Hey from Dongala, Sudan

Another 4 days of riding behind us and a rest day in beautiful downtown Dongala. Once again I’m keeping up my goal of doing EFH (Every Fu…ng Hotel), on the rest days. The riding has been quite good, with paved roads and a helping wind for most of the time. Only one really tough afternoon with a brutal headwind. The camping has been a different story. Desert camps the last 3 nights and windy. My tent was inundated with sand last night. Not one of the most comfortable situations, when everything is coated with a layer of sand. Actually, quite miserable. We crossed the border in Wadi Haifa, Sudan. The border crossing was no easy task, as to be expected. It took the group about 4 hours to get through.

I’m feeling quite good and have really been trying to pace myself. My daily objective is to ride at the pace where I don’t exhaust myself, but that has a lot to do with the weather and road conditions. As mentioned, the wind has been in our favor most days and the roads good. That is about to change as we go deeper into Sudan.

The Sudanese people are living up to their billing and are fantastic. Smiling, laughing and doing whatever they can to help. The other night when we camped along the Nile, we wandered into  a nearby, small community and had tea with the locals. They laid out the red carpet and were extremely happy to have us join them.

To date we’ve road just over 1,089 miles  (1,757 km) in 14 riding days.

Today’s Three Super Stars,

Rob Hart, 29 living in London England. Rob displayed a fine tenor voice, as he accompanied Sally-Ann the other night, while doing the pots & pans. He’s an accountant for the UK government and has been to Africa numerous times. He just can’t get enough.

Craig Thompson, (CT) is 29 and lives in Stellenbosch, SA. Craig is in the golf business and is an endurance athlete. He loves travel and wanted to see more of his home continent. Craig is raising money for UNOGWAJA, a group that supports various charities, that empowers people all over Africa. His site is http://www.facebookcycle4changeafrica.com

Graham Whelan, another one of the 29 year olds. He’s an electrical engineer and resides in Buckingham, UK. Graham spotted the TDA tour on the internet in 2007 and put it on his wish list. Graham has the name of his recently deceased grandfather on his bike and is riding in his memory. He is also raising money for the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital Heart Department , http://www.justgiving.com/grahamwhelan

Connectivity to the internet has been non existent to very spotty, so don’t expect regular updates.

Ciao,

Easy Rider