Zoran Stanković

I am a sixty years old cycling aficionado, blogger, writer (better known in the online world as @raindogbor) and a recent retiree, living in Barajevo, Serbia.

Until two years ago, I was employed in the IT sector at the company Serbia Zijin Copper. In November 2022, I signed the Pension Waiting Agreement, which means that I have no obligation to work until I qualify for the old-age pension. 

I have about 15,000 followers on social networks (Facebook, Instagram and X). 

I've been blogging since 2004, and I'm one of the pioneers of writing through that form. 

The challenge I'm planning has the working title "Bike through Africa". It starts (not counting the preparations that are already underway) on the 1st of October this year, and will last at least five months, until March 2025. The length of the road that will be covered is about 10,000 km. 
Due to the large number of war conflicts in the regions through which I pass, as well as the fact that my goal is not only to "leave and arrive", but to "travel, learn and describe", it is not possible to determine the exact date of my return. The outline plan is described in the other attached file. 

Africa is a continent three times the size of Europe (let's say Europe, North America and China combined), where about 2000 different languages are spoken. Africa has the largest number of national parks, the largest amount of raw materials for modern technologies are found on that continent, the largest number of endemic species of flora and fauna, and the largest number of different nationalities. All these facts are not particularly known to the average resident of Europe and Serbia. My desire is to get to know a part of all this directly and to share my knowledge from the point of view of an ordinary person (not a scientist, historian, biologist, geographer or similar) with as many people as possible in my homeland and beyond. 
Africa is the cradle of humanity and at the same time the poorest continent on Planet Earth.

I have prepared two variants of the road (both are about 10,000 kilometers long), and which one I will choose will depend on the current situation (which, in Africa, changes quickly and easily). You can see the variants here and here.
I am aware that such a way of traveling may bring with it certain problems and dangers. First of all, Africa and Europe are very different. Roads in Africa are incomparably worse, the entire traffic infrastructure is at a lower level. Communication with the local population is difficult in many parts due to the language barrier. Communication with the homeland as well. Except in big cities, it's hard to get a service when I need it for my bike (and it will certainly be needed), and it's also difficult to supply the basic necessities of life (in some countries there's not even drinking water - only bottled water is available). There are also serious dangers of predator attacks and various diseases (such as yellow fever, malaria and others). But nothing I plan is against the laws of nature, so it is not impossible. 

Searching the internet, I have come across a number of people who have already gone down the same roads that I am planning to. As far as I know, no one has gone through the entire way, but each country, one by one, it has been done. The experiences are mostly positive. It is not easy, but the dangers can be avoided by careful point-by-point planning in the given circumstances and well-defined timing. The basic and most important thing, on which everyone agrees, is that people in those areas are direct, communicative and hospitable. If we know that, then there are no insurmountable obstacles. 

On my journey I will write, photograph and record the landscapes I pass through. I will also write about the people I meet, record and photograph them when I get permission from them. My intention is to write texts of a minimum of 1000 words once a week, illustrated with at least ten selected author's photos and one or more videos. In five months, that's twenty travelogues. Texts in Serbian will be published in NIN magazine and on my blog (a week after publication in NIN), and texts in English on my blog and social networks and in foreign magazines with which negotiations are ongoing. The topics will be similarities and differences in culture, economy, nature and general conditions in which people live in the countries I pass through. 

Also, the three questions that I have prepared will be the basis of a special analysis that I intend to do upon my return and from that, I will make a book of short stories. The questions are as follows: 
- What is your biggest dream? 
- What is happiness for you? 
- What was the best and worst thing that happened to you in your life?

Every day (if possible due to communications) I will write a diary on my social media profiles with the hashtag #cyclingeastafrica and provide links to more serious texts that I would publish through NIN magazine, foreign magazines, cycling websites and my blog. Other types of media coverage or appearances (such as streaming, podcasts or interviews with journalists via the Internet) are also possible.
Estimated costs for five months of such a trip are around 13,000 euros 

 

1. Equipment. I already have some pieces of equipment (first of all I have a suitable bike), but mostly it would need to be renewed and supplemented.
2. Visa costs. Citizens of Serbia need a visa for all the countries I pass through except for Kenya and Zambia.
3. Air transport Belgrade - Addis Ababa and Cape Town - Belgrade.
4. Food and lodging on a five-month trip. Africa is generally cheap, but the prices are different for foreigners than for the local population and they can be quite close to our prices.
5. Bicycle servicing. Replacement of tires, chain, possible major breakdowns

I already said at the beginning that for me there is no word "impossible", as long as I move within the laws of nature. The same goes for the word "too hard". 

 

I back this up with my bike trip to Lisbon and back to Serbia last year. 8500km in 94 days. I could have crossed that road in about fifteen days faster, but I was not in a hurry and I stopped several times for four to seven days because I found it interesting and beautiful, not because I was tired. 

 

The trip was completely intimate in nature, dedicated to my wife who had passed away a year earlier and I didn't report from it the way I plan to do it now. However, a lot has been written, mostly in diary form and through photos and videos via social networks with the hashtag #biciklomdolisabona, on my blog thisisnotatravelblog.com, and often I could not avoid the interest of the media (interviews, live broadcasts on radio programs, podcasts and the like). 

 

I financed the trip myself (with the help of my online and offline friends, as well as smaller sponsors who came forward themselves). Now I am no longer able to finance my next trip in that way, so I am writing to you with a request for a partial sponsorship of the trip in the amount we would agree on. You can familiarize yourself with the way I write on the above links, as well as on my old blog putovanja50plus.rs. I also wrote the novel "Ghosts from Palmotićeva 37", which is no longer on sale, but I can provide it to you.