Under African Skies

Veteran Field Staffer Doug Percival reflects on his time with TDA Global Cycling & his love for Africa’s wild spaces.

My journey with TDA began in the January of 2012.
I was hired as the bike mechanic, and flown out to Cairo to join a group of 11 other staff, and about 40 riders.

Before the 2012 Tour d’Afrique

That year was “lucky”, the Countries between Egypt and South Africa were all behaving nicely at that time, and we had a “clear run” to do the Full 12000km tour.

Having been born in South Africa, and already a very avid backpacker, the Reality and
Dream of being able to cross ‘My Continent’, came true.

Those 120 days on tour, without a doubt, changed my life.
At the time, and the months and years afterwards, i did not fully grasp the enormity of it.
For me it felt like normality, travelling and riding my bike, mixed with some long hours of
work and an incredibly social atmosphere, life on the road could have carried on way
longer than it did.

That trip set me up, for many more tours, and from it, it became my career.
Being on bicycle tours is all i have done now for 14 years.
Now that might seem odd for some, and a crazy thought for others, but for me it
became the normal.

In the latter part of the TDA tour, we crossed Botswana and Namibia, two vastly
different countries, which share a huge border, but still remain largely fence free.
Those two countries stood out for me, more than others, because of the open spaces.
Hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres of Open Space, filled with wild animals, very
few humans, and time had not changed them much.

I remember hearing lions roaring at night, seeing the herds of elephants pass right
before my eyes on the roads, crossing savannah land and desert, and finishing my days
duties with nothing but a headlamp and the billions of stars in the night sky each night. It
lived in my mind for years, it still lives in my mind.

2 years later after that experience, i met Frida ( and then somehow convinced her to
marry me!)

I of course mentioned this experience to her hundreds of times… over and over again.
She wanted to go, and i told her that One Day i will take her.

Fast forward a decade, and in March this year, we were able to make a trip to where
those memories began.

We hired a small 4×4, packed a small bag each, and drove out of the Johannesburg car
rental with not a single day planned.
The deal was, no phone service, no satellite phone, just paper maps and some pre-
loaded apps with some basic information on potential campsites in the north.

We left South Africa on day one, and straight into Botswana we drove.

From there, the deep wilderness began.
Wild camping, evening camp fires, no music, no podcasts, no social media.
It was a huge shift from our Normal day to day Life.

We went deep into Botswana, straight to the Kalahari Central Reserve.
The reserve is 53000 square kilometres, to put that into perspective, thats is bigger than
all of Switzerland or Costa Rica.
It is mind bending Big.
And there is Nothing.

Roads are jeep tracks, campsites are just flattened grass patches, no loo’s, no showers,
no nothing. Except wild animals that WILL eat you.
In the 3 days it took to traverse across the Park, we saw 4 other vehicles.
Open space, and being alone, makes you feel Alive!
The magical sun sets on the savannah, and night fall descends.
Real Africa comes out at night.
Once again, i got to relive the sounds of lion roaring at night, elephants walking past our
tent, owls hooting, hyena cackling, it puts your senses into Hyper alert.
There is no ‘just being casual and lazy’ around camp, because out there is the real deal.

We drove further north, dipped in to Victoria Falls that sits comfy between Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
The Falls in full flood, record rainfall really brought its nickname
“The Smoke that Thunders” to reality for us.

Heading Westward, we followed the thin land piece known as the Caprivi strip, a unique
and very interesting section of Namibia, that lies to the south of Angola. ( A fascinating
history of deception the British pulled on the Germans!)

Some of the wildest bit of land you can find.
Wild animals roam freely.
Humans exist in small rural villages, still living in straw and mud huts, like they have for
thousands of years.
Its like time has stood still up there.

We were alone, we hardly saw another vehicle most days.

Namibia was green, the heavy season rainfall had made a mess of the land.
Flooded roads, flooded savannah…
a green desert.

We pushed forward, taking decisions together, relying on each other to make the best
choices in some very serious situations..getting stuck was not an option, help was days
away..if we were lucky.
That made us feel Alive.

We reached the real desert in central Namibia, only to find the flooding had touched
there too.
The famous Sossusvlei dunes were unreachable, a flowing river in the World’s oldest
desert!

A dash to the mining Ghost town of Kolmanskop on the west coast, and back towards
South Africa, via the Kalahari to our East.

We covered 8350km in 28 days.
It was Huge.

At the end of each days drive, we set up camp, made a simple dinner on the gas
cooker, sipped a cup of tea, and watched one of The Greatest Gifts us humans have
been given…
The Night Sky.
A clear night sky in a land of no people, and no interruptions from ground light, is an
experience that We all should have regularly.
The perfect night sky in the Southern Hemisphere is a marvel to the eyes.
The Milky Way as bright as street lamps.

For the two of us, to have that all to ourselves, is something We will Live with in Our
minds for the rest of our lives.

Africa is like nowhere else.
Time has stood still there.
It requires patience, it requires a thick skin somedays, it requires tolerance, but it also
gives back an experience that is not found anywhere else on this planet.

I have travelled this Globe, to many different corners, and my involvement with TDA for
14 years now, has allowed me to revisit many places, many times.
The World has changed in most places, the West and East influences have blended
many places into being similar…you can argue for the better or for the worse, but the
reality is that change has occurred….but not in parts of Africa.
Africa works, in African ways.

If you Navigate yourself past a few power hungry immigration officials, and attempt
dodging several highly corrupted roadside police, and dont let the local coffee barrister
disappoint your day, then you find yourself in a place of simpler times.
Just you and open space.

What a privilege it was to return to some of the places i had last seen in 2012.
I cant think there is a single person, who would say that doing Tour ‘d Afrique didnt
change their life to some degree, i bet even Henry our Founder, shares the same
feeling. It certainly changed mine.

During this trip, One evening in Botswana, we collided with the TDA crew of 2026..and
enjoyed a tasty cold beer together at a brewery in Maun.
A young lady on the staff asked me:
“you have done so many tours, what is your favourite?”.
– its always the same answer..
Africa.
For a thousand different reasons, but mostly because it changed my life.

Doing the TDA in 2012 was the starter meal, being able to return over a decade later, at
a different age, in a different headspace..was the main meal.
Both unique, both so fulfilling.

Frida got to experience what has been living in my thoughts and memories for as long
as we have known each other, and that was beautiful to share.

I guess the point of this blog, is not just to tell you about my holiday, but more to convey
the experiences i have had from that special part of the World, that so few actually get
to see.
For all its chaos, unpredictability, and moments of discomfort, what it does give you is
Time and Space to think, reflect, dream, declutter, and plan.
-and finding that nowadays is a rarity.

Africa will test you, that is a given.
Every one of you who have done that tour, or a section, will know what i mean!

For any reader who has not been there, i cannot urge you more to dip your toes into
some African Dust…. It will make you feel Alive! Paul Simon wrote the Song “under african skies”
A beautiful song, written for a personal, musical and spiritual connection during a dark
time in South African politics.

My Version of ‘Under African Skies’, is for the Dreamer, who imagines vast lands of
natural beauty, unpredictable days, star riddled night skies, glowing campfires, and
untouched Wilderness.
One of the very last bits of Land, that has not changed.

See you on the road somewhere!

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