The month of December brought with it some epic adventures and opened up new paths for Donkey and I. We crossed into Mozambique and were immediately hit by some of the worst rains of the trip so far. It didn’t let up for days, the rainy season had finally caught up with us. In Vilanculos, wet and unhappy with the previous days’ ride, it was high time to sit down and have a powwow with the boss. As much as I enjoyed our stint in Africa so far, some changes needed to be made. I felt I was rushing and that my life consisted only of riding from one destination to the next. It started to feel like a 9 to 5 job, that is a biiig no go.

First step was to add other activities that I want to do more of. Immediately to mind came diving, seeing as I was in Vilanculos. I also want to go on more hikes. I want to see mountains Gandalf! Finally, I needed to make riding enjoyable again. This meant finding routes that go over beautiful passes or are a pleasure to ride.

The rainy season still posed a big problem. I really want to enjoy the countries I am travelling through, especially Malawi. If I am going to be getting rained on daily and the roads become a horror, then I have only two options; to suffer the rain in misery, or to rush through the countries that are hit worst. Neither of which appealed to me. So, I decided to do something more drastic:

The idea of moving the South America stint up the time roster has been stuck with me since Angola. And so, I decided to loop back to Cape Town, put Donkey on another ship ride and continue the journey in Montevideo, Uruguay. To end my time in Africa for now.

Our journey south through Mozambique saw many dives in some of the best conditions of my life. The weather kept improving, though it stayed cool. Perfect riding conditions. My mood improved with every kilometer I rode. The longer I think about it, the happier I am with this decision.

There were also two other highlights in looping back down. The first being that I was able to spend Christmas with my dear friend Kirsty and her family, though I’ve now been adopted into the Macaulays 😉. It was so lovely to spend time with my close friend and old flat mate. It reminded me how much I was missing the friends I had left behind. The second highlight was that I was able to join Camille and Lilla (two girls cycling through Africa that I met in Vilanculos) at the Smoking Dragon new years festival in the Drakensberg, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.

With these wonderful experiences I closed out 2023, a year of adventures. With a total of 19 countries visited, and almost 20’000kms on Donkey, 2023 has been absolutely incredible… and 2024 will be even more so. Let the adventure continue!!!