From South Africa to Uganda - over 5000 km, through six different countries.
Experiences that will stay with you for a lifetime. I spent two months traveling through Africa by bike. From incredible desert landscapes to huge metropolises with millions of people.
The impressions I gathered on this trip were both overwhelming and devastating. We would like to tell you about a few of my experiences in our short documentary RIDING FOR CHANGE. With this film, we want to show as clear a picture as possible of Africa, with its different countries and their cultural diversity, but also of its poverty and problems.
The story behind the short documentary
In September last year, Erik Horsthemke flew from Germany to Cape Town in order to travel from there to Uganda by bike.
The aim of the trip was to get to know the different countries, cultures and people and to get his own impression of this huge continent. Erik crossed six different countries on a route of over 5000 km.
From incredible desert landscapes to huge metropolises with millions of people, everything was there. The impressions that Erik gathered during his journey were both overwhelming and devastating at the same time. Together with the organization VivaConAgua, which is committed to building wells and clean drinking water on the African continent, donations were collected to build a well in Uganda at the end of the trip and thus improve the local drinking water supply.
improve the local drinking water supply.
On his journey, which lasted a total of two months, Erik was accompanied for two weeks by videographer Sebastian Samek, who was able to capture some of Erik's experiences. Together they put together the short documentary "RIDING FOR CHANGE", which tells the story of these experiences.
"With this film, I want to show as clear a picture as possible of Africa, with its different countries and their cultural diversity, but also of its poverty and problems," says Erik.
"RIDING FOR CHANGE" tells the story of a journey with many ups and downs.
Perhaps even with more downs than ups.
In the end, there are many different encounters, events and experiences that remain in the memory for a lifetime.
The film "RIDING FOR CHANGE" will be released on YouTube at the end of March and can be viewed there free of charge.
Our goal
We want to give a new perspective.
There are probably hundreds of bikepacking films on YouTube. And the message behind it, the idea of freedom, just riding off and discovering the world, is of course super cool, Erik and Sebastian tell us in the interview.
The idea behind the short documentary was much more to combine two themes. On the one hand, the adventurer and bikepacking idea should of course not be neglected in the film. But the film also shows the darker sides and places of the different countries. It is thought-provoking and has set itself the task of looking at Africa
a differentiated view of Africa.
Who is Erik?
Erik Horsthemke is a 21-year-old adventurer and extreme sportsman. Most of the time he is traveling somewhere in the world looking for new adventures and experiences. Erik has been cycling for almost half of his life. Starting in racing, through the national squad and various national league teams, he has found his way into the bikepacking and adventure world. Over the last few years, he has implemented various bikepacking projects.
"For me, it's never about doing something more extreme, faster or further than someone before me.
I only do what I enjoy, what inspires me or what I can learn something from.
can learn something from."
"After graduating from high school in 2021, like so many people, I was faced with the decision of what I wanted to do in the next few years; training, studying or something completely different.
I decided to take some time off first and do what I really want to do. I can decide for myself which project I want to do next and where I want to go next. I'm always motivated to see something new and get to know something new. While traveling, you have countless experiences that you would probably never have at home."
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Where can I help?
If you like Erik's project and the associated goal as much as we do, then you can support his project via the following link in order to improve the drinking water supply in Uganda.
Support Erik's project on viva con agua
