Cairo to Cape on two wheels

Photo montage created prior to the big trip. Courtesy of Jess McCormack.

Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mozambique, South Africa…

When most people were heading back to work or school in January 2019, brother and sister Robert and Michelle Rorich were preparing to set off on an adventure of a lifetime; a year-long trip from tip to toe of the African continent, by bike.

They would be joined for segments of the journey by good friends, fellow outdoor enthusiasts and family members, also on a mission to find answers to an important question: “What do we want our African future to look like?”

Robbie and Michie, as they are affectionately known to friends and family, had been thinking about such a trip for some time.

“We grew up with our dad organising annual 10-day cycle trips in South Africa with his friends. Robbie started organising trips with his friends once a year (too) and, luckily, I was invited along. We both (know) what a pleasure it is to live the simple cycle life. Both of us would be free in January 2019. Robbie doesn’t mind cycling slowly and both of us wanted an adventure,” 25-year-old Michie explains.

And so, the “Our Africa Pole-Pole” dream was born. “Pole-pole” translates to “slowly, slowly” in Swahili, an official language in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda but also spoken by people in several other African countries.

The team’s aim was to engage with their “African brothers and sisters” in the countries they cycled through, carrying all their supplies, travelling on a minimal budget and having fun along the way.   

Michie, Angus and Jess riding beneath the storm clouds of the Omo valley in Ethiopia.

The core crew

Angus Teeton (22) joined the trip from the beginning. When the tour hit Tanzania, he decided to go ahead of the group, keen for a solo adventure. Jess McCormack (25) joined the gang in Cairo.

“Mich, Angus and I met in Cairo in mid-January and rode around the Nile Delta, via the Red Sea, Suez Canal, Mediterranean and Nile River mouth – staying in the town of Port Said where our grandmother grew up. Jess joined us and we headed south on the first of February,” Robbie says.

Jess was unfortunate enough to contract both Typhoid and Hepatitis and had to leave the group in Uganda to ensure her liver had time to heal. She rejoined the group for the South African leg.

Cam Wheeler (24) joined Team Pole-Pole for eight weeks in Sudan and Ethiopia. Suzanne Lambert (25) joined the cycle in Uganda and will finish the trip with the team in the next few days.

Lauren Granger (27) joined the group in Kenya and will also finish the trip in Cape Town, despite an unfortunate knee injury along the way. Michelle adds that Lauren’s name was difficult for people to pronounce in east and southern Africa and she was often referred to as “Rolin”.

Rolin’s partner, Devin Dollery also joined the cycle in Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Find out more about these incredible people on the Our Africa Pole-Pole website here.

Always welcome

The group based a lot of their route on advice from locals and other cycle tourists. All the participants agreed it would be much more fun to be flexible along the way, and enjoyed being able to change course slightly to see an interesting place or meet people they would not have known about had it not been for the suggestions they received. Robert says they experienced absolutely no obstacles in terms of movement.

“Borders and visas are very easy and tourists are welcome where we have been. Wow, it’s unbelievable how we’ve been welcomed. It has certainly changed the way we will treat people in South Africa; it has made us feel perhaps more capable of sharing our own happiness and kindness with people we meet.

“Basically every time we haven’t wild-camped and we have stayed with a family, they’ve welcomed us into their homes and lives. One of the first of these experiences was with a family in Egypt. We met a guy around our age and told him we needed a place to sleep,” Robbie explains.

“After (checking) with us that we would be okay to stay in his humble home, his family took us in for two days, giving us their beds to sleep in and going so far as cooking a duck reserved for special occasions to show us true Egyptian hospitality.”

““People are often very proud of their religion or culture or country and love to show this to the world and a way of doing that is by welcoming tourists like us into their homes.””

Cam, Michie, Angus and Jess in Ethiopia.

Friends and family have been very supportive of Our Africa Pole-Pole. “Some would love to be with us and some love to live and learn with us through our stories and photos,” the 23-year-old says.

He admits that many local people often do not believe the group is cycling from Cairo to the Cape. “They kind of pretend to believe us but when we tell them the (name of the) next town we are riding to, they say it is too far to cycle to!”

Michie, who is a qualified development economist and boasts a Masters degree from the University of Oxford, is also a talented writer. She shares many beautiful tales on the Our Africa Pole-Pole blog. Her post on gender in Sudan speaks about the incredible hospitality among Sudanese families. The Rocky Road in Turkana is about the hospitality of the Kenyan police.

In Ethiopia, she explains, they make a wine called Tej, and when the team went in search of some of the drink, they ended up being invited to a special Easter celebration with the shopkeeper’s family.

“Easter is a big deal in Ethiopia; (many) people are Coptic Christian and (had) been fasting for two months prior. All around Addis Ababa, people were buying goats and chickens that had passed us on our way in from the rural areas, on the back of motorbikes and on the roof of trucks.

“The shopkeeper’s back yard was alive with the heavy smell of deliciously spiced onions her daughter had been stirring for hours, two live goats tied up and happily munching on some grass and a chicken in another corner.”

““Thinking about what it would mean for our family to welcome strangers to a meal as special as Easter, I will remember the warmth of this family forever.” ”

Two wheels

Robbie says they chose cycle touring because it provides a space to feel present and alive in all moments of the day.

“This leads to all other aspects of life, travelling, learning and experiencing being ‘lit up’. We like cycling, so I suppose we weren’t afraid of riding. We love being outside,” he says.

Robbie is one of South Africa’s top trail runners, with podium finishes in the country’s top races. He has cycled thousands of kilometres in southern Africa, and there is no doubt that he thrives on the thrills of the great outdoors. 

“We have taken some public transport (along the way) and each time we get out of the taxi or off the bus or motorbike, we’ve thought ‘sho’! Luckily, we have our bikes so we won’t have to do that again for a while. We also have lots of time and not lots of money to spend on transport,” he explains.

Jess and Angus amongst the desert mountains in Egypt.

Michie agrees that living away from luxury draws one to the present moment all the time. “For me, the biggest change in world view has been that happiness – true joy – really is possible for everyone. And that is because I have experienced it,” she says.

“There is such joy in really being where we are in the moment. Life is busy, but the activities are simple and surrounded by beauty. We’re in nature most of the time and amongst people who take great pleasure in making us feel welcome.”

Date and banana break in Sudan. It was still cool enough to be in the sun.

Development = “good change”

Michie came across Robert Chambers’ work when studying Development Economics, “where development is most often spoken about as the final phase after a country moves from agriculture through industrialisation and into a wealthy service economy”. Chambers defines development as “good change”.

““There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Communities need to decide what they believe is good together and make the change they want to see.””

“People also tend to share what is not good. We then ask them what good they want to see in the future,” Michie explains.

She adds that she hopes these questions have shed some light on the good aspects of those people’s lives they have interacted with, so that those who “have been systematically told” by development agencies and missionaries that their lives are backward and poor, “see the beauty that many people in ‘developed’ countries wish they had in their lives”.

For Robbie, Michie and all the people who joined them along the way, this journey has been a life-changing experience.

“It is certainly very special for us to spend the whole year together, experiencing so much every day,” Robbie says.

“Being siblings, however different, we have a similar base of life to expand from and it’s really quite wonderful to grow side by side but completely in our own ways.”

Michie says it has been an incredible time for spiritual and personal development.

“Being able to share this with Robbie has meant that we have been able to grow together; in our understanding of life, what is important, what is real, what is deep in our hearts. It has been amazing to know that someone who holds the same values close, who gets exactly where I’m coming from, is always right there.”

Michie and Robbie trying out riding in their galabeas in Egypt.

She adds that all the Team Pole-pole members have grown much closer during the course of the trip.

“We’ve seen each other in places of absolute vulnerability and danced like loonies in public places to Mango Groove’s “Special Star” with absolute joy. Jess and Lauren are new friends, but new friends quickly feel like old friends when you’re spending all day together and sharing beautiful experiences,” she muses.

“We’ve done some formal seminars on the bikes, chatting about urban design, law, art, music and economics. We read our diary entries to one another, and have had some bottom-of-the-belly laughs listening to these.”

Robbie admits that his view of the African continent has resoundingly changed in realising how safe they have felt throughout the trip and how friendly the local people have been in each country visited.

There was lots of smooth tar, tail-wind riding in Sudan.

““It’s quite clear that one can literally be anywhere in the world and find humanity, human connection and kindess.””

His favourite travel companion and sister agrees, “I believe that anyone can find happiness and it is certainly what I would like to work towards as (my) contribution to development in Africa.”

*Click here to see more photos and interesting anecdotes from this extraordinary African adventure and the backgrounds of its remarkable participants. The team will be riding their last few kilometres any day now.

**Alternatively, follow Our Africa Polépolè on Facebook or Instagram. It will be well worth your time and effort.

***Thank you to Michie and Robbie Rorich for taking the time to tell me your fascinating story.