Easter on the Equator

Easter Sunday - a day that should surely be spent gorging on Easter Eggs ... except I thought it would be a great idea to cycle to the Equator!

The route was planned along the back roads since cycling along the main road with all the kama kazi trucks hurtling along en route to Nairobi would be a death wish. We took the bus to the starting point just outside of the city and expected the ride to be just over 50kms. Thanks to Google maps and a Garmin, we were able to plan a route taking us through a series of villages and to eventually arrive at the Equator for coffee and muffins at the cafe and of course, a silly photo in the sign. I'm not sure what went wrong, but within 5 minutes we were lost. In the end we had to rely on directions from a toothless local dressed in a dishdash as all the modern technology seemed to be failing us. Every time we thought we were within reaching distance of the Equator, the Garmin would update itself and add on another 15 to 20 kms to the journey. After one or two diversions, the total distance was 84.5kms!

It was a beautiful but very hilly ride, taking us through quiet villages that are barely touched from outside. We passed children dressed in their Sunday best and women in vividly coloured Gomesi (the traditional silk dresses with exaggerated shoulders - power dressing was clearly a fashion in Uganda long before the 1980s). This Uganda seemed unaffected and a million miles away from all of the recent troubles and riots seen in Kampala and major cities across the country.

Proof of the distance travelled!

Lush Ugandan countryside

Biker's tan!

Women wearing the traditional Gomesi

Save the Easter Bunny!

We made it ... now let's grab a coffee!

Seven hours after setting off, five tired, sunburnt and dusty cyclists arrived at the Equator. The silly thing is, that by the time we got there, we were all too exhausted and hungry to be much bothered about having a picture taking by the big sign - all we cared about was getting a big smoothie and guac and chips!