Adventure Bike Rider

Two French adventure bikers have made it to Ethiopia on their one-year round the world journey. The milestone means they have made it through the notorious boarder crossings in Egypt, cleared Sudan and ploughed on into Ethiopia.

The pair set off from Toulouse in France on 6th June to undertake the 55,000km ride.  Riding their KTM 990 Adventures they journeyed through France, took the ferry to Tunisia, rode on to Lybia, then Egypt, through Sudan and into Ethiopia. The pair known as Aurel and ChevalierNoir will continue round Africa before heading for South America by plane, ride to North America and back home to France.

On arriving in Ethiopia Aurel said, “What do you think of if one says Ethiopia? Personally it made me think of a country victim of famine without any touristy interest. And actually it is the contrary.

“The first impression is not the best one. We reach the border while it is raining. It is such a quagmir! And people are not very welcoming... I don't know why but I have never liked customs.”

The pair made it through customs without any trouble and rode on into Ethiopia climbing rapidly to approximately 2400m, into cloud level. Parts of Ethiopia are sparsely populated making finding food, water and fuel challenging at times.

But Aurel said none of his preconceptions of the country were true. They managed to find good quality hotels with hot showers and good roads. The riders are now en route to the capital Addis Abeba. You can follow their blog at www.ride-the-world.net