We have spent the last week in Covaleda eating Neil’s family out of house and home, riding the deserted forest trails on our enduro bikes and sunbathing on river banks. It’s a hard life isn’t it !! These 400cc enduro bikes are uncomfortable and slow while on the highways, but when you can ditch your luggage for a few days and go exploring in the countryside, they really make sense.  The freedom and fun you can have on them is not to be ignored. I really don’t think we could have had such a free hand if we had brought bigger touring bikes. 

Although the scenery is stunning here and the hospitality first class, there isn’t a great deal to do. The town is almost dead during the weekdays and with no TV or internet etc, cabin fever starts setting in.  I wish I could say I’ve been doing a lot more but apart from gate crashing a wedding on Saturday night and almost empting the free bar, it’s been very slow and relaxing.

We will be leaving the village of Covaleda tomorrow morning and heading for another small village called Lodosa.  Once more, visiting Neil’s extended family who are spread out over Spain.  It’s times like these that I really wish I had kept up with my Spanish as I can’t really communicate or join in with conversation, which is pretty frustrating. I only have myself to blame though.

After Lodosa we will probably head up to Pamplona, the city famous for the “Running of the bulls”. Although there will be no bulls there, it’s a vibrant city with more to do.. 

We have booked ourselves in a Hostel in Barcelona for the 14^th Sept. Our ferry for Italy leaves on the 18^th.  I love staying at hostels. There are so many new people to meet and party with, stories to share and books to swap..

Bring it on………..

Wearing all my riding gear that I bought for Africa left me shivering in the “British summer”. I had to stop four times in the first couple of hours just to warm my hands on my exhaust pipe and jump about to get some blood back into my limbs…  I lost count the amount of times I thought “what the f**k am I doing” !! 

I battled on through the conjested, biker hating traffic that I love England so much for.  I never really warmed up wearing just body armour and my cycling wind stopper jacket…   A few lessons learnt already.  I have brought TOO much stuff, the luggage is too heavy and my wateproof cover for my tankbag flys off at anything over 40mph.. Great !!

I eventually arrived at Neils place six hours later in a bit of a daze. My bike was soooo heavy it handled terribly. With a top speed of a staggering 60mph it had me thinking if i’d picked the right machine for such a long trip. I’m still thinking that now ! Still, too late now and no turning back.

Things cheered up a lot once I unpacked and Neils mum thrust a cup of tea into my hands. 

Neil still hadn’t packed his bike or even ridden it for a few weeks.  To add to our lack of sensibility, his brakes didn’t work… This started me stressing a little although he didnt seem to mind !! Alas, we got it working (a bit) and we settled down into worrying about the next day 

Wednesday morning we awoke at 6am, packed up and were on the road for 7.15am. It was still freezing cold, my hands were numb and we were stuck in typical gridlocked traffic all the way to the ferry. It’s no surprise that the ferry terminal was full of bikers waiting to escape these shores.

12 hours on the ferry passed as slowly as we predicted and we didnt sleep well in our reclining chairs with drunken old bag ladies talking all night… Still, the thought of warm, sunny spain was on our minds !

We arrived at Santander and immediately headed out of the city..  It doesnt take long to hit beautiful, rolling , green countryside and forrest. I had no idea Norther Spain was so beautiful. I’ve been wasting my time in the south all these years. The trip really starts to make sense once you feel the sun on your neck and the stresses of everyday life start dissolving.  Life is simple once again !

Five hours later and we are here in Covaleda. This town is the home of Neils family and the most “Spanish” place I have ever been. There is no tourism, no tacky shops or hotels and no “English breakfasts”. Its such a beautiful town and Neils family are showing us fantastic hospitality. I’m certainly not going to go hungry here.

So, the next few days will be spent getting fat and playing on the forest trails around the town. Fantastic stuff and zero stress.

The bike is packed and all I have to do is go and ride it now….  There’s plenty of crazy thoughts running through my head right now. Will this old battered enduro bike make it ?? Will I bet able to get the visas ? Am I going to get kidnapped, murdered, run over and shot at ?  … Knowing me, probably all of the above !

To be honest, it’s the waiting which is the worst thing. I’ve been ready for a while now. I finished work over a week ago and i’m just bored sitting at home waiting to leave..

The thing i’m LEAST looking forward to is the long ride from my home in Merseyside to Neils place in Surrey. Avoiding Motorways (my bike isnt fast enough), it’s going to take about 6-7 hours.. Not fun in bank holiday traffic ! I guess im going to have to get used to this and back into the mind set.

While on the road, you become a different person. Living a day at a time is the norm. You get used to packing and unpacking your bike, looking for places to sleep and long long days in the saddle.  When you finish a trip and get yourself back into the “Bubble” of a nomral 9-5 comfortable existance. It’s very hard to lever yourself out of it again..

I’m looking forward to being that other person again because it’s a fantastic way to live and very “free” !!!   I miss it !
So, anyway ! I don’t know when the next post is coming.. Soon I hope !!  Off I go……..  

Quiet a lot has happend since my last post.  I finally have my Carnet de passages (Very important customs document for the bike and worth £8000)   There is nothing stopping us now. All the ferries are booked, the bike is running ok and I have bought a spare pair of undies ! 

Packing……. GROOOAN !  If you thought you had problems packing for a week on the Costa Brava then try packing and arrranging everything you will need for youself and a motorcycle for a six month journey through Africa. I have the equivilant packing space of one large suitcase and I have to fit in all my clothes, tools, spare parts, camping equipment, paperwork , first aid kit, mosquito net, food, water etc etc etc !  I am the master of packing light now but it’s so stressful trying to guess what you will on won’t need on an extended trip like this.

So, the plan !!

I’m going to leave Merseyside on the Monday 30th August (Bank holiday traffic BOOOO) and mosey my way down to Neils in London. Avoiding motorways, it’s going to take about 6-7 hours. Grim !!  The ferry leaves Plymouth on the 1st September !

It’s all go now…  Watch this space !

We’ve spent plenty of money this month….

The ferry to Santander is booked, the ferry from Barcelona to Italy is booked and the ferry from Venice to Egypt is also booked. Thats £600 in ferries alone .. Ouch !

More good news is that my bank guarantee has been accepted for my Carnet de passage.  Within a few weeks we should have all the required paperwork and bookings. Wooo

I’ve also had to sell my other bike to help fund this trip. It’s a welcome boost to the travel fund but i was very sad to see her go 

Well, not much to report apart from that really. Just buying more and more spare parts and bits and pieces that we overlooked. When will the spending stop !!

6 weeks to go !!

So, whats new with me and planning !  Not a lot really, or nothing really interesting enough to talk about. Just the usual routine of buying spare parts, fettling with the bike and trying to organise ferries, carnets, visas, inoculations etc… The list (and cost) just goes on and on.

I think the bike is 95% finished and ready to go.  Having such a small bike is a nightmare when it comes to finding space to put things. It’s a real challenge. It’s really looking like the real deal though.. A proper beefed up old rat lol.

With me things aren’t so good.  I hurt my knee over 2 months ago whilst playing football now and it’s still not healed. I’m being sent for an MRI scan as it should be better now.  Doctors and Physios are throwing ideas around of ruptured cartilage and sprained ligaments.  All I know is that it hurts most of the time and I still can’t even jog on it..  I really hope it sorts itself out in the next 10 weeks or I at least know what the problem is.

On a brighter note, I’m off to Cyprus next week for a wedding.. Looks like it’s going to be a scorcher so good practice for the Sahara .  I’ll have to be REALLY careful with my spending over there though. My travel fund is already less than I hoped and i’m running out of time to earn anything to add to it before I leave.. Why do people always get married at the most inappropiate times. Hows selfish ! lol
So… I have a bit of an idea of a time table for the trip.

1st September – take ferry from Portsmouth (UK) to Santander (Spain)

23rd September – Take ferry from Venice (Rome) to Alexandra (Egypt)

Thats it for now……..heheh.   Progress though isn’t it

Me and Neil (my travel partner) took a long weekend ride around Wales with his friend Noel. It was great fun. We got to try out our travel bikes fully loaded and experiment with our luggage set up. As always, lessons were learnt and it really showed the importance of going for a few trial runs with the bikes before we hit the road properly.

As for the riding, the weather was fantastic. We spent four days idley cruising around the Welsh countryside.  Looking for places to wild camp, drinking tea in small villages and explore and in almost a “throwing darts at the map” type style that I really love.. .

We had  also arranged to meet the two New Zelanders for “Tea and Scones”. These are the guys we will be leaving Europe with and had originally decided to share the cost of a Libyan tour with .. They were very friendly and seemed pretty laid back about most things. Like most kiwis I have ever met in fact   I reckon we’re all going to have a lot of fun and mischief !

The ride home wasn’t as smooth going though. My bike kept breaking down on the motorway leading to more doubts in my head about the sensibilty of taking an unreliable, temperamental 400cc Enduro bike on a 16,000 miles overland trip…  We shall see !!  They say it’s the problems that make the adventure !

Well, predictably enough the route has changed again..  A new development in the Mediterranian Ferry system “should” open up a route directly from Venice (Italy) to Alexandra (Egypt). This will allow us to skip the beaurocracy and large costs incurred with trying to cross Libya and Tunisia.

The new plan is to take the ferry from Spain to Sardinia and then to Italy.. Ride south and pick up the boat from Venice into Egypt then head south down the east coast as first planned.  This should save us a couple of weeks and plenty of pound stiring enabling more frolics in the south and what I think of as “REAL AFRICA”.

Nothing is in stone yet so watch this space !!

The last month i’ve really spent a huge amont of cash on spare parts, riding and camping gear ! I thought I had all this stuff from South America until I realised id sold or given it away while on the road.  My bike, riding gear and sleeping bag was sold in Colombia, my tent abandomed in Buenos Aires, and having a different bike means I have had to buy a whole new bag of spare parts for the trip !  Buying 16,000 miles worth of spare parts in one go is very expensive.. TRUST ME !!

But….

I still havn’t sorted out my Carnet (An expensive, time consuming but compulsury document for import and customs of my bike in Africa).

I still havn’t got my passport translated into Arabic

I still havn’t got any travel insurance.

I still havn’t organised any malarials and jabs.

I still havn’t got my bike running reliably

I still need a load of bike spares

Oh, and i’m still walking with a limp and can’t really use my right knee !

So.. Things right on track then !!  Here cometh the madness !

Although, I like to think of myself as experienced in this “lark”, Africa really is a pain to plan..   In comparison, South America was pretty simple. There are no wars, all borders are open and all paperwork is straight forward and done at the border.

Now planning a route to Cape Town is rather like walking over thin ice.  You have to be careful where you tread.  Neil and myself had originally planned to take a route from Spain into Morocco and head accross the north coast to Egypt, but it seems that you can’t cross into Algeria !! Great !!     So, then we planned to take the ferry from Italy into Tunisia and into Libya..

Libya is a royal pain in the ass.  You are required to be “invited” into the country by a tour operator, get all visas up front and then be escorted accross the country by a guide !! Not only is this not really in the true spirit of adventurous travel, it’s blooming expensive. We had an idea to skip Libya by taking the “East entry” into Egypt. Riding through Turkey, down into Syria, Israel and then into Egypt !    That plan was soon scuppered too due to an Israeli passport stamp making you “The devil” in the eyes of many other countries and it prevents you from entering any muslim countries.  That really doesn’t help when we need to pass through Sudan on the way south..

SOOO, it looks like we’re back to going through Libya which just may have turned into a blessing in disguise. We have found two Kiwis (New Zealanders) who are looking to do the same trip at the same time. We may be able to share costs through Libya which would really help our limited budget.

Well, today I am at home nursing an injured knee.  I think I have torn my ACL ligagment playing football yesterday. I had to be carried off the park and I still can’t put any weight on it…   The timing couldn’t be worse as in 6 days, I am off on a trip around Wales with Neil and also to meet up with these Kiwis.   Although me and Neil talk frequently, we havn’t spent a lot of time together so a little “Broback Bromance” in Wales is required to afirm travel bonds, talk through Ideas and generally get a feel for each other (ooo errr).

The plan is still to leave in mid September 2010.  I am skrimping, saving and selling pretty much everything I own.  I need about £8000 for this trip and by the time “escape day” gets around, I think i’ll be lucky to have £6000.  It looks like the credit cards may have to be brought out of retirement for the flight and shipping home.   I learned a harsh lesson in South America !! Money seeps away like water over Iguazo falls if you really don’t keep track of it.  I bought far too many beers and stayed in too many pricey hotels and it really hurt my travel fund.  Thankfully, Neil is as frugal as I am so I hope we can keep spending to a real minimum..

It’s official.  A few months ago I made my mind up to ride from here in the U.K to Capetown, South Africa.

It’s a trip i’ve been thinking about since I got back from South America in May 2008.  I’ve been motivated and managed to clear my debts (mostly) and buy and prepare the bike which will be my faithful steed.

As you all know, Africa is pretty wild and can be very dangerous.  Sure, i’m nervous and a little scared but I think that’s just fear of the unknown.  I was “bricking it” thinking of going around South America. While sketchy at times, my fears were unfounded and i discovered nothing but the friendliest people and the most breathtaking of scenery.

I think peoples opinion of Africa is mostly of war, famine and corruption with the odd Safari park and a bit of sand in the North.   I can say this because it’s an  ignorant opinion I had myself until I started travelling and opening my mind to the world a little.

In fact, its probable the most beautiful, rich , ancient and interesting and diverse continent on the planet.  Full of nature, history, a huge variety of culture and languages.  Huge moutain ranges with wild waterfalls to arid deserts and miles of open plain and grasslands.  I can’t even start to tell you what I’ve learnt about Africa with only a little research !

So it’s on this virtue that I believe the riches has to offer me in terms of culture, wildlife , diversity of landscapes and counties FAR offsets any risk of Kidnap and violence.

June 2007, Ripley Derbyshire – HU meeting !    Thats where I bumped into Neil Gonzalez. He had the same bike as me with a tank I was looking for and that got us chatting.  Plus, I wanted to know where he bought his comedy wig (turned out it was his real hair… ooops )  

We got chatting about travelling and realised that we were both in the same boat.  We have travelled a fair bit ourselves but were looking for a travel buddy to do a longer, crazy and more adventurous trip.  Since we couldnt afford a BBC camera crew, the SAS, a medical team, aspare parts backup trucks and fresh laundered silk undies everyday to look good for the media , we decided that we could hook up and think of a trip together.

While generally talking crap about ourselves, bikes, the world via the internet, we talked over riding through Eastern Europe for a while but mutually decided that it was far too easy and not much of a challenge for our 400c Enduro bikes, so Africa became the plan..

“Do it now, while you’re young enough to bounce and heal”  was pretty much the logic behind it all

So, we have decided on a September 2010 departure date.   The route so far (but liable to change at anytime lol)  is :

Uk – Spain – Sardinia – Italy – Greece – Turkey – Syria – Jordan – Egypt – Sudan – Ethipia – Kenya – Tanzania – Milawi – Zambia – Namibia – South Africa.

Easy huh.. Should take about 4-5 months  !
So hear we go ! The blog is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!