Cairo to Kenya, overland through East Africa 1983.

For some forgotten reason I had a couple of sketchbooks with me but no camera, possibly because I didn’t own a camera at the time.

I flew to Cairo from Athens and made my way south through Egypt, Sudan, Zaire, Uganda to Kenya and the coast. It took about 3 months. I flew home from Nairobi. It was a fantastic trip and I’m really glad I did a few drawings along the way.

Cairo was a complete culture shock for a young lad from the suburbs of Nottingham.

I spent a few days in the Red Sea town of Hurghada, where falafels were the street food of choice.

I killed some time waiting for the ferry in Aswan by drawing a few locals.

This guy was so impressed he invited me to a wedding that evening where I was encouraged to draw portraits of the guests. The guests kept their portraits so I don’t have a record of them.

Omdurman is one of the three towns around the confluence of the Nile tributaries at Khartoum. It’s a hot, sandy place.

The Sudanese are rightly renowned for their hospitality and I had a great time staying as a house guest around the South in the towns of Wei, Yambio & Yei.

This Gu Gu was used to store the peanut harvest.

I think these drawings were done in the market at Lubero, on the road along Zaire’s Eastern border.

I spent a few days in Goma, which included a night on Nyragongo Volcano. This is the street in Goma where I stayed.

Swahili women on the island of Lamu.