Roberto Helou

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Roberto Helou

🎥 Filmmaker | Adventurer | Storyteller
🚴🏼‍♂️ Cycling across Africa
📍 Currently in 🇳🇦

21/07/2024

Here’s a little photo dump of random moments from the last two months spent in Cape Town, South Africa.

It felt great to be static for a while, have a balanced work-life routine, share more stories about the Project Africa journey, and know more about what to expect daily (as opposed to being on the road).

Cape Town is the perfect place to transition back to "normal", and was quickly becoming one of my favourite places on the planet (and I barely scratched its surface yet).

The city has a great food scene, is very cosmopolitan, and is relatively cheap for what you get compared to most countries in the world. The ease of access to a wide variety of hobbies is also unbelievable!!

It felt unfair to all other cities in the world to be able to drive 10 minutes from the place I was renting, to surf on some immaculate beaches or even 5 minutes away to hike on some trails with some of the best panoramic views I’ve witnessed.

But the highlight of my time in Cape Town was the people I met there. I’m noticing more and more that I’m less interested in exploring places and practicing fun activities compared to hanging out with friends I value. And Capetonians fascinate me. They are, on average, quite intelligent, ambitious, adaptable, deep, spiritual, and highly aware.

Social life can enhance all other aspects of your life when you hang out with the right people! And in Cape Town, there were many for me! There are many other people I care about that I couldn’t feature in this carousel, but you know who you are!

I already want to base myself in Cape Town next year, mainly for the community and cultural aspect of the city, and document and learn more about all sides of this city and the country overall!

05/07/2024

Haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd share with you a photo of one of my favorite places in Cape Town, on one of my (many) weekly hikes before sunrise 😁

It was taken on Platteclip Gorge Trail. It's not the most scenic hike up the mountain, but the workout is great (900 meters of elevation over 3.5km) , and I've had so many great conversations hiking there with friends, which add sentimental value to it :)

22/05/2024

Important update👇🏼🌍🚴🏼‍♂️🎥

It's been a month Project Africa has been completed. Now what? What's next?

It's a question I've been receiving from everyone: friends, family, strangers I meet, and many of you on social media, wanting to have a reason to keep following my work.

The question is one I had to process. Not because I had no idea what my next life chapter would look like, but because I'm overwhelmed with the quantity of ideas I'm eager to tackle. And prioritizing isn’t easy when you love so many things.

But before starting any new plan, I have to fully finish the current one. Project Africa is technically only HALF completed. The project wasn't just about cycling, but especially about documenting the journey and showing a different side of Africa.

About 40% of the content I filmed hasn't yet been shared on my Instagram. And what you see here is just the crumbs of the cake. 90% of my workload has always been editing the long-form YouTube videos. I now have about 16 TB of footage to edit. The real work starts now. But I need help.

So I'm just gonna put this out there: if any of you sees value behind what I do and is hungry for learning more about storytelling, hit me up and let's work something out!

But what about after the videos are all released? What's the plan then?

In the last two months of the project, I felt deep down that the journey couldn't end in Cape Town. I felt I didn't have the impact I wanted. I didn't have enough alone time to be challenged with solitude, meeting more locals, and getting truly immersed in the cultures... And I didn't document enough about sustainable development as I promised.

Cape Town couldn't be the finish line. I wasn't even sad about finishing. And that's when I knew... Cape Town is not the end. It's only the end of the first chapter. In Project Africa I saw immense value that I would like to build on in the future.

All I can say for now is that I'm planning to tackle a much more ambitious and challenging project. Somewhere West... If this works out the way I think it will be huge. Stay tuned, and meanwhile, enjoy the new content and a potential a book about the whole adventure too :)

21/04/2024

Today I reached the ultimate milestone of Project Africa: The Cape of Good Hope, where the edge of continental Africa meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Here's a few stats about my cycling journey from Cairo to Cape Town:

Total distance: 11,312 km (7,029 miles)
Countries I cycled through: 12
Total days since I started: 481 days (~16 months)
Total days on bike: 162
Total hours on the saddle: ~ 834 hours
Total elevation gain: ~ 100,996 meters (331,351 feet)
Longest day (time): 11 hours 26 min
Longest day (distance): 208.65 km (129.64 miles)
Most elevation in one day: ~ 1856 meters (6089 feet)
Average distance per day: ~ 70 km (43 miles)
Average elevation per day: 623 meters (2043 feet)
Broken kickstands: 6
Tyres ripped: 6
Tubes replaced: ~ 10
Cranksets used: 3
Cassettes used: 2
Punctures: ♾️
Diarrheas: ♾️
Editing hours: ♾️
Kind people I met on the road: ♾️

I want to be honest: I did hitch some rides with my bike: 12 total, and for different reasons.

The journey wasn't about riding across Africa in an unbroken cycling line. It rather was about documenting and learning about Africa and its people, having challenging but meaningful experiences along the way, and staying safe and sound all while doing it. On that note, here are the 12 cycling sections I had to skip:

1. 267 km to Abu Simbel in Egypt because our visa was expiring.
2. 143 km to Gadarif in Sudan to go to the next hospital because of horrible food poisoning.
3. 75 km crossing the Blue Nile Gorge in Ethiopia to avoid rebel activity between Amhara and Oromia during civil unrest in Ethiopia.
4. 303 km to Mega in Ethiopia because visa was expiring.
5. 55 km to exit Katavi NP in Tanzania for safety reasons linked to wildlife.
6. 67 km to Kasama in Zambia to catch up on a tight schedule.
7. 49 km to Choma in Zambia because of a ripped tyre.
8. 45km from Livingstone to Sukulu in Zambia as my visa was expiring that day.
9. 141 km to Nata in Botswana because of heatstroke.
10. 109 km to Ghanzi in Botswana because of heatstroke.
11. 82 km to Keetmanshoop in Namibia because of a tyre burst
12. 30 km to Steinkopft in South Africa because of a chain problem.

Stoked to share some updates and videos soon 👀 !!

20/04/2024

Finally. Made it to Cape Town.

Still processing...

Beyond grateful.

Thanks to everyone who joined at the finish line, love y'all ♥️

Will post more about everything that happened in the past few days soon.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed and in disbelief.

Tomorrow we're cycling +100km to the Cape of Good Hope and back to finish this expedition the way it should 🇿🇦🏁🚴🏼‍♂️🌍

19/04/2024

One more day... An arrival 16 months in the making 🚴🏼‍♂️🌍

11/04/2024

Our first two days in South Africa 🇿🇦 have been quite challenging:

Heavy rain, surprisingly cold weather, some of the strongest winds I've witnessed in the past 16 months, and loads of punctures and chain/crankset problems to fix in all those conditions. At least I had an improvised trash bag raincoat... for style of course, it was as useless as it looks 😎

The very few people we met on the empty northern cape roads are simply adorable, helpful, and hospitable. Its very refreshing to experience. It's also been so much fun to cycle in a group of 4 alongside .schuijt and

The end of the journey is in sight. Excited to reach Cape Town, that's only a few hundred kilometers away, and not look (and live) so homeless anymore 😆

10/04/2024

Sossusvlei in Namibia 🇳🇦 is one of the most photographed places in Subsaharan Africa, and for obvious reasons.

My friends and I decided to get to the top of "Big Daddy", the highest dune in the area, rising at 325 meters, for sunrise.

Few visitors were around at this time of day. The endless sea of dunes started appearing all around us, alongside the rising sun creating the most stunning ligh and shadow contrast on the dunes.

We walked on the sand crests, creating the first footprints on the dunes that day.

On the edge of the ancient Namib desert, we could see the red sand as far as the eye can see, punctuated by white salt pans, including Deadvlei which I spoke about in a previous post.

It was so scenic, but became really hot really quick. We had to go back to our car as the flocks of tourists were approaching the area. It was a short adventurous morning, but one for the books!!

Drone shots by

09/04/2024

We've made it to South Africa!! 🇿🇦

Our journey started when we left Egypt in January 2023. We then crossed our first border into Sudan in February last year. And now, over a year later and an endless amount of stories lived, memories made and lessons learnt, we have crossed into our 12th and final country of this trip!

Project Africa is slowly coming to an end and it feels surreal... Thanks for following along! And we haven't even shared or posted about half of the adventure yet, so we are excited to get to work once we finish cycling.

We arrive in Cape Town on Saturday April 20th (less than two weeks from now). We're organising a meetup for those of you who can join us, and then a group cycle to the Cape of Good Hope on Sunday 21st. Everyone is welcome. Exact time and place are TBC so keep an eye out in our stories for the info!

See you soon 🙌🏼

08/04/2024

Deadvlei is place in Namibia 🇳🇦 that is hard to believe is real until you see it with your own eyes.

Anything you photograph there looks like a minimalistic painting that nature crafted just for the pleasure of your eyes: a scorching sun creating high contrast shadows, white crackled salt flat, deep orange sand dunes rising a few hundred meters above ground level, a pale blue sky, and dead trees in the middle dramatizing the whole thing.

Very instagramable for sure 😆 I'm confident it's the most photographed location in the country, and I'm just contributing to the frenzy :)

07/04/2024

The last few days in Namibia 🇳🇦 have been very windy and hills started appearing again. It's been a while that we've been cycling on flat surfaces. Landscapes are quite dull although vast and evolving. I've been looking forward to reach South Africa soon!

But I've been looking even more forward to something else, as the journey is coming to an end: our good friend .schuijt decided to join for the last 1000kms of Project Africa until we reach the final destination: Cape Town.

It's a full circle moment, as I met Tim on my very first morning in Egypt, before we started cycling. He was hitchhiking from Holland to Hong Kong and was passing by Egypt at the time. He spontaneously decided to join the cycling adventure for the first 1000kms of Project Africa, instead of hitchhiking across the country in a few days like he had planned.

There's true magic that's found when you decide to say yes to an unexpected opportunity, which in this case can lead you to very valuable friendships and some of the most memorable and funniest moments of your life. That includes my time in Egypt with Tim. I might say the same for South Africa soon, who know 😉

One thing I respect a lot about Tim is his work ethic. When we met, he was making videos here and there about his hitchhiking journey, but never taking it too seriously.

After giving him a few pieces of advice about content creation, he started making daily videos in Dutch, sometimes editing them while we cycled and quickly became a rising creator in the Netherlands. By the time he reached Hong Kong, he decided to make a living out of video-making, and now exells in the short-form video genre.

Every encounter happens for a reason if you're curious enough to explore it!

06/04/2024

Standing on the edge of the oldest desert in the world, where huge ancient dunes meet the wild waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Sandwich harbor is one of those few places that make you feel emotional because of how beautiful their natural beauty is.

Situated on the edge of the Namib desert in Namibia 🇳🇦 it's one of the last "easily" accessible places on the coast of the desert before the sea of huge dunes that stretches almost 1000km. Just make sure you get back to the nearest town, Walvis Bay, before the tide rises again.

The Namib desert is the oldest desert in the world, dating back over 55 million years, and in total stretches for more than 2,000 kilometres. Some part are a lot more flat, others very hilly and full of dunes and/or rocky mountains.

Very few places made me feel so much awe for natural beauty, adding it to the list alongside some parts of Iceland, Ethiopia, New Zealand, and the Rwenzoris in Uganda.

Drone shots by

Big thanks to for the opportunity to experience such an epic roadtrip around Namibia!!

02/04/2024

Camping alone in front of the Zeila shipwreck was a special experience...until hundreds of german tourists flocked the beach the next morning to take a picture of the ship and leave 😆

It's situated in the south of the Skeleton Coast, a coast infamous for its heavy surf and currents that give rise to dense ocean fogs for much of the year.

The Skeleton Coast was named after the whale and seal bones littering the shore, partly due to the whaling industry, but also because of the more recent skeletal remains of about thousand shipwrecks that crashed on the shores because of the many offshore rocks and fog.

Zeila is a more recent wreck, getting stranded in 2008 after leaving Walvis Bay and heading to Mumbai.

Last 3 shots of the carousel by the awesome

01/04/2024

𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘢 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘢 2024.

I don't know how we ended up with so many funny pics, but animals make everything hilarious by simply existing 😂

Happy April, fools!

Special thanks to Planet Baobab for giving us the opportunity to visit the meerkats and the salt pans!!

30/03/2024

Climbing the Grosse Spitzkoppe, the "Matterhorn of Africa" in Namibia was out of this world.

Spitzkoppe, which literally means "pointy head" in German, is an inselberg rising dramatically from the flat surrounding plains to an altitude of 1,728 metres above sea level.

Located in the Namib desert of Namibia, the bald granite peak gives the opportunity for quite a challenging hike.

Following our local guide Ricco, we climbed and bouldered into the darkness and under the stars to make it at the top just on time for sunrise.

The view was sure worth the effort. Such a different landscape and weather to anything I've seen and experienced so far.

Add it to your bucket list 😉🇳🇦

29/03/2024

I started cycling the last leg of my Project Africa journey from Windhoek to Cape Town.

Before leaving the city, my time in Windhoek was short but eventful. Apart from giving a talk at the international school, catching up on a bit of editing, and meeting friends, I notably spent half a day with Martin, a local Namibian with a peculiar personal story, as he grew up in the country during apartheid and had many ups and downs in his life (more info in the YouTube video).

With the astonishing knowledge he acquired throughout the years, he showed me around the coolest hidden spots around city and together we had the typical Namibian street food: Kapana.

I then met with Karlis with whom I'm cycling for 5 days with, along with and .

As we finally leave the capital city to head south, we stumble upon the legendary Tropic of Capricorn, which is the southernmost circle of latitude where the Sun is perceived to be directly overhead at the December solstice. Another milestone on this journey from Cairo to Cape Town!

We also stumble upon short intense storms that force us to improvise with shelter, and a transition from greener landscapes to bush and semi-arid desert again. What makes the ride way less boring for me is conversing with Karlis about our previous adventures, mindset, purpose, storytelling, and many other random topics that both spark our curiosity and fascination.

South Africa, here we come! 🇳🇦➡️🇿🇦

28/03/2024

This is Karlis Bardelis, a 39 years old Latvian I met two days ago in Windhoek, Namibia. We're cycling together down south for the next 5 days.

Karlis has one of the most surprising, inspiring and respectful personal stories I've ever heard, and you will barely find any information about him online or on social media, so I care to share an overview of his story here.

Karlis started , a mission to circumnavigate the world only using human-powered modes of transportation.

8 years ago, he left the port of Luderitz in Namibia, then rowed the Atlantic Ocean until reaching Brazil, where he cycled across South America until he reached Lima. He then rowed the entire Pacific Ocean until reaching Malaysia, and rowed the Indian Ocean until reaching the Somalian coast where his rowing boat got taken hostage and was evacuated by helicopter.

He's the first person to ever row the Pacific Ocean from South America to Asia (which took him almost TWO FULL YEARS), the first to row the Indian Ocean from Asia to Africa, and part of the first team of two to row the South Atlantic Ocean. Unfathomable...

And now, he's in the final chapter of his journey around the globe, cycling from the East coast of Africa in Kenya to the port of Luderitz in Namibia, that he had left going West 8 years ago in his rowing boat.

Coincidentally, we happen to have reached Windhoek around the same time, and it's an absolute honor for me to be part of some of the final days of his 8-year long human-powered adventure around the globe, which also happens to be cycling!

Go follow and cheer him, he's one of the very few humans that are showing all of us how far (figuratively and literally) human beings can and are willing to go, and he's incredibly humble about it. A true purist explorer.

27/03/2024

"I'm telling you, it's a giant anteater and I saw it exactly over there!"

26/03/2024

Made it to Windhoek, Namibia 🇳🇦. The last big city on my journey before I reach the final destination of Project Africa: Cape Town, South Africa 🇿🇦.

To celebrate this milestone and 15 months on the road since I left Cairo in Egypt, I decided to ride +200km the day I reached Namibia's capital.

The conditions were tough: Brutal heat (in which a week ago I got heatstroke), unpredictable and strong winds (most often sidewinds), and a challenging amount of elevation gain.

I pushed 75kgs of gear (bicycle included) and drank about 11 Liters of water that day. I ate 4 fully-loaded meals that I prepped the day before. It took me 11:30 hours to arrive to town, cycling through the plateaus overlooking the city, under a bright milky way. As I arrived, the city shocked me.

Almost completely empty, very modern buildings and infrastructure, very organized. It felt like cycling into a European town. I had to stop at 12 different traffic lights🚦 although there was no one around. You never know how strict the law enforcement is in a new country you visit 😆

The ride was overall enjoyable and not as hard as I initially thought. Not because the conditions were easy, but because after 15 months of cycling, I've developed mental and physical calluses. I'm capable of taking on bigger challenges, my pain tolerance is higher, my self-talk tries to be positive and uplifting.

I remember cycling across Lebanon before I started Project Africa. I remember being exhausted after cycling days of 40kms on flat roads. I've come a long way and I'm proud of myself. Looking forward to the last 1500km strech down south to Capetown, South Africa!!

25/03/2024

Finally reached Namibia, the penultimate country of Project Africa!! 🇳🇦

My first few pedal strokes here were under a shiny marmalade sky.

Any hidden gems you recommend I visit/pass by? 👀

21/03/2024

Botswana 🇧🇼 has been surprisingly challenging to cycle through, and for many reasons:

First, you have the constant anxiety that the animals found on the road can harm you. Elephants charging if you get too close, lions attacking if they're with their cubs, buffaloes, hippos...

Second, there are very few people I met on the roads of Botswana, which makes the rides here a lot more boring. I barely had any interaction with locals except in the 4 small towns of Pandamatenga, Nata, Maun, and Ghanzi.

Botswana is one of the least densely populated countries in the world, and in between towns there's barely any settlements. Instead, you have very flat long stretches of road, and a lot of colorless bush. That's it.

Third, the wind is a daily struggle because of its strength and unpredictable nature. Most times it's side winds that significantly reduces my speed, and when it's headwind it's just an overall pain of a day.

Fourth is the quantity of punctures I've had. I had to patch up more punctures on my tubes in Botswana than every other country I cycled in Africa combined.

But the most challenging aspect of cycling in this part of Botswana is the heat, by far. There's currently a heatwave all across Botswana, as the summer is coming to an end.

Sudan was noticeably hotter in the south, where I cycled through temperatures of 46-48 degrees celcius for 6 days. But for some reason, Botswana feels a lot worse.

Twice I had to hitch a ride to the next town. Once because of intense dizziness and dehydration, and the second time because of violent vomitting, diarrhea, and the worst abdominal pain I ever felt (after drinking 8+ Liters of water throughout the day both times).

These were signs of heatstroke, which I never experienced before. Every cycling day, my skin and clothes are covered in salt coming from my intense sweating that is trying to get my body temperature to cool down.

If it wasn't for the quantity of wildlife on the roads, the few but kind and well-spoken locals, the gorgeous sunsets, and the outstanding landscapes I witnessed in my side adventures off the main roads, I would've reconsidered cycling across this part of the country.

16/03/2024

A few animal signs I've recently witnessed on the roads of Botswana 🇧🇼

It is by far the country with the most wildlife I've seen (that is found outside of areas like reserves and National Parks). Sri Lanka and Tanzania would be second and third.

It's hard to capture the actual wild animals while cycling and without a proper telephoto zoom lens, but the quantity and diversity of those signs give you a good idea of what's it's like out there 🇧🇼

15/03/2024

My first few hours in Botswana 🇧🇼 were exactly what I was expecting them to be, and it didn't disappoint: the wildlife thrives here.

To cross into Botswana from Zambia, you have to go through The Kazungula bridge, built recently and inaugurated in early 2021.

The location of this bridge is truly unique: it's the only point on earth where 4 countries border each other: a quadripoint, where Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia (with its infamous Caprivi Strip) meet.

On the other side of the bridge, we started seeing many animals casually crossing the Botswanan roads: warthogs, elephants, kudus, baboons, the list goes on...

A great way to witness the animals from up close is to go on a ferry tour on the Chobe River on the border with Namibia. We got to witness hundreds of elephants and all types of antelopes and hippos from up close. Thanks to for the experience!

12/03/2024

Sukulu Reserve in south west Zambia is the only place I saw a white rhino so far in Africa 🦏

It was fascinating to observe the gentle giants from up close, especially knowing that the Northern White has been declared extinct in the wild due to habitat loss and intensive poaching.

Zambia has very few Rhinos 🦏 left, so when reached out inviting me to visit Sukulu, I was intrigued to see the important work the team and herself are doing, with their current main goal being to reintroduce the Southern White Rhinos in Zambia from other regions of Southern Africa and increasing conservation efforts.

The security to protect the rhinos here is astonishing: an entire anti-poaching unit is trained and mobilized to safeguard the rhinos from poachers.

But why poach?? What's so important in a rhino for poachers to risk their lives hunting one down? Well, it's out of survival and can really help the poachers financially. An African rhino's horn is worth approximately USD$ 60,000-80,000 on the black market, as it is totally illegal to trade pretty much everywhere.

That's because there's a really high demand for rhino horns in Asian countries, where it's predominantly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, but is also increasingly being used as a symbol of wealth and prosperity.

In Sukulu, one individual rhino steals the show: Redbull the 10 month old massive "baby". Orphaned when he was rejected by his mother, Redbull now has round-the-clock care from Sukulu's carers, including Martin who's pictured here, protecting and feeding him as his surrogate mother. Redbull ingests about 16 liters of a special low-fat type of milk everyday.

After observing the rhinos and getting really up close to Redbull, we went on a game drive across the Reserve to witness many types of antelopes, buffalos, and scenic landscapes alongside great company!

Looking forward to come back and see how much Redbull has grown...

06/03/2024

You feel most alive when you're on the edge...as long as you don't die...

05/03/2024

The city of Livingstone and its surroundings have been an absolute paradise to explore.

Vibrant, with a surprising quantity of wild animals on the roads and quality people... this is also where the mighty Victoria Falls are found, one of the 7 wonders of the natural world.

Some of the highlights of my week there include meeting Austin and Tate, two Americans that have moved to Zambia and built a lovely community at Rapid 14, downstream the Zambezi.

While they hosted us, we really had some of the best times together, and great conversations about religion, culture, development, psychology, and their fascinating work here. Still can't believe they're my age. Their level of maturity is just shocking. More in a future YouTube video...

Through them, I met Pompi and Esther, arguably the most famous Zambian music artists who just finished touring around the continent, giving banger concerts. They were refreshingly down to earth, and I also had great conversations together about Zambia, the future of the country, the local mindset(s), the power of the media, and what it's like to share your talents and energy to the world for good.

As I travel more and more, what I appreciate the most is meeting people with whom I can bounce ideas back and forth and learn from all while having a great time answering sharing experiences.

We also took a day to explore a tiny part of my 45th country, Victoria Falls town in Zimbabwe, mainly to witness the falls from that side. It was a fairytale landscape, punctuated by afternoon rainbows and a heavy curtain of mist blurring out the surrounding kilometers around the gigantic falls.

Another reason I wanted to go to Zimbabwe was to find the famous 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollar bill, a very real physical memory of the horrible inflation the country has gone through some decades ago. It’s a rare bill and is becoming somewhat of an antiquity.

More than a decade ago, you could buy things as cheap as your daily bread with this bill... wild. To find it, I had to ask around 20 locals all afternoon to find it, and around 9PM I finally was able to do so.

Only a fee more days in Zambia 🇿🇲 before we hit the next country, Botswana 🇧🇼

03/03/2024

Cycling out of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, towards Livingstone, the tourism capital of the country, was packed with good energy, intensity, and speed.

We left the city escorted by the Red Arrows, a highly trained Zambian cyclists group, including some national champions. It was so refreshing to be around them, and what a triumphant way to leave Zambia’s capital! (thanks .zambia for organizing this and taking photos from the car🙏🏼)

and I kept on meeting interesting people further down the highway: local farmers, merchants, miners, and a French guy cycling from Cape Town to Nairobi.

The heat was becoming really challenging, and after applying over our bodies a $2 sunscreen we bought in Lusaka, we got badly sunburnt.

I got multiple punctures and a ripped tyre that created a worrying bulge, so I had to order a new one right on time to keep cycling the next days.

The last day of cycling before reaching our destination was the longest cycling day of Project Africa in terms of distance covered and time cycling: 187km in 8:30 hours. It was awesome. I listened to David Goggin’s “Can’t hurt me” audiobook while on the saddle for all those hours.

It was refreshing to finally arrive in Livingstone where we met with again. She took a bus across Zambia. We now were going to dedicate a few days to explore the city and its surroundings…

24/02/2024

The people of Zambia 🇿🇲 are what truly made this section of Project Africa amazing.

All the Zambians we met, no matter their background, have been friendly, very laid back, and hospitable. In my ranking, Zambia is way up there in the friendliest countries I've visited!

From the unexpected encounters on the side of the roads, to the friends-of-friends we connected with, and the number of invitations we received ... it's just been very heartwarming to receive so much help and comfort after such a tough stretch. We met so many people that I wasn't even able to add photos of all of them on this post, but you know who you are if you're reading this ☺️

During our time in Lusaka, the capital city, we even got to give talks in two different schools to very curious and energetic students, explore the cultural aspects of the city through its museum, one of its cultural centres, and above all be hosted by locals who lived their whole life here.

One of my highlights was connecting with the Lebanese diaspora living in Zambia, and it was so refreshing to experience a part of home through conversations, culture, jokes, and food.

I often ponder the question: what makes some populations more hospitable and others less? From my observations it often has to the with recent history, politics, culture, and climate. Zambia's history has been relatively peaceful in recent times, and I hope it stays this way, because people here are just gems.

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Taking a 12 hour flight up north from Cape Town back home after cycling for 16 months down south was quite an experience... If you also are looking to travel cheaply, here's a few notes to mention about Finest Flights: * The company was founded by an avid traveler who wanted to allow others to travel smoothly and cheaply too. It’s based in the UAE and operates through a system of air miles to get the cheapest flights. * Their best offers are on Business Class, but you can still get some economy deals to some destinations. (In Percentage, they can save up to 50% on Business and 20% on Economy). * Their tickets can't be canceled or rescheduled. They also do not accumulate miles. So make sure you're confident of the dates of travel) * Their offers are for Mid to Long-haul flights, not short flights. * Their best offers are on Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Air France, KLM, Ethiopian Airlines, Korea Air, Japan Air, American Airlines, and Iberia. * To proceed, try to book in advance to secure the best deals. First, access their website and fill in your request. The team will get back to you within a few hours. You can also message them on IG or WhatsApp, where an Al assistant will take your request. * They are currently building their search engine, where customers can search and book immediately.

This the story of the forest makers of Africa that have been reforesting millions of hectares of land without planting a single tree 🪴🌳 🌍 @worldvisionaus @worldvisionzambia @tony.rinaudo Thank you to Volker Schlöndorff for letting us use shots from his documentary "The Forest Maker". #projectafrica

I challenged random strangers and friends to carry my bike as high off the groud as possible... it was funny to watch them struggle 🤣 One of the challenging aspects of my expedition cycling across Africa is the weight I'm carrying as it's a self-supported journey. Lesson learnt: Next bikepacking adventure will be much lighter, balanced in terms of weights, and I would be cycling at higher speeds which I find is more fun most of the time! Now try to guess the exact weight of my bike fully loaded! 👇🏼

Meerkats are way cooler in real life than in Lion King 😆

Gombe National Park isn't just incredibly scenic, but it's also home to some of the last chimpanzees on Earth!! 🌍 🇹🇿 🙉 Thanks again @tanzaniaroadsideexpeditions for this wonderful opportunity to visit one of my favorite parts of Tanzania!

One of the only places in the world where you can see wild Chimpanzees 🙊 🇹🇿 Welcome to Gombe National Park, in Western Tanzania! Special thanks to @tanzaniaroadsideexpeditions for organizing the tour!!

Cycling along the Congo Nile Trail was the highlight of my time in Rwanda 🇷🇼 and a great reminder to choose the roads less traveled. It's always rewarding to wander and expose yourself to serendipitous events!!

I found him. #okay

Summit day in the Rwenzori Mountains 🏔️🇺🇬 The main reason why I cared about trekking for 7 days to reach Margherita Peak was to witness some of the last tropical glaciers on the planet. Due to climate change, they will be gone forever in about 2 decades. Special thanks to the Rwenzori Mountaneering Services for making this unforgettable experience happen, and to @davechasesfreedom for helping documenting this place with beautiful cinematography!!

Did you hear about this magical place in Africa where jungles and rainforests meet glaciers? Probably not, as it's extremely underrated! Here's a recap of my last couple of days trekking in the mighty Rwenzori mountains (Day 2 to 4), in Western Uganda! 🇺🇬 Follow to see how the summit day will unfold 🏔️ Special thanks to @davechasesfreedom for some of the amazing cinematic shots you see in the video ♥️

The Rwenzori Mountains in Western Uganda 🇺🇬🏔️ are debatably some of the most scenic mountains on Earth. But what makes them truly special is the fact that they have some of the last tropical glaciers on the planet... but not for long. Follow along our epic adventure to the roof of Uganda and the DRC!

It's grasshopper season here in Uganda 🇺🇬🦗 Insects are the future of food: they're very nutritious and eco-friendly. Would you give it a try too?

I never felt comfortable dancing🕺 Yet, while exploring the slums of Kampala, Uganda 🇺🇬 I met a group of incredibly talented kids who took the time to teach me some moves and I had so much fun! These kids are inspiring. Most of them are orphans and were roaming in the streets until Moses, a professional Ugandan dancer, took them under his wing and taught them the skills that might just help turn their lives around. Talent is everywhere, it's just about being in the right environment to harnest it! The culture there was so enthusiastic, energetic, and supportive. No wonder they're so passionate and motivated to teach others and each other. With this spirit, I learned the moves you see in this video in about 6 minutes. It's all about who you surround yourself with, and maybe the night club wasn't the best place to learn 😂

Sudan 🇸🇩 is one of the most hospitable places I've visited, and has a very underrated cultural diversity and history!! My heart goes out to all the people who took care of us as if we were part of their family, and who are now struggling with the horrible war that has spread across the country.

We stumbled upon gold in the middle of the Sudanese desert, that I thought was empty💰🇸🇩 But the highlight of this cycling journey was meeting the generous gold miners that extract it. Full story on my YouTube!

For the full Araqi story and understanding why this illegal drink is even around in Sudan 🇸🇩, go watch the recent documentary I posted about cycling across Nubia on my YouTube !!! 🎥 🥃

We did it, we summited! Here's a recap of the 5 day it took us to trek up to Ras Dashen, the highest peak in Ethiopia (4543 meters) 🇪🇹. #projectafrica #trek #ethiopia #adventure #simienmountains

Day 2 of hiking up to Ethiopia's 🇪🇹 highest peak! We were blessed to see the very rare Ethiopian wolf 🐺 #projectafrica #simienmountains #ethiopia #wolf #rasdashen

Day 1 of our trekking journey to Ras Dashen (4543 meters), the highest peak in Ethiopia, that will take us across the magical Simien mountains 🏔️🇪🇹

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