On her gravel bike with straight handlebars, 30-year-old Wiebke Lühmann is on the biggest trip of her life so far: a cycle tour to South Africa. A lot has happened since our last report on Wiebke's trip. It's high time for an update.
Wiebke Lühmann's journey so far to read up on
Hot and humid in Senegal
Senegal, the first country south of the Sahara after Mauritania, was an exciting milestone. "The border was very exciting because it became much greener in one fell swoop and the Sahara was gone," says Wiebke Lühmann. The variety of wild animals increased significantly - birds and warthogs were everywhere. It was already hot, but now the heat was added to the mix - the Wahoo showed 45 degrees Celsius. On her bike, Wiebke felt the hot wind and the sun-heated tarmac beneath her. She cycled swiftly through the country, but not without making a brief stop at a mangrove restoration project in the Saloum Delta.
Gambia - Highlight: Crossing the Gambia River
The journey continued to The Gambia, where Wiebke spent a night or two with a German-Gambian couple in the capital. Crossing the Gambia River on a pirogue was one of the biggest adventures so far. As The Gambia is the smallest country on the continent, the distance Wiebke had to cover was pleasingly short.
Guinea-Bissau: The most diverse country on Wiebke's trip so far
Next we travelled to Guinea-Bissau, the most varied country on the cycle tour from Freiburg im Breisgau to Cape Town. The country only gained independence from Portugal in 1973 and the official language is Portuguese. Handy for Wiebke, as she was able to communicate well thanks to her knowledge of Spanish. Seeing wild chimpanzees for the first time in her life was definitely a highlight here. In large national parks, efforts are made to preserve biodiversity. In many places, many wild animals are already extinct and are or have been hunted.
Immer Richtung Süden
In Guinea-Bissau, Wiebke Lühmann had to wait days for her visa for Guinea - together with Julien Soleil, her travelling companion - more on this later. The two met in the Sahara. They made good use of the waiting time and took a trip to the island of Bubaque. "The island was beautiful," Wiebke remembers. There is some infrastructure with hotels and restaurants, but there are also beaches that are neither built on nor inhabited. "We camped wild one night and had the whole beach to ourselves. We saw dolphins in the water," she says.
A strenuous 40 kilometres between the countries
Then the visas arrived and the journey continued. "The border crossing was super exhausting and took a lot of energy," recalls the cycle traveller. The road was gravel and led through the jungle, where there was no mobile phone reception for two days. There were 40 exhausting kilometres between the borders (exit and entry). "We felt a bit lost, had to plan well and take plenty of food with us," Wiebke reports in a voice message and goes on to say that they had to be prepared for longer waiting times and inconvenience. But everything went well - apart from two minor falls.
In the capital of Guinea, Conakry, a bureaucratic marathon slowed her down: Visas were again required for the Ivory Coast and Liberia and Wiebke had to set off in search of parcels that had to have arrived for her: important spare parts. When these parcels were finally found, bribes had to be paid to get them handed over. This was not the only reason why she did not feel comfortable in this city. "The city wasn't nice at all, I think it was the worst city on my journey". And yet, for better or worse, she had to spend a few days here. There was no electricity during the day, there was a lot of misery.
New roads in Sierra Leone
Finally we travelled on to Sierra Leone as quickly as possible. It was more pleasant here. Many of the roads were newly made and the travelling duo made good progress. The official language is English, although only 10 per cent of the population outside the capital speak it - but communication was easier here.
Too spicy food and probably the worst birthday in Liberia
Whew, then came Liberia. That was super exhausting again. Wiebke and Julien opted for a 500-kilometre route through the jungle. There was hardly any reception there. There was no hotel, and if there was a restaurant or similar, the food was far too spicy for Wiebke and Julien. A full meal: Not a chance. So self-catering was the order of the day.
In Liberia, we only lived on pasta and tuna.
The journey was made more difficult by the onset of the rainy season. The roads here are not good anyway, but now some of them resembled mud holes through which the bikes had to be heaved. The time was also very emotionally draining. The people they met along the way told them that they were not doing well, they were not getting any support and felt forgotten by the state - keyword: road conditions.
One day was particularly bad. Wiebke's 30th birthday. She was stuck in the rainforest with little reception, travelling together was just... let's say... difficult and the overall situation was emotionally stressful and upsetting.
Ivory Coast brings relief
"I was so relieved when we arrived in Cote d'Ivoire" - you can hear Wiebke's relief. The roads were much better, there were hotels and restaurants again. The best thing was a reunion. A reunion with Fabienne Engel, who had travelled to Abidjan to produce video footage for the planned film - and to hug her friend Wiebke. Fabienne was there for almost 10 days. "It was almost as if home was coming to me, which felt good and calmed my homesickness a little," says Wiebke. The time together flew by. It was characterised by intense conversations, emotions and lots of discoveries.
Time for change
In general, the Cote d'Ivoire has meant a lot of change for Wiebke.
1. time to say goodbye
Wiebke Lühmann and Julien Soleil met in the Sahara. One meeting and then another led to them travelling together. Julien was actually supposed to be travelling home from Dakar. Instead, he decided to accompany Wiebke on her journey, not without his grandmother's consent. Together they travelled through Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to the Cote d'Ivoire. In Abidjan, it was finally time to say goodbye.
2. from Panniers to arse rocket
Her friend Fabienne brought utensils for a change of equipment. Wiebke has now switched from the two saddlebags in the back to her beloved Ortlieb arse rocket. Laptop, hiking boots and more travelled home with Fabienne.
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What does Wiebke have with her and where does she stow it on her bike, at least until she switches to other bags? She has published a video on this topic on YouTube:
And this is what the new setup looks like. Wiebke Lühmann feels much more agile and comfortable with it.
It goes on alone
After saying goodbye to both Julien and Fabienne, Wiebke is travelling alone again. She misses the time together, her homesickness grows quickly. At the same time, she has already covered more than half the distance from Freiburg im Breisgau to Cape Town, and it takes time to realise that. When Wiebke meets other cycle travellers, the joy is great, it brings distraction and exchange.
Are there any detours?
Wiebke is busy planning almost every day. Planning the next day, planning the next time and the exact itinerary. She starts to think: Is this diversions worth it? Or this one? Can this or that be integrated into the itinerary? The podcast by Lael Wilcox, who is currently attempting to set a new world record for travelling around the world by bike without a support team, also inspires her to think about this. The current record is 124 days, set by Scotland's Jenny Graham in 2018. Lael Wilcox wants to do it in 110 days. In her podcast "Lael rides around the world", she reports daily on her tour. She also tells us that she has planned one or two highlights into her route instead of following the fastest route because it is a "once in a lifetime possibility".
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Ghana
In Ghana, Wiebke was a guest of GiZ employees who live and work for German development cooperation in West Africa. For Wiebke, the time felt like home, just like Fabienne's visit. She was able to immerse herself in the European luxury of the expats. Her cycle journey took her from "island to island".
Togo
In Togo, Wiebke stayed with the ambassador's permanent representative, who lives on the ambassador's campus. Wiebke has allowed herself some rest over the last few weeks, as she was longing for a break and some peace and quiet. It was good to let that happen.
Surprise!
Wiebke's route is a rough plan; strictly speaking, only the destination has been set: Cape Town. She also wants to celebrate Christmas with her family again. But for now, there's time for a different kind of joy. Soon she will no longer be travelling alone. Julien comes back and continues to accompany her. "I've convinced him that it's better together," she says.
Wiebke is very happy! There's just one problem. His bike hasn't arrived. Excitement, because the visa for Togo is about to expire. The plan is to cycle through Nigeria, Cameroon and Congo together. Three politically somewhat unstable countries. Wiebke describes the situation as follows: "Nigeria has been very critical in terms of the security situation for many years, so you have to be particularly careful there. I'm very glad that I don't have to travel alone."
Sandra Schuberth
Editor
