The Epic African Adventure Thread

Yep, that was one of my first thoughts actually.

New blog, chillin in Gaborone: Metal shows, farmers markets, the theater, hip hop shows, bike races, game parks, it's a pretty cool city actually. (a big surprise for an African city)

http://scottsnextadventure.blogspot.com/2012/08/good-times-in-gaborone-botswana.html

Good read as always man!

So to prepare for my ride across Botswana, I did a 3-day test ride, 255km in total. It was quite nice, and everything seems to work well. The single speed bike will certainly be a bit of a challenge at times, but not too bad. The problem is I'm starting to run short of time and my big ride will be a bit more rushed than I'd hoped..... anyways here are some photos from my quick trial ride:

Single speed AND you took the fenders off!? Maybe I'm a slave to western decadence but that just seems crazy.

Good for you man!

While I would probably agree with smirnoff on the single-speed part, fenders....meh. Never had them growing up on a bike, don't need them now!

Well, for one Botswana is pretty flat, and secondly, because I added larger tires, the fenders didn't fit so well, so I just removed them.

Yeah, I've currently got finders on my grandpa bike and am pondering taking them off. They tend to resonate and magnify sound, so much so that I can faintly hear my spokes rubbing together. Most folks wouldn't notice or mind, but I'm OCD...

Now this........is an adventure!

New blog, more bike riding, a music festival, local church and saying goodbye to Gaborone and my CouchSurf castle

http://scottsnextadventure.blogspot.com/2012/09/gaborone-has-been-great-to-me-but-its.html

Oh, also I am leaving on my bike ride across the country today. I won't have much internet for the next month, so if you don't see me around for a while I'm not dead or anything.

Unless I'm dead.

Please, don't be dead.

Good luck! Of all of your adventures this bit seems the most dangerous, at least to me.

Cuz you're a control freak.

Honestly, unless some sort of massive revolt comes out of the blue, I think he's good.

Good luck man!

Nah, not the locals, heat and thirst. From what I understand he's going to be far away from settled areas, I just worry about fresh water and wild animals.

I'm alive!

My bike comp says I'm 781km into the ride but I don't trust it... it's probably more like 700? Anyway, 12 wonderful days so far and not a single real problem. I love camping in the bush out here, and I've had two different Peace Corps volunteers to stay with along the way and a (white) local couple last night in Ghanzi. The roads are good, I have been able to find water every day (though I'm prepared to go about 3-4 days totally unsupported) and have been having the time of my life. It's probably the highlight of my trip so far, so here are a few photos until I get a blog post up:

Those roads look nicer than a lot of roads here.

Awesome! Glad you're safe and things are going well. What is your destination by the way? How far?

Wow. Good stuff man.

Yeah, no shit! (Well, looks like some COW shit but oh well)

+1. Thanks for posting. Be safe. BTW, what about bugs and other annoying critters? (mosquitoes and elephant stampedes!)

You don't have cow patties or road apples?

Ok, so it's day 16 and I'm about 1,120km into the ride. Staying with another Peace Corps volunteer right now. I wasn't planning on being where I am, but I decided to make a HUGE detour. I'm in the town of Gumare, in the northwest of the country which is just west of the Okovango Delta. From here I will continue north to the border with Namibia, thus crossing the entire country, solo, on my single speed bike. I had a lot of people (on reddit, lol) tell me I couldn't do it, so it will be a nice little 'in your face' when I make it. Then I will turn around, head south back where I came from, then west towards Maun (the big town that is the base for all Delta activities) and back on the route I was originally planning on doing. Meaning I've got another 1000km or so ahead of me. I haven't done the math, not sure, but a lot.

I've spent most of my time on the main highway, which is just a two lane road. It was paved 12 years ago and with it most of the wildlife has been killed off as people expanded and cattle ranching grew larger. Most of the road is good, but they don't seem to know how to fix it. The other day I watched a truck with I think NINE or TEN people patching a pot hole by just throwing some dirt in it. Nice work. Thing is in Africa almost nothing is well built, even new stuff. It's mostly done by the Chinese on the quick and cheap. I've been told that there are roads that are 100 years old from the old colonial days that are still good, and new roads that are ruined after 3 years. I'm not surprised. I need to post a bit or a rant in NSFW when I get a chance, haha... I'm off the main road now and things have gotten much worse, but still no problem for the bike.

Insets haven't been bad, but I was pissing in a hole in the sand last night in the dark when this huge scorpion looking thing ran out and ran through my legs, scared the shit out of me for a second. I'm around the delta now so mosquitos and malaria are becoming an issue, I just began taking pills for it actually. The wild animals are mostly poached out at this point and it's just cattle, but I get warnings all the time about lions and elephants. Still haven't seen any.

I'm hoping for a new blog post within a week, but more photos just for fun:

Poor snake

I nearly posted this exact thing yesterday, verbatim.