Hello There

We thought it might be good to do a little post explaining what we're doing and why we're doing it. So here goes...

Who Are We?

We're two normal people from Exeter, UK. Both 28 (at the time of writing), recently married, and keen to see the world. Annie is a Data Analyist, and Will an Engineer. This is our honeymoon - a nice romantic trip with minimal showering and wearing the same socks 7 days in a row.

We met back at Uni, and have since spent a year cycling through South America together, before spending the last 5 years in the UK. It's time to get back out there again!

What're We Doing?

We're currently cycling down the west coast of Africa, seeing how far we can make it in a year. We're doing it on two fully loaded Thorn Nomad touring bicycles, spending most nights in our tent, pitching in the wild.

But Why?

For fun. Also to visit new places.

Why Africa?

For this trip, there were two main route contenders:
1) Europe -> Asia -> Australasia
2) The West Coast of Africa

When discussing the routes with people, the resounding outcome was the the Asian route would be better. So we decided to go on the African route.

There were some good reasons behind this. Unobtainable visas and closed borders made it impossible to plan a route thorugh Asia without taking multile flights - something we wanted to avoid. It would also mean a big distance would have to be covered in a short time to avoid cycling through the northern hemispheres winter, and we're not the quickest of cyclists, and aren't the most fond of the cold.

Africa has always enticed us. We hear so much about it on the news, yet have no real knowledge of what life is actually like there. Furthermore, the landscapes and climates are diverse, and the cultures like something we've never experienced. It's also currently possible to travel down the west coast of Africa without having to fly or skirt around countries.

Why By Bicycle?

Cycling is an absolutely fab way to see the world. The slower pace gives you time to really get a feel for a country. It makes your more approchable, and puts you in way more situations that allow you to interact organically with the local people. We often think that the vulnerability of being on a bicycle gains a friendlier reception from people also.

Anyways, let us know if you have any questions. The email button in the footer has a 73% chance of working (if it doesn't just hit us up at wheelywildadventure@gmail.com). We plan on using this blog to document the trip. When researching the countries on route, the information found in other peoples blogs was hugely insightful, so hopefully this can be become another resource for future people looking to cycle through Africa.

Ahh another thing, we leave on the 17th of September, starting in Santander, Spain. We hope to post regular updates from then onwards.

Add me on Duolingo - @Will358061

Hopefully see you next time.

Annie and Will