Entries by allan

All Roads Lead To Addis.

Addis Ababa. Say it three times. Okay. Four. It’s fun. But here in Ethiopia it’s simply: Addis. The ride to Addis takes you through a valley passing between lakes AbIyata and Langana where cattle and goat herders make attentiveness even more important. Villages with traditional round floor plans and thatched roofing and of course there’s […]

Speed of Life.

It seems that since leaving Kenya a scant week ago, I’ve been on the run. And after a couple day of riding through the both verdant hills and semi-arid deserts landscaped pocked with people sporting gleaming smiles evoking a contentment that would be hard to contemplate back home where our lives are sped up and […]

Hard Rains Come & Gone

When I started this journey nearly three years ago Ethiopia wasn’t on my list of countries. And I’m not sure why. But I’m more than pleasantly surprised. And happy. It’s hard to express. This feeling I’ve got about Ethiopia. Beyond the images of malnourished children, the stories told by Bob Geldof or the warnings of […]

Ripped Off In Kenya, And The Amazing Return.

What was supposed to be an early start for the Ethiopian border crossing now was looking to be a mid-afternoon departure. First things first. I had to get the bike unloaded from the lorry. My preference was to unload it somewhere away from the hustle and bustle of this Kenya border town. Getting both the […]

No Man’s Land: Nairobi to Moyale.

With the rain pelting the windshield and the windshield wipers offered additional percussion to the Kenyan music blasting distortedly through the trucks sole speaker I knew I was in for a long ride. I didn’t have much information either. Sitting in a cab with my driver Abdulah and Sofia, a young 14 year old girl […]

No Rain, Rocks nor Rough Roads Will Hold Me Back: To Ethiopia.

Concerned about the road that goes from Nairobi north through Marsabit into Ethiopia, I’d been warned by Chris and others that the route is perhaps the rockiest and most incessant display of corrugation this side of Latin America. Glenn Heggsted, the legendary Norwegian-American who traveled around the world on the same bike a few years […]

Nestled in Nairobi at the Junction!

Just outside of the city center tucked behind a tall black gate inscribed with the initials J.J. is an overlander oasis run by German ex-pat Christof. With a large greenbelt ideal of camping and parking overland Land Cruiser, Land Rovers and motorcycles, Jungle Junction also sports a guest house with several rooms, some with private […]

The Ides of March

First it was the Ugandans who wanted to be sure their flag was represented on the WorldRider machine. Later the Kenyans added their flag but wanted a few shillings – I traded a WorldRider Sticker! It was the Ides of March that he was forewarned, the day Caesar was assisinated by the “liberators” in an […]