After years of cycling only Europe, the time has finally come for me to go outside.
This time I was contemplating between crossing Asia of Africa.
Asia has some visa issues and lot of unknown on the way so after some time I simply decided to
go to Africa and follow west coast.
East coast would be easier and much cheaper (less countries = less visa) , but because of recent war in Sudan, Egypt, Sudan and Etiopia were all complicated and I didnt want to deal with it and chose the west coast.
I didnt know what I was getting myself into but this was fine.
I was looking forward to Sahara from looking other traveler's pictures!
But I had to cycle 3000 km through European winter to get to Morocco first :)
Enjoy the photos!
For more deeply content and my crazy mindset you can follow my Strava account at https://www.strava.com/athletes/76617852
My trip started in Decemer and although I thought once I cross Slovenia and get to Italy, and even closer to French coastline ( Côte d'Azur ), temperatures will become more managable and winter will be gone.
I couldnt have been more wrong, because I was till freezing even in Spain, overnight.
But it all started in Slovenia, when I was surprised with fresh snowfall overnight.
It will be warm, they said.
Battling snow and rain in Slovenia, and I was not dressed for that, but the biggest fail was bringing summer sleeping bag.
My though was I dont want to carry warm sleeping gear because in a month I will be in Morocco so I will just endure little cold crossing Europe until I get to Africa, so I dont have to carry excessive luggage with me afterwards.
Little cold lasted whole month, left some consequences on my body (little frostbites in my fingers and toes) and it took me more than a month after arriving in Morocco to recover completely.
Cycling next to Venice canals.
Beautiful town of Cremona in Italy. It was my first time in this city and I was, as always, blown away by architectual beauty Italy gives.
Passo della Bocchetta, small mountain pass leading from Cremona to Genoa. I spent a night there camping in a shelter.
XXL chair on the top of the pass
First look on the sea after crossing Italy.
I have never been on the French riviera before and I was prerty sure I will not like it, despite being here in December , when everything is quiet (I couldnt imagine being here is summer)
But initally my navigation led me over the alps from Italy into France and since I knew it will be very cold, I decided to take the coastal road.
But it wasnt much warmer here as well, at least over night, I was still freezing. And I hated this coast and even more hated those towns (Monaco, Cannes ...) where rich peoplecometo spend their money.
I was so out of place with my bycicle and all the bags there (despite lot of local cyclists riding around during daytime).
It didnt take long for me to escape back into French countryside (which I like very much, although not as much as Italian:)
The coast of France in winter. Not my favorite to be honest, and even now when there is nobody around, you can sense how this must look in summer, crowded with people where everything is expensive like crazy. Not to say Croatia (my home country) is cheap, but that another story :)
The only reason I came down to the coast was I believed it will be warmer here than in the countryside, but in the end, when the night fell, temperatures still got down to 5C and I was freezing in my summer sleeping bag.
Freezing cold mornings in France , sometimes even below zero. I was still using my summer sleeping bag then, and finally I gave up in Spain and went to purchase another sleeping bag in Dechatlon because having sleepless nights was kiling me.
This sleeping bag I bought (inclduing some other winter gear I had ) I sent back from Morocco using post office as I moved south.
But the story doesnt end there. Package was never delivered to my home (and I paid shipping almost 50 euro) and it cam eback to Morocco. I only found out then months later witha helpof a frend from Morroco who helped me locate thepackage (which was of great value to me!)
The package still sits in their post office (because nobody can pickit up except me, can you believe it?)
cCnsidering eventhing, my plan is to go back to Morocco in October, on another cycling tour in Atlas mountains (which I missed this time) and pick the package myself . I just hope the package is still there when I arrive.
Back to charming French countryside
Tarascon Castle on the Rhône
The Orb Canal Bridge in Béziers, city in southern France
Coastline before Barcelona.
Barcelona in the evening. I only passed through the city this time because of complete lack of hosts unfortunately. But the city was really beautiful and next to Valencia remained as most beautiful cities I saw in Spain. I ver much recommend visiting them!
Monumento a los Castellers in Tarragona (Bronze sculpture by Francesc Anglès of hundreds of bodies forming a traditional Catalan human tower.)
Meeting other travellers onthe road is always a pleasure!
Beautiful Valencia!
In Spain clementines grow directly in towns.
Endless olive fields in Andalusia. These was quiet roads with not much traffic but hard for wildcamping because everything is private and almost no free space where you could pitch a tent.
Spain architecture.
Eating dinner with my host in Tangier where I spent good 2 weeks resting from crossing Europe in winter.
Beaches in Morocco are huge compared to Europe. It doesnt look much but when you get close you realize how large everything is. The waves that look small from the distance suddenly become 2 meter waves if you get closer (and them some!)
City of Tantan (all brown)
Random abandoned buildings in Sahara offer a good shelter overnight.
All the protection from the sun I can get in Sahara.
Trying to find shelter overnight in abandoned buildings.
I met this Swiss couple 3 times in a week in Morocco.
First time they stopped on thier own while I was battling first days of Sahara for me, gave me water and bread!
Next day they passsed me again on open road and stopped, such a lovery gesture and had more conversation.
A week later I saw then again overtake me about 1000km down the road! I heard they honking me without stopping this time, but this was ok, they have been feeding me too much :)
They said initally they plan to go to Guinea possibly (if I remember correctly) and I was hoping meeting the again further south in Africa but I never saw them again.
Thank you my friends!
Number of dogs in Morocco is out of controls. Some are cute and very polite, while others are barking while trying to chase you..
Wuld camping spot above the beach some kilometers after town of Boujdour (which was all weird and had a Africa feel to it).
I cycled out as fast as I could, simply didnt want to spent time there. Of course , this was before I actually got to known real Africa.
Relentless ~40kmh winds that never stop in Moroccan Sahara. Luckily wind direction is N-S so cycling south has it benefits. Some days we were pushing 200km a day easily, because of all day tailwinds. In fact, going in opposite direction (towards north) would almost be impossible in such winds.
No escape from the dust in Sahara.
What I discoved in Sahara (and this was my first time in the desert) is that dust passes right through inner mesh of the tent. So if you dont find cover (and building with all walls and a roof is the only cover that actually works in desert ) you will have to sleep outside and be exposed to dust.
Several nights I slept outside with a mask over my face trying not to breath too much of this dust.
No filters here, just sunset combined with my phone camera probably confused by lighting conditions.
So it looks like its on Mars.
It was a perfect camp spot for the night. I even managed to hide my tent behind the rocks and it was dust free in the morning!
Saw a lot of camels in Morroco, but not only that, also lot of donkeys (especially in Mauritania), wild goats, cows...
You rarely meet people who travel in north direction. We met in Morocco just before Mauritania border. He was on the road for years already (I think he said 5) and now he is going to North Cape.
I was still young and just entering Mauritania. I havent even saw real Africa yet and he has done full circle from east coast to west and now only Morocco left.
Riding Iron Ore train, longest train in the world from town of Nouadhibou to Choum.
It was a mind boggling experience, and despite starting in the evening (because the train was super late) no thrills and excitement were missed at any point during the ride.
In fact, you get much more than you might expect and you heart will skip a beat :)
Must ride!!
Plenty of goats in Mauritania roaming everywhere but no goat milk around anywhere? wth?
Donkey eating from the trash.
Slight climb (into headwind) towards the town of Atar. Boy this day was hard!
From train ride, and ot the best sleep, to battling side and headwinds towards Atar.
But boy the nature is breathtaking so these moments make for a lifetime adventures (not the easy ones).
Villages in Terjit oasis, south of town Atar.
Terjit is a small village where there is water available and has built in swimming pools in the middle of the desert. Many travelers come here and rest. Its really cheap to stay here and feeling of laying in a pool of water in the desert is priceless!
Climbs continue after Terjit
Roads in Mauritania were often blocked by sand. And this no joke. Even the cars struggled.
Pushing the bike 10-20 time sa day over sand piles quickly added up, and required a lot of energy.
Then you had to empty your shoes from sand :)
But it was all part of adventure!
Perfect evening in Mauritania with nobody around.
Unlike Morrocan Sahara, which is one road and constant traffic, here the most east you go, the less cars there are. sometimes 2 hours woudl pass and not a single car in any direction.
Of course, you have to be mindful about water supply!
Me lying on the side of the road (with nowhere to cover from sun) on the 6th day waiting for anybody who can take my bike and me forther.
It amazing how this partof the journey unfolded. I started from town of Atat to Tidjikja (whcih is abut 400 km distance) one day full of enthusiasm.
I was calculating I should arrive in Tidjikja in 4 days but it ended up being 6 days and I need to hitch hike last day because I was sick from heat stroke and had diarrhea (which I got one day from extreme sun and not wearing my sun hat enough through the day)
By the day 5 and 6 I was so weak that I couldnt pedal any more. To add to the stroy, I was pedaling in to the headwind / sidewind all the time on this part of the journey and the road was climbing every so slightly all the way to Tidjikja.
I have met many (well some) overlander trucks in Mauritania and they have been very helpful , giving me water and food, especially on last day towards Tidjikja, when I was sick from heat stroke.
My bike (and sick me) being transported in their truck last 70 km to Tidjikja.
"Where there is life, there is hope"
Struggles in Mauritania
One day after countless problems for weeks with my tires leaking from inside of the rim, I was left on the side of the road, with my spare tubes completely busted with holes and cuts so much I couldnt fix them anymore, and I almost run out of patches.
When everything looked bleak, and me thinking how would I like to just sit on the plane and go home (if the airport wasnt on the other side of the city) , a person stopped in his car and offer his help, and drove away to the next city to buy spare tubes (if he can find them since we wre in the middle of nowhere).
An hour or so later , there he was back with 3 new tubes (shitty ones like second hand China goods but still new tubes), he was keeping me company while I changed both of my tubes, and even refused to take any money in the end.
I forgot his name , but take you my friend again!
Baobab tree
One evening in Senegal I found myself in some national reserve and it was full of these baobab trees and I had a chance to spend the night next to one. It was actually quite peaceful.
Crossing from Barra to Banjul in Gambia with an overcrowded ferry.
In Senegal many cyclists riding with huge amount of gear on their bikes, which are in really poor share, usually have no gears at all, wheels all crooked, and often they dont even have pedals!
I dont know how they do it!
African mess. You dont know if you havent been there.
In Seneagl after Dakar I escaped east into the jougle and this was the best decision since I entered Senegal.
There was a internal discusion at a time (in our cyclist group) that you should go to Dakar and collect Giunea visa in person in embassy there. Getting online visa was sketchy and often caused problems.
Despite all these stories, I should have avoided the coast all together (and town of Dakar which was the worst!) and just stay inline after entering Senegal.
I hated this part, and hated all big cities in Africa and main roads on the coast which were horrible.
The problem was of course, most of the visas were issued in big cities on the coast so all cyclists would usually go there.
I finally found happines by going deep inlands in Africa (without planning) and avoiding coast all together (except when I really needed so to get some visa).
And I advise everybody to go inlands to experience real Africa! Just make sure you have at least 50 mm tires.
The people you meet deep in the countrside and their behavior will often be drastically different from what you experience in big towns (where most people act like idiots and the traffic is horrendous and you have no peace)
I discoved these cashew nuts in Senegal.
At first I didnt know what it was, but after seeing some kids eating this and doing some googling, I realized you can eat this (I only ate apples not nuts).
It was actually quite refresing in those hot days, although taste was a bit strange. Not something I would eat at home :)
Faranah town in Guinea
In Guinea I had really a good time. I decided to go around Sierra Leone and Liberia (because I didnt want to deal with visas) and the road and scenery were exactly what I liked.
Many roads there are in poor condition but that didnt bother me and I certainly didnt come to Africa to cycle paved roads. So even when roads where old and falling apart, they gave me a feeling of real Africa!
At one point some time bofore Ivory coast border, between Kissidougou and Macenta I saw somesmalll road on mat and withouth hesitation decided to take it, and it was a real threat!
For two days I was on pure jungle offroad path (no cars) just occasional motorbike and local people, a real Africa for me! I enjoyed it with all my heart. This is what I came for and expected Africa to be like.
And that was before rain saeason started so I had the best conditions. Obvioulsy, you dont want to find yourself on such gravel when is rains but if you get lucky with weather, then is a pure joy!
Endless palms in Ivory Coast
After the rain season has strated sometimes after the big downfall roads would be coveredin water and evenriver wouldbe flowing with huge amounts of water, making them almost unpasable!
This is one of those examples, water was up to half a meter deep. I had to walk through this pushing my bycicle along the way, in my shoes (using flipflops would be too dangerous and unstable)
Not the best ending but there are positive things in everything.
Going back home from Africa means going back to Europe for me.
This means visiting Adriactic coast and swimming in beautiful sea.
Goign to the alps and hiking georgeous mountains and so on..
I had a dream of making a photo on one of the equator signs but this will have to wait for some other time.
I will definitely visit Africa again one day (which parts is a different story:)
