I cycled for 2 years through 44 African countries. This is what I learned

    By Sophie Eastaugh, for CNN

    Updated 1251 GMT (2051 HKT) September 24, 2015

    Ron Rutland: "I could have just done Cape to Cairo, but I'd never been to West or North Africa. I thought, you know what, I'm going to try and do every country... I sat with a map of Africa and plotted for hours and hours."
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    43,000km – Ron Rutland: "I could have just done Cape to Cairo, but I'd never been to West or North Africa. I thought, you know what, I'm going to try and do every country... I sat with a map of Africa and plotted for hours and hours."
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    "Cape Town to the border of Mozambique was a honeymoon period. I had a telephone that worked, water and shops everywhere. I only camped once in two months -- when one farmer knew what I was doing he would pass me on to his mate." Pictured, South Africa's plains.
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    "Cape Town to the border of Mozambique was a honeymoon period. I had a telephone that worked, water and shops everywhere. I only camped once in two months -- when one farmer knew what I was doing he would pass me on to his mate." Pictured, South Africa's plains.
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    "In Angola, I got to a little village and had no water left. I showed a lady my bottle and she walked around behind two or three mud huts where she had three jerry cans with very gray water that she shared with me. I still don't know to this day where she's got that from -- I didn't see any pumps or wells nearby."
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    "In Angola, I got to a little village and had no water left. I showed a lady my bottle and she walked around behind two or three mud huts where she had three jerry cans with very gray water that she shared with me. I still don't know to this day where she's got that from -- I didn't see any pumps or wells nearby."
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    "Communication was sometimes difficult. I don't speak any language other than English, so often I just gestured 'tent' or 'water'."
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    "Communication was sometimes difficult. I don't speak any language other than English, so often I just gestured 'tent' or 'water'."
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    "I knew more of Asia and Europe than I did of Africa, so part of the motivation was to explore my own continent. Africa is the iconic continent of adventure." Pictured, sunset on Lake Tanganyika, Burundi.
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    "I knew more of Asia and Europe than I did of Africa, so part of the motivation was to explore my own continent. Africa is the iconic continent of adventure." Pictured, sunset on Lake Tanganyika, Burundi.
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    Rutland's diet ranged between street food consisting of meat and rice, to packet noodles and biscuits he carried on his bicycle. In places like Rwanda, mangoes and avocados were "dripping off the trees."
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    Rutland's diet ranged between street food consisting of meat and rice, to packet noodles and biscuits he carried on his bicycle. In places like Rwanda, mangoes and avocados were "dripping off the trees."
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    Rutland's bicycle and second tent, camped in the Ugandan bush. He lost his first tent in a fire on his first night in the Mozambique bush, which he started by knocking over his gas stove.
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    Rutland's bicycle and second tent, camped in the Ugandan bush. He lost his first tent in a fire on his first night in the Mozambique bush, which he started by knocking over his gas stove.
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    Ethiopia's Simien Mountains are "the most dramatic" Rutland has ever seen. At 3,600m altitude, the peaks are made of dark basalt rock formed by volcanic eruptions some 20 million years ago. High, grassy plateaus drop abruptly into 2,000m deep canyons.
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    Ethiopia's Simien Mountains are "the most dramatic" Rutland has ever seen. At 3,600m altitude, the peaks are made of dark basalt rock formed by volcanic eruptions some 20 million years ago. High, grassy plateaus drop abruptly into 2,000m deep canyons.
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    A starry night in Ethiopia.
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    A starry night in Ethiopia.
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    Resting the bike in Djibouti. Rutland says the pressure of needing to finish in time for the Rugby World Cup spurred him on through exhaustion.
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    Resting the bike in Djibouti. Rutland says the pressure of needing to finish in time for the Rugby World Cup spurred him on through exhaustion.
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    A craggy bay off the coast of Djibouti.