Botswana & Namibia

For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.       - Maya Angelou

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You have heard of the Tour de France, right? Well, let me introduce you to the Tour d'Afrique. This biking expedition goes from Cairo to Cape Town - that's 11,800km from north to south along the east coast of Africa. Some people actually do the whole thing (yes, insane people), which crosses 10 countries in about four months. But for the slightly less insane, the route is divided into eight legs. In April 2009, I pedaled about 1500km across Botswana and Namibia along the Elephant Highway. Read more...

In April 2009, I spent two weeks on safari in Botswana and two weeks riding my bike along the Elephant Highway as a part of the Tour d'Afrique. Read my Travel Blog from Africa.

 

 

An excerpt from the forthcoming Lonely Planet guide to Botswana & Namibia.

When I was contemplating the possibility of a bike ride across Botswana and Namibia, I turned to my trusty rusty Lonely Planet: "Unless you're an experienced cyclist and equipped for the extreme conditions, abandon any ideas you may have about a bicycle adventure." The guidebook went on to emphasise the scorching sun, the paucity of water and the vast distances. "If you try to ride your bike here," I inferred, "you will die." What had I gotten myself into? Read more...

The afternoon that we arrived at our lodge in the Okavango Delta, an elephant wandered into the camp for lunch. This warm welcome set the stage for a week of incredible wildlife watching, when we would witness all the birds and beasts in their natural habitat on the savannah. Take a Photo Safari...

 

Mara Vorhees is a writer and photographer who blogs about food, music and adventure around the world.She has written guidebooks about Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, Morocco, New England, Poland and Russia for Lonely Planet. Click here to read more about Mara.