Memories of 10,000 kilometers down roads less traveled, interacting with some of the world's poorest people, eating local foods and pitching tents in desert or bush form big parts of RusticoRiders Cycle Africa (2009, AuthorHouse, 208 pages). This adventure-travel book by Canadian writer Beryl Doiron, with her husband Bernie, tells of a four-month bicycle journey from Cairo to Cape Town.
“Since we returned from our adventure, we've given a few slide-show presentations and found eager interest for more details about the journey, which prompted the book,” said Beryl.
The Doirons' cycling trip from Africa's tip to its tail, together with other riders and a support team, allowed them to mix their hobbies of cycling and travel while avoiding a Canadian winter.
“It was a rather chilly morning on January 12, 2008, when I looked into my helmet mirror and saw the Pyramids of Giza fade into the distance. Bernie and I were in the company of 55 like-minded people from 13 countries on an experience that in many ways would change our lives. Little did we know what was ahead of us, only that this tour had taken place annually for the five previous years, so not getting any younger, we decided that 2008 would be our year.”
Leaving Cairo, they cycled through ancient Egypt, the deserts of Sudan, the mountains of Ethiopia, the lush rolling hills of Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia, the beautiful terrain of Botswana and Namibia and along the Atlantic coast of South Africa to Cape Town. Much of the journey rolled across clay, washboard, rock, sand and dusty roads.
There were humorous moments and harrowing experiences, even as the cyclists got to know themselves and each other much better. Along the way, they noticed the welcoming faces of Africans who may lack many of life's amenities, but appear to live in peace and harmony with their surroundings. In villages and countryside, the people and lifestyles stirred memories of the authors' own childhoods on a Canadian family farm and in a nearby fishing village.
Married for 40 years, the authors, from North Rustico, Prince Edward Island (on Canada's East Coast), have raised two sons and completed careers. Then they craved adventure.
Some book-sale revenues will go to WaterCan, a charity aiming to supply clean water, basic sanitation and hygiene education to some of the world's poorest people.
For more information: www.rusticoriders.ca
(December 21, 2009)
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