May 1 Day 182 Ambulance Station 3 to Ambulance Station 5 ~ 120 km I had such a pleasant experience with the 2 guys at this ambulance station! When I arrived around 1:30 pm, we enjoyed some tea together right away and had a brilliant time chatting with the help of my Arabic-English phrase book! [...]

(A reflection and summary of my 2 weeks or so in the Sahara – details and stats in next post!) The sahara has been one of the most incredible experiences of my entire journey… The elements have been intense at times: the sun’s heat like a dry sauna, the wind whipping at my side or [...]

April 28 – Saturday Day 179 Alexandria to Benha Via Agricultural Road ~ 165 km I’ve got to give credit to a generous tailwind for today’s progress! It wasn’t an EXCEPTIONALLY easy day, but I was still able to get in 165 km before sunset. And I mean JUST before sunset. The police I spoke [...]

April 25 – Wednesday Day 117 Cairo to Mosque Via Cairo-Alex desert road ~ 135 km “I’m okay, I’m okay…” I said groggily from to a group of 3 women who had gently woken me from my slumber in the corner of the mosque. “Are you lost?” one of them asked. None of the three [...]

April 22 – Sunday Day 173 I am staying in an area of the city called Old Cairo. The apartment is across from a wide but short, crisp & white rectangular building – the Amr Mosque. It is the site of the first mosque in Egypt and also on the continent of Africa altogether! Although [...]

April 20 Day 172 Addis Ababa It is 11 pm on Friday night which means I am less than 10 hours away from being in another country entirely! I will be airborne in just 5 hours and, of course, as is the case every time I am about to fly (especially with Topanga), I am [...]

Oh the stories I could tell about my month in Ethiopia… My experience here has truly been a deep, immersive education. I won’t pretend for a moment that my time in this country has provided me with a significant understanding of the local history, language, culture or hardships. Rather, the brief pieces of Ethiopia to [...]

April 8 Day 160 …? To Dessie ~ 50 ridiculous km Today’s climbs came in 5 stages: Stage 1: slow, decent climb up to Kombolcha (30 km) Stage 2: steeper climb out of Kombolcha (2 km) Stage 3: climbing onto the mountains (5 km) Stage 4: switchbacks more epic than I have ever experienced (8 [...]

March 28 Day 149 Awassa to Ziway ~ 115 km Fast and flat Delicious fried samosas filled with lentils and chilis Catholic church Volunteers from Austria March 29 Day 150 Rest in Ziway Ooh this is a visit on which I MUST elaborate! March 30 Day 151 Ziway to Debre Zeit ~ 110 km Catholic [...]

March 24 Day 145 Mega to Yavello ~105 km Small village outside Yavello town March 25 Day 146 Yavello to Hagrmariam ~ 115 km? (I was going to eventually elaborate on the stories of this day, but reread my jot notes below and thought they made for a good tale on their own!! You’ll just [...]