Cross Africa On Your Motorcycle

Africa has to be the ultimate adventure-bike destination. In the north, you have the Sahara desert to contend with. Below that the continent has a full catalog of animals which are happy to eat you like a leather-wrapped snack. And snakes like the mamba are fine with killing you just for sport. Even the lowly mosquito or tsetse fly can take you out.

If you’re looking for the beginner’s route, choose South Africa. It’s easy, and you can be out in the bush country while just a short ride from any of the major towns.

Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda offer spectacular wildlife viewing and plains riding. Morocco in the northwest blends African and Arabic influences while Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia return the classic Sahara experience. And of course Egypt is incomparable.

The first of two traditional trans-African routes runs from the Mediterranean south to Cape Town, generally along the west coast. The second route runs from Cairo through Sudan and Ethiopia, into Kenya, and south from there. At the time of this writing, Sudan is politically unstable, and that’s a point worth mentioning of any African country—stability.

It’s a big continent, and there’s no reason to take a political risk when there’s so much to see. Treat unstable countries like you would potholes in the road-, and ride around them.