Cape 2 Cape – The Adventure begins
My next big adventure has begun. Cape 2 Cape, hitchhiking from the North Cape to Cape Town, going all the way through Europe and then all the way through Africa.
Last year I finished my trip hitchhiking 45.000 km all around Asia, and now I’ve spend the winter up in the Arctic. It was an amazing experience getting to know the polar nights, seeing the Northern Lights in Norway and experiencing the darkness of a polar winter. I can totally understand that it makes people depressive living with so much darkness. You can’t believe how happy it made me seeing the sun rise again after two whole months not seeing and not feeling any sunlight. So for me I found out that I’m solar powered and now in desperate need of sun and warm places.
It’s the interest in the African culture, a culture which is very diverse from country to country and so many different ethnic groups we know so little about what makes me want to explore this continent.
I haven’t planned too much so far. I just know I’m going now through Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and then for a short visit back home to Austria before going further South. Or I might even spend some more time in Europe before heading over to Africa. I’m also not sure yet which route I’m taking from Europe to Africa, but going from Spain to Morocco sounds most reasonable.
On the map it shows the most direct route, which would be hitchhiking 16.000km and with one car it would take just 216 hours to get from the North Cape to Cape Town. I might have a few stops more and will need a little longer. 😉
The last four months I was working on a Husky farm in Arctic Norway, taking care of lovely sled dogs (I will write more about the good and the bad of working on a Husky farm later on).
Anyway, after spending so much time in Alta, a small Norwegian city in the Arctic, I’m just happy to be on the road again. It’s cold and uncomfortable, I don’t know what I will eat or where I will sleep and maybe I have to camp outside in the freezing cold, but it feels good to move on.
After watching the start of the Finnmarksløpet, Europe’s biggest dog sled race I started hitching towards Finland. So the first day on the road again I ended up about half the way in Lakselv. And since I couldn’t reach my friend who was living there, I was going to put my tent on the camping place in Lakselv. When I asked the owner of the camping place if it would be okay to put my tent in their backyard, they went like “Why don’t you want to take a room?”. So I told her that I’m travelling without any money and she went, “Ah, no problem! Come inside. Here take this room. What do you want to drink? Here, have a beer!”. So nice!
And then she and her staff took me out for some more beer to the local pub of this tiny village.
Winter hitchhiking in Norway
The next day I slept long, started hitchhiking pretty late and at first it didn’t seem to work. At the petrol station where I was asking around everyone seemed to go in the other direction until I met one guy who said, he’s going in the other direction but he will put it on Facebook that I’m looking for a ride south-wards. And really after about half an hour a woman walked into the petrol station and asked me if I’m the guy looking for a ride. So lovely Norwegians! 🙂
So she took me to Karasjok at the border to Finland and dropped me at the Finnmarksløpet checkpoint, where I chatted with some girls volunteering there while warming myself at their camp fire and watched the race a little. The night I sneaked into a lavvu, the traditional tent of the Sami (the indigenous people from Northern Scandinavia), and slept very well on a cosy reindeer fur.
Sleeping in a Lavvu
The next morning I hitchhiked over across the border and got stuck right after the border crossing. The whole morning I tried my luck with no car stopping and then decided to ask the people in the restaurant there. At the restaurant were many local Norwegians gambling and getting wasted for relatively little money compared to the prices in Norway.
So while waiting for a ride I joined the locals for a chat and got invited for some hot chocolates and a warm meal. And after a while a truck offered me a ride down the road and took me to a small place 30km before Inari where I ran into a Husky farm run by a German woman.
She had 26 Siberian Huskies and I stayed there for two nights, helped with the dogs and was going on a dog sled tour with her. The owners of the place she was renting would ask her for 20€ per night if she would have a guest in her own rooms. So I just slept on the balcony in my sleeping bag. Luckily it wasn’t as cold that nights. It had only around -8 °C and I was sweating as hell because I’m used to something around -30 °C now. 🙂
Finnish Roads
Have you been to Africa? Let me know about your experience and where you’ve been. Is there any place you totally recommend going to?
Join my adventure!
Goodluck for the endeavors ahead man. Keep inspiring!
It takes a special kind of messed up mind to come up with that idea 😀 Can’t wait to see the photos and read about your adventures. Will share this madness on our accounts 😀
Haha! Thanks for that compliment! 😀 And thanks a lot for sharing! 🙂
Well that is really ambitious. But it is good to have a plan – this way people are likely to help you.
I must admit I did not have any luck hitch-hiking in Morocco when I tried it. But you are sure to have better luck !
I am currently in Spain, and hitch-hiking is really terrible here (it is actually illegal). I ended up doing it, because I missed all the buses, so it is possible, but very slow.
But how are you going to manage without money. I think you will need some
That’s not good to hear that hitchhiking doesn’t work so good in Spain and Morocco. Well, the route on the map is just the shortest route google suggested. I’m not planning to go through Southern Algeria and Niger. I think that’s a little too risky at the moment. But I’m considering crossing over from Italy to Tunis and then going through Northern Algeria to Morocco and then South along the west coast. Or I do go through Spain. It’s all not sure yet. 😉 What are your plans next? Maybe we manage to meet up somewhere on the road. That would be really nice! I’m also considering to join the HitchGathering, but I’m not sure yet if I want to stay in Europe until August.
I actually had great experiences hitchiking in Morocco and never waited too long! Basic french might be useful though. And the border to Algeria is closed as far as I know, so impossible to cross. Instead, ferries from Algeciras to Tanger for example are easy to hitchhike, you can find trucks taking you as their second driver for free. There is a good article about the port on hitchwiki. Spain is another story… true, they don’t love hitchhikers too much, but my experiences were way better than expected. Just calculate more time than usual, care about good spots more than usual and be more patient than usual 😉
Wish you all the best for your travels and a lot of fun!
Many thanks, Anna! Your advice is highly appreciated! 🙂 Yes, it seems Spain, Morocco is the only reasonable way to cross from Europe to Africa.
Anna is right. There is no border crossing between Algeria and Morocco. Your best to cross to Tangiers, then when you get to Rabat, you can get your visa for Mauritania.
To meet up sounds good. Don’t know where. I am currently in Portugal, Then I go back to Scotland at the end of March. But I will be back in France in April I hope, I would like to do some walks in the Jura. And maybe come to Austria, as there is a trail along the hills near the border with the Czech Republic that I would quite like to do. I suppose it would be May or June
i would recommend going through cairo down the eastern corridor of africa, personally for me because I’d need less visas for those countries and also it has a lot more to see IMO.. only hitched in morocco though
Yeah, would be cool. Too bad you have to fly. But I think West-Africa is pretty amazing too.
I have just seen from your map that you are thinking of going through Algeria. If you need help getting a letter of invitation for a visa there, I know someone on couchsurfing you can ask.
Have fun mate. I would add ethiopia and benin. They r really cool places. 🙂 hope u have fun in ur trip there.
Great, thanks my friend! I will have to see if I can make it there. 😉
Wow I just discovered your site from one of your Twitter tweets; your adventures are so awesome! You have a new follower here. 🙂
Thanks a lot! I’m glad that my travels inspire you. Stay tuned! 🙂
Epic start to an epic journey … will be waiting to see what awaits you in the months ahead!
Yeah, stay tuned! 🙂
Feel happy to drive you today to Kaunas!!! All the best!
/Ilja from Lithuania
Hey Ilja, thank you so much for taking us! We made it well to Poland. All three best to you too! 🙂
Nice trip
Thanks man! 🙂
Hey Stevie!
I just stumbled upon your blog and i will surely be following your adventures! I am also a traveler and i would love to share experiences and ideas with you. I’m just starting my own blog for fun of it and i was wondering what sort of theme you are using. I really love the simple design. Oh and guess what I’ve also been to the Wu Wei Si temple in china last year! i spent three weeks and a half there. Anyways brother much love and respect.
Hey man! Sorry, I must have missed your comment. The theme I’m using is called Your Journey… http://themeforest.net/item/your-journey-travel-blog-wordpress-theme/11477970
Cool that you’ve also been to the Wu Wei Si temple.
Anyway, I’m happy to walk this world with you!
Dude, you rock!
Keep going 🙂
Thanks man! 🙂
New adventure!
Chilly experience … at least when you get to Africa, it will be a bit warmer!
I see that you’re now all the way in Morocco but we just saw your blog and just read this post. Good luck, mate! We hope the whole adventure is going to be awesome and full of great memories! You need to write a lot about Africa as it’s considered more dangerous by some. We hope that you can prove them that even a solo traveller can have an amazing time there, without any dangerous sitiations!
Thanks a lot mate! 🙂 Travelling is not always a joyride without any problems. It’s just how you handle them. 😉 Anyway, I’m sure it will be a great adventure full of fun! 😀