The Story of Papís

I am back in Senegal on another radiant day. I pedal along the streets of the border town of Keur Ayip zigzagging through a traffic jam of taxis, horse-drawn carts and

SenegalNicolás Marino10 April 2016senegal, africa, west africa, adventure, bicycle, traveling, bicycle touring

Ernestine and the Exorcists

The exit from Batouri is special. I do not feel my right foot, I do not feel the right half of my skull, my ankles begin to lose their shape as the wounds become more infected, I have lost at least 9kg in the last three months and I feel like I'm falling apart little by little.

CameroonNicolás Marino16 November 2015africa, cameroon, church, exorcism, evangelists, yaounde, bicycle, traveling, bicycle touring, adventure

The Rainforest

I knew little and nothing about Gabon before crossing the border, and that is perhaps why I arrived there with so much interest.

GabonNicolás Marino28 September 2015africa, gabon, rainforest, jungle, bicycle, touring, traveling

A Bakery in Ondingui

I was already only 160 km away from the border with Gabon. I was still in the equatorial savannah, suffering more and more the scorching heat, the sticky tropical humidity and without any place to take shelter.

CongoNicolás Marino25 September 2015bakery, congo, ondingui, equatorial, savannah, tropics, village, life, bicycle, traveling, touring, africa, west

The Congo I Wasn't Waiting For

Congo, the Congo. I think there is no true adventurer in whose head, this name does not resonate to the point of losing sleep.

The Tribal Heart of Angola

I had been cycling for almost two months of pure adrenaline, pedaling along the remotest roads of Namibia. I had been enjoying the beautiful solitude of a sublime scenery while dodging potentially dangerous encounters with wild beasts on a daily basis and coping with the scarcity of resources.

AngolaNicolás Marino18 June 2015africa, angola, mato, bush, cycling, bicycle, bicycle touring, traveling, adventure, tribes, tribal people, mundimba, himba, cunene, river, namibe

Holidays

From the first moment I embarked on this trip, I had contemplated the idea of flying to Buenos Aires once I arrived in Cape Town, to take a vacation to visit my family and my friends.

MiscNicolás Marino31 March 2015cycling, traveling, bicycle, argentina

The (bitter)sweet Joy of the Arrival

By the time I crossed the border again, to re-enter South Africa, all the bright green colors that had accompanied me from Kwazulu Natal and all the way through Lesotho, had now turned completely yellow.

South AfricaNicolás Marino3 March 2015cycling, cape town, bicycle, traveling, africa, south africa, adventure

The Quad-Breaking Kingdom

Looking at a map of Africa, it looks just like a dot lost in the immensity of a continent; so small that it is very easy to overlook. It is a "freckle" called Lesotho, dubbed the Kingdom of the Mountains and there as if it were a separate world belonging to a fairy tale, I entered through its highest portal: Sani Pass at almost 3000 mts of altitude.

LesothoNicolás Marino25 February 2015lestho, kingdom, africa, southern africa, bicycle, bicycle touring, cycling, traveling

The example of Mozambique

Mozambique is the vital proof that mere material poverty is not enough an excuse to justify the endemic problem of the sickly demands of money to the white man (assumed rich by definition) that happens invariably in almost every country of sub-Saharan Africa.

MozambiqueNicolás Marino1 February 2015adventure, africa, bicycle, cycling, east, mozambican, mozambique, people, touring, traveling

The Garden of Africa

After spending weeks in the bush, arriving in Zimbabwe brings a great welcoming break to the monotony. However, I didn’t really know what to expect of this country, so famous for the immortal Robert Mugabe,

ZimbabweNicolás Marino10 January 2015africa, baobab, bicycle, cycling, economy, mashvingo, mugabe, mutare, rural, southern africa, touring, traveling, zimbabwe, zvishavane

Towards Black Africa

Once we arrived in Lodwar we finally left the "sandpit" we had gone through to enter Kenya along the west coast of the lake Turkana. In this little city we thought the

KenyaNicolás Marino14 August 2014adventure, bicyle, cycling, kampala, kenya, kitale, makutano, pokoto, touring, traveling, turkana, uganda

Sudan very deep in my heart

If you got here after having read all the stories about Sudan, it will not come as a surprise to read how I feel about this country and specifically about its people.

SudanNicolás Marino8 June 2014adventure, bicycle, cycling, experience, sudan, touring, traveling

A Little Bit of Fame

A few months ago I was interviewed by Outdoor Exploration 户外探险 magazine, one of the biggest adventure magazines in China.

MiscNicolás Marino22 April 2014asia, bicycle, china, chinese, cycling, interview, magazine, nicolas marino, outdoor exploration, touring, traveling, trip

The Magic of the Steppe

To depart from Ulaanbaatar was much more than getting out an ugly city. Departing Ulaanbaatar was to get out of what we, urban dwellers, know as the very same "world". It was a relocation to a space and time that for us and for those who grew up and still live in cities, it is only part of a faraway imaginary planted in oneself through storybook reading or described images in the books of history of some distant time.

MongoliaNicolás Marino17 August 2013adventure, bicycle, bulgan, cycling, erdenet, grass, green, magic, mongolia, steppe, sunset, touring, traveling, twilight, Erdenet

Entering the Tale

There are moments in life that are slow in coming. Moments, that perhaps, one has been looking forward and even yearning for days, months or years.

MongoliaNicolás Marino7 August 2013adventure, alcoholism, beijing, bicycle, china, cycling, drunk, mongolia, steppe, touring, train, traveling, ulaanbaatar, ulan bator

How to say good-bye to Indonesia

Four months, seven islands, some 6000 km, and some of the most incredible experiences on two wheels so far. Despite seeming a lot, they are virtually insignificant numbers for such a vast country.

IndonesiaNicolás Marino23 July 2013adventure, bicycle, cycle, cycling, farewell, indonesia, jungle, traveling

In the Ring of Fire

With such limited time as 4 months to visit Indonesia, the last place in the country where I would have spent at least one second is in Bali. The mere idea of going there gave me chills.

IndonesiaNicolás Marino19 June 2013adventure, bicycle, blue fire, bromo, cemoro lawang, crater, cycling, ijen, indonesia, java, jungle, monkey, sulfur, touring, traveling, tropic, volcano

The Days After.....

We had had enough energies to ride across the jungle, but it was only a few days after the odyssey was over that we truly realized the huge amount of energy we

IndonesiaNicolás Marino8 May 2013adventure, beach, bicycle, cycling, extreme, indonesia, mamuju, sulawesi, traveling, trip, west sulawesi

Going Extreme!

Two of the toughest bike travelers I know, Salva and Adam, both good friends of mine, met in Sulawesi in 2009 and together they embarked on a journey that both

IndonesiaNicolás Marino30 April 2013adventure, bada valley, bicycle, extreme, gimpu, gintu, jungle, lake poso, palu, sulawesi, traveling, trip, tropical, tropics