hours daily and tried to sleep in my tent somewhere I stranded. Still, I had an amazing experience throughout Panama and the views where amazing. 

    Steep learning curve

    Despite my lack of training I managed to get over an average of 100km a day and I was pretty happy with the progress. Even the border crossing with Costa Rica was the easiest I have ever done in my life. The change was quite visible, from a beautiful Panama, I entered an even more beautiful wildlife of Costa Rica. Off course I was only following the main highway but the change was pretty visible. The progress was still going great, not too many uphill, but I knew what was about to come. When Marie and I planned our ride together we decided that we will try to avoid the capital of Costa Rica, at least to cycle. So we found a place south of it, in the mountains. Needless to say, I regretted it when I was cycling there. The last 2 days before meeting up with her I had to cycle uphill. Already exhausted from the previous days this was not an easy task. 

    Luckily I found some motivation in the fact we didn’t see each other for 3 months. So there I went, from sea level, turn right…. Immediately it goes up, very steep! The whole day I’m cycling more than 10% of gradient the whole time. The first day I’m going up to 1000m. The next day I have to go up to 3300m, luckily on not such a steep road but still exhausting in my condition by then! With all determination I reach the top that day and by night I reach a place to camp and prepare for the arrival of Marie. 

    Happy and sad

    Finally, the 29th of January Marie arrives and we’re really happy to see each other. We will be riding Central America together for 2 months, possibly up to Mexico. But just 2 days later, I get the terrible news that a friend of mine (Eline) passed away. It really hit me up and I don’t really have words for it. Such a beautiful person, leaving us too soon in life…. 

    Many thanks to my sponsors who help me fulfil my dream!

  • The other side!

    The other side!

    After my days off the boat in Gran Canaria we finally departed on the 20th of November for the ocean crossing to saint Lucia. A crossing that was supposed to be straightforward didn’t live up to the expectations, one part of that is adventure for sure and I love that, another part left me quite frustrated. I’m happy there were some very nice people on board for my mental health. About that, I’ll get more into it in a next post.

    • happy climbing kiddo

    The big start!

    I was looking forward to the start of this crossing, not because of the sailing but mainly to get this done. A mistake I have made, because it made progress a bit more slow in my experience. When we started I was excited and the first night we had some high winds coming up. With the first mate I’m doing some manoeuvres on deck. For about 30 minutes we get swept by incoming waves and we make up a good fight to get all the rope and sail work done. I’m completely drenched, but pretty happy about the excitement, although he had to shout wat I need to do while doing it and not explaining beforehand. I speak French, but these sailing terms make it more complicated to me. 

    Fair winds

    The next days we get fair winds in a good direction and we’re making very good progress. I’m finding a bit more the rhythm of the watches. We have a schedule for 3 hours on, and 6 hours off. But it is hard for me to be on a boat like that mentally. I’m having some fun with nice people on board, but it gets very boring. I’m used of doing lot of physical activity in a day, and that gets reduced to 1 or 2 hours of exercise work. There are 3 English (native) and 8 French speaking people  on board and it seems that I’ve taken the role as a translator. The commands by the captain and first mate are given in French. It makes it a bit tiring because neither of both are my native language which means I regularly translate these in my head in 3 different languages. It’s especially difficult when not given the time to do that and people are just shouting what to do in general. 

    Who broke the boom?

    After 5 days of sailing I get up in the morning about to start my shift. The captain says, lets jibe (changing the direction of the sails). He yells to the people what they have to do and so we all do. Being at the helm, he gets a nice overview of what we are doing on the boat. One lady is winching the main sail and finds it very hard to do. There is something wrong, but the captain yells to hurry (nobody knows why we should hurry) and another guy jumps in to help. With 2 people they are winching hard on instruction, until BANG… The boom (horizontal part of the mast) breaks. A crazy sight to see and I think, fuck, it’s over. We have a big problem. The captain ended blaming the crew, which still frustrates me for not taking any responsibility. In the end we were still able to sail to Cape Verde to get it fixed. It ook 4 days to fix it in Cape Verde. For me a nice break from the sailboat but we still needed to do the crossing.

    • oops
    • playing football with the locals
    • training in Cape Verde

    The big blue

    The weather got a lot warmer from Cape Verde and the whole crossing was getting harder on me. We had some good winds, but after a while they dropped. So it became even harder and hotter. Sleeping is very hard, with 3 in a cabin an almost no ventilation. Regularly I try to find a place in the sail locker (which stinks from the moist) or at night on deck. We’re all in the same situation and mentally it was hitting me hard to be for such a long time on a boat. Dustin, who’s father worked for years on boats, told him once “boats are like prisons you can drown on”. To me it really felt like that. I get a big sense of freedom from my bike and climbing mountains. And I understand people get the exact same feeling on boats, but not me.

    • getting a sea bucket wash from Dustin
    • trying to find shade under the main sail

    Because of the low winds from time to time, the captain decides to motor parts of it. I think it’s sad, but as I explained in a previous post, this is a plan B where I didn’t have the luxury to take too long to decide on things and still better and more adventurous than flying to Denali. When we are all sick of being in this situation Aurore gets the best idea. Let’s just all turn things off and have a swim in the ocean. So we did and that was an amazing feeling, surrounded only by water and cooling off in it (I have a video of it which I couldn’t upload here with limited internet, but check my social media for that 😉 ).

    • thanks to the fishing crew for the amazing fish!
    • captain pancake at work
    • Dustin trying to save the bad carrots

    Land ahoy

    Finally after such a long time on this boat, I’m very happy to see first land. We arrive in saint lucia on the 15th of December. Most people rush off the boat (including me) because we have a big delay in the schedule. So the whole trip ended quite abruptly leaving me with mixed feelings about the whole crossing. In St Lucia I’m meeting up with Alf, the captain of the next boat which I will be crew on until Panama. Feeling hopeful for a better sailing experience we prepare for the next 1000 miles across the Caribbean Sea. 

    • Crossed the Atlantic!

    Sidenotes

    I learned my lessons about this crossing and people wanting to do a similar thing, you can contact me so I can explain the do’s and don’ts for this. I hate to do this, but in my 10 years of this adventure I never experienced something like this. I don’t want to get too deep into this and bashing people or a company, but I’m definitely not the only person with these feelings about it.

    Special thanks to my sponsors who help me make this crazy adventure come true!

  • Ahoy sailor

    Ahoy sailor

    After arriving in Lorient by bicycle it was finally time to start sailing on the 4th of November. I said a last goodbye to friends, family and my girlfriend and hopped on the “Albatros” with 9 other crew and 2 captains. I was a bit nervous about the start because conditions where expected to be quite hard in the Gulf of Biscay and I tend to get pretty seasick… Without too much sailing experience I set off on this boat.

    A rough start

    Before getting on board I took some seasickness pills and hoped for the best. We set the sails and started sailing on quite rough seas. Wind speeds picked up to 25-30 knots (gusts up to 40) with headwinds slowing down our progress. We agreed on doing watches in teams of 3hrs on and 6hrs off, which allows for a lot more rest (compared to my last rowing adventure). These first days on the ocean I was very careful about not getting sick. No reading, trying to be outside as much as possible watching the horizon and taking my pills to prevent sickness. It means I wasn’t eating that much in the first few days, feeling nauseous from the motion of the boat. But, to my great surprise I didn’t get too much of it (I only threw up twice). After a 4 days I was even able to cook some food and eat it!

    Learning the hard way

    Sleeping is not very luxurious in some kind of hammock bed, especially the first days, where the boat was hitting those big waves pretty hard. It’s hard to fall asleep when having those loud hits every couple of minutes.

    The sailing itself was a complete new experience to me and I had to learn fast. Luckily there are some experienced people on board who are helping me to understand. The boat is mainly French so using all these terms in another language is making it a lot harder to get the know of it. But I’m grateful to be sailing with such a wonderful team having the patience for me. After a couple of days I’m starting to feel like I’m contributing something on the boat.

    Finding Shelter

    When we almost crossed the Gulf of Biscay we had to find shelter in a port. There was a storm coming up and the captain decided to stay in the North Western part of Spain for a night. I think we were all pretty happy with that decision. It gave us the opportunity to have a good rest, food and a shower. The next day we start sailing again, against the last high winds of the storm, zigzagging our way through.

    But, after this we kinda got stuck in a zone without wind. Because we were on a timed schedule it meant we had to use the motor for that part. We had some extremely calm seas and it sucked to be using the motor. We were on and off the sails several times. I accept that as I’m considering this sailing as a plan B and still want to cross Siberia to Alaska one day. And, at the same time I already rowed to the Canary Islands before.

    After 13 days we finally reached Gran Canaria, here we are restocking and preparing for the Atlantic crossing. I’m happy to have found a good rhythm and trust for the next crossing. I’m starting to enjoy many aspects of sailing, but being not very physically active is hard for me. In the last days I was starting to do daily exercises to get rid of that feeling.

    The big depart

    We are leaving again on the 20th of November to do the big crossing. I’m feeling a lot more confident about the next part. This is part of a rally (ARC) where I think about 30-40 boats are participating in. It’s nice to be a part of it and meet likeminded people. Still, I’m enjoying my time on land for the moment, doing some running and climbing on Gran Canaria. I’m definitely looking forward to arrive in Panama where my bike is waiting for me and my girlfriend will join me cycling to Mexico.

    The next 20 days will be off grid and I’m very curious about this experience! See you on the other side!

  • Pushing the borders

    Pushing the borders

    After my relaxing stop with Mathias in Yaounde I was ready for another push towards the south. The Belgian stay was amazing (beer and fries!) and gave me a good time to mentally and physically recover. I got my visas for the next countries (Gabon and DRC) and was ready to go to Kilimanjaro!

    • rest stop

    From chaos to tranquility

    Every big city is chaotic to cycle though, Yaounde wasn’t very different. After a day I reached the Gabon border and I noticed an even more relaxed atmosphere. Crossing the border was easy, except they didn’t have any documents there. I had to cycle 30km to the next village and by the time I was there, the immigration closed. I had to stay for one night in a hotel and the next day they gave me a stamp so I could continue my journey in the tranquil Gabon.

    • natural cooling down places
    • Abandoned in the middle of nowhere???

    Good company

    The cycling was a bit hilly and the people are still very friendly, as usual saying hello everywhere I pass by. There’s less and less people but that’s okay, not too many cars either so I could enjoy cycling through the rainforest a lot! At the end of a day of cycling, in Oyem, I saw a cyclist and a backpacker on the side of the road. Birgit and Jonathan met each other the day before and we decided to camp together for the night. They’re going North, I’m going South. A perfect opportunity to exchange experiences and information about the route and roads coming up.

    • Jonathan and Birgit
    • Coffee time!
    • Company!

    From forrest to savanna

    Gabon is a really nice country to be cycling in. There are not many cars and mostly I saw trucks transporting big trees. Mainly these are Chinese companies exporting wood, the roads are obviously really good here.

    • perfect road and cooling down spot

    One day Birgit sends me that the borders are closed in Gabon, at least all land borders. She was stuck there for 2 days before they let her out and into Cameroon. Because of the news I’m getting more and more stressed but still try to enjoy the change in landscape. After cycling through the beautiful rainforest I’m entering the savannah.

    In these parts of Africa you see bushmeat everywhere. Almost every village I pas by I see barrels with dead animals hang around to be sold. It can be anything from lizards to gazelles and even monkeys. A very strange image to see this hanging at the side of the road. I don’t like it, but on the other hand it’s their source of income/food. The saddest part is that because of deforestation and poaching some of the species like chimpanzees and gorillas are endangered. In Yaounde (Cameroon), I visited a sanctuary to learn a bit more about their work. If you are around, it’s worth to visit the Mefou Primate Sanctuary.

    • Bushmeat
    • Bushmeat

    The savanna is a very beautiful and flat part with high grass which makes my progress much easier. The downside is that it gets really hot out there. The humidity and the sun at the equator give me a hard time when cycling trough the Savana. There’s no shadow from the rainforest to protect me. While cycling, it feels every moment a lion or elephant can pop up! But the only thing I see is some elephant dung and footprints. 

    • The equator!
    • no escaping the sun
    • the road to Congo
    • chilling out

    Corona heat

    Exiting Gabon was a bit stressful because I was afraid they wouldn’t allow me out, or allow me into Congo. They checked my fever twice, asked some questions, called around and after a couple of hours I could depart Gabon. On the other hand, entry in Congo was very easy. A very small village and the officials didn’t seem to care about anything.

    • my first camping spot in Congo
    • One of my “hotel” rooms
    • with shower and toilet

    I was supposed to pass different checkpoints, but none of them cared and said it was all fine. I didn’t mind and just got stamped in and was ready to go. The scenery was really beautiful and I continued my way to Dolisie, my first city in Congo. The first part was still pretty hard because of the burning sun. The dusty road through the savanna didn’t allow me to take some breaks from the sun. After 3 days and just 30 km before Dolisie the road was asphalt again and was just perfect until Pointe-Noire, an industrial city with some oil drills offshore. When I entered different people shouted at me: “corona!!” even 2 hotels didn’t allow me to stay there…

    • road to congo
    • stuck in the mud

    Closing time

    The day after my arrival in Pointe-Noire I heard the news about the borders getting closed. I called many people to get their opinion and I decided to stay and try to get back to Belgium. As soon as possible booked a flight back home, like many advised me to do. A day later the government suddenly shuts down their airspace so my flight got cancelled. I really wanted to prevent to be stuck there in Congo, sadly that didn’t work as planned. Luckily I met a German couple (Quirin and Lara) who are travelling by van. We decided to stay together and rent a house for the time we’re trapped here. That way I wasn’t alone being stuck and made things a bit more bearable. The Swiss consul helped us a lot. I got in touch with the Belgian consul and embassies to see if they could help me out.

    • Lara and Quirin’s van

    The whole situation was hard and confusing. It’s stressful, but I realise it’s very stressful for most people. I’m very happy my sponsors, friends and family called me regularly to check if I’m fine. It’s a perfect moment to appreciate that I’m surrounded by extremely wonderful people.

    The great escape

    After being stuck in Pointe-Noire for 2 weeks I got an email from the Belgian embassy. They said that there might be a chance I could fly out from Kinshasa. This is another country, there are 2 Congo’s. I had to get to Brazzaville that same day. With great luck I still find a place on the last domestic flight. The next day the confinement starts and all transportation is blocked. Our embassy was negotiating hard with authorities of both Congo’s (Brazzaville and Kinshasa). Brazzaville and Kinshasa are both the capitals and are separated by the Congo river, there is no bridge. They finally got a permission to pick me up by boat from the embassy and bring me to Kinshasa airport. Since the borders are closed this was not easy to negotiate. From Kinshasa there was a repatriation flight back to Belgium.

    • ready and packed
    • to the rescue
    • the fast boat to Kinshasa
    • back home

    After being 6 months and 14.000km away from home it is strange to be back. On one hand I’m happy and feel more relaxed because of the situation here is more comfortable. On the other hand I’m disappointed that I have to pause this adventure. I’m completely aware that this was the best decision and there’s nothing to blame me. Normally when I come back to Belgium I can see my friends and family, drink a beer and have fun. Now I can’t even hug or kiss my girlfriend, very strange times….

    Very thankful to my sponsors who support me to get this project done and supported me to get back to safety!

    and thanks for the great support!

  • Borderline problems

    Borderline problems

    After my visit to the monastery with its waterfalls and the Solar Sisters I was a bit reluctant to leave this beautiful and quiet place. But, the Eastern part of Nigeria was promising with quieter roads and the prospect of getting in the mountains gave me some energy to continue. 

    Royal visits

    The road took me more up North with some headwinds. Combined with the slightly hilly regions it got more difficult and realised I was still near the Sahara. Therefore the winds blow mostly from the North and some kind of fog seemed to be there most of the day: Sahara dust! 

    • Kids working hard here
    • notice the fog in the background

    One day I was cycling and a car stops and comes to talk to me. He introduces himself as being the King of one of the Kingdoms I will cycle through. He invites me to come over to talk and have some food, and so I do. A great surprise to be visiting His Royal Highness Dauda Haruna Umaru Tiisintai of the Suntai Chiefdom. He gives me food, we chat and then I continue my journey. Just before I leave he tells me to visit other Kings on my way. One of the other kings died recently but I can still sleep in his lodge because some servants are still there. The next day I visit His royal highness Alk. Zubairu Hamman Gabda Muhammadu Sambo of the Gashake Kingdom. I get to sleep on one of his domains and he takes great care of me. I get to see his horse and when leaving to go up into the mountains he offers me some money for the road, which I can’t refuse!

    Up to the hill

    The Mambilla plateau is the last obstacle before Cameroon. It takes me up to 1800 m on a steep (most of the part is 10% average) and winding road. I’m very happy this section is asphalted and I get into my climbing rhythm again. The climb is hard but beautiful and many people cheer me on the way up.

    • going up!
    • sunset on the mambilla plateau

    Once on the plateau, the climbing isn’t over. It’s a constant up and down and in Gembu I decide to take the road to Dorofi. That’s a small smuggling route with mainly dirt tracks. Absolutely stunning scenery and I get a feeling of being in the Alps. It’s a tough road with many steep parts, downhill isn’t relaxing and going up takes tons of effort. One hill I need to get off the bike and push. There a guy stops his motorcycle and helps me push it, very grateful because it was not an easy task! The atmosphere is really relaxed and people waving and greeting in every village.

    • steep hill ahead!
    • Great help from this guy

    Borderline intimidation

    Once in the border town of Dorofi I try to find a safe place to sleep. It is the border zone with Cameroon and because of the conflicts this is a “red zone”. They bring me to a bar with some “rooms” where I can sleep safely. A couple of hours later the army and an immigration officer come to me. The immigration officer is really angry and says I have a big problem. I try to ask why but don’t really get an answer. I try not be impressed, which is hard when these guys are standing around with their guns. Then the army officer takes me in the bar and explains me that it is not safe to sleep.

    • road to Dorofi
    • Sunset on the Mambilla plateau

    It feels that they’re trying to confuse me and get a “good cop, bad cop” story on me. I stay calm and the immigration officer wants to see my passport. When he sees my passport it seems I even have a bigger problem. There is something wrong with the stamp they gave me when entering (one of the numbers was wrong he said, while everything was correct and legal). I’m sure I did nothing illegal and tell him that if the migration officer gave me the wrong stamp when entering, he should call him and not put the responsibility on me. Then he told me they could bring me to Gembu, with my response “no problem sir, I’ll just have to call my embassy from there”. 

    Cooling down

    Things seem to calm down and then the military officer starts to talk to the people in the bar and around: “you can not just host these guys, white people here! They can be spies, or anything else. If you go to Europe the police does the same things,…” and many more lies about people and a place they know nothing about. They try to scare people and then take me to the immigration office (in Dorofi).

    There they tell me that all is fine. That being after my threat of calling the embassy and showing some recommendation letter of a friend of a very well known organisation. Then they start talking that if anything would happen to me they will burn down the bar! That seems completely crazy to me and we discuss the options while they try to confuse me. He explains me there’s something wrong with the stamp and that he is just helping me in case the Cameroon immigration will say something about that! A big lie off course, like the Cameroon immigration will know what Nigerian entry stamp would be correct…

    It’s a nightmare!

    They try to scare me more and tell me I shouldn’t sleep there. They say that the bar is dangerous and I have to sleep in the immigration office so the army can protect me. I don’t have much choice and I go for my bicycle and cycle in the middle of the night to their office, with armed escort. 

    That night I slept extremely bad, I sleep in the immigration officer’s room on my mattress. He is in his bed sleeping with his machine gun next to him. In the middle of the night he wakes up screaming with his gun! I wake up, he shouts something and falls asleep again. Seemed like a bad dream he had but it didn’t make me feel very comfortable. 

    In the morning I set off to the border with Cameroon, thinking how disgusting it was as a last experience in the otherwise beautiful country! Hoping Cameroon will be better again…. Besides this incident I really liked Nigeria and its people. It is an impressive country and the things that scared me the most was traffic. I actually never felt unsafe, but on the other hand I never camped in the wild here just for my safety…

    New hope

    I enter Cameroon easily, although it’s a demanding track again, especially after a night like that! Once I reach customs I can change some money and explain my story there. The officer there offers me to buy water for me and I set off into Cameroon. It feels different, people it’s less crowded, less chaotic and more relaxed, but it’s still not easy to cycle. It goes up and down and I feel getting exhausted!

    • The dusty road past Mayo Darlé
    • Camping at a church in Cameroon

    Every day I feel very tired and I’m looking forward to Yaoundé. Matthias lives there and will host me. He was in Belgium some days before and will bring some goodies that my mum and my girlfriend arranged to get to him (thank you so much you all!!! I enjoyed the candy, letters, beer,….). What a teamwork and I’m looking forward to the small gifts (including my spare credit card which got damaged) and definitely to some rest, food and social contact! I feel very drained both physically and mentally and then I realise I went quite hard the past weeks. Covering 5200km in 6 weeks from Dakar was a real rush, especially to get in time in Nigeria for my visa!

    Thanks to my sponsors to make this project possible, give them a thumbs up!

    and thanks for the great support!

  • From Lagos to Chaos

    From Lagos to Chaos

    After a rest day in Lagos I left the chaotic city with some caution. The general advice of foreign affairs is negative. The risk of getting robbed or kidnapped is high in this country and therefore I’m taking some safety measures. I’m not wild camping and not cycling during the night. I made a strict plan on where to sleep and limit the amount of km’s so I won’t get surprised by anything.

    City hopping

    Safety

    From Lagos I immediately head east and since I’m trying to keep up to my plan I cycle on the big roads. This is not very nice and almost up to 20 times a day I pass by police/army/??? checkpoints. Mostly these guys are heavily armed with machine guns, making me feel so very safe… Sometimes they are armed with sticks and golf clubs and I wonder if some of them are official or not? Most of the checkpoints I just have a small chat with mostly the same results:

    • What are you doing? Where are you going?
    • I’m cycling from Belgium to Tanzania, I covered about 11.000km so far
    • NO! Thats’s not true, you’re lying! It’s impossible
    • Yes I am, I can prove you, showing the map and trying to convince them I’m not a spy or anything (seriously, some of them are convinced I am)
    • What ??? That is unbelievable (with lots and lots of expression and intonation in their voices) !!!!

    Then we laugh and chat and I continue. Actually a fun distraction for them and me.

    meeting some nice guys along the road

    But about 2 – 5 times a day some checkpoints ask me money/present/”water”… Some of them are trying to intimidate me by asking what’s in the bags, tapping it with their stick or gun. I’m not letting that happen and every time I politely tell them I don’t do that, or that “I have water in my bottle, thank you!”. I sometimes think about how people warn me for armed criminals trying to rob me, doesn’t seem very different than those guys. This is sad because people on the street don’t seem to take them seriously and it gives a bad name to the many really nice people I meet.

    Many times on the street people just shout at me “white guy!” or “Chinese” or many different things. That’s in the whole of Africa already and I don’t mind, most of the time it’s just for fun and I just wave at them. Occasionally I stop to have a conversation. Most of them actually never spoke to a white man before and some kids even come and touch my skin and my hair.

    Road safety

    Cycling the bigger roads is not great at all! Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and like most countries, they love cars. People drive like crazy and I’m very often scared for my life while cycling here. A couple of times a truck just forces me off the road, if I wouldn’t do that they would just hit me. That pisses me off and results in a lot of yelling and swearing at the truck…

    Irritation

    After a couple of days I get sick of it, I just have enough of it and having a hard time. I feel isolated and lonely in this big chaotic country. Luckily I still meet nice people along the road, but when cycling and at night, I feel alone. It’s a struggle every day: corrupt police, crazy truck drivers, terribly bad exhaust fumes irritating my eyes and lungs,… I’m getting to a point I want to just stop…

    • These trucks make me irritated!!
    • That’s dust and smog on my face…

    I see the light!

    On the road I meet Chris again, the Swiss guy who’s going to South Africa on a motorcycle. This is a relief and great distraction. We decide to meet up near Enugu. We both read that there’s a Christian monastery (the first one in Nigeria) with some waterfalls and decide to head up there. The best choice I made! This place is a haven of peace and quiet: no busy traffic, no shouting people everywhere, no corruption,… There even is a waterfall nearby and we decide to take a rest day there and visit that.

    • Chris
    • wading through the river
    • the waterfall!

    Solar sisters

    On my rest day I decide to visit solar sisters. That’s an organisation that invests in woman’s rural communities with sustainable products (like solar panels) in Africa. Excuse me the copy/paste from heir website but I think they explain it best:

    Solar Sister believes women are a key part of the solution to the clean energy challenge. This is why we invest in women’s enterprise in off-grid communities. We see the opportunity to empower women and to reach those who aren’t reached by business-as-usual energy models. Centering local women in a rapidly growing clean energy sector is essential to eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable solutions to climate change and a host of development issues.

    • Solar sisters!

    They took me to one of these communities where they had a meeting. It was a great experience to see how they all support each other and where bonding and helping each other like real sisters. In a very African way they had this meeting: starting and ending with their song that actually is quite catchy. I’m very thankful to have visited this project and will do so in Tanzania. If you want to know more please visit their website and make a donation today! I will, like some other previous project I visited, raise funds by giving presentations for this cause!

    Thanks to my sponsors to make this project possible, give them a thumbs up!

    and thanks for the great support!

  • Seabreeze to Nigeria

    Seabreeze to Nigeria

    After Ivory coast I followed the coastal roads towards Nigeria. A welcoming change with more facilities but on the downside more chaotic traffic.

    Coastal cruisin’

    After my visit at SOS forêts in Abidjan I had set off towards Ghana. It is a bit strange to suddenly start talking English to people again. Ghana is (like most countries) very welcoming to me and when I’m cycling by lot’s of people are waving at this strange white guy on a bicycle. Because of the flat roads and pretty decent quality I’m able to make good progress and after a couple of days I arrive in Accra. The weather is getting pretty humid and warm here. Especially in the mornings everything is wet when I wake up in a big cloud. This is not helping with my moods when waking up and trying to pack a wet tent.

    Country hopping

    From Accra I get to Togo. There a corrupt officer tries to trick me asking 5000CFA (around 7,5 euros) more for a transit visa. I look at the visa stamp and indicates the right price. When I ask him why it is more he tells some lame excuse and I stand my ground. Luckily he gives it back without too much hassle and I’m free to go. His “helper” still comes after me and asks me some money which I politely refuse. When giving in to that I will make it much harder for others to cross and helping to support corruption, no thanks. This border crossing is easily forgotten by the very welcoming people of Togo, too bad I’m leaving the same day to enter Benin. I had heard that I could easily get a Congolese visa in Cotonou and when arriving it seems true. In 30 minutes I got my visa and I can catch up in a guesthouse with other overlanders. There I meet a Spanish couple who have just crossed Nigeria and a Swiss guy who will cross it with his motorcycle.

    Nigeria

    Nigeria has a bad reputation in the news. When I read other traveller’s stories I hear many good things about the country and its population. Still, with some worries I head off to Nigeria and aiming for the biggest city of this country. A massive city with 18 million inhabitants and chaotic traffic. When entering Nigeria I have very warm welcomes, the only difference here are the many (up to 20 or more) police, army, … checkpoints. Mostly I have a good time with these guys and they are just interested in what I’m doing. Their reactions are great as well, mostly extremely surprised about what I’ve done or will be doing, with lot’s, lot’s of expression in their faces and language!

    Chaos

    One thing is true, Lagos is chaos! Lot’s of traffic, bad roads and people screaming everywhere. The reason they scream at me is mainly out of interest but I can imagine that it can feel quite intimidating at first. The traffic is dangerous but the way I felt it cities like Bangkok where more dangerous. The roads are bigger and better making the cars drive much faster. In here there were so many traffic jams that I was usually faster than the cars. In here you have to have eyes everywhere! I have a mirror on my handlebars and look at it regularly. At the same time I have to look sideways for cars merging in and in front of me. This to avoid potholes or motorcycles, small cars or even police driving in the wrong direction. then you quickly have to look in your mirror if nobody is about to catch you in, then to the front again, assess the situation very fast en hope to avoid the guy driving in the wrong direction. At the same time people are shouting at you (out of friendliness) to get your attention or encourage you. I’m very happy I already have a life full of cycling experience in BMX, Mountainbike and road racing, I can use those skills here.

    Rest

    I rushed to Nigeria because my visa was about to expire and I reached my goal. Here in Lagos I took 2 rest days. The first day I arranged my Cameroonian visa which was fairly easy and a same day process. The next day I met up with the cycling community for a bike ride in Lagos. This is a very well organised group of cycling enthousiasts and I’m the only one with a touring bike. All others have race bikes and when I hear that the ride will be 70km I start to have second thoughts. Yet we leave in the darkness (early morning ride) and I’m riding in group C. It’s not easy to follow these guys on my bike and I feel that this isn’t going to be a rest day after all. After a couple of hours we get back to the main spot and I’m ready for a second breakfast. That’s the good thing about a big city, food everywhere! Good to get eating and get some energy for the next days here. This ride was well organised, I think with all groups combined we were 40-50 riders and group C about 20 riders. We even had a car escort during the whole way which was a good experience to cycle in this city (broke my phone, no pictures 😓).

    Planning

    I’ve used the rest here to plan for the next weeks ahead and I feel ready. I’m taking things a bit slower from now on. I’m way ahead of schedule now. They gave me enough days to stay in Nigeria at the border which I’m very happy about. I can explore more of this country with enough time and no pressure. Looking forward to that!

    Thanks to my sponsors this project is possible, give them a thumbs up!

    and thanks for the great support!

  • New energy!

    New energy!

    After the holidays in Dakar I started cycling with new energy. Both mentally and physically I was ready for a challenge to get in time in Nigeria!

    Bye bye

    I start cycling again in Tambacounda where I left my bike and fast enough I make my way out of Senegal. The stamping out proces is easy, but still quite some distance to the actual border. This means I will have to continue to entry Guinee in the same day. I don’t take the big asfalted way but a more quiet sand/dirt road which follows just next to a national park. I see many animals along the road and the cycling is just beautiful here! A bit later I reach Guinee and I immediately get a very welcoming feeling in the country. The first village I pass by I ask if I could pitch the tent there. It is a very basic place, with not much resources, but they insist on sharing their dinner with me and I have a great time here. They tell me they used to hear lions roar sometimes but that disappeared a couple of years ago.

    Into the hills

    The inland of Guinee has quite some hills and the roads take me to the Fouta Djallon region. This is a beautiful area inland of Guinee where the climate gives somewhat “cooler” and drier temperatures. Everywhere I’m cycling people are very warm and welcoming. After a while my arms hurt more than my legs from waving to all those people. I just love the mountains and this whole section gives me great views. The rest in Dakar gave me good energy as I’m still good to cover the daily distances. After a couple of days the legs start to hurt, but the beauty of everything here (nature, people, wildlife,…) totally makes up for that! I meet some other travellers on the road and this helps in making me not feel too lonely, which is a normal feeling after the great time in Dakar. The regular phone calls from friends and family help as well off course! (thankyou)

    Coffee and borders

    After about a week of cycling I get near the border with Liberia (I stay in Guinee). There I take a route which is a shortcut in distance, but would take about the same amount of time as the normal one (route de cafe/coffee route). No asfalt here but a dirt road taking me between coffee and cacao plantations. There I meet 2 French girls cycling to Benin. But as I’m trying to get many km’s done, we only camp together for the night and then I’m off on my own. Too bad I’m rushing a bit but as I have this goal now but I have to go on and maybe come back one day. I’m still enjoying this to the fullest and cycle on along the Liberian border towards the border with Ivory Coast.

    Full speed

    The border crossing to Ivory Coast was fairly easy and every time I tell my story to people, they don’t believe me. They are extremely surprised that I’m cycling from Belgium around the world. It creates funny reactions and all kinds of questions. I then receive many good lucks and cheers while I’m setting off again . I just love how people are open and warm in these regions and not even once I feel threatened or scared. In Ivory Coast the hills getting smaller and I can get my distances done with less effort. At the same time it’s getting warmer, but more facilities along the road. I am even able to buy a cold drink from time to time, what a luxury! For water I mainly use the pumps on the side of the road, mostly installed by NGO’s. These are very reliable water sources and always a very social moment for the people around.

    Peage

    In Ivory Coast I take the road to the Capital city Yamoussoukro. Things get more easy here with better roads, more shops and food. Once I pass by the city there is a big highway (peage) taking me all the way to Abidjan. The road itself feels much safer to cycle, there is more place for the cars and trucks. There aren’t too many of them either and by cycling on the emergency lane it actually feels good cycling here! Soon I enter Abidjan and this city is all chaos. One of the reasons I pass by this city is that I want to visit SOS Forêts, a local NGO fighting to save the forests in Ivory coast. From here in Abidjan I’ll enter Ghana, get to Togo, Benin and reach Nigeria just in time before my visa expires.

    SOS

    As in many countries I see the same happening here in Ivory Coast: deforestation. Lot’s of forest and wildlife is disappearing and SOS forêts is a local NGO trying to slow down and reverse this. In Abidjan (at the botanical garden of the university) I went to meet the president and other workers in the ngo. This project is already running since 1996. In 1992 Dr. Wadja Agnankou received the Goldman prize for his work to protect the mangroves in West Africa. As a result of this they founded this organisation that is still trying hard to limit the los of the forests here. I had the honour of meeting them and to see how they work. If you would like to know more about their work (I will get more into detail about it in a following post) please visit http://www.sosforets.ci/

    If any of you would like to help out in this great organisation, don’t hesitate to contact me. In Belgium I’m giving regular presentations for organisations or companies. The money I get with it goes to such initiatives and my next presentation I will definitely try to raise them some funds. There are other ways to help them out! If you have some equipment laying around that is in your way and you would like to donate, contact me (or them straight away). Equipment meaning: tents, binoculars, camping gear, gps, drone,…. Thank you.

    I want to give a big thanks to my sponsors who make this project possible!!

    and thanks for the great support!

  • Dakar

    Dakar

    It’s been a great couple of weeks. Meeting up with friends and my girlfriend in Dakar and spend Christmas and New year’s together gave me a great new boost to continue the next push to Kilimanjaro!

    Not quite the holiday

    When I arrived in Dakar, after greeting my friends, I immediately started my visa hunt. The first one for Guinee Conakry went really well. I was able to get that the same day.

    After that I went down to the Embassy of Ivory Coast. Because things went so easy I expected the same here. I was wrong. Without getting too personal about the embassy, I was immediately rejected (I had done research and even called them before). They said I couldn’t apply here. When I got out and told my story (it is not possible to get my visa in Belgium because I’m cycling) the guard said that a letter from the Belgian embassy might help.

    Finding help

    Having done that (thank you Embassy of Belgium in Dakar for the help!) and getting back they refused my application once more. I had to be a resident of Senegal. Amdel, a Senegalese friend told me that it might be possible and fairly easy to obtain. He took great care of me and helped me out getting to the right people to get me my certificate of residence from the city hall.

    Happy, not for long…

    As soon as I got that I went straight to the embassy and they refused me again. I needed some other documents of proof… Now it was obvious, there was no easy way to get it here. I was already starting to make different plans to get to other cities and apply there. The thing is that I have visas for Ghana and Nigeria already and I don’t want them to expire so I don’t want to make too big detours.

    An hour after I get out of the embassy I receive an email from the embassy of Ivory Coast in Brussels. I had mailed them regarding my issue and they understood my case. They told that if I would send it with DHL they could, exceptionally, grant me a visa. So I did.

    More help on the way

    I sent my passport the 31th of December which they received the 2nd of January. At 10 am they mailed me my passport was ready for pick up. My brother (Peter) cycles to the embassy to pick it up. About an hour later good friends of mine (Willy and Doris) go to my brother and bring it to their cousin (Yves), who’s wife works for Brussels Airlines. Their daughter (Ellen) drops it off at the airport and one of the crew members (Valerie) takes it on the next flight. There she drops it in the hotel outside of Dakar. Then a friend of Luca (Camille) passes by and picks up my passport and brings it to where we are. All just took a couple of days and it is amazing how all those people worked together to get my passport here in time!!!

    Gratitude

    I’m very grateful to all those who helped in getting my passport in time so I don’t need to rush too much to get in time at the border with Ghana. Thank you very much Luca, Amdel, Frederic, Katrien, Yves, Ellen, Valerie, Peter, Willy, Doris and Camille for the transport, translation and/or writing letters to get this one done. Thank you very much Inge (my girlfriend) for being so patient along my side during this whole process.

    Holiday!

    Beside all this visa stress I had an amazing time in Dakar. It’s not always easy to be so long away from home and especially travelling alone. These past 2 weeks have given me great mental and physical energy again. We have been visiting many places in and around Dakar and had a great variation between relaxing, party, surf and train a bit. I had so much fun that it is with sadness I see them all leave and lot’s of mixed feelings to be going my own way again. Thank you guys for all the fun and patience, I’ll be remembering this on the harder moments of the next episode!

    • happy new year!

    Sene Surf

    As part of this project I try to visit individuals, organisations or businesses trying to create a better world for everybody. In Dakar I visited a local restaurant/bar/ organisation that is trying to keep the beaches clean. They are the only ones in the area trying to actively do that. The restaurant is a pioneer in Dakar because it’s the only waste free project in Dakar. The garbage that they find, or gets in is getting recycled. One of the issues in Dakar is that they don’t get lot’s of support from the local government.

    They already invited all different mayors to visit them so they can explain the necessity of the plastic pollution. They never got any response and therefore they believe that it has to come from the people itself. They try and convince other businesses in the are to do the same and definitely limit their single use plastics. They regularly clean up the beach and have a paying service (private company) that is in charge of waste management (recycling and garbage collecting). If you go to Dakar, definitely visit these motivated guys! If you want to help please visit their website www.senesurfdk.com or contact me (veyt.jelle@gmail.com).

    Many thanks to the sponsors who make this all possible!!!

    and thanks for the great support!

  • Holiday season

    Holiday season

    After cycling out of Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, I made great progress towards the Senegalese border. I arrived just in time for the holiday season to start and meet up with my friends in Dakar!

    The last desert days

    I was quite eager getting out of the boring desert after my rest day in Nouakchott. The landscape was starting to shift very subtle towards the end of my trip in Mauritania and I started to see bushes, grass and an occasional tree! It’s great to start seeing this green landscape again and as I get closer to the Senegalese border I get off the main road into the Diawling national park. Mainly to avoid a river crossing where I couldn’t cross the border human powered. In this park there’s more “green” and more animals to see and I feel relieved to be entering Senegal!

    Another country!

    Crossing the border here is fairly easy and I enter my 6th country on the way to Kilimanjaro! Senegal is greener and offers immediately different sights. There’s more people around with more villages so I don’t need to carry so much water anymore. I stick to the plan of heading to the east of Senegal. It gets really hot here during the daytime, mainly because there’s nog cooling effect from the nearby ocean. I try to keep up with at least 150km a day because I want to get in time in Dakar. I feel like I could use some rest and I want to see my friends, I’ve been alone on the road for some weeks now. The 29th as well my girlfriend will arrive to spend some holidays together. I’m looking forward to all that, except for the visa runs around Dakar..

    After getting into the east of Senegal, I’m now in Dakar for 2 weeks, the rest will do me good! Happy holidays you all!

    Many thanks to the sponsors who make this all possible!!!

    and thanks for the great support!

  • Road alone

    Road alone

    Steven and I left Agadir on the same day, only 2 different paths. According to plan, I leave south towards the Sahara desert and Steven goes back to Belgium. It is with mixed feelings because it’s fun cycling with friends but the desert is calling…

    Tiznit what you think e!

    Guelmin is seen as the gateway to the Sahara desert and I can’t wait to get there. I imagine great sand dunes, long stretches of road and perfect tailwinds. The road from Agadir takes me to Tiznit (in Flemish this would mean “it’s not”). A very long boring road with a calm headwind, but it seems like going on forever. After a while I start looking at my data and see it’s slightly going uphill, we call that vals plat (false flat), or tiznit wa ge denkt e!

    The what?

    After a couple of days I arrive in Guelmin, where I expected all the dunes and burning sun! Not at all, it was cold, windy and raining… I couldn’t believe it but while cycling on I had to wear a full rain suit and that lasted about 2 days which drained quite some energy, especially because I was too stubborn to stop and wait for the wind to change. I pushed against the wind like a mad man and found the wind slightly changing directing after 2 – 3 days. What a relief!

    • Rain in the desert??

    …blowing in the wind

    With the wind changing direction I could enjoy the desert to its fullest! The never ending landscapes are incredibly beautiful and with the wind in the right direction I make great progress. I sleep in all kinds of places from roadside hotels, to abandoned buildings and off course, the favourite my tent. One of the issues a bit deeper in the desert is that by entering the Western Sahara territory, more and more army and police checkpoints are coming. It’s not that bad and all for my safety, but when you decide to wild camp and they see you, they’re too concerned and ask you to camp at their station. One time I had to and there was a French couple in their van. I could join them eating French (it’s actually Belgian) fries, life’s good!

    Ghost town

    When I got closer to the border I see an abandoned village and an army vehicle. I ask if I could sleep somewhere and they show me a nice house (at least it was one day). I can take my mattress and sleep on the floor, but that’s great because I don’t have to pitch my tent which gets very humid at night. The army is there because they’re de-mining the area. Good to know because they tell me there are quite some in certain areas, that’s a reminder of not going off tracks too far when looking for a spot to camp.

    The real des(s)ert

    In general, cycling the Sahara is not that physical demanding. There is a maximum of 100km without finding anything in this area. The real challenge is the mental game. From previous experiences (and I was looking forward to that) I knew that I had to go until I get sick of it. Then you have to go on! Push it further, that’s the real des(s)ert. You are mentally tired and just want to get out of there. And then I entered Mauritania…

      The beautiful desert

      Mauritania has been really kind (the people, like everywhere) but has been very hard on me as well. When I just entered I had a very hard headwind and was able to finish off my last 20km in 2hrs. There I stayed in at an “auberge” (not really) who gave me shelter and food. The next day I thought the wind would be from a better direction but it stayed an extremely annoying side/headwind which took lots of energy.

      I was able to cover 90km for 10hrs of cycling! But suffered quite hard. Because of the high winds I had to cover my entire face and still got sand everywhere and was sick of it all! I didn’t think I could go on for long until the first car stops and asks if I’m alright (the wind had pushed me in the side several times). I said I’m fine and they gave me water. Just that gesture of a bottle of water gave me the mental strength and energy to continue for another couple of hours! The next days the winds dropped again and I could find the energy of cycling to Nouakchott (the capital). Oh yeah, and I had some diarrhoea which weakened me more on those extra windy days (the irony..).

      The first stop

      The plan is to head down towards Senegal tomorrow and continue another 750km to Tambacounda (Senegal). There I’ll take a break. I will go to Dakar and arrange the visas for the next countries. Visit my friend Luca to spend the holidays with some other Belgian friends and my girlfriend will come over for new year as well. Looking forward to that!!

      Thanks to the sponsors who make this all possible!!!

      and thanks for the great support!

    • Getting high in the Atlas

      Getting high in the Atlas

      The weather and wind cleared after our departure in Rabat which gave us a great boost towards the High Atlas. This beautiful mountain range had us amazed throughout the ride!

      Bye bye sea you again

      Getting out of Rabat was an easy ride and we followed the ocean for a while. Just before Casablanca we turned towards Marrakech. The first days land inward weren’t very appealing so we took the opportunity to cycle get cover some distance. Pretty soon we saw the mountains coming up and getting closer to Marrakech the landscape turned into beautiful sights!

      • enjoying the view

      City hopping

      We reached Marrakech and decided not to spend too much time there. We where a bit afraid of this crowded city, mainly because cyclists and big crowded cities aren’t a very good combination. To my great surprise we managed quite well to cycle through, some roads even had bicycle lanes! Once outside the city we got a much clearer view of the magnificent Atlas mountain range and Mt Toubkal (4165m).

      • Toubkal!

      Getting high

      The whole area is extremely beautiful and I’m glad to follow Steven’s (https://20angles.com/) idea of cycling the High Atlas. We decide to cycle the Tizi n’ Test pass up to 2100m. It slowly takes us higher and higher following a river. This makes it a very long climb but never very steep sections so we can maintain a good pace. Steven has intestinal problems (that’s a clean word for bad diarrhoea) which gives him a hard (get it?) time on the bicycle. Still he manages to continue and after a complete day of cycling we make it to the top of the mountain pass just before dark. We decide to stay in Augerge la haute vue for some well deserved rest and great food.

      • going up
      • just before sunset!
      • made it up!

      Going down

      After a great night and breakfast we start our long descent. We get treated with amazing views from the other side of the atlas range. After about 30km of winding corners we come into a whole new landscape. An almost straight road takes us gently and very easy to the Atlantic ocean again. In Agadir Steven will go back to Belgium, we had a great 2 weeks cycling here but now I’ll be on my own to be crossing the Sahara desert to Senegal!

      • small peloton
      • leaving the Atlas behind us

      Plastic soup

      Yesterday I visited the Surfrider Maroc foundation. An organisation that tries to educate, inform and clean up the area from pollution. It is a small team of great people who are working hard to make people aware of this problem. They are going to schools and companies to explain about the situation and how they can help. They organise beach clean ups in the area and make art with the found trash. To find out more about their project and goals please visit http://www.surfridermaroc.com/ you can easily make a donation through their website! One of their current projects is to make a competition between schools to make art of “garbage” and the winning school would be able to expose it at a roundabout or entrance of the city. (still trying to find support from authorities to do that).

      One of the things I discovered on projects like this is that they need support from the local government to be allowed to talk in schools. This is a big difference in Belgium because a school can decide this more or less independent. The same goes for my friend Wahyu in Indonesia and it is not easy to convince the right people to get this permission. Luckily here in Agadir, they have a partnership with the government since a couple of years now. This creating the opportunity to go to schools and educate the children about their cause. As I see in Morocco people are quite receptive about the ideas they’re spreading and about the environment. I hope they can keep up the great work and will be able to spread their word!

      Kilimanjaro

      It might seem early but the climb for Kilimanjaro is fixed. Together with Wild Tanzania we’re organising an expedition and anyone who wants can join on this trip! The climb will start the 23 of June until the 2nd of July and is open for all who want to climb with me. Contact me at Veyt.jelle@gmail.com or check out the following link if you’re interested. I’m partnering up with them mainly because they have an engagement in their trips that respect the environment and the people working for them.

      Thanks to the sponsors who make this all possible!!!

      and thanks for the great support!

    • Road to Rabat

      Road to Rabat

      The first week of cycling is almost over and we’re up for a rest day in Rabat. The capital city of Morocco is not too busy compared to Marrakesh or Casablanca. Steven is working on the road so we need some time with a stable internet connection.

      • Africa!

      Headwinds

      Once arrived in Ceuta we cycle to the beach where I landed with my kayak 6 weeks before. From there the trip really starts and I’m up for 7 months of cycling. Crossing the border into Morocco was really easy going and soon we’re in a new country! These first days have been quite tough because of the weather. It has been a very beautiful ride so far, but the headwinds are killing us from time to time. The day before yesterday we covered about 150km into a 4-5 bft headwind. That took us about 12 ours for that distance. The good news is that from tomorrow on the wind will calm down and change direction.

      Planning

      On this restday we take some time to relax and recover. We’re planning now to leave the Atlantic behind us and go and cycle trough the Atlas. The next days we’ll be heading to Marrakesh and go cycle a bit through the Atlas range. I’m visiting an environmental project in every country so in Agadir I’m planning to visit the Surfrider Foundation Maroc. Hope to tell you more about their initiative in the near future.

      Kilimanjaro!

      It might seem early but the climb for Kilimanjaro is fixed. Together with Wild Tanzania we’re organising an expedition and anyone who wants can join on this trip! The climb will start the 23 of June until the 2nd of July and is open for all who want to climb with me. Contact me at Veyt.jelle@gmail.com or check out the following link if you’re interested. I’m partnering up with them mainly because they have an engagement in their trips that respect the environment and the people working for them.

      Thanks to the sponsors who make this all possible!!!

      and thanks for the great support!

    • New life, new adventures!

      New life, new adventures!

      A couple of weeks ago I took a train back from Ceuta to Belgium. I had to be there for the baptism of my Godson and the birth of my brother’s daughter. It gave me a chance to work on the preparation for the trip to Kilimanjaro. I’ve got a new bike for this adventure, my old one has been completely worn out. With the support of the grandparents (Willy and Doris) of my Godson and I got this beautiful great new Koga bike! Very excited to be testing this one out!

      Administration hassle

      In these weeks I’ve been training, working and planning. Some visas I already had to apply for since they are very difficult to obtain once on the road. The plan now is the I’ll be covering the whole distance to Kilimanjaro (15.000km) by bicycle in one go. I’ll be passing by some friends in Dakar for the holidays and get further south along West Africa.

      Join the group

      Because Kilimanjaro is not the most technically demanding mountain, we’ll be climbing with a group of people. By the end of June (starting the 22nd) a group of people will join me to the summit. There are some places available for everybody with this ambition so whoever feels like climbing with me, please let me know in a private message (veyt.jelle@gmail.com).

      Trainspotting

      Right now I’m at the train in the direction of Ceuta where Steven (20angles.com) and I will combine the first part. He will cycle along to Agadir where I will continue my way through the Sahara on my own.

      I’m taking a train and bus to the south of Spain. Mainly to avoid the high CO2 emission of a flight. For shorter distances I think it makes sense to use other transportation than a flight. Not only a flight would be faster, it would be cheaper and easier to take all my gear and bicycle with me and to book the tickets. It really doesn’t makes sense to me that in Europe it can be such a hassle. To get to a place by train or bus is more difficult than taking a flight. By doing some calculation on Greentripper and Greenseats it seems I’m emitting 4 – 5 times (0.37 tons vs 0.085 tons) less CO2 than by taking a flight!

      Sadness and joy

      It is with a double feeling again I’m leaving home. It will take me about 8 months before I head back to Belgium. I will definitely miss my friends and family! I’m very grateful to have so many supportive people (especially my girlfriend, I still don’t understand the patience ;p ) around me, who really help me to reach my dream. Thank you all for that!

      During this trip you will be able to follow me on my new tracker website here! Check it out and you’re always free to send me a message on my device.

      Many thanks to my sponsors and supporters to make this project possible!

      And many thanks to my product supporters as well!

    • A new continent!

      A new continent!

      After our couple of days of misery in the rain we made good progress to Gibraltar. The weather is great and not too hot to cycle. The only bad thing on our road is the road itself.

      • Exotic places
      • sick of the roads
      • “our view”
      • “cyclist’s/car’s view”

      Highway of hell

      Once we pass by Malaga we don’t have many options left to cycle. We can choose between the highway or smaller mountain roads. It is actually possible to cycle on some sort of highway following the coastline, giving us a good road to cycle on with not too many hills. Still we decide to go for the mountain roads because, come on? A highway? We don’t have a death wish handbiking on a road where cars pass by at 120km an hour!

      • Trying to escape the busy highways creates other obstacles

      Up the hill

      We decide to take the harder way, but it pays off. Magnificent views following smaller villages and quieter roads making us feel much safer. A couple of days later, trying to navigate these safer roads, we finally reach our main goal with Frank, Gibraltar! A very special moment since we shared this common goal for more than 3000km now and I’m very proud we achieved this together. We had a great time biking here and had a great team supporting us too. Many thanks to the people who came to help us in this amazing achievement Frank has completed!

      • Mountain villages
      • Uphill cycling
      • The finishing team in Gibraltar!

      Getting ready for a new continent

      In Gibraltar we take some time to explore the area and I’m preparing for the crossing of the strait. The weather seems fairly good on the 23rd and Chris from Watersports training prepares the support boat. As I explained in a previous post it is necessary to have a support vessel, it is a very busy shipping lane and chances are that authorities will pick you up, especially if you distort traffic. The next day I cycle to Algeciras where we will leave the 23rd by kayak. They have arranged a kayak for me which is not the most fast one for a crossing like that. I’m curious how this will go.

      • Ready to go
      • Easy start

      Crossing the Strait

      We get up early and prepare everything for the day. Frank and the support team are able to follow me on the boat so I have a cheering (or mocking ;p ) team along the way. The first hour in the water was pretty easy but after a while the wind started to pick up to about 20 knots coming from the West. The surface current goes the same direction and I get splashed all the time by the waves. No problem at all but taking a good rest is not an option as I risk missing Ceuta completely if I drift off too much. I keep on paddling and when I take a small break to drink I drift away at about 4knots (!) to the east.

      • To Africa!
      • At least they’re having fun

      Digging deep

      I keep on pushing it and it’s getting hard to maintain my speed. I have lot’s of experience in rowing but kayaking is completely different so my efficiency is not what it has to be. Combine that with a simple sit-on-top kayak and it becomes a challenge, loving it!!! After about 5 and a half hours (30km) I hit the beach in Ceuta (Spain, Africa), tired but fulfilled about my effort. I reached Africa human powered! After a quick rest we sail back to Algeciras. I need to get back to Belgium for personal reasons and I leave my bike there. I will come back half of November to continue cycling to Kilimanjaro. Getting back to Belgium I’m doing by bus and train, just to avoid taking a plane. It’s not the easiest nor the cheapest of choices but it feels like still manageable to get back.

      • Africa!

      many thanks to my sponsors who make this project happen!

    • Here comes the sun

      Here comes the sun

      Leaving the tourist paradise behind us and getting into more quiet places was a nice change for us. The busy roads are pretty dangerous especially in handbikes. The goal for this week was to reach Almeria which we didn’t make in time.

      The eye of the…

      After a couple of days the weather started to look quite bad at the horizon. It wasn’t sure yet what direction it would take but it seemed something bad was coming up. Because of the limited visibility and being more vulnerable in handbikes we don’t like cycling in the rain here. A couple of times we get lucky as we hear about torrential rain in the region but don’t get rain at all. It is actually great cycling with some clouds protecting us from the burning sun.

      Fireworks

      On Thursday night as we’re celebrating Kathleen’s (one of the friends and helpers of Frank) birthday we start to get some fireworks in the form of lightning and thunder on the horizon. The owner of the camping assures us that as being the only desert in Europe (Tabernas desert) the rain shouldn’t be that bad. She was obviously wrong as there was a torrential rain, thunder and lightning all night long. I’m very happy to be in a great tent, but 2 of the helpers are not and they are forced out of their tents at night. Besides that we don’t have big problems. We learn the next day that this storm has hit a big part of the region.

      Drowned
      • Still having fun

      No fun at all

      We read and hear more stories about people being swept away in their vehicles and many roads are closed. There is still red alert for storms and we decide to only cycle in the morning. We dry the tent and clothes and try to relax the rest of the day. After a sudden storm in the afternoon we agree that we made the right decision. Even at night it got worse again. Kathleen and Melvin run away to the sanitary building for a dry place to sleep. The whole storm created many problems in the region, we are happy it didn’t affect us that much. Because of the storm we have a small delay in the schedule.

      • Back on track

      Here comes the sun

      We are very happy to welcome the sun again into this route. It is very hot but we are able to make good steady progress after the storm. Frank has set the deadline for the 21st of September to arrive in Gibraltar. This will be a big challenge to make it in time and we only take half a rest day to make up for the lost day due to the storm. In the meanwhile I heard that crossing the strait of Gibraltar will be possible ideally on the 22nd, 23rd or 24th of September. Apparently I need a permission from port authorities to cross which is not easy to obtain. Another way is to have a support boat, I’m going for that option as this is a very busy shipping lane. Most people around there and others who have crossed it seriously advice me to take a support vessel. Still we are very determined and keep on going to reach our goal!

      • sweaty days

      Many thanks to the sponsors who make this project possible!