Florence Ryan

25/07/2024

https://youtu.be/FBbFmSMzO0s

Welcome back to and the third episode in Sudan, finally! Get ready for lots of sun, sand, and sweat. And solitude. The Sahara desert is no jok...

17/07/2024

Hii friends! ☺️✨

I’ve been updating my IG stories but thought I’d post something for those who don’t look there often! So here’s a little life update.

I’m back home in Europe. After 3 months in SA my visa sadly ran out so I had to say goodbye to gorgeous Cape Town & my friends there. The past two weeks have been nice. I’ve been hanging out with family, doing lots of admin (😩), running (I’m still training for a half-marathon later this summer) and working!

I have about 30 videos coming as part of my Project Africa series on YouTube. They’re all filmed, just need to edit them, and also looots of stuff to share here on Instagram!

What’s next for the summer: July & August are going to be pretty chill for me, I’m just in my little editing bubble. September, I got some exciting plans coming up which I’ll share on here. But Flo loves a spontaneous plan sooo we’ll see, might go on some missions sooner ☺️😂

Thank you all so much for sticking around - truly means a lot. If you wanna share anything you’re up to or working on, lmk in the comments otherwise my DMs are always open! I can’t respond to everyone but do read all my messages ❤️

See ya! 🫶🏼

Photo by the lovely

02/07/2024

Old & new friends ❤️

Friendships are very important to me. Growing up in lots of countries and changing schools often taught me to connect with people quickly and deeply. And sadly, I also had to learn to say goodbye a lot. Today, my ‘closest’ friends are actually pretty far… scattered around the world, some in Europe, America, Africa, Asia. Friends from my childhood, uni, random jobs, people I met while travelling and actually, a lot of friends I met online through Instagram or YouTube! But unfortunately I can’t see them all at once…

The last time I lived in one place surrounded by friends & a community was in 2019 at university in the UK. That’s a while ago now…
Since then, I’ve been on the road a lot, never in one place long enough to make friends I can see on a regular basis. Especially the last year and a half cycling across Africa. The longest I spent in one place was a month (1 month each in Khartoum, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Kampala), but my focus then was resting, recuperating, working.
That has changed since arriving in Cape Town. After finishing the trip I chose to stay for a while, I had to. It took me 16 months to get here, and now I will be back where it all started in 12 hours? It felt wrong to just fly home immediately. So I decided to stay until my SA visa runs out.

10 weeks later, I’m leaving Cape Town full of gratitude. I laughed, loved, lived so many great memories, made friends for life. I feel so lucky. And I’m so thankful for all the people I can call friends and even family. Cape Town has become home and I am looking forward to coming back real soon 🇿🇦❤️✨

PS I could only fit 10 photos but genuinely so grateful for every one I met you all know who you are 🫶🏼✨

26/06/2024

2 months in Cape Town… and I love it so much here 🥹❤️🇿🇦

Been getting into a good routine, connecting with wonderful people, making friends for life, reflecting… I’ve been hiking, I started running. I’ve been EDITING (new YouTube videos coming!), and watching the sunset every day. I’m happy ☺️❤️

PS I‘ve been sharing lots on my stories so check my story highlights if you’d like to catch up. And please do me a favour and subscribe to my channel on YouTube!! Got some special videos coming your way. Link in bio or just type ‘Florence Ryan’ 🫶🏼

First pic by

20/04/2024

We made it to Cape Town!! 🥹❤️🌍🚴🏻‍♀️

19/04/2024

Day 469 cycling across Africa 🚴🏻‍♀️🌍 (1 day from finishing!!!)

The last two weeks in South Africa have been amazing. Lots of frustrating challenges (crazy wind, rain, tyre problems, broken chains, plus my period came 4 days early yesterday 😭) but also sooo many wonderful encounters, new friends, beautiful views and delicious food. It’s overwhelming but I’m happy :) I’ve been really present and am taking it all in. Tomorrow we cycle into Cape Town!! Crazy.

18/04/2024

UPDATED LOCATION ‼️ Hey guys! Posting this again as we’ve changed the information a bit (clearly we’re extremely well prepared😂). After 16 months on the road, we’ve cycled across Africa from Cairo and are finally arriving in Cape Town!

We’re organising a finish line / meet & greet at the Sea Point Promenade at 3 PM on Sayurday. If you’re in town, please come say hi! We’d love to meet you. Bring your friends & fam, everyone is welcome.

On Sunday we’ll be cycling to the cape of good hope, the final leg of the journey. You’re welcome to join us by bicycle, motorbike, car, one wheel, or any other means of transportation for as long or as little as you’d like :)

If you can make it, DM me or for the WhatsApp groups to stay updated.

See you there!

30/03/2024

Days 365-379 cycling across Africa 🌍🚴🏻‍♀️

Snaps from Tanzania 📸🇹🇿
1. Wild camp spot on our last night in Tanzania
2-4. All the Tanzanian moms 🫶🏼🥹 thanks for feeding us.
5. Chipsi mayai 😍 an absolute staple of my diet here: fried potatoes with eggs.
6-7. Tanzania is truly stunning 🤩
8. The calm before the storm. We were there during the rainy season. It rained every day. I think my shoes are still damp to this day haha 🥲
9. Karibu nyumbani ❤️ in the words of the locals we met: welcome home.

Update & change of plans:
Initially our plan was to cycle from Tanzania to Malawi and then enter Zambia. I personally would have loved to keep going as we have been, fully immerse ourselves in each country, document the stories we want to tell thoroughly. But it’s a team project and sometimes you have to make compromises… so we set a final deadline for reaching Cape Town: April 20th. And that meant that we have to go faster, a lot faster. Or part ways and I seriously considered going solo. Both are situations I did not want but I still wanted to make it work. So we made the difficult decision to skip Malawi and cycle directly towards Zambia. Then, I skipped some sections and took public transportation in order for the boys to cycle faster without me. It was all great in the end because I met wonderful people and still enjoyed Zambia very much. I’ll dive deeper into this all in the future.

Anyway, the last 3 months have flown by. I’ve been prioritising living in the moment, deeply connecting with people, filming things I’m passionate about the way I want (for YouTube) and enjoying it all. And I have!! Genuinely. That’s why I haven’t been posting much and am slowly catching up :)

As I write this, I am in Namibia. We have roughly 3 weeks left on the trip. Around 1300km left. I have so many incredible memories and stories to share but I’m not going to post any more of the Zambia/Botswana content until I reach Cape Town (on top of allllll the YouTube videos from Sudan onwards).

Maybe I’ll post some things of this final stretch live as I go, if it feels right. Thanks for coming on this journey with me it’s been such a pleasure to share it all! ❤️

25/03/2024

We only spent 7 days here but Burundi will always have a special place in my heart ❤️ I knew very little about it before coming and it truly surprised me! Here are some of my favourite moments/pictures :)

1. The team &
2. Fishermen on Lake Tanganyika. Most people we met were super excited to see Muzungus as very few people come visit here.
3 & 4. Villagers selling freshly caught ‘mukeke’ fish. We had some in Bujumbura and it’s super tasty 😍
5. This gentleman cycled with me for over an hour on my last day in Burundi. We cycled next to each other in silence. He had one gear so he pushed his bike full of bread /cakes (which he was going to sell in next village) up the big hills. I cycled up slowly in my lowest gear and then he would catch up with me in the downhills. Eventually he indicated to me that he had to take a left turn to his village and said goodbye. I asked for a photo :)
6. Every time we stopped for a break/drink/photo, we were surrounded by a crowd of kids in a few minutes! They stare a lot but they’re shy and polite, just curious.
7. A young girl came running towards me, holding her little brother. She was so excited to show him a Muzungu. Not sure what he thought but he looked a bit spooked 😂
8. New friends in Bujumbura ❤️ Esperanza, Orlando & Champion
9. As we cycled into Bujumbura (the capital) on the 31st of December, a car was driving from the airport towards the town, windows open. I waved and said Salam Aleikum. They stopped and we started talking. They were Egyptian diplomats, in total disbelief when I said I came from Cairo by bicycle. Such a sweet family. The boys arrived and we all took a selfie. It was a full circle moment, arriving in Burundi on NYE and meeting Egyptians, as we were in Egypt for New Years’ last year!
10. With our friends in Gishora. Thanks for showing us around and enabling us to capture the beauty of Burundi, its culture and people. Can’t wait to share everything we’ve filmed in my YouTube video!!

Days 364-371 cycling across Africa 🌍🚴🏻‍♀️
Total distance cycled in Burundi: 235 km (hitched 10km in the last hill before the border as my knee hurt)

22/03/2024

I want to tell you a story. When I travel, I often wonder about the people who came here before me and those who will come after. What did they see? How much has changed? What will the future generations see? Let’s go back in history…

So Dr. David Livingstone (man with the hat, photo 2) was a Scottish doctor, missionary & explorer who lived in the 1800s. He advocated for the establishment of trade & religious missions in central Africa, and the abolition of the African slave trade. He spent decades here & went on multiple expeditions. He crossed the Kalahari desert, mapped most of the course of the Zambezi river, searched for the source of the Nile. Look at the map of his journeys from 1851 to 1873. These distances are incredible!! It‘s hard to comprehend unless you’ve covered them yourself. 200 years ago! No roads, no cars. He got extremely ill in the jungle & was saved by Arab traders who had medicine. He got pneumonia, cholera, tropical ulcers on his feet, you name it.

All this for what? Livingstone is remembered for his geographical discoveries. He was the 1st white man to see the Victoria falls and many lakes & rivers in this region. Many find reasons to criticise this. After all, he was an outsider “discovering” what locals already knew. But I still find it fascinating as his observations enabled regions to be mapped which previously had been blank. Maps that I myself use every day here…

At some point, Livingstone completely lost contact with the outside world for 6 years. Only 1 of his 44 letters made it to Zanzibar. That’s where Henry Stanley (red cap, photo 1) comes in. A journalist. In 1869 the New York Herald newspaper sent him to find Livingstone. He found him on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in 1871, greeting him with the words “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

The words are famous because they’re funny 😂 Livingstone was clearly the only other white person for hundreds of miles. And here I am today in Burundi, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. These statues were built to commemorate Stanley & Livingstone’s meeting. It makes me think… what was it like for Stanley to search for this Muzungu for 2 years? What was it like for Livingstone to live here?

14/03/2024

Rwanda has a special place in my heart 🇷🇼❤️ I loved it here. It is so refreshingly peaceful and calm but still full of life. I felt safe, I felt welcome. And it’s just so beautiful!!!! My highlight was cycling the Congo Nile Trail, where most of these photos were taken. What a beautiful little peace of paradise. We met other hikers there who were also in awe. Highly recommend Rwanda to all & any of you!

Will be back soon, hopefully. let’s work together and do something epic :)

Off to Burundi now!

08/03/2024

Rwanda is quickly becoming one of my favourite countries in Africa 🤩

Congo Nile trail, days 347-349 cycling across Africa 🌍🚴🏽‍♀️

24/02/2024

Hi friends 👋🏼❤️

It’s been a while. Thanks for the messages & check-ins, I’m doing well! Happy and healthy. There’s been a change of plans and route, so the last three months have been very fast-paced, way more than the first portion of the trip. I’ve been living fully & taking it aaaall in 😌 And I’m excited to share it all. I have terabytes and terabytes of amazing stories for YouTube that I’ll be editing throughout this year, but also lots of photos and videos I’ll post on Instagram. Bear with me because I have a lot to catch you up on! And my internet in the next few weeks is going to be on and off, but here we go:

I left Uganda months ago and am now way further south. I’ve crossed Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Zambia and have just entered Botswana 👀🇧🇼 the plan is to arrive in Cape Town by the end of April. These photos are a few of my favourite memories recently 🥰 can you guess where they were?

Alsoooo if you’re in Botswana/Namibia/SA (or know someone who lives there, or have any tips and suggestions) or you live in Cape Town & want to tag along for the last leg, please reach out 😊

06/12/2023

After many months on the road, we have finally made it to Uganda, and more specifically Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile!

Well, one of them: if you’ve been following for a while you might remember we passed the other source, Lake Tana in Ethiopia a few months ago.

This is a very surreal moment, since we’ve been basically cycling along the Nile since we left Egypt and now we have cycled exactly 5000km from where we started at the start of the year! So this feels special 🥳

By the way, there’s quite a few new followers here so I’ll briefly introduce myself. My name is Flo, I’m 25 years old and with my friend we are cycling from Cairo to Cape Town and filming the whole adventure. Sometimes we have friends & strangers join us for some time, and so far we’ve had 10 people join us!

My passion is telling stories of my adventures and the people and places we discover. I share my journey here on IG but my main work (and proudest) is on YouTube! So feel free to head over and check out my videos :) link is in my bio.

We will be spending a few days in Jinja before heading to Kampala and explore what this country has to offer! Super excited to be here 🇺🇬

15/11/2023

New video is out!! Enjoy 🎥🍿

Welcome back to and to the second Episode in Sudan! It was all filmed in one day. I remember it so clearly, as this was the day I discovered t...

10/11/2023

Guys we made it to the Ocean! After leaving our bikes in Naro Moru we spent some time in Nairobi and South of Kenya to rest, explore and edit. And then we took a train to Mombasa! (The coconut on the map - and yes I know it’s a terrible drawing haha)

03/11/2023

Made it to the EQUATOR!! Day 191. We've been cycling south for months and finally, we're entering into the southern hemisphere. Very surreal 😳

Thanks for joining me and for the last few days, it's been so fun sharing memories, fruits, tents, laughs and pain with you 🫶🏼🚴🏻‍♀️🗻

03/11/2023

The most “dangerous” part of this trip is not camping, not the people, not the wild animals, it’s the roads!! Windy highways with little to no shoulder, cars & trucks that drive past at full speed and almost knock you off the bike with the draft, windy roads like this one, where drivers can’t see you cycling 💀

Honestly that’s my biggest fear- my life is in the fate of so many strangers. I’ve seen many trucks drivers drunk at 7 am… Please be gentle 😢 and also (this goes to all the countries in the world) please build proper shoulders 🙏🏼

PS: the wind up here was insane 😂💨

02/11/2023

“Karibu Kenya” said this lady as she sold us some fruit, it means welcome to Kenya in Kiswahili 😍🇰🇪

She had a lovely contagious smile and the best pixie oranges ever. Asante sana!!🍊

01/11/2023

Days 182-185 cycling across Africa 🚴🏻‍♀️🌍

So… I knew nothing about Northern Kenya before coming here and wow, I was not prepared for it. It’s really challenging. It’s some of the hardest cycling we’ve done on this trip. The conditions are tough - they remind me of my least favourite parts of Sudan & Ethiopia combined: intense heat, insane wind (that even bends the signs that warn people of the wind 😅) PLUS hilly terrain (I don’t know why I thought Kenya would be flat, but it’s not 😂)

Initially I was super excited to be in a new country, but I spend my days wondering why I’m doing this, is it even worth it… hours and hours on the bike, sweating and struggling. There’s not much to enjoy, it’s pure physical challenge.

That’s when I focus on the little things that bring joy: listening to podcasts, taking breaks in the shade, opening a pack of Haribo I’ve been saving and carrying as emergency food for months, starry nights and waking up with the sun every morning. And knowing that further south, there’s a lot to look forward to! I’m dreaming of fresh fruits, different food, interactions with Kenyans. There’s so much to learn!

27/10/2023

Day 179 cycling across Africa 🚴🏻‍♀️🌍

It’s my last few days in Ethiopia, and I have mixed feelings about this country.

If I had to use 3 words to describe my experience, I would say: beautiful, interesting challenging. And for me, challenging weighs a lot heavier than the other 2.

The landscapes here are unreal, the mountains breathtaking. Culturally, it’s very rich and I learnt a lot, every day! I shared a few of these things on IG, but there’s a lot more coming in the YouTube videos.

But physically, it was tough. The 2nd day cycling in Ethiopia was the most physically challenging day of my life. Mentally, my time here was even tougher. Mainly because of the people and the hostility we were met with. In contrast to Sudan & Egypt, where the 1st word we heard from any passerby was “Tfadal” or welcome, I did not feel welcome here for the most part. Especially by some men and a lot of boys throwing sticks & rocks, pushing & pulling me off the bike. You hear “money money” and “you you” all day long. It’s really not fun.

Luckily we met a few nice ladies & girls (photographed). I felt safer around them, I could let my guard down. I got insights on their culture, food, daily life. They’re strong, hardworking, and the backbone of society. I have a lot of respect for any girl or woman living in this country 🙏🏼

Not all my experiences were bad, and we met a few wonderful people too .gideonmentie .traveler
But this is a part of my journey and I need to share it. It’s only fair.

It’s hard to put my feelings to words and I doubt I’ll be able to for a long time. The best way to accurately show it will be through my YouTube videos: that’s how I can best capture and describe my experiences, with context, nuance and more accuracy than these short posts. If you haven’t already, please head over to my channel and watch all the episodes I posted so far. I promise you won’t be disappointed 🙏🏼

PS: To all the smart commenters: this is not a generalisation, this is MY experience and nothing you say will take away from that, so don’t waste your time 👋🏼

12/10/2023

I was able to cycle across Sudan, just before the war broke out and documented my time there. This is the first of many episodes there 🙂 enjoy!

💸 Patreon https://www.patreon.com/florenceryan📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/noflomo/📩 Business [email protected] FriendsRob ...

23/09/2023

Postcard from Ethiopia! 💌 In every country, I send a unique postcard to my Patron supporters! If you can afford it and would like to support my work & this trip, the link is in my bio. You can still collect at least 10 countries’ cards! Also huge shoutout to my patrons, appreciate each one of you so much ❤️

22/09/2023

Day 126 cycling across Africa. Roadside breaks with a million cows (zoom in, there are actually so many. I’ve never seen this many cows at once)🐄

20/09/2023

My favourite thing about Ethiopia is the juices 🥑

17/09/2023

Cycling across Ethiopia 🇪🇹🚴🏻‍♀️

The rides are challenging, the mountains are green and you are never alone. There’s always someone in sight (which makes peeing outside a bit difficult…). Xavi is cycling with us for 10 days. He bought a cheap bike from someone on the street in Bahir Dar, and every day, a part of it breaks. It’s funny and frustrating at the same time, and he’s shown a lot of patience.

Whenever we stop anywhere, a crowd gathers to observe our every move. In Egypt and Sudan, the first words people would say were “hello”, “tfadal” (welcome) or “join us for some tea”. Here, the first words that we hear from everyone is “you you”, “faranji” and “money money”. Some are actively hostile and throw rocks. It’s a drastic change in mentality that makes cycling here very emotionally and mentally tiring, yet this behaviour of the people fascinates me. I’m still trying to understand exactly why they’re like this, but I have some theories that could explain this behaviour…

10/09/2023

Cycling across Ethiopia in a nutshell: cycling away from kids throwing rocks at you, getting tired and pushing your bike up the mountain, getting to the top and being surrounded by kids & villagers asking for money. It’s exhausting 😅 the views are pretty though!

Day 113 cycling across Africa - from Addis Zemen to Bahir Dar.

09/09/2023

In northern Ethiopia, I saw many women with face tattoos. Few want to be photographed, but these ladies let me capture their tattoos as they were all dressed up for Fasika (Easter) and proud to show them to me. This got me curious to learn more about their skin decoration. Here’s what I learnt:

Many women in northern Ethiopia have face tattoos. This tradition (Niksat) dates back to the 4th century, when Christianity was introduced in this region.

The face tattoos differ from region to region, but in Gondar they have specific symbols tattooed on their face. As it’s a tradition mostly practiced among Christian communities, the decoration usually contain patterns or images of the cross. Some women don’t only get the Niksat administered on their skin, but also on their gums, and having darker gums is a criterion of beauty in some rural areas of Ethiopia. Some also get a chain-like pattern on their neck with a sign of the cross on their chest.

It’s a part of their identity, and girls are encouraged (sometimes forced) to get the Niksat. The pretext is that the girl won’t get a husband if she doesn’t decorate her face with these patterns.

I love learning about beauty standards in each country I’m cycling through. To me, it would have never crossed my mind to tattoo my face as a teenager, but here, it’s an old tradition that’s been passed down generation by generation, it means you’re a proud Christian and beautiful. So fascinating!

07/09/2023

Fasika (Easter) in Gondar, Ethiopia was one of the most interesting religious celebrations I’ve ever witnessed 🇪🇹

Gondar is a special place to be during that time of the year. It’s an important place in Ethiopian history (old capital of Ethiopia) and is famous for several Ethiopian dishes and drinks, including Tej or honey wine (drink in the photo). It is also home to a majority Ethiopian Orthodox Christian population, which is the main religion in Ethiopia (around 45%).

For Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, Fasika or Easter is the most important festival of the year. a 55-day fast which ends on Easter Sunday. It’s more important than Christmas.
On Easter weekend we witnessed hour-long masses and prayers happening in all the churches of the city. The worshippers prostrate themselves at church (or rather, outside the churches) bowing down and rising up for hours until they get tired.

Throughout the two months of lent, you hear prayers and chants coming from churches over loudspeakers, multiple times a day and for multiple hours at a time. The main religious service starts on Saturday evening and finishes at 3:00 am on Sunday morning. Some men are inside the church, they pray, chant and dance all night long. Women and children stand or sit outside to listen and pray. Many of them brought blankets and were actually asleep on the ground. Around 2:30 am, just before the end of the service they light candles.

On the morning of Easter Sunday, a sheep is slaughtered and a feast is prepared. After 55 days of fasting and observing a vegan diet, people eat traditional dishes like Tibs (mutton stew) and Doro Wat (chicken stew), which you can see on the last photo of the post. Both are served with Injera of course.

05/09/2023

I climbed Mt. Ras Dejen (4543m), the tallest peak in Ethiopia! 🇪🇹

This was my first overnight trek ever, and I’m so happy to have done it here in the Simien Mountains. The landscapes are incredible, the hike is challenging because of the altitude (its not technical) but very doable, there’s a lot of flora and fauna to see, and every day is its own adventure! It’s also a special hike because you’re not alone. Rob and I had a guide, cook and scout (Moges ❤️) with us the whole time and they made the experience so memorable. They were total strangers on day one, but saw me through many vulnerable moments (altitude sickness, sunburn, exhaustion, falls 😅) and by the end of the week we made lots of incredible memories! 🦊☔️⛺️🔥

We went during the dry season and it was amazing, I can’t even imagine how beautiful the mountains are in October, after the rainy season! Maybe I’ll organise a group trek here in 2024… let me know if you’d be down to join.

Ok bye now we can go back to Gondar and shower! 😂😴