Motorcycle Tour Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania & Rwanda

After a hearty breakfast, we leave Nairobi late in the morning. We ride about 300 kilometers north, crossing the equator. We've planned this first day as an acclimatization ride — for you, your bike, and the traffic. About 100 kilometers out of Nairobi, we stop at a roadside Kenyan coffee trader. Then we hit light off-road tracks toward our destination. We reach camp near the Ugandan border in the late afternoon and pitch the tents.

We ride typical African roads toward Jinja on Lake Victoria — the source of the Nile. Western researchers only discovered it in 1862. This is where the world's longest river begins its 6,650-kilometer journey north. We arrive at sunset into the chaotic traffic of Kampala and dive into the nightlife of Uganda's largest city.

Near the Congo border lie two parks that shelter the last mountain gorillas on earth. We reach one of them — the Bwindi Rainforest — via winding roads and short off-road stretches. Bwindi National Park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. It is world-famous for its mountain gorillas. We set up camp at the foot of the Albertine Rift, where we'll stay for two nights.

We ride the long, winding roads at the foot of the Virunga volcanoes toward the small town of Kisoro. We stop for coffee, pick up supplies, and then head for the Rwandan border. Depending on border wait times, we either follow the main road to Gisenyi by the lake or cut through the hinterland along the Congolese border — with sweeping views of the lake either way.

After breakfast, we ride 12 kilometers to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. Around 250,000 Tutsi victims are buried here. It's a sobering experience. Afterward, we ride in near silence on Rwanda's well-paved roads. At every police checkpoint, the same thought surfaces: where were you in 1994? After this, the border crossing into Tanzania feels like nothing. We tackle the last 50 rough kilometers in Tanzania and end the evening by the campfire with a well-earned glass of wine.

Today is a long, steady burn along the eastern shore of Lake Victoria. We clock up the kilometers until we reach the Kenyan border. We pass the Serengeti, which stretches east toward Ngorongoro and the Rift Valley. We roll into camp right at sunset.

Early start. We ride at dawn on small back roads into Nairobi. The bikes get dropped off at the workshop for inspection. Then it's on to the airport. If you have time to spare, the evening ends the way it should — campfire, BBQ, and wine.