If I had to choose the most frequently asked question in regard to the “Tour d’Afrique” the winner would most likely be: What are you taking with you? Therefore I built this page to give you a sneak peek into what I will have in my luggage during the next 4 months.
But before diving into my luggage, let me briefly explain to you what we are allowed to take with us and how the packing logic will work during the next 4 months.
Luggage allowance –> we are allowed two 90 L duffel bags with a maximum weight of 23 kg and these two bags will be split into a daily and a permanent one.
Daily bag : the daily bag will contain our tent, sleeping bag, mattress, toiletries, shoes, headlamp, enough cycling gear and casual clothes to last from one rest day to the other…. This will be the bag that we will open each and every day and shall therefore contain all that we need on a daily basis.
Permanent bag: this bag contains all the extra equipment, including clothes, bike parts, repair kits, power bars, electronics, medication…in short all that we do not need on a daily basis.
Then let us start to go through what I have packed in my daily bag:
As you can see my daily bag is split into many additional bags. Let us then dive deeper into it.
First bag is the “feel home” bag, containing my tent, mattress, pillow, tarp and sleeping bag inner layer
My sleeping bag
Second bag is the “bike clothes” bag containing 5 bike shorts, 4 short sleeve shirts, 1 long sleeve as well as gloves, socks and a cap.
Third is the “non-biking clothes” bag” containing 3 t-shirts, 1 shirt, a long pair of trousers and a few other items.
Fourth the “shoe bag”…
And a few additional items which are not fitting in a specific bag: a light rain jacket, a towel, a power bank, a solar charger, toiletries, a first aid kit and some meds, a map, my computer….
And now let us have a look at the permanent bag…
The “spare clothes bag” with all items not needed on a daily basis as well as all the rain gears.
Once again a bit of everything, sun cream, meds and bandages, laundry products, power bars, my bike bags, 2 pairs of sun glasses, rope and clothes peg, dry bags, Africa map, notebooks…
All my bike spare parts: many tubes, 2 sets of tires, 1 brake and derailleur cable, 2 sets of brake pads, 1 derailleur hanger, a spare thru axle, 1 chain, 2 spare spokes, 1 brake disc, brake liquid, lube, a pump, cleaning product, bike lights and some other needed tools…
And last but not least, my electronics: camera, a solar powerbank, some cables, an electrical adaptor, a Garmin GPS, some batteries and…some duct tape (not sure what this one is doing there ;-))
And that’s it for the packing, resulting in two bags of around 20 kg full of hopefully useful items and of course my bike in a cardboard box.
