Enduro vacation around the heart of Africa: Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda & Kenya

Typically, participants fly overnight from Europe to Kenya and land in the morning in Nairobi. The OVERCROSS driver picks you up from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and drives you to the workshop where the Kibo rental machines are waiting for the participants. At the hotel, the group meets for the first tour briefing followed by dinner. After a final drink, it's off to bed.

We leave Nairobi in the late morning after a hearty breakfast and travel approximately 300 kilometers north across the equator. We have planned the first day on the machines as an "acclimatization day" for man, machine, and traffic. About 100 kilometers after Nairobi, we make a short stop at a typical Kenyan coffee dealer along the road before we then drive on easy offroad tracks to the day's destination. In the late afternoon, we will reach the camp not far from the Ugandan border and set up the tents.

Today marks the first border crossing with the motorcycle convoy and our support vehicle (Toyota etc.). Welcome to Uganda, welcome to the heart of Africa!

We travel along typical African roads towards Jinja, on Lake Victoria, where the Nile originates. The source of the Nile was only discovered by Western researchers in 1862. Here begins the 6,650 km long Nile, the longest river in the world. We arrive at sunset in the chaotic traffic from Kampala and plunge into the nightlife of Uganda's largest city.

We ride along the shores of Lake Victoria towards the southwest through the East African highlands. This can be as high as 1,500 meters in Uganda. Our route takes us through the Ruwenzori region, which borders the Congo and is a phenomenal trekking area. After an approximately 300-kilometer day stage, we reach Lake Mburo. Here we set up our camp for the night and let the evening wind down as usual by the campfire.

Near the border with Congo, there are two parks where the last mountain gorillas live. One of them is the Bwindi Rainforest, which we reach via winding roads and some smaller off-road sections. The Bwindi National Park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994 and is known worldwide for the mountain gorillas that call it home. We set up our camp for the next two days at the foot of the Albertine Rift.

Today, the travel participants have the option to relax for a day or visit Bwindi National Park, which is home to half of the entire gorilla population! With a little luck, you can discover one of the ten monkey species such as the black-and-white colobus monkey, the silver monkey, or the chimpanzee, as well as elephants and various small antelopes and of course mountain gorillas, which are truly very, very impressive!

At the foot of the Virunga volcanoes on the border with the Congo, we drive the long winding serpentine road to the small town of Kisoro. In Kisoro, we make a coffee stop, get supplies, and then travel to the border to Rwanda. Depending on how long we take at the border, we will either drive along the main road to Giseny by the lake or through the backcountry along the border with the Congo, from where we will have a great view over the lake.

We say goodbye to the rainforest and drive to the capital Kigali. Our route takes us over beautiful mountain passes until we reach the legendary Hotel Rwanda. Terry Gregory filmed the story about the genocide in Rwanda against the Tutsi and moderate Hutu in 1994. The film is based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, who saved over 1200 people from certain death.

After breakfast, we set off to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which is 12 kilometers away. Here, about 250,000 Tutsis are buried. After visiting the memorial, which gives us insight into the dark chapter of Rwanda's history, we will likely ride contemplatively on our motorcycles over well-paved asphalt roads, pondering at every police checkpoint: Where were you in 1994? After this experience, even the border control to Tanzania won't rattle us anymore. In Tanzania, we tackle the last tough 50 kilometers on poor roads and wash down the day by the campfire with a good wine in the evening.

Along the Burundian border, we travel on typical African tracks towards the east. A day full of dust and dirt awaits us, just as every enduro rider wishes for. If we're unlucky, rain will add to it, and we'll have a 'battle day' through African mud ahead of us. We reach our camp by Lake Victoria in the late afternoon, where we leave our motorcycles and take a raft trip. We'll also get the fishing rod out! So hopefully there will be fish, fire, and... wine for dinner?

Today you always ride along a boring road on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria, we roll with the enduros, mile after mile, until we reach the border to Kenya. We pass by the Serengeti, which stretches east to the Ngorongoro and Rift Valley, and reach our campground at sunset.

The sun rises and we start the engines of our Kibus. We have several hours of off-road ahead of us until we reach the border to Kenya. After crossing the border, we treat ourselves to a cool drink on the edge of the Masai Mara; there will hardly be time for more. We leave the Masai Mara to the left and speed away with our hand on the gas towards Naivasha Lake.

We get up early and at dawn we start the last kilometers on small federal roads to Nairobi, where we will drop off the motorcycles again at the workshop for inspection and then be taken to the airport. Those who still have time can enjoy the evening as usual with us at the campfire with BBQ and wine.