Tour d'Afrique - Cairo to Cape Town by Bike

I just noticed that one month ago this evening I set foot back on Canadian soil for the first time since the beginning of 2007. I thought that this was great motivation to finally finish my “Impressions of…” section of my website. Here are the final few sections below.

I have also added pictures to some of the posts that did not previously have pictures due to difficulties with African internet connections.

For those of you that are new to this site, you can step your way from bottom to top (the way web logs usually work) through the archives. The links are found on the side bar, but also here for your convenience. I hope you enjoy!

September 2006 - Registraion
November 2006 - Pre-tour media
December 2006 - Pre-tour media
January 2007 - Start! Egypt, Sudan
February 2007 - Sudan, Ethiopia
March 2007 - Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania
April 2007 - Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia
May 2007 - South Africa
June 2007 - South Africa and wrap up

Here is my final “Impressions” post on the whole trip. It is interesting how when we hear about anything that happens on this continent, we always hear about it as “Africa” rather than concerning one of the 56 countries that make up the continent. As with any continent, each country has a very distinct identity and an independent set of issues to deal with. Though generalizations are also easy to make about places like “Europe,” “North America,” “South-East Asia,” etc., I feel that generalizations about this vast continent run far deeper than others. I tried to point out some of these superficial differences throughout this web site. To start, here are some of the common threads that do tie some of the nations through which I travelled together.

The people:
• Great! Generally very embracing of us foreigners and with some exceptions welcomed us into their lands.
• Good social sense. Now back on North American soil, I feel that we have much to learn from social structures found across Africa. The sense of family and community is very strong down there and has been all but lost in many parts of Canada. Though we live in populated areas, we talk face-to-face much less and rely very strongly on impersonal electronic communication. I am very guilty of this and will try to incorporate more of this into my lifestyle.
• Happy. It is very humbling to pass someone on the side of a road and note the stark contrast between us. I am flying by at 30km/h on a bicycle made from aircraft-grade aluminum, into which thousands of hours of design has gone into optimal flow of the brake fluid through my hydraulic callipers and other minutiae, wearing similarly intricate clothing, special creams rubbed into my skin to protect me from the sun, an expensive piece of foam on my head to protect me in the unlikely event of an accident, a specialized powder in my clean drinking water to more efficiently replenish my body fluids and a small repair shop on my back collectively weighing less than a small bucket full of water. Who am I passing? I am passing by someone with a massive load of goods be it produce, textiles or other goods that they have somehow acquired, carrying them for kilometres on end along with their village mates, family members or whomever else is helping that day to town where they will try to sell their goods, bring the remainder back the large distance to repeat the process the next day.

Who is happier? This begs the question of how happiness is defined. My western upbringing has instilled a sense of necessity for progress. We seem to not be happy unless we are somehow moving forward. Aspirations for the future drive us to work harder and without that potential for a brighter future our motivation fades and we become unhappy. What about a more static definition of happiness? I have food within me, shelter over me, good people around me, a body healthy enough to be able to live and enjoy another day, what else do I really NEED? Since my return, I have swung more toward this definition and have tried to adopt a hybrid definition between the two extremes. Whenever we feel unhappy, we can ask ourselves how much in the grand scheme of life this issue really matters. Does it really matter whether what colour the bathroom is painted? Does it really matter if the grocery store is out of our favourite product? Does it really matter if we do not have hydro for another couple of hours? Does it really matter if I cannot partake in an event because I already have other commitments? In the famous words of Meher Baba: “Don’t worry, be happy.”

The landscape:
• Amazing, beautiful, stunning, diverse, addictive, mountainous, flat, lush, arid, green, brown, blue, purple, yellow, red, an endless list of descriptors.
• Considering I traversed an entire continent, it is not surprising that a great deal of diversity was encountered. With that said, I think this statement dispels a great deal of misconceptions that I have come across. What a beautiful place.
• A fellow rider pointed out toward the end of the tour that scenery is that much more beautiful from a bike. I thought she was romanticising the idea until I stepped into a car again. I constantly had the window down and was struggling with the desire to get out of the car which is clearly a dangerous thing to do whilst in motion. She was right. While on a bike, you can look left, right, up, down, forward and back without bound. The labour of independently powering your way up a hill makes the vista at the top that much sweeter!

Aid:
• This is an extremely heavy topic so I will keep this short. The next time you donate to a charity ask yourself the questions: “What caused me to give this money here and will this organization/person be able to perform that?” “Will this donation help the people I am trying to help?” “What portion of this donation will help and what portion will go into the glossy, perfectly worded pamphlet I am holding?” “What is the social effect of my donation?” This will hopefully guide you to donate your hard-earned funds to small and efficient charities rather than large ones that have large overhead costs.

Thanks so much to the countries that made my African journey as special as it was. Don’t worry, I’ll be back!