Lesotho was on my route simply because it is a visa free country and people said there were mountains. I had even considered skipping it due to rumors of snow and negative temperatures, which after over a year in tropical African I was not enthused or prepared to experience. Needless to say, I am glad I went. From the moment we left the South Africa border post and started winding our way upwards on the steep switchbacks that traverse no man’s land, it was clear that Lesotho would be the most culturally and geographically unique country that I have visited in Africa. The Afrikaans family that gave me a lift up Sani Pass, the 2874m southeastern gateway to the kingdom, had the same idea as the majority of tourists who reach the top: take some photos, ... read more

This is the finishing blog of "chapter 1", with pics from Zambia to SA. ************************* Cycling was a most enlightening choice of transport for southern Africa - it is only on a bicycle that you get a true feeling of the incredibly vast expanses of land that make up the Kalahari, Namib, and South African cape. You ride for hours staring at this vastness, and see a familiar tree or hill, and the thought crosses your mind that you're going in circles or you've made a wrong turn; but there are no turns, it has been one straight road for days. When the shadows start getting long, you know you're still 110 km from the next town, so it's time to find a place to pitch your tent. Looking around, you see the definition of desolate; ... read more

The road connecting the Congolese and Zambian border posts was like a portal to another world. On the DRC side, it was hectic with hours of backup; I ended up slipping through without showing my passport to anyone. On the Zambian side, there were decent lineups and a straightforward procedure, not to mention lighting and AC. Roads are tarred and driving laws enforced. I was astonished at the existence of traffic police when a truck I had hitched with was pulled over for speeding. Later on, in another truck, I was further taken aback when we were stopped at a checkpoint and the contents of the truck were searched for poached animals; everywhere else I had been in Africa the only vehicle inspections were for smuggled weapons (or bribes). It is nice to experience an African ... read more

“I was born lost and take no pleasure in being found.” – Steinbeck Everyone I had met or read about told me that crossing the 2500km route southbound through the DRC would be either too dangerous, due to regional conflict and corrupt officials, or simply impossible, due to bad roads and lack of vehicles. Walking came to mind as a possible solution to the latter problem, but then I met a military major who had walked the entire route from Lubumbashi to Kinshasa (at the time Mobutu was chased from power); It had taken him seven months. In order to cross the country in time with my one-month visa, I would either need a miracle, or a flight (southbound via Angola was ruled out after a quick glance at their visa procedure). Needless to say flying ... read more

Left off the last blog promising to leave Cameroon soon, and after two more weeks, a highly entertaining funeral, more lessons in African "business", and a good Valentine's Day party (here it was a lot less flowers and chocolate, a lot more bar-hopping 'till 5 a.m.), it was finally time to leave the capital, equator-bound. Seeing as both my Cameroonian and Gabonese visas were expired, my plan was to avoid the heavy immigration control at the main border crossing and head for the dirt roads of the bush, where showing up on foot as a single female with a passport full of African stamps can go a long way. At first it seemed the plan had backfired, as upon arriving at Sangmelima, the last city southbound in Cameroon, the military checkpoint saw the expired date. I ... read more

Cameroon...entering into this country from Nigeria entailed crossing a long, single lane bridge that passes high above one of the many fish-filled rivers winding their way through the region. The river is banked on either side by high rock walls that give way to thick jungle, and besides the small sturdy bridge and border control posts on either end, the only human influence that can be seen is that of a small dugout canoe that ripples through the water as the villager guiding it searches for a suitable spot to find dinner. As I walked across the bridge I had to stop to take it all in; no photographs because African border police are suspicious people, but it's not like a picture could have done justice to the beauty of that place anyway. That first view, ... read more

“Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.” -Joseph Campbell Ghana Ghana Ghana! Home to the Black Stars, Kofi Anan, Kwame Nkrumah, the golden Ashanti Empire, beautiful tropical beaches in the south and elephant-filled high plains in the north. From the horrors of colonization and slavery that played out on Ghana’s gold coast to its role as an African leader of freedom - becoming the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence and more recently moving to the top of the continent’s economic growth charts, Ghana is a country that even the least educated westerners have heard of. Personally, getting to Ghana was an especially welcome change because the language was finally English again – the pocket French dictionary could take ... read more