The Truth, Nothing But the Truth

As I'm sitting here uploading pictures at 2am in the morning my eyes are getting tired and my fingers are getting colder and colder and numb. But what else to do when you lived on high adrenaline levels for a few days in a row.
It's my last night in this very very nice hotel/hostel in Cairo - Paris Hotel - and most likely my last night/day with unlimited internet access.
Ashamedly, I have to admit that over the past few months I did not get to read, search or do anything over the internet that was not strictly related to travelling in Nepal, Tibet and China. I only checked once the Tour d'Afrique web site. I opened once the website of my good friends and fellow riders Maria and Spiros. But that was it.
Tonight I'm trying to catch up. Loading tens of MBytes of pictures painstakingly 6 at a time is not something for the impatient. So I'm growing patience and entertain myself reading.

It strikes me right from the beginning what a novice amateur I am. By the time I go through gear lists, comments, technical details and things I am totally lost.
Good Lord! I'm not feeling scared but rather embarrassed. It seems that I'm not playing in the right league.

Why not admit it? Whereas everybody else seems to be foremost a cyclist, and a very avid one for that matter, I feel foremost a novice traveller. The bike is just the means for me. And I know - I thought about this a while ago while still in Asia - that if I have had the choice between a Tour d'Afrique on foot and one on bike I would have definitely picked the one on foot. It would have given me more time, less rush and, most importantly, less dependency on things and tools and devices. Don't get me wrong, I love biking, but I think I love walking much more. For the sheer lack of extra dependencies. And the better possibilities it offers to chase butterflies :-)

The only piece of electronic I own is my camera and the related accessories. And the only piece of technology I really feel deeply attached to is again my camera. And, believe me, this is already too big of a dependency too often. I've been sleeping, eating and going to the toilet with it over the last few months. I'll add biking to that list next.

I also have to admit that I am worried. Over the past few months, in Nepal especially, I had the opportunity to observe how self-sufficient groups are or become when it comes to communication. I have hardly seen any interaction between groups and local people. I have rather seen the groups of trekkers enjoying their beers with or telling their tales about far away places or such to their fellow trekkers. Guides, porters, even other foreigners were left out. And so I am worried that the interaction with locals will be far more limited by the group psychology than by more important reasons like security and such.

However, despite my embarrassment and worries I am looking forward to discovering the African continent. I am looking forward to the nights under the stars; to the days of sweat and dust; to the sunsets and sunrises in the desert; to the encounters with locals; to the wildlife; and to the personal challenges. I am not looking very much forward to fixing tyres in the scorching sun or any other kinds of fixes, but I happily take all that in account for this wonderful chance to discover the world.

Which brings up yet another question for me: are there butterflies in Africa? I have yet to discover.