7 ways in which South Sudan has completely and utterly not prepared me for cycle touring

Louise  Rowen
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In the spirit of full disclosure to my dear sister and cycling partner Charlie I’d like to start by declaring how utterly unprepared I am going to be for our journey.

I love living in South Sudan but it is currently doing everything it can to foil my attempts at preparedness. So below are 7 ways in which I am laughing in the face of adequate fitness, scoffing at the thought of reasonable preparation and generally maintaining a blissful degree of ignorance for what the next year will hold.

1. Training – Ha, what training! Curfew, 45 degree heat and work tend to get in the way of that
2. Tropical diseases – I’ve so far managed to avoid contracting anything remotely exciting out here but all my vaccinations only apply to Africa so I’ll need a full month to get fully vaccinated against the rest of the world.
3. Terrible conversation – After 18 months in South Sudan my language has become riddled with humanitarian acronyms and conversation is limited to stories of field visits, annoying donors and what the current exchange rate is. I once used the sentence “Where is the FLA for UNFPA GIK for FSL?”….and the person I was speaking to actually understood! It’s a hard habit to shake and I’ve been informed by friends and family that it’s really, really annoying. Sorry guys.
4. Technology withdrawals – Following on from limited language capacity, I’ve developed an unhealthy obsession with skype emoji’s and cold turkey might lead to some dangerous withdrawal issues. My current favourites are (footballfail)and (computerrage)
5. There is no Uzbekistan embassy in South Sudan. Whilst my passport and I are here I won’t be able to use it to apply for visas in advance. As we’re going through approximately 15 countries the odds are one of them is going to prove tricky. But its ok, I’ve heard the border controls in Central Asia are a breeze!
6. Temperature tolerance – The weather in Juba ranges from a delightful 32 degrees to a sweaty 49! There is no wind chill, no early morning frost, no hail storms, and certainly no need to wear layers.  Considering we’re going to be starting near Manchester and riding over the Alps, the Pamirs and those mountains near Georgia, I think it’s fair to say I’m going to feel the chill!
7. Ten pm curfew – ….actually, there’s nothing wrong with an early night!

South Sudan has been a wonderful, challenging, frustrating and inspiring place and I’ve really enjoyed my year and a half here. And now Charlie knows what she’s got herself in for, the only thing to do is to set off and put everything to the test #bringiton  

​Louise x x