The Dangerous Ride To Bahir Dar

With a visa allowing me seven whole days to visit The Sudan taking up a full page in my passport, it was time for me to make a move toward the Nile: this time the source of the Blue Nile, which sits in Ethiopia at Lake Tana, a good days ride from Addis. I stopped […]

Sit, Shut Up & Wait. How Many Hours To Get A Sudan Visa?

The Consulate of Sudan accepts applications for Visa three days a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Applications are accepted until 12:30pm, After this time, those who’ve been approved can retrieve their passports with visas after paying the fee which varies based on citizenship. The Sudanese Embassy is madness. There are always dozens of people crowding […]

Time For More Ethiopian Coffee

Remember that tire? You know. The one that flew off my motorcycle in Zambia and that was miraculously found more than a month later. But perhaps more amazing was that the founder schlepped it to a Christian mission where a missionary eventually contacted me. And thanks to the kindness of Lusaka’s KTM dealer, Ray Wilson […]

Market Meandering & Historical Heresy in Addis Ababa.

Hazy Addis. Not so much pollution but humidity effect. Above entrance to what was once palace to Selassie and below fountain in the gardens. My taxi driver Debebe Asafa (+251-911-190-418) and I hanging in front of the Addis University Museum. This was once palace to Halie Selassie At the National Museum in Addis a painting […]

Ras Tafari – Returning Home To Africa

While I consider myself to be attune and aware of world history, and topical events of the 19th and 20th centuries, I have to admit my ignorance to the influence of Haile Selassie on Jamaica and his importance to the dope-smoking, reggae playing and laid back lifestyle of Rastafarians. Nor did I know of his […]

All Roads Lead To Addis.

Addis Ababa. Say it three times. Okay. Four. It’s fun. But here in Ethiopia it’s simply: Addis. The ride to Addis takes you through a valley passing between lakes AbIyata and Langana where cattle and goat herders make attentiveness even more important. Villages with traditional round floor plans and thatched roofing and of course there’s […]

Speed of Life.

It seems that since leaving Kenya a scant week ago, I’ve been on the run. And after a couple day of riding through the both verdant hills and semi-arid deserts landscaped pocked with people sporting gleaming smiles evoking a contentment that would be hard to contemplate back home where our lives are sped up and […]

The Donkey Did It.


Stones thrown or throwing stones. Breaking mirrors in Ethiopia.

The road from Konso to Yabelo is slow going at times and others it’s easy to pick up the pace — albeit with the usual chattering noises of spitting gravel and stones and the incessant vibration of the handlebars and other parts on the bike. Pissed that I came this way only to turn around […]

Hard Rains Come & Gone

When I started this journey nearly three years ago Ethiopia wasn’t on my list of countries. And I’m not sure why. But I’m more than pleasantly surprised. And happy. It’s hard to express. This feeling I’ve got about Ethiopia. Beyond the images of malnourished children, the stories told by Bob Geldof or the warnings of […]