We arrived in Dongola tired and looking forward to our rest day after quite a long day of cycling. We started with an open desert crossing that was 25 Km, then a 20 km convoy through a town where we had to wait for a ferry to cross the Nile, and then a 40 km sprint against the sun to our camp ground.
A few days ago, we arrived in Sudan by river barge, which was an experience in itself. As we loaded our bicycles, Egyptian men rushed about, arguing, yelling and carrying heavy packages on their backs as they loaded up their cargo. Thankfully, the tour had arranged rooms for the riders and we got to relax at the front of the boat with good books, travel journals, and even a little music thanks to some travel speakers. We arrived in Sudan excited to finally put our knobby tires on and do some off road biking. Since then, the riding in Sudan has been very tough, as the roads are unpaved and mostly corrugated dirt, loose sand, and rocks, not the smooth and easy pavement we were growing accustomed to in Egypt. The climate has also changed, as the hot desert sun is a continual reminder to stay hydrated. The attitude of the people, however, is in contrast to the harsh climate. Many riders have found themselves invited into the homes of strangers for chai and Sudanese food. Walking in the market, many of the townspeople will simply ask you how you are doing and exchange pleasantries. The misconceptions people have about this amazing country are astounding and many of the riders are excited to communicate back home with their friends and family to let them know about the hospitality and generosity of the Sudanese people. It is like no other place on earth, and many riders have agreed that this is the one country their friends and family were worried about when in fact it seems safer then most other places.
We have also been joined by our support group that will be with us for the rest of the tour, the rugged individuals from African Roots. They arrived with two monstrous support trucks and bearing jars and jars of peanut butter. Our chef, Miles, has used the new equipment to prepare some excellent dinners for the group. A few of us even bought camel meat today at the market to try tommorow. We have also been joined by our Sudanese guide, Midhat, who has boosted the morale of the riders. Midhat is a Sudanese bike rider from Wadi Halfa who is never without a smile on his face and spends all his free time doing whatever he can to help anyone in need. He is truly a pleasure to have on the tour and we are grateful to have met him. He has also promised to show us how to catch scorpions in Khartoum which should prove exciting. Anyway, it's off to prepare for next five days of biking to Khartoum. We've been told the roads will be better shape, but if there's one thing we've learned about Africa, it's that nothing is set in stone.
Tomorrow, we are taking a ferry into the Sudan and so I wanted to take this last opportunity in Egypt to write to you all quickly. The last few days of biking have been quite wonderful, with long distances, but a lot of exciting things on the way to fill the time. One day, after biking for three hours straight uphill and only traveling 40 km, we were just exhausted, but besides that, the roads have been flat, the sun has been shining and the people in every small village and town have been thrilled to see us. All along the route, little children line the road and wave, big smiles on their faces, with looks that are either amazement or wonder about us foreigners with our crazy machines. Tiny voices yelling at loud as they can "Hallooo", "Where you from?" or "Lady, money money!" follow us everywhere, but just seeing cute little kids is really uplifting for our spirits. Nothing can put a smile on my face like a little kid.
We reached Aswan today after pedaling from Luxor which is by far my favorite city in Egypt, and Cairo with its pyramids can't hold a candle to this place. Luxor is like one giant living, breathing museum, and some of the most amazing artifacts can be found in that city. We went to both the Valley of the Kings and Queens, the Temple of Hab-shep-soot and the Temple of Karnak all in one day. It was exhausting, but amazing and well worth the effort. In the valleys, we got to go into tombs that have been discovered that are still in excellent conditions. It is unbelievable that even after thousands of years, the colours in the hieroglyphics are still vivid and clear and that they were carved with such great attention to detail.
So tomorrow, we take off for the Sudan. Just the other day, we had a patch of road that was made of rocks and mud due to construction, and so we have had a small taste of what awaits. I don't know how we are going to manage, it's going to be quite tough, but as the saying goes, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.
My general impressions of Egypt are really quite positive. Being here has really given me the urge to take up learning Arabic, if only to understand what everyone keeps yelling at us! We have seen some beautiful things here - Bedouins, little villages, cars playing loud music in celebration of their return from the Hajj pilgrimage - tempered by some negative things, like corruption. Taking both the good with the bad, however, I have to say that overall, my experience so far has been great.
Greetings from the east bank of the Nile! Today was the first "rest day" of the Tour, yet I've spent most of it clambering about the tombs of The Valley of the Kings and prepping my bike for the coming days of the journey south toward Aswan.
Thus far I've ridden at the front with the "A Team," a group of three very experienced cyclists. We have all shared stage victories (as on the day of the photo) and sprinted for the title. Quite a newcomer to the strategies involved with a final dash to the finish, I've yet to take one of these. But the teamwork and camaraderie have nonetheless been a great blessing. I am honored just to be able to ride with these guys.
The Sahara and the Red Sea coast have indeed been a spectacular backdrop to some very long days in the saddle. I will therefore leave you with some haiku composed during the early days of this 2006 Tour d'Afrique.
1/14
The canal awaits
Red Sea freighters at anchor--
full moon at Sukhna.
1/15
A journey of one
hundred miles--desert highway
through Zafarana.
1/17
A seaside camp brings
the moon upon our feasting--
at Port Safaga.
1/18
A strong wind blows
at Jabal Umm 'Inab Pass--
land of Bedouin.
1/19
Nightly convoys pass
our tired desert camps--the road
bending to Qena.
1/20
Floating on the Nile--
a formation of Ibix
pass our felucca.
We are now in Luxor enjoying our first day of rest. Many of the cyclists have embarked on tours to the west bank to visit the Valley of Kings and Queens. While others opted out in attempt to nurse their hangovers.
There was a bit of a celebration last night and most people are happy to not have to saddle up this morning. Our first week has been extremely successful as we covered almost 800 km in 6 riding stages. The day that we left Safaga was a very difficult stage. The first 40km were all uphill. It wasn't steep, but a consistent shallow grade that twisted up through the mountain pass. Once on top we were faced with a relentless headwind and rolling terrain for another 100km into camp. Our last stage into Luxor was more relaxed - only 100km of flat well paved roads following the canal system.
In two days we will be in Aswan, where we will take the passenger ferry to Wadi Halfa. For those of you reading this, who have been on previous tours, we are no longer crossing Lake Nasser on the rat infested barge. I just want to avoid the ordeal we faced last year in trying to leave Egypt. I have some errands to run today and I plan to take a stroll down the Corniche to photograph the avenue of the sphinxes but I plan to let this rest day live up to its name.
I'm writing to you from Safaga, a small coastal town along the Red Sea. We have just finished Stage 4 of the race and things are going well, perfect temperatures and the wind at our backs. This is a very popular spot for scuba diving in the coral reefs, but unfortunately after 3 days of traveling the coast we will be turning inland to find the Nile. Tomorrow we have 40 km climb (very gradual) over the mountain range. I'm just praying that we have some tailwind. This stage will take us close to Qena and in 2 days we will reach Luxor the destination of our first rest day. There we will be able to see many of the famous Egyptian temples and tombs. The night before our race began we had a fabulous time on the Nile dinner cruise. The entertainment was fantastic and we even managed to get some incriminating pics of some riders coerced by the belly dancer to get up and shake it.
The race this year I think is going to be very competitive. Not only do we have many more participants but there are some extremely talented athletes. It looks like I might actually do this tour 3 times and never win a stage. Shouldn't that get me into the Guinness Book? Also we have many more women in the race this year and some of them are giving the fellas a real run for their money.
The arrival in Cairo can never be without a few hiccups - there was a missing seat and seatpost which is still on a mechanics bench somewhere in New York, USA, there was one entire bike that had not yet shown up, a couple delayed flights and some overweight baggage fees – but all the riders arrived safely, and the rest...well, it will get sorted out in time.
Many of the riders were already getting to know there follow TDAers long before they arrived in Egypt. As they boarded planes destined for Cairo, it wasn't hard to pick out other Tour d'Afrique participants slugging heavy bike boxes around the airport, and carrying the odd helmet strapped to a carry-on bag – probably not your typical passenger heading to Cairo.
The official rider briefing took place in the afternoon of January 13, and then most of the riders joined together for a Nile River Dinner Cruise arranged by Emeco Travel and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism. If they hadn't crossed paths yet, this was the rider's first real opportunity to meet the others whom they will be seeing a great deal of in the next four months.
