Daniel Nanghaka Plans To Visit Every African Country On His Bicycle
Aug
Daniel Nanghaka is on a mission! His goal is to ride his bike through every single African country… and he’s off to a great start!
Daniel, where exactly have you gone on your bicycle tours thus far? And what exactly are your plans for the future?
I was recently on the road for one month and three weeks. I traveled from Kampala, Uganda through Tanzania, cross through Malawi and I entered Zambia and stopped the journey in Lusaka. I am cycling the Trail Africa on bike and my intention is to eventually go to all the African countries.
What was your biggest fear when planning or preparing for your trip by bike? And how exactly did you overcome that fear?
My biggest fear was encountering the wilderness and the various challenges that you come up against on the road. Especially when you are bicycle touring alone, you have lots running in your mind and all you have is you and your bike and the road in front of your. I kept pushing as I covered lots of miles… and every mile I cycled inspired me to keep going.
What was the thing you liked most about your bicycle touring experience?
I loved the people of Malawi and Zambia. That is where I had the best experience thus far. The people were so caring. I want to bicycle tour through Malawi and Zambia again.
What has been the worst part of your bike ride thus far?
I did not enjoy Tanzania so much because the distance between the towns where so long.
The other big mistake I had was with my bike. It is not a standard touring bicycle, so I carried a backpack that had my laptop in it… and this dragged me down a lot. Also, when the rain hit me my laptop temporary stopped working, which was bad, because I was using it to get maps and directions from Google maps.
What one piece from the website at www.bicycletouringpro.com helped you the most in preparing for your bicycle tour?
I love the how-to articles for they taught me a lot about what I needed to know.
What kinds of bicycle tours do you have planned for the future?
I will be conducting more tours soon. Starting October 28th, 2013, I will be doing Kampala, Uganda to Bujumbura, Burundi through Rwanda. Then, if I get the air ticket to Abidjan, I will do the Trails in West Africa. After that I want to complete the Southern Countries – Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia. Then I will have a short rest and plan the northern Trails.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone who is planning their first bicycle touring adventure?
Determination takes you an extra mile.
