From Addis Abeba to the Kenyan border

The last 4 days we have been going south from Addis Abeba to Arbaminch, a town in the Rift-zone. The road we take is different from the planned one, but this one has less traffic, and therefore is safer, and the extra day it takes doesn't matter since we have extra time available because of the Kenya-situation.

From Addis on we first cycled on altitudes of +2000 m, but the last few days we went down to 1400m. The landscape has turned into a more African one: banana-trees are everywhere, the color of the soil is brownish-red, and the temperatures are going up.

The past days there have been some minor incidents: attempts to steal things, luckily without result, some near-collisions. This, combined with the never ending nuisance of the Ethiopian children, makes everybody very happy that we'll be leaving Ethiopia soon. It's a pity that a small minority of the children has such a negative influence on the general picture of this beautiful country.

Another 4 days, and then we'll be at the Ethiopan/Kenyan border at Moyale. From there we'll go back by bus to Addis Abeba after which everybody will go his own way (Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, Uganda, Lalibella, …). On march 16, everybody will be in Arusha to get started on the first Tanzanian leg of the Tour.

The logistics of the Tour

How do you transport a group of approximately 80 people with all their luggage from Caïro to Capetown? The TdA-organization calls it a logistical nightmare, I think they have invented a good solution for this problem.

How does it work? In Caïro every TdA-rider has received a red plastic box, with can contain 100 liters. In this Red Box you'll have to store all the stuff you need every day: tent, sleeping bag, mattress, bike-clothing, clothes you wear in camp, spare pats, etc. Some people can easily fit their belongings in this Red Box, but most of the riders (including myself) have to fight a battle every day, to get their stuff in the Red Box. In the support trucks racks are available for storing the Red Boxes. The Red Box fits very tightly in their slot, every morning you see people struggle to get their Red Box in its slot.

Everything you can't store in your Red Box has to be packed in a bag. This so-called Permanent Bag is stored on the roof of the support trucks. On rest days only these bag are offloaded.

In the past weeks I have developed a hate/love relationship with my Red Box: some days she is nice and easy, and I can store my belongings without much fuss, other days she is less flexible and it is a battle to get her in her slot in the support truck.

I foresee a major role for my Red Box in my after-the-Tour dreams!