The Journey's End

The journey from the top of Africa, starting in Cairo, to the bottom of Africa, ending in Capetown:

The journey as depicted on the map looks impressive just on face view of it.  But the tale at the end of the tape is even more startling.  The journey took me over 7,000 miles of travel and over 187,000 feet of climbing (equivalent to climbing Kilimanjaro ten times on a bike).  It was a mammoth undertaking that I still cannot believe is complete.  I have been off the bike for a couple of days now but in the back of my mind I keep thinking that I am just on rest days and will soon climb back on her and ride again.  It is with bittersweet reality that I am finished with this.  I am sad that it is over because of how many amazing things I have experienced and seen.  Yet I am happy that it is over because of how hard it was.  The challenges were overwhelming at times as were the beauty and rewards.  So much has happened over the four months that it is truly mindboggling to try to come to terms with.  

I am now at the airport ready to begin the journey home.  It is almost surreal to think that the journey is now in the past.  I am certain that it has and will have a lasting impression upon me.  How much so, time will tell.  I don't think that there is another challenge that will be as tough or encompassing.  At the same time, I don't think I can do anything this tough again.  But the passage of time is always kinder to our memories and wipes away many of the worst of times and heightens the best.  So as the saying goes... never say never.  

I want to thank all of those that joined me on the journey through my site.  I got a great deal of comments, feedback and emails.  They certainly aided me in persevering through some of the times when I did not think I could go on.  It was of great comfort to know I was not alone in my trek.  Many of you told me that my descriptions helped them feel the trip in a small way.  I hope you enjoyed it and gained a little something of the flavor of Africa.  It is a much different world than what we experience in our lives.  It is hard to comprehend the lives that the people live and the hardships that they endure.  Yet they in their own way have a joy that we would find hard to see if we were in their circumstances.  

The African continent that I experienced seems to be of three different zones.  There is the northern Arab or Middle Eastern Zone, the central Tribal Zone which we most think of as Africa and the southern Colonial Zone of which is very westernized by its history of Dutch and German colonization.  But as a whole there is one thing that is common across all three... change.  Africa is in a state of change from what it was to what it could be.  There is a great deal of unrest which I felt as we rode through it. It is an unrest that is growing and will be seen over the next ten years.  I'm sure it will be unsettling for awhile but hopefully it will move to a better direction over time.

My final thoughts on my trip...  It is always good to ask the question:  would I do it again?  The answer is no, it was too hard.  But then again the answer is yes, because I would not have had the experiences or memories that I have.  Yet there is so much of the world that I have not seen yet.  So on to the unexperienced regions is where I will go.  For now, I think I will take some time to rest up as I am exhausted.  I want to feel a bit of normalcy before I start on a new journey.  So wish me luck in my rest and recovery and I will begin my contemplation of what lies ahead.

Again, thank you for joining me on my journey.  I hoped you enjoyed it as I did.

Michael