Month: April 2009
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Ethiopa: No Pain, No Gain
I waved goodbye to the Tele Café in the piazza of Gondar, where I’d enjoyed many a delightfully-spicy breakfast or pint of mango juice. I was about to experience a magnificent ride through the soaring highlands of north-central Ethiopia. As I rolled out of town towards the green valleys below, however, I was nervous. Aside […] Continue reading →
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Rest And Recuperation In Gondar, Ethiopia
I spent four days in Metema. The mild symptoms of malaria were the lesser of my concerns. More worrying was the stiffness and soreness that quickly appeared in my legs, as if somehow sparked off by the unexpected parasites. By the evening of my arrival, my lower calves were sore and stiff, causing some discomfort […] Continue reading →
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When Things Go Wrong, How Do You React?
My six days in Khartoum had been somewhat surreal, to say the least. Barging through the dark, dusty, unpaved back streets in a big white United Nations four-by-four, passing observers would have assumed me and my host to be rushing to assist in some nearby international crisis, unaware that we were actually trying to find the […] Continue reading →
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Hard Days in the Sahara
“Four days”, I said to George when he asked me how long it would take to ride to Khartoum. “Depending on how hard I ride, but I think four days is about right.” I had met a rag-tag band of other travellers in the small hotel in Dongola — from Austria, New Zealand, Singapore and England. […] Continue reading →