WILD AFRICA QUEST

This a a blog post on a trip through Africa from Natal in South Africa all the way to Egypt.

On the 18 December in the early hours when the rising sun had hardly reached the edge of the earth, two intrepid travelers revved their engines at the start of an epic motor bike tour through Africa. Born from the desire to venture beyond the standard bounds of work and routine, Morgan Castle planned a route to take him north from Natal, through Mpumalanga into Botswana. Time permitting his long time friend and once National Enduro champion, Glen McDonald will accompany Morgan as far as possible, before returning back to the daily work grind sometime in January.

From Botswana, the plan is to skip Zimbabwe and cross with the ferry east into Zambia, then across to Malawi, Tanzania through Burundi into Rwanda, onto Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia into Sudan and then Egypt and then, who knows…..

Both men are riding 690CC KTM Enduro motorbikes, with Morgan on a full race spec Rally Factory replica (RFR) and Glen on a standard spec.

Like their bikes, each man is customised a bit differently, and nothing is more true for these two men. Glen  lost the use of an arm in a biking accident and now steadies himself on the bike by strapping his hand to the handlebar with Velcro. He is considered among friends as being in a league of his own when it comes to long distance riding and a more capable rider with one arm, than some people are with two. 

Morgan on the other hand is often called the “ten year man” doing everything in cycles of ten years. An ex Navy North Sea Diver , he once sailed the Cape to Rio yacht race and decided not to return. He spent 10 years sailing some magnificent yachts including the infamous Moon Bean up the Rangoon River till he met his wife, Kate, and returned to Africa.

Now don’t get us wrong. We know that they are not the first to engage on a long road trip through Africa, nor are they famous, but “the human spirit is like an elastic band. The more you stretch, the greater your capacity.” – Bidemi Mark-Mordi.

BOLTING FOR BOTS

18 December 2019

There is a popular phrase that says bad start good ending, but for our team it was more like a false start when the Sprag Clutch of Glenn’s bike failed. It was back to the workshop for some running repairs and after installing an old seal spring they were back on the road again at 11h00.

Now it may sound grand and romantic to climb in the saddle of these magnificent KTM bikes and hit the road, but a lot of work and planning goes into it. For Morgan it all came after some heart soul searching. “I am a little bit of an adventure junkie and after going through some stresses that life brings, I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to do a road trip to the North of Africa. The name Wild Africa Quest came about after several glasses of wine and banter around a dinner table with my wife Kate and friends.

I rebuilt my 690 Rally and spent a little bit of money on her which pushes the value up and I will never get it back but it’s a very reliable bike for this type of trip. It has long fuel consumption; 38 litres of fuel which is a little bit of a problem when it comes to sand riding cos there is a lot of weight now on the front forks. I am carrying an extra 23kg of luggage which excludes any extras we may buy along the route.”

The good news is that the chassis set-up on the rally is well suited for carrying weight, it is stronger and is also more stable. The wheel-base is also longer than the standard Enduro KTM.

Heading north from the Hillcrest they headed up the N3, rubber on tar till just past Estcourt where they branched off the old road to the Northern Drakensberg through Winterton and Bergville. Now Natal does not boast the magnificent high peaks and mountains that many countries do but we are proudly home to a landscape believed to have been the inspiration for middle earth in the writings of J.R.R Tolkien. The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg region is home to around 35 000 examples of San rock paintings. Ranging in altitude from 2,000 to 3,482 metres Morgs and Glenn followed the route up and over the old Olivieshoek pass R74 regional road

The pass has an altitude gain of 471m and is 13.5km long offering some of the most spectacular scenery in Natal. They took full benefit of the wide sweeping bends and topped out of the pass mid afternoon.

“Its not just about riding” say Morgan. We have to keep up with maintenance on the bikes and continually check for bolts etc vibrating loose. Being a single cylinder it runs rougher causing things to vibrate loose.”

But biking snags and checks aside the spectacular scenery of the route made up for the jumpy start on the day and not long after Reitz they pulled in alongside the magnificent Sterkfontein dam at Enkeldoorn Camp Side.

WEIGHTY WORKOUT

19 – 21 December 2019

Summer time on the Highveld and temperatures sour into their upper 30’s and the further north, the closer it gets to 40C plus. A long and very hot day in the saddle saw Morgs and Glenn heading to Heilbron at 09h00 for a quick brekkie and straight up through Zeerest and on to the Botwana border. As Morgan says, “the day was seriously hot with huge queues at the Lobatse border post. All the staff at the border were very friendly and there were tons of truck drivers, but being grossly understaffed made it slow going.  We then opted to take a nice detour after the crossing to avoid riding on the national roads and landed up booting along lovely straight red dirt roads. That was until I went pear shaped and landed up in the bush. But I still have all my limbs and everything intact so all’s good. By 17h30 it was engines off at Mokolodi Camp site the other side of Gabarone for a well deserved beer.”

12 hours later, an early start saw them head for the border of Zim about 450ks away. Just north of Nata they stopped at Eselbi Camp backpackers, got some meat on the braai and finally enjoyed some down time.

Then the next morning a message came in, “after a quick 340km to the Kasana border, we’ve checked into the Thembe Safari Lodge and Camp site, and the bad news….is that my bike…has started to eat oil after the very hot day I think….and the engine ran hot for about 20 minutes with all the alarm bells going off. So the thing is, for us now, we just used 250ml of oil from Nata up to Kasana which is a big concern if the bike is chewing too much oil, and if you look on the back of the exhausts, you’ll see the oil leaking out of the top of the exhausts, which is indicating that there is a problem, internally with the bike. So we are going to strip it now and try and see if there is an easy quick fix. If not, we are going to have to use DHL from England….we will keep you posted.”

Well not only do these boys ride like the wind but they are super speedy and within an hour had already ordered the parts from England to be flown out via DHL on Monday 23^rd December. A brand new 102mm Piston (Rosa) Rally along with cylinder head and base gaskets.

On this call for help a huge shout out to Lyndon Poskitt for taking the time out to assist with sending the spares for the 690 Rally, this is the go to man for anything to do with our legend 690 Rally motocycles. Also to Luke at Protec Racing in Lusaka. 

Biker Neil Vorano once said, “massive torque is your frenemy with the KTM 690 Rally.”

So while they had some down time, and given Morgan’s red faced dirt plunge the day before, Glenn decided it is time to get Morgs to practice picking up the bike. “There is a technique” he said, to which Morgan let out a string of expletives about the lack of technique, and the weight of the bike. Lifting a bike off tar is one thing, but a lack of traction in the sand and a dry weight of around 146kg, saw Morgan pushing, sliding, slipping and grappling against gravity, the hardship of which was greatly rewarded with a beer at the pub and a sunset over the Chobe River.

CHILLING ON THE CHOBE

23 December 2019

“Here we are on the magnificent Chobe river after a long day in the saddle, rehydrating as you do. We have hippos in the background and we just encountered the most amazaing, amazing thunderstorm. Tents and sleeping bags are still dry so all good and we are looking forward to tomorrow,” reported a rather contented looking Glenn against the backdrop of the beautiful Chobe River and the sound of Qwella in the background.

The magnificent Chobe is a river of many names. It starts life as a small spring called ‘Kwando” in Angola before slowly snaking it ways over a great distance throuth the Kalahari sands before it reaches Botswana. Here it is called the ‘Linyati.’  It then reaches Ngoma where it becomes ‘Chobe” and makes its’ was along the northern border of Botswana before it meets up the mighty force of the Zambezi river and tumbles headlong over Victoria Falls in the most magnificent display.

Back in the saddle and the team made their way to the border crossing with Zambia at the infamous Kazungula Ferry. The ferry is a pontoon which crosses the 400-metre-wide Zambezi River and is one of the largest ferries in south-central Africa, having a capacity of 70 tonnes. Today there is also a massive bridge under construction to link Zambia and Botswana. On completion it will span 923 metres and will come to replace the existing ferry.

12h58, a message form Morgs…”That was a pretty painless border crossing. We found a couple of fixers, nice young lads about $30 a pop. They went through all with all our papers and did everything on our behalf so that was quite nice. It’s very hot.

So we decided to stop under a tree, keep the relevant ones for the police road blocks. So that’s us, WELCOME ZAMBIA!”

On reflecting time in Botswana, Glenn says it us a wonderful country, well run and he will definitely be back.

TOURING TANGANYIKA

24 December 2019

“We have just arrived at Mkushi. We found a nice little dive to stay for the night. Actually not too bad, called the Shalom Lodge, little chalets.

We decided to ride despite the hassles on my bike so we are heading up to the bottom South East corner of Lake Tanganyika, which I think will be the start of serious scenery and riding.

We have arranged for the spares for my bike to now go to DHL in Kigali, Rwanda, and we will pick them up at the depot, so if all goes according to plan they will be there by the time we arrive in the New Year.

The bike is running fine except for the oil usage, so we are keeping the speed to 100max so that it does not chew too much oil.

Today in fact was the first day that wasn’t stinking hot but it looks like it might storm later.

Later that night we received a classic video clip of Glenn and Morgans dinner. The dialogue went like this…

“Okay so we sitting on the verandah here and we ordered our food about an hour ago and we wondered why it hasn’t come. So let’s take you for a little tour. We are going into the restaurant now and ….as you can see there is nobody and there is no food….So we walk a bit further to where we can locate the food. I am outside now and “there we see the food bustling away in the open courtyard on gas cookers. For those of you who never saw the clip, click here

CHRISTMAS IN AFRICA

25-27 December 2019

Christmas Day and the route continued north towards Tanzania, skirting the lower border of the DRC to Mpika and then head North to Kasama. Given their proximity to the massive Chishimba Falls they diverted to spend their night camping there and finally get a bath Zambia style in the river. The Bemba people regard the Chishimba Falls as one of the most sacred places of power.

“The riding is nice but it’s all tar at the moment, no choice, however the scenery is spectacular with thick bush lining the road in places. As for the heat, the best investment I made so far is running tops, as I soak them with water and then put them on; they keep you cool for miles.”

Boxing day and before them lay a stretch of tar and then a long and dusty road north to cross the border. The trouble of course on the long stretches of road is staying awake and at one point we got a lovely clip from Morgan…”Okay so here we are on the road to Mbala, and old poor Glennis couldn’t keep his eyes open and here you are, he is having a little power nap. We are parked on the side of the road here but it is safety first, You can’t fall asleep and go into the ‘shlateen.’ …..It is so quiet here …….” (For those of you who missed the video, see under comments here)

Morgan had chosen to take the old Stevenson Road through Mbala north to the border of Tanzania and then on to Lake Tanganyika.

In the early days of European exploration the only way to get to the lake was via an overland road from Dar es Salem to Ujiji. However, it was also a Muslim controlled trade route, which meant that missionaries and British traders were cut off from the lake area. Then James Stevenson, a Scottish manufacturer showed support for the work of the missionaries and trade and so, after a sizable donation from Stevenson to the London Missionary Society, for which the society also agreed to send a small steamship (The SS Good News) via the Stevenson Road, construction of the road, began on 1881.

Stevenson died in 1885 and large parts of the road were incomplete however his name lived on in the road which over time was carved out. Today of course this road has largely been either replaced by tarmac or bypassed altogether leaving the most intact stretch of road about 1km North of Mbala to Cemetery Hill.

“Choosing the out of the way border town of Chomba which is 35km north of Mbala, we arrived to find a real sleepy hollow. We had to send some kids to find the border officials as there were none to be seen. It was a pretty painless crossing and everyone at the Kaseya border was happy and friendly.

The road has not been maintained for many years and is very bumpy and slow going for the full 35km. Then after the border crossing it was wicked riding for around 80km of red packed dirt. It’s challenging riding especially when its’ wet. You have to concentrate a hell of a lot. When you approach a big pothole you have to hit is square on. If you hit it on the side your wheel wants to wash away on the slippery mud and you will end of on your head. So after 250km you are pretty tired but hey, it was a reprieve though after miles and miles of tar the days before.”

Late afternoon and the guys pulled into the Tanzania town of Sumbawanga. So far so good until a picture of Morgan’s right eye arrived showing quite a swelling. A quick diagnosis with Dr on call for Morgan’s trip, Dr Johan Bouwer, eye ointment prescribed and they were off to find a pharmacy.

TUPA UCHAWI IN TANZANIA

28 – 29  December 2019

Evening report from Morgan….“on arrival in Sumbawanga in Tanzania, Glenn noticed that his battery was losing power and not charging. We had tried all day to locate the source the problem and now finally worked it out to the fly wheel magnet, hence we are snookered. DHL will take 7 days to get the parts to us.”

For the non techno followers out there, ‘the alternator on a motorcycle or ATV converts kinetic energy (power of motion) into electrical energy to charge the battery. An alternator is made up of two parts; the stator and the magnet rotor, also known as the flywheel. The rotor or flywheel contains permanent magnets and spins around the stator to produce energy.’ [Bikesamag]

“A few years back whilst I was on a mission riding bikes in Argentina a similar situation occurred, bike lost its charging capacity, so we bought a car battery and strapped it on the bike and away we went, not forgetting a  battery charger so that at night we could charge that battery. So this is what we plan to do tomorrow and I am sure we will be on the shores of Lake Tanganyika by nightfall.”

Of course what Glenn and Morgs did not know is that the very name of the town Sumbawanga, means ‘Tupa Uchawi’ in Kiswahili or (town of witchcraft), which in essence means the area is the land of witches! There are current calls to change the name to that of the whole region, Rukwa, to rid the town of its’ negative connotation.

Fortunately, no trouble to Morgan and Glenn, next morning saw them trolling the streets of Sumbawanga in search of an old car battery and sure enough, as promised, they were on their way. “Onward and upward” where Glenns’ words for the day.

The route took them north to Katavi National park in the west of Tanzania. The park is around 4,471 square kilometers which makes it the third largest National Park in Tanzania. For the average safari goer, a visit comes with an exhorbitant price tag due to its remoteness and as a result, it receives very few visitors compared to its western neighbours. It has been described as the quintessential Tanzania safari park when it comes to its herds of game and serenitiy.

On the afternoon of 29 December, a message from Morgan…”Ok, we are now on the outskirts of Katavi national park, camping in a flambuyount ladies’ hotel/garden for the pricely sum of 5 dollars. It was a nice ride though through the park as well on a dirt road with many varying moods, dusty and smooth then wet and bumpy, but very cool. The battery we purchased wasn’t fully charged so Glenn’s bike died in the park. We then swapped batteries and jump started my bike due to having Glenn’s battery and made it to our overnight. All good”

Next morning it was north along Lake Tanganyika to Kigoma. This agreeable little town is the regional capital and only large Tanzanian port on the lake. The lake itself covers an area of about 32,900 square km and forms the boundary between Tanzania and the Congo. The lake also has many claims to fame. It’s the world’s longest lake (660km), deepest in Africa and second-deepest in the world (more than 1436m) and second-largest freshwater lake (by volume). It is also one of the oldest at somewhere between nine and 13 million years old being part of the Western Rift of the Great Rift Valley.

Afternoon report….”Our ride today was 250km of red mud. There has been a lot of rain in the area. It wasn’t as slippery as expected surprisingly so it was quite nice. It was enjoyable; we went through hard red pack, then slippery red pack, and then mushy red pack. The challenge is when a big bus comes in the opposite direction as we as motor bikes have to give way and we have to go down the off run of the gravel road panicking that the back wheel may slide out. But luckily all was good.

We got to Kigoma about 3pm and had a couple of Chibari’s, Kilimanjaro beers. Re the tracker I have no idea why it is not updating. Maybe it’s because we have so many trees either side but at least we know where we are so there is no need to stress.”

BACKTRACKING IN BURUNDI

31 – December 2019

“We are in Kigoma, it stormed all night and we woke up to rain and a wet sleeping bag because I was a bit of an idiot. But anyway, so now we are going to head to the Burundi border. The problem is that we heard from other overlanders that you have to get a visa prior to arrival and they don’t issue them at the border anymore. A Burundian in the camp last night also informed us that they changed the ruling in 2015 from issuing visas on arrival. Unfortunately we were advised by a travel crowd in Durban that we could get them at the border.  So we are going to try charm, and charisma! IF not, we have to come back another 74km’s and then take the other road that skirts Burundi. In hindsight although border crossings have been an absolute breeze, I think now that we should have got all visa’s before. The problem with back tracking is that there are guys working on the road and it is… atrocious. Massive potholes, trucks everywhere because they have had excessive rain. “

November normally brings the short rains to East Africa which taper off in early December. What was not expected is that the short rains were late in coming this year and brought above-average rainfall triggering flooding across eastern Africa.  Rain fell at around 50mm per 24 hours for several days causing wash aways and flooding in places. Not surprisingly, our intrepid bikers were riding in it, which in normal circumstances would have been manageable – had Morgan not lost rain gear. Although we never got the low down the next message read, “Stormy rainy day lost my wet weather gear yesterday on the road. I’m already wet and haven’t started riding, Africa is not for Sissies!”

Watching the tracker carefully we were surprised to see them drive to the border and cross into Burundi quite quickly. No backtracking. Charm and charisma seem to have paid off.

However, fearing the possibility of backtracking, Morgan and Glenn had found a Burundi consular in Kigoma. “At first he refused to issue a visa…but eventually relented. He even sent a driver with us to take photos and also had a stop for a snack! And away we went with visas in hand.

Their route took them along the incredible shores of Lake Tangayika, through Rumonge and on through Bujumbura which had its roots as a military post in German East Africa in 1889.  Since Burundi gained independence in 1962 Bujumbura has been the scene of frequent fighting between the country’s two main ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi-dominated Burundi army. The worst was in 2015 and the last major unrest was in 2017.

It was here, having lunch that they met with a chap called Joseph, a humanitarian from Central Africa. “He met with us and insisted on paying for our lunch!”

New years day…”Hi all you followers, we are finally on line again. The no signal issue has been frustrating. A big happy new year! We spent the old years eve, just the two of us, very romantic, and then proceeded to be kept awake the whole night with loud music right through till 08h00 this morning!

AFRICA’S GREAT LAKES

1 January 2020

Morning report, “I must say every country has been wonderful and no hostilities anywhere. People are wonderful and friendly when we stop on the side of the road, and are quick to ask if they can assist. It’s actually quite humbling.”

Amidst the excitement of the knowledge that the spares for Morgan’s bike should be catching up with them from Lusaka, they aimed for a good clear run.  Now for those of you who are new to this blog, we previously reported“We have arranged for the spares for my bike to now go to DHL in Kigali, Rwanda, and we will pick them up at the depot, so if all goes according to plan they will be there by the time we arrive in the New Year. And so they headed north through the border to neighboring Rwanda and on to Lake Kivu.

The evening was spent on the shores of beautiful Lake Kivu overlooking the peaceful and serene landscape. It is one of the African Great Lakes, and is home to the world’s 10th-largest inland island. But this beautiful Lake is also holds a deathly secret. Lake Kivu is saturated with methane gas making it a killer lake along with two others in Cameroon. Nearby springs around a chain of volcanoes, also bring healthy doses of carbon dioxide into the water. Under normal circumstances, the gases would sit under the enormous weight of pressure from the water, that is, until the water heats up.

Lake Kivu has exploded before and no-one can predict when the next limnic eruption will be. However in a world first in 2015, a project called KivuWatt was started to extract Methane from the Lake

Rwanda is known as The Land of a Thousand Hills for good reason. It is home to massive national parks, three volcanoes, a landscape awash with green hills and the famous and endangered, Mountain Gorilla. As Morgan said, “Rwanda wins all the prizes so far for the best country, fantastic roads, friendly people and magic scenery, endless rolling tea plantations. I thought I was Valentino Rossie. If you thought Lesotho had good riding roads these are way better! Not a straight one for 120km.

It is like the south of France and French speaking too.” Glenn was amazed at the guys laden with Matoke, “These chaps get up to a hell of a speed on the downhills with this load and we haven’t seen any accident yet.” Matoke is a type of banana used mainly for cooking when they are green and unripe and turned into a mash.

“Tomorrow we ride to Kigali and hopefully my spares will be there too.”

BATTERY POWER AND PILI PILI

3 – 4 January 2020

Morning report from Morgan…..

“Well  after a nice breakfast this morning we hit the race track attacking the endless twists and turns. Unfortunately the roads close to Kigali are really well travelled but not upgraded and so the conditions of them are pretty poor with lots of portholes making it slow going.”

Considering that over 200 new vehicles arrive into Kigali every month, most of them mini buses and a population of over 1 million people, the traffic is a nightmare!

 “On arrival into Kigali, I suddenly noticed that Glenn was no longer visible in my rear view mirrors so I did a quick double back. Sure enough, Glenn’s bike had died, right in the thick of the traffic and there he was pushing it onto the pavement. I am sure that all 1 million local residents arrived to see what we were doing and we were swamped. I then noticed a coffin factory behind a billboard and so we took both bikes across there – rather apt given the sudden death of Glenn bike.  Glenn said he had checked the fuse so we proceeded to strip the bike completely, only to discover that it was… a fuse….

Glenn was saved by me losing mine when a mother of about 20 children sold us a delicious paw paw, which went down a treat.

We finally got back on the road and found a quiet area of town called Kibagabaga, and a motel called the Via Via, just a stones throw away from the ever vibrant Kimironko market.”

This massive market is the busiest market in town and well worth a visit. It has everything from vibrant Kitenge fabrics, to fish and meat markets. The fresh produce section has fresh vegetables from zucchini to carrots and potatoes stacked high, along with all types of fruit including tree tomatoes and juicy mangoes.

“On the top of our priority list was to get our spares from DHL so we put in a call, only to discover that the spares had STILL not been released from customs in Lusaka and sadly our contact there had dropped the ball badly. On the upside, Glenn’s parts had arrived so off we went to collect them.  

Heading back we discovered this awesome restaurant called Pile-Pile just down from our Motel. This vibrant spot with its hot chilli logo is a must. We had a solid meal.

Early next morning we cleaned the motorcycles and Glenn fitted the bike with the new spares, and voila, his bike was charging the battery again. No more swapping batteries every few hours. Then it was decision time. We pondered the issue of the spares and the fact that Glenn had to head back to South Africa soon so we decided that as my bike parts had not yet left Lusaka that we would have then routed to Uganda instead.

But not to waste time, while Glenn was busy with his bike I went off to the Egyptian embassy and managed to get my visa! If only all embassies had beautiful and efficient staff. I even left my phone there and they managed to track me down and told me they had it! So tomorrow we will head to Uganda”. As Glenn said, “onward and upward…”

LAND OF A THOUSAND HILLS

5 January 2019

“We set off in high spirits for the border with Glenn’s bike now charging perfectly. The Katuna Border crossing was not too bad however we were ill prepared and had the wrong currency. We thought they would accept dollars but they wanted local currency so we landed up getting ripped off by the money changers.

There are beautiful new buildings almost complete at the border but we cleared through the container offices. Apparently they have not worked on the new buildings for 2 years now! Or so we were led to believe. As we crossed into Uganda Glenn reminded me that we were entering the land of the fictional character, ‘The Last King of Scotland’.

Our route took us north past Lake Bunyoni, which means ‘place of many little birds.’”

This incredible lake is like a magical scene from the Italian Lake Como combined with Nepalese terraced hills. The shoreline meanders like a weaving snake through little inlets and encircles a total of 29 islands. One of these islands has a bizarre history, that of Akampene, or “Punishment Island” as it is where unwed mothers were banished to live out their days in starvation. The practice continued up until the 1900’s. To this day, not much survives on this island except one lone tree and clumps of grass.

East of Lake Bunyoni is home to one the most magnificent of all species; 98% genetically human and clawing its way back from the brink of extinction. Mountain Gorilla are found in three places in the world, Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo. The Gorillas in Uganda live in the area of Bwindi National Park which has four habituated families with 32 permits available per day. Each permit costs $600 and gives you a chance once tracked, to spend 1 hour in the presence of these amazing creatures. Across the border in Rwanda , it costs a staggering $1500 per permit.  

 “We then headed north from Kabale onward and upward towards Fort Portal. We passed by impressive rivers, swollen from the heavy rains and incredible tea plantations and then came across a view we both fell in love with…the break taking vistas of Queen Elizabeth National Park.”

It was originally called Kazinga National Park and then renamed after the Queen in 1954.  Famous for its volcanic cones and crater lakes, it is also a Lion conservation area and seeing the odd Lion in a tree around Ishasha area is not uncommon.

“The park straddles two great lakes, Lake George in the north-east and Lake Edward in the south-west. These two lakes are connected by a 32km wide channel of water called the Kazinga with the old Kazinga Bridge crossing over. There were tons of elephant droppings but sadly we had no sightings.

Not far north of here we got to feel even lighter than we already were as we stood with one foot on the Southern Hemisphere and one on the north. Yes less, only because the gravitational forces are lower on the equator. After a wee dram of whiskey, we were back on the road.

We finally got into Fort Portal with the last stretch of road being hell; loads of construction and potholes.

It seems like I am attracted to golf courses as we found the fairway hotel and landed up camping in the gardens.

THE PEARL OF AFRICA

6-10 January 2020

There is a beautiful Ugandan proverb that says…”Caution is not cowardice; even ants march armed,” and this was certainly the case when it came to the next 10 days. Originally planning to head to Murchison Falls, the guys decided instead to head straight to Kampala and get the spares for Morg’s bike as to push the bike too much further may have resulted in serious bike hassles.  At most they were already doing a maximum of 90km/hour.

Despite navigating bad road and potholes, the rolling hills and tea plantations were everywhere, along with lush dense undergrowth and many Ankole-Watusi cattle along the roads.

“It was such a mission getting here, hectic traffic all the way through Kampala, driving on the inside of the pavement etc.”

They finally arrived into Kampala, only to discover that the spares for the bike had not even left Lusaka yet! Enter the second famous saying in Uganda….”Ask help from the spirits after having used all your strength.” Of course the spirits intended did not come in bottle form but they certainly helped ease the frustrations, that and chewing on a few pesky deep fried grasshoppers for dinner.

Then finally on 9th January the message came through, “Okays, bike parts are en-route and they say it will arrive on Monday 13th, or day after, so we are heading back to Kampala.” When they got into town they managed to find a local mechanic to do the head job on Morgan’s bike, a nice chap called Ibrahim. He was working on a Yamaha of a Dutch guy called Rob who is also riding to Europe. He is going a slightly different route via Saudi. He is shipping across from the Port in Sudan to Jeddah, riding to Jordan and then Israel and then taking the ferry to Italy.”

Sadly come the 10^th January Glenn had to head back to South Africa to return to work. “Well this morning Glenn and I parted ways. Glenn is riding back to South Africa; a great riding partner, safe riding Glenn. It was sad to see him go. I am now in Kampala waiting on the  spares, they haven’t even left Lusaka yet and now they are telling me January 15^th?

Bye Glenn and ride safe….

PROCESSED FOR CLEARANCE

11 –  15 January 2020

By the 12th January, Glenn had made his way down to Tanzania and that evening camped at a site about 85km south of Central Tanzania in Iringa. By the next day he was in Zambia where Morgan’s spares had sat for almost 20 days. The good news though is that come the 13th, the spares had finally made there way to Nairobi, ready to be dispatched for Uganda.

At 06h51 Morgan received a text, “Processed for clearance at Kampala – Uganda January 12 2020 06h50 Local time.”

The energy and excitement in the air was palpable as Morgan leapt into a cab and raced off to DHL.

“I must say, they were very professional and the spares were released timeously. Then it was back to my digs where I loaded the parts onto my bike and headed across town to Ibrahim, the mechanic who was going to work on the bike with me. When I arrived I was very apprehensive about riding in the city with its insane traffic and mayhem on the roads, however by now I had got the feel of it and decided, if I can’t beat em, join em. Kampala traffic is now a breeze!

Once at Ibrahim we proceeded to strip down the bike. The two front tanks had to be removed, then the front fairing, radiator, air box, carburetor, and all cable ties from the wiring harness had to be cut in order to access the cylinder head and barrel. Now not wanting to admit this, I had Wayne from KTM in Durban available throughout the bike heart surgery as I needed to confirm a few points; locking the engine at TDC (Top Dead Center), and you always wonder what an arbitrary bolt is sitting on the side of the motor for? But after Wayne pointed it out, voila, TDC bolt removed with the use of an Allan Key – not quite the right tool but it worked.

After removing the head we also had a TDC for the cam shaft etc, timing chain off, and then came the head, followed by the barrel. Then came the gruesome find – a broken piston ring and a scoured barrel. No wonder she was eating oil.

We checked for broken bits of piston ring in the crankcase before fitting the new piston. The entire process took us about 4 hours. It was already getting dark so we decided to only try to start her up the next morning and so we headed to the local Java café for some well earned dinner and a few Nile beers.

The defining moment came early morning when we turned the key and sound of the engine purring away happily sending us both into a jubilant dance! What an amazing sound. For those who missed the video, click here.

The only hard part is that you just can’t get the oil you want. So we made do with what we found.

I took the bike out for a 70km/hour run and she ran beautifully. All that was left for the day was to collect my Sudanese visa at 14h00 and head as far from Kampala as I could get.

A huge thank you to Ibrahim for all of his help and his knowledge plus the use of his tools and Wayne O’Neill for politely answering my dumb questions.

RUMINATIONS OF A TRAVELLING NOMAD

Well the good news is that Glenn is home safe and sound. I asked him to put down a few thoughts on his trip – and herewith a rather eloquent depiction of his journey…

I have had a dream of doing a trip like this ever since I read about Euart Grogans exploits back in the colonial times, when trips like this were funded by the National Geographical Society. In fact 2 of my dogs are named Shackelton and Nimrod.

Riding a motorcycle is always made up of an emotional blend of privacy, freedom, selfishness, exhilaration, discomfort and a sense of achievement, plus so much more of whatever you want to add. A cocktail which becomes addictive, and this was the expectation I carried into the beginning of this trip. The planning, packing and pouring over maps and routes will always be the lead-up to the big day but is part of the fun and dream-creation potion which drives and stimulates us.

When travelling on a motorcycle there is always a risk of breakdowns, getting wet, injury, fatigue and a guarantee of dust, bugs in your teeth etc, but for most this is the macabre attraction to the discipline of adventure motorcycling. My bike started the trip as a long-in-the-tooth old nail with over 100 000 km’s under its tyres, and as such I always felt that I could, without hesitation, walk away from it and hitch a ride to the nearest airport and fly home, should it give me the slightest misgivings of its loyalty.

Day 1 started with a terrible noise coming from my bikes engine and, after some discussion with Morgan it was decided to postpone the trip by a day in order for me to get arse into gear. 4 hours later with the bike repaired we were on our way on our Africa Odyssey, riding into the sunset with ‘starry eyes and dreams no one could see’.

I remember the intense heat in Botswana and the beginning of our relationship with mosquitoes. We stayed at a backpackers outside Gaborone that night, and upon arrival were greeted by the site of a ’77 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, the owner busy with a restoration, an affair not many people would understand. It was in this intense heat that Morgan’s mo’sickle suffered internal haemorrhaging and would start using gallons of Saudis finest. We decided to order the appropriate spares to be sent to a destination on our route and continue with our journey. It was on the lonely roads of Botswana that we passed 2 old, lovingly cared for 4×4’s, a Toyota Land cruiser and a Nissan Safari, and it was good. I’ve always enjoyed seeing a well cared for ‘cooking model’ on a journey of passion, and my thoughts wandered to my 20 year old Range Rover waiting back at home.

We started getting into the tropics of our continent and the grass became lush and the temperature cooled nicely, this was the Africa that I thought existed all along, the Africa that Hemingway fell in love with and multitudes of songs have been written about. LJK Setright, had he ever come to Africa, would have waxed lyric about the long roads and wide open spaces, ‘Bristol driving country’.

Entering Burundi was absolutely scenic and reminded me of Lord of the Rings with picture post-card portraits of green mountains and quaint villages floating above the clouds, twisty roads and healthy flowing rivers abounded but always a multitude of bicycles and small Chinese bikes choked the roads. Stopping on the road at any time created a flood of small, round faces and an equal amount of questions, ‘where you come from?’, ‘where you go to?’, ‘how fast can it go?’.

Forever onward and upward we went making our way into Rwanda and hopefully a meeting with Morgan’s spare bike parts. We found Rwanda to be much the same as Burundi but better, the streets were constantly being swept, even at night. There is no industry as such, and as a result the air at night is crisp and clean. Kigali, the capital, is situated in a giant ‘bowl’ and at night you can look out over the city and it looks like a funfair with all its lights and zero smog.

Our meeting with Morgan’s spares was not to be, due to mix ups with courier and receiver and after again re-routing them to Kampala, Uganda, we set off again  through this Eden of hills and dales, the roads in Rwanda being as twisty but in better condition than Burundi, led to some ‘spirited antics’ on the bikes, until sanity prevailed. Always in the back of our minds rang the warning of a missionary that we had met in Tanzania: “whatever you do don’t have an accident”. He had just got back from recovering in Germany from a bike accident in Tanzania which involved a fatality. L

On to Uganda, the home of the last king of Scotland, with hopes of seeing the source of the Nile as well as Morgan’s spare parts and after a nightmare ride through Kampala we made it to Jinga, where we are told the White Nile begins its journey to The Med. We spent a few days discovering the area, found a restaurant which serves the best spare-ribs in the world and also discovered that the Source of the Nile bubbles out of the ground conveniently under water of a huge lake, so a bit of artistic license is required to believe that John Speke discovered it. I personally think that Jeremy Clarkson and his cronies discovered the source of the Nile because I’ve seen it on TV.

It was in Uganda that the decision was made, by me, to do what any good mate would do to a mate in need of help; I left him there and headed home.

From this point on my journey became a journey against the clock and I spent all day riding, getting into overnight places of rest after dark and leaving before first light. I made it back home in a week and back to work a day after that.

In summary:

*Africa is so much more than the sum of its parts, some bad but mostly good.

*At the risk of sounding stereotypical, Africa’s people are amazingly friendly and forthcoming.

* The scenery and views around the Rift valley are out of this world

* Rwanda is the prettiest country of the lot, especially considering its history

* The absolute low-light of my trip is the border crossings into Zambia where you are pestered constantly by people offering assistance and then asking for money

On a trip like this one should consider the highs and lows as part of the overall experience; after all, this is why we are here. If there were no lows there wouldn’t be any highs.

A trip, any trip, serves to wet the appetite and thus on the long hours of solitude on the trip back I started planning the next one …………………………………………… by Glenn McDonald

KENYA CALLING

16 –  17 January 2020

About 80km east of Kampala is the picturesque setting of Jinja on the banks of the magnificent Lake Victoria and it was here at Explorers River camp that Morgan, Sudanese visa in hand, nestled in for the night. Formerly known to the Arabs as Ukerewe, ‘meaning place of a small island’ British Explorer John Speke renamed the lake in 1858. Believed by them to be the source of the Nile it is the largest lake in Africa and is exceeded in size only by Lake Superior in North America. Though other headwaters in the mountains of Rwanda and Burundi are being researched, the mighty Lake Victoria is still seen by many to be the source of the Nile. Of course, the original claim to it being the source dates back to an ancient map from 1160 known as the Muhammad al-Idrisi map.

“I spent the evening at a camp site at Explorers, full of young student adventure seekers, hanging on the bar trying to look cool until it dawned on them that I am probably older than their fathers. Funny thing age…you definitely don’t feel the way you are portrayed the mirror. It amazes me how these kids afford these trips as all they do all day is sit around and drink copious amounts of alcohol.

We had a horrendous thunderstorm last night and I came outside to find my bike lying in the hedge. The bike stand had slowly sunk into the mud and fallen over!!! Recalling the reels of laughter at me trying to pick up my bike in Lusaka with Glenn standing by yelling…there is a technique, I went into a flat panic. As luck would have it, just as I thought I was about to burst a valve or two some kind, partially hung-over young man offered his assistance. What luck? So now it is onwards and upwards to Kenya and the Busia border post.”

It is hard to believe that a great lake can span three countries but by midday Morgan once gain found himself near the shores of Lake Victoria at Kisume. Not that Lake Victoria is one of the greatest attractions as Kenya boasts no less than 54 National Parks and reserves and it was not long before Morgan found himself surrounded by them.

Passing by Lake Nakuru, once famous for its iridescent pink dancing flamingoes, he headed north to Thomson falls at an altitude of 2360m and spent the night at Uaso Narok Forest reserve.

Amidst rumours that the Moyali border may be closed, he rode out at sunrise along the western flanks of Mt Kenya. Second-highest mountain in Africa, after Kilimanjaro, Mt Kenya rises to 5 199m. It is Kenya’s national pride, attested to by the fact that when Kenya gained independence in 1963, Kenya’s flag was mounted at the peak by a local climber, Munyao Kisoi.  As a once active volcano, it is said that its original height was closer to 7000m. How different the narrative of her ascents would have been and no doubt the 30 000 pairs of feet that now lumber their way to the summit of Kilimanjaro, would have been routed instead to Mt Kenya.

“I rode about three hours this afternoon and only saw 3 vehicles. I am heading into the boonies now so if you don’t hear from me I don’t have cell coverage in fact I don’t even think I have seen a cell tower! The border might be closed tomorrow and I am hearing conflicting stories so I am going to head there and find out. If it is closed it is going to be a suspect night hanging around the border past.”

LAND OF LUCY

19 –  26 January 2020

In the mid 1980’s, Bob Geldof brought Ethiopia to the worlds stage with his Live Aid concerts and Band Aid record. But when it comes to Ethiopia the list of things that now make it famous are endless. This is a country where the east African rift carved the country in two, creating beautiful mountains, high plateaus and highly active volcanoes in its wake.

It is home to the worlds hottest desert, the Danakil Depression which is 125km below sea, the Simien and Bale mountains whose rugged escarpments sour to over 3000m, 25% of Africa’s active volcanoes and a rich religious history which also claims it to be home to the Ark of the Covenent.

Legendary figures such as Lucy walked this land over  3.2million years ago, so named after the song that was repeatedly played in camp the night her remains were excavated, “Lucy in the sky with Diamonds”. Also gracing this land was the Queen of Sheba.

Between mystery and intrigue and perceptions of famine and starvation, Morgan crossed the border from Kenya into Ethiopia. His expectations and experiences where often conflicted.

 “It was a really great ride to the Ethiopian border with a massive volcanic crater on route, and camels on the road are now a normality. I took a chance with the border crossing as I told it was closed on Sundays. What I also did not know is that at the border, lunch occurs between 12 and 2pm. However after a long wait I eventually bribed a local to go and find the customs officer, who then miraculously arrived and within a short space of time my paperwork was processed and I was on my way.

Riding from Kenya into Ethiopia was chalk and cheese. From vast open roads with hardly a soul to be seen there were people everywhere and the first 20km after the border was absolute mayhem.”

300km north, Morgan finally settled in for the night at  Hagera Maryam amidst the preparations for Timkat, a festival which this year started on 20th January and lasts three days. Timkat is one of the main celebrations of the Orthodox Tewahedo Christian Church and marks the baptism of Jesus Christ in Jordon River.

The religious ceremony starts when models of the Ark of the Covenant, called Tabots, are carried to the river in a procession led by the most senior priest of each church, who carry the arks on top of their heads. At dawn the water of the river is blessed. The Tabot symbolises the Ark of the Covenant and the tablets describing the Ten Commandments.

From there his travels took him north to Hawassa, built around a lake that was formed in an ancient volcanic crater. Like most rift valley lakes it has its own resident hippos and birds but what makes this one unusual is that it has no river mouth to feed it. Then it was onto Lake Langano and by the second day of Timkat festival, he reached the outskirts of Addis.

Far from being a country having benefited greatly by the billions of dollars of Aid relief and perceived social development, he encountered a land mired by population and poverty, rambunctious teens and emaciated livestock.

“Today was like driving through a toilet. Honestly, the pollution alongside the road is worse than Warick triangle in Durban!!!! There is an excess of litter and constant  shouting from testosterone overloaded teenagers called to the faranji – the foreigner.”

Fearing being stuck out on the open road as he travelled north he decided it was time to purchase a new front tyre and landed up haggling in a very unsuccessful first for a tyre, which quickly doubled in price when they saw how excited he was to find it.  A R3000 Matis E07 with a solid rubber strip down the middle – a key to long mileage. With almost 600km left to go before the Sudanese border he quickly found the landscape become more and more rural and remote and the temperatures plummeting. Dinner was often goat with chips and injera, a slightly fermented grain pancake like bread, somewhat reminiscent of India’s dosa.

By the 22nd Morgan had gone from temperatures in the upper 30s to a sleeting rain with freezing cold temperatures of around 8 degrees C, so much so that he regularly stopped at local coffee stands to defrost his hands around their fire.

“Tell you something I was freezing today on the bike. It is now 7pm and I am tucked up in bed with my fleece and scarf on trying to defrost. My toes are like ice blocks.  It was a long cold day with lots of animals roaming on the roads, and endless switchbacks.  Trucks flying at you around blind corners making riding exhausting. I spent 10 hours on the bike today.  The views are vast and the mountains stunning but the land itself is overgrazed and overworked. Aside from the local ‘bleeding hearts,’ the Gelada baboons, a  regular sight is groups of men sitting around under the shade of a lone tree on stone benches sipping on home brewed beer. The further north I travel the more remote it gets. Today I actually though I saw a guy with a bone through his nose!

Then came Lalibella, a place where mystery and history collide. The idea to chisel the churches out of the bedrock of the land came to King Lalibella in a dream. Supposedly assisted by the angels 11 rock hewn churches were quickly constructed. Once carved out, an extensive system of floors, windows, roofs and drainage systems were carved.  

“I spent the afternoon looking at the buried churches. It was a great disappointment due to the amount of litter that is lying all over this World Heritage site. They charge 450 Usd to look at all the churches but sadly they cannot afford to have a cleaning team.

The guards that are there to protect the churches also sleep in the churches so there is bedding every where inside. It is a pity the angels that helped build them are not here now to clean them up!”

So far Ethiopia to me has not been a great country and I have decided to miss the rest of the sites and head towards the Sudanese border tomorrow. It’s only 350km but the road is slow going.

The morning of the 25^th, saw Morgan heading to Gondor. “I couldn’t sleep so I took off at 05h00. It was still pitch dark outside. There was no traffic around and just me and the open road through the mountains until the sun came up.  The gods were listening to me and I had a wicked ride. When the altitude hit 3500m, the bike really felt it. Everything changed going west. Limited litter which was a big plus, more greenery, cold but manageable. Even the women look different and all have long straight hair! The only worrying part is that when I got here it took 3 strong men to put the tyre on as it’s an old tyre and hard as rock. Hopefully it warms up and softens with mileage.  Now I am busy trying to find synthetic oil with no luck. I have lubed the chain, washed the bike, checked on my throttle cable, given her a kiss and all good.

I have to say that today, having experienced a mountain pass one could only dream of, with hours of switch backs and great riding; I have softened on my final conclusion of this country. One has to see firsthand how the rural side of the population lives. It’s easy to cast judgment on first impressions, and not appreciating what little or nothing these people have. Tourists fly in, stay in fancy accommodation, get driven around and miss the big picture.

I confess I got all irritated up about all the litter however, do they have services? A sewer system?  Public health? They live in the sticks and most live hand to mouth.

The cities are a mess with people everywhere, hustling for money, jobs, scraps etc. The big tourist-draw cards are all situated within village which have obviously grown and resulted in just a mess of traders and hustlers. This in turn has resulted in more litter, the classic being the world heritage site of Lalibella. With all this revenue the government cannot even keep the site clean which is disappointing.

As per the country side, it is generally bland especially in the South; however the Simian Mountains remind me of Lesotho, majestic mountains for miles and miles, sand roads and not too many villages. The weird thing on driving west to Sudan is that it all changed, much cleaner, and great viewing on the mountainous splendor.
Would I go back? No
Would I recommend it? No

KUSHITES AND KINGS

27 – 30 January 2020

Mention Sudan and ideas of civil war quickly come to mind. Conflicts between the north and south of Sudan continue to rage to this day between different ethnic groups seeking to gain power. It is not listed as a popular tourist destination and indeed is still in its embryonic stage when it comes to tourism, yet it offers a great deal of hidden gems.

As one of the hottest places in the world, it is also one of the largest countries in Africa. The name means, “land of the Blacks” attributed to the dark colour of their skin and in fact the Pharaohs of Sudan where known as the Black Pharaohs.

Leaving Gondor early, Morgan arrived to the border around 10h00, announced by a flurry of whatsapps over exchange rates “Need help, 1 dollar equals 45.30 Sudanese pounds. My maths is shocking so please check, does that mean 35 dollars will equal 1585 pounds?” A pretty impressive calculation for one poor at maths we may add.

Sudan may be a country gripped by ongoing civil war but the one thing they are known for is their friendliness and hospitality.

“Within minutes of completing my visa checks I went to exit the border and had to produce my documents at the last checkpoint. They were all eating so they asked me to park my bike and join them. We huddled around a large plate in a tent and shared a meal as strangers from the same continent but people of different lands. Afterwards, we washed our hands; they greeted me and sent me on my way without even checking the paperwork.”

But a travelling nomad is easy pickings when it comes to be duped into parting with your money and at the first fuel stations he once again came upon a group of men sitting around eating. “The guys insisted I sit down and share their lunch, which I must add was pretty tasty, 8 people eating out of one bowl with your right hand!!!  Then they smiled and proceeded to rip me off, price per litre is 7.87 pounds, I paid 75 per liter.”

Sudan is vast with 853 km of the country composed of the Red Sea. The Nile runs through the country forming from the Blue Nile in Lake Tana in Ethiopia and the White Nile of the African Great Lakes. The two rivers meet just north of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

Khartoum is frenetic with the usual traffic and noise of a city but the people no less friendly. It is not surprising that even here Morgan met a friendly local on a bike who offered to drive him around to look for good bike oil, and insisted on buying in lunch.

Tea and coffee is present everywhere in Sudan. Yes you may argue this to be common in most parts of the world, but here is it ingrained in everyday life.  It is normally served on the street by women who have their own coffee stand. It is strong, sweet and brewed Turkish style.

At Khartoum Morgan met up with a group of overlanders. With his next destination being Egypt – the reports coming in from them were not good. Hassles at the border, endless delays, and fines for innocuous issues. And so Morgan contemplated skipping Egypt altogether and heading across to Saudi, north into Jordon and then onto Israel. From there, the idea was to take the bike by Ferry across to Italy.

Now for anyone reading this who may contemplate this route, let us help make the decision for you, in the way it was pretty much made for Morgan. As a South African you need a visa for Saudi and although they have an E-Visa system, South African passport holders are not part of it. It takes 4 days and requires finger printing.  Option 1 – denied

The next thought was to enter Egypt and instead of tackling the traffic of Cairo, head to Hurguda and take a ferry across to Sharm-el-Shaik. Several emails bounced back and forth to companies that run this ferry line only to learn that while the ferries do run, you can only take cars, not bikes on the ferry. Option 2 – denied.

That left the option of heading to Cario and then around to the Taba Border and into Israel and up to Haifa. However, with the influx of refugees from Syria, the ferry’s from Haifa are not currently running and when they do, the ferries are passenger only and run to Cyprus, then Palermo, then Italy. Option 3 – denied …..

Sometimes the decisions are just made for you so it was north, to Egypt through Meroë. 240km to the north

Meroë is the site of around 200 ancient pyramids built between 2,700 and 2,300 BCE. Smaller than Egyptian neighbours, they have narrower bases and steeper sides. For those aufait with ancient history, this was the Kingdom of Kush and a great introduction to the temples and pyramids that were to come.

PHAROAHS AND FRUSTRATIONS

31 January – 4 February 2020

The Ancient Egyptians buried their dead on the west bank of the Nile as that is where the sun went to lay its head at night. Following the path of the sun across the sky, Morgan decided to go via the West Bank border which was said by most to be the quieter and better option.

Arriving just after 3pm he found several tourist buses ahead and after 1 hour he had barely moved. It took 5 hours to get through the border and customs clearance and with very little fuel in the tank and nowhere to stay for miles; he had very little options on where to stay.

“Okay so I’m nearly cleared to go. I haven’t got enough fuel to go anywhere, so they are telling me I can’t sleep in the grounds I will have to leave.” The border officials asked him to leave the compound, so he landed up camping outside the wall of the border office for the rest of the night.

“I pitched my tent against the wall and did not get much sleep due to all the trucks coming and going. I managed to get fuel from a cafeteria owner inside the border, nice chat, and he even took it from his car. The border officials have an open check book to rip us off; they just kept adding more money!!!! Paid to drive into border post for myself and bike, paid inside for the same, paid again for the same on exiting!!! Paid for carnet, paid for photocopy, paid for temporary license disc, paid for immigration.

Despite the lack of sleep, I was up and on the road early and got to watch the magnificent sun rise from its slumber across the desert. This country s a total change from Sudan, people are great, cops are great, cafeterias and coffee shops are nice and clean etc. There is a lot of farming along the Nile, big water pivots, irrigation canals etc; they certainly use the water to their benefit. Surprisingly I did not see any big scale farming on the Sudan side.”

Compared to Sudan, Egypt is in anything BUT its embryonic stage of tourism. They have a lot to offer and they know it. This is the land of the great pyramids, tombs and temples and a fastinating history that attracts around 9 million people each year. Tourists sites are like honey pots attracting thousands of tourists who buzz around like bees along with the opportunistic salesmen and street vendors try to hustle you for a quick sale.

Morgan snuck into Luxor temple early before the throngs of tourist buses arrived and got to see this magnificent temple in its early morning splendour. Dating to 1400BCE it is often called the “The World’s Largest Outdoor Museum.” Dedicated to the triad gods, Amun Mut and Khonsu and in ancient times, the temple complex was connected to neighbouring temple Karnak, by a long avenue lined by sphinxes. The entrance to the temple is flanked by two massive stone sculptures of Ramesses II, along with one lone twenty-five metre pink granite obelisk. 3600 years after it was erected, it was given to France by Muhammad Ali Pasha, Ruler of Ottoman Egypt in exchange for a French mechanical clock. The Obelisk now stands at the bottom of the Champs Elysées.

From there, Morgan hightailed across to the Valley of the Kings, staring point of Kings, Queens and family starting in their journey to the afterlife. 63 magnificent royal tombs are dug into the dry desert sand and craggy rocks surfaces.

Of course, arriving there means you have to run the tourist gauntlet and learn to keep your calm with the local vendors and incessant persistent hagglers. The entry ticket gives you access to 3 tombs out of 8, and then you can pay extra to see other tombs if you wish. The tombs on Morgan’s list were KV 2 and KV 11 (those of Ramesses III and IV and then also KV 14, that of Twosret, which was later reused by Setnakhte.

Sadly though, spending more time in the Valley as last on the list. It was with great surprise that Morgan discovered his visa was only valid for a total of 7 days, which considering how much time it would take to get the bike packed for shipping meant that he would run out of time. An early morning visit to the Luxor Visa office saw them digging their heels in and refusing an extension which left him in a tricky spot. Head straight to Alexandria and try to get the bike on an early ship or pay an exist visa fine of 100 Egyptian pounds. He took the decision to head to Alexandria.

“Well it was with great relief when I managed to get onto the outer desert road, caught the cops by surprise at the first two road blocks as they were napping and missed me. It was a solid ride on a duel carriage way for over 700 km, I stretched my bikes legs a bit and she took to the bit and strided out. If anyone needs a pat on the back it’s the bike, other than the small piston hiccup, it went faultlessly and even preformed with a damaged piston.

I can honestly say that it was a relief to get into 5 o clock traffic in Alexandria knowing that the African continent traverse is finished. The bravado of doing the second leg alone had its ups and downs, I think in hindsight it would have been better to have a wing-man. Keeping all the day to day frustrations to oneself eventually gets to you and you want to panel someone, luckily I managed to control that however you feel embarrassed by been rude to the street hustlers etc.

Thanks to each one you who have followed Glen and myself through half of Africa and had the dogged persistence to follow me the rest of the way, in a strange way it was comforting to know that you guys were all out there. A big thanks and kisses to Debs who has been a mountain of information and support with the blogging and keeping tabs on me, thanks Debra!

And my Katie who has had the joy of loving my two children!! And ensuring there is money in the bank, thanks hon!! The question you all wondering about, am I continuing through Europe, below is a tab for donations. Please click and follow the link…”

But if Morgan thought his hassles were over it was time to think again as they were once again about to begin.

“Presently the first ship will be in Alexandria on the 09/02. This will take the bike to Soleneo, a port just down from Naples. However it takes up to 7 days to get there as it stops at various ports en-route. I cannot go with the vessel and need to fly! Which poses the problem – I don’t want to hang around in Egypt for 15 days and my visa is expiring. It also costs the same amount of money to send the bike back to South Africa, so I’m thinking the Europe leg we will fight another day.

But, there is currently a vessel in the port and IF can get the bike on it today, we are on for Europe. I am now outside the front door of the freight company.”

When Morgan finally got into the shipping company, his heart sank when he learned that his Carnet was due to expire the next day. For those unfamiliar with the term, a Carnet is an international customs and temporary export-import document which allows you to take non perishable goods across borders and in this case, his bike. That meant a fine and further delays. The problem arose at the Egyptian border who issued the Carnet for a shorter period than the visa validity and as everything is in Arabic, it was not something he could pick up.

“Okay so this is it people, I will be returning to the mother country, the quickest I can get my bike to Italy will be 15 days, so that’s never going to work, so the bike will be crated and sent to Durban in a part container package… I have endured police clearances, passport clearances, custom inspections, hassles, paperwork and fines. I have removed all fuel from the bike, disconnected the battery, taped all wires up, removed rear view mirrors, taken the main fuses out and kissed her goodbye.

So I will see you all soon, Europe we will fight another day.

Blog posts for the journey by Debra Bouwer

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