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Likes and Dislikes of Cycling through Africa

Sierra Leone

There are so many great things about riding through Africa, which is certainly the most magical of continents. It’s also an exasperating place!
Pete Gostelow has put together this excellent summary of it all. I’mve chosen some that really resonate with my own memories.

Likes

  1. Arriving in a new country and trying a different beer, which reassuringly often comes in a 650ml size bottle.
  2. Receiving new visas in my passport (one day when I’mm old I’mll flick through it and the others like favourite books).
  3. Not paying on roads where there are tolls and smiling at the attendant as I cycle past.
  4. Seeing coconuts being sold at the roadside and the sound of them being cut open before tipping the contents down by throat.
  5. Putting new flag stickers on the bike when I cross borders.
  6. Smell of hot fresh bread in Francophone Africa.
  7. Hotels without stairs.
  8. Being smiled at and greeted by beautiful women.
  9. Blowing kisses at beautiful women who ask for a cadeau.
  10. Signing my profession in hotel registers as POST COLONIAL BICYCLE EXPLORER or ADVENTURE CYCLIST and imagining guests in the future reading it and laughing.
  11. Never being cold.
  12. The fact that I can gorge on fruit like mangoes, pineapples and avocados (when in season) and pay next to nothing for them.
  13. The fact that I can stay another day almost anytime I want to.
  14. Watching Africans getting heated in an argument that I usually don’t understand.
  15. The sensation of smooth asphalt under the tyres after several hundred kilometres of bumpy dirt tracks.
  16. Seeing second hand imported t-shirts with funny prints being worn by people who don’t understand the words written on them. Recent examples include “I’md do me”, worn by an old woman carrying wood on her head and “Will pay for sex”, worn by a street hawker.
  17. Racing boys on bicycles who are more determined and able to beat me despite being on half-broken single speed bikes.
  18. Seeing mountains on the map with roads that go over the top.
  19. Incredulous looks on peoples’ faces when they watch me pitch the tent and inflate the thermarest.
  20. Cycling in the rain, assuming it doesn’t fall all day (it’s usually warm).
  21. Studying my map for long periods of time and trying to find interconnecting and interesting roads that avoid major highways.
  22. Meeting other Brits I can share a joke with (very few so far).
  23. When people donate money to the Against Malaria Foundation. It’s a worthwhile cause and motivating to see people supporting it.

    Dislikes
  1. Being called ‘mon amis’ or ‘my friend’ by people I don’t know.
  2. Hearing people hissing at the roadside as a way to get my attention.
  3. Seeing wildlife being sold as bush meat on the roadside.
  4. Hearing the sound of chainsaws destroying forests.
  5. Hearing “donnez moi” in Francophone Africa, which is usually followed up by “cadeau” or “l’argent”.
  6. Having to pay more as a foreigner at tourist sites.
  7. Asking how much something is and blatantly being told an inflated price.
  8. Being mis-directed by people who sound so sure they know what they’re talking about.
  9. Being pointed to the opposite side of the road by oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road.
  10. Trying to find food in small towns at night when it’s completely dark and I’mm starving.
  11. Eating food in the dark and not knowing what meat it is I’mm chewing on.
  12. Being told there is no change (almost always) when I don’t have the correct amount to pay for something.
  13. Cycling over glass or metal and worrying I’mll get a puncture.
  14. Being instructed to throw my empty plastic water sachet or any other plastic rubbish on the roadside (do any Africans care for their environment?)
  15. Seeing flies land on my ankles where I’mve removed the skin from scratching mosquito bites.
  16. Hearing bad music being played very loudly out of terrible sounding speakers.
  17. Taking rides in large white SUVs belonging to NGOs.
  18. Not finding the mosquito that is dive-bombing my ears inside the tent.

Follow along with Peter’s journey through Africa here.

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