Beaches, Karma and motherfuckers

Hi, all. I am having a rest at Tofo Beach. This is a long flat peninsula and all over are white beaches and brown people. This is a very good spot for southafricans in holidays.



It´s plenty of surfers, divers and other cool motherfuckers. I have to say I hate those buddies who like reegae, pot and dread locks hair. I am fed up of so much karma and the fucking "take it easy" way of living. If I stay one more day here that stupid smile you can see on my face could last forever!!



Keep riding to Hell!!!

Riding the Real Mozambique

Since I Left Maputo, 500 km of pleasure have happened. This country is so beautiful and fanny too ride, but also deeply complex. The N1 road goes up North and one can find the most pure beaches and really friendly people. Small tourist resorts here and there can make you happy just lying on the sand and having cheap beer and seafood.



But one should never forget this country was in war just twenty years ago and it was completely destroyed. Now, Mozambique is growing up fast, about 10% by year, but the starting point was below zero. People over 40 lived the war and you can see in their faces some kind of sadness they will never loose.



Just few people make war. They are always the same everywhere, just the 10% of warriors who fuck the 90%. Normal people just want to live in peace, get a family and a job and some fun with friends. I can say now we are all the same. From Uzbekistan to San Francisco, we like to be free, love and be loved. I can see here the hope of living in peace.



But I can also see the corruption and the perfect dictatorship of one party. You know, here gas (or petrol) is cheap because the Government promised to keep the price low meanwhile they were competing to the polls. Now, after that decision, the public debt has highly increased but politicians got what they wanted. Frelimo (the party in the power since the independence) runs most of the districts and business go as usual.



But nothing of this ugly reality bother the white tourists who enjoy Tofo Beach snorkeling, dancing and drinking. Sometimes I wonder WTF I am doing just watching the game. I only can try to tell what I see and that is what I am doing now. Sorry for that and enjoy the wiew of Praia de Tofo.

postcards of maputo

I spent one day riding Maputo. There are few postcards of the town.



Amazing city. It were built as it is today for 40 years. During the Civil War no one took care and no new buildings were set up.





Only now the city is growing up. New developments everywhere. The Portuguese made a good job. Hope you enjoy it.

Maputo!!

I got it! I am in Maputo, the most Latin and chaotic city in Southern Africa. It stinks, it is poor and it is beautiful. When I arrived, nude guys were having a bath in the channel. It is not freedom? I got away without paying the toll gate fee for crossing the bay. I am crazy and happy like drunk.



When I easily crossed the border I noticed I am really far from Cape Town and I did it even damaged. Dammed stupid TFM! I am playing with my health but this is a desire victory. If you really want something, you can achieve it. No matter if it is love, distances or happiness. You should know what you really want. Sometimes is time to give up, but I am not a quitter.



Rehab is for quitters. No solo motorcycle trip is never easy but this journey it’s been one of the hardest I did. My wounds are still open and my ankle hurts, but I am enjoying small pleasures like stopping on the road and eat the most fresh and cheapest fruit you can imagine.



What’s next? I do not know. I am plenty of energy and Mozambique looks great. I will look for some nasty roads to loose myself till my boring job calls me and I have to bury myself behind a desk in 2010.

Keep well.

Hard working day

Sometimes, riding a motorcycle is like working. You’d rather prefer doing something else but you have to keep on riding to arrive to the next destination. Then, riding is not too funny. Today it’s been one of these days. A hard working day trying to spend miles to reach Swaziland.



I left Harrysmith really early in the morning, about 7pm. It was cold, wet and windy. Soon, it started to rain. It is supposed we are in summer and my cloths are light. During weekend are too many cars on the road and they barely can see a motorcycle in the fog.



It was also a long distance trip to arrive to the border. More than 400 km on a boring dump roads. But the final part was funnier because I took the mud path. Something more interesting than asphalt.



The border was so easy to cross. No paperwork for the motorbike, just 50 rands for import tax, and very friendly civil servants. Swaziland is amazing, beautiful and green. Greener than Lesotho. But that is also the problem. Too many tourists in weekend. All the places I asked were full, or too expensive or too crappy. Finally I arrived Manzini and there was a music festival, so all the places were totally booked. At last, I found a strange place called Manzini Lodge, and got a room for a crazy price of 350 rands. But, Ok, we can have a good rest before heading Mozambique.

Riding the tough Lesotho

Beautiful Friday. I left Maseru early in the morning and went to Butha Buthe, 100 km going East on a good tar road. 10 km later, I took the B161, a long gravel road which goes parallel to the South African border. It was Ok at the beginning and later turn up harder and harder, but always beautiful.



That is what I like most. Feeling alone in the wilderness and being like drunk. Lesotho people are poor but nice. The only problem I found is what white people we have done. The children asked me for money or sweets. What should they do when we have calmed down our souls treating them like beggars. So, they are asking what is supposed the white men give. I am fed up of being asked for gifts but I know is our fault.






Finally, the road became really hard and terrible. My German Princess worked really well. I love that machine. The tyres she wear are appropriated for that job. The Metzeler Sahara are good enough in asphalt and in gravel. I just fall down once when the path broke in deep trenches. I do not want imagine how that part of the way could be when raining. A mud pool, for sure.







After 4 hours riding, we both ended up at the South African border and got no problem to go back in. We are having night at Harrysmith, an small town in the Free State. Tomorrow, heading Swaziland.

African Women Riders, the best hands ever

African Women. Mama Africa. The real heart, soul and strength of this continent. They work hard, they save money, they care about family and they set up succesful business. They make this world roll. They are great. And now, they also ride motorcycles!



And they ride far, long and over all terrains. Some bikers should learn from them. They get where help is needed and they arrive safe. “They are much better than men” I have been told. “Women use the bikes just for the task they are supposed to be used, they ride with more safety and they do not show off when going into the villages. They just work”. That´s it. Women are better riders.



My goal in Lesotho was visiting the programme of Riders for Health (www.riders.org), an NGO from UK which uses motorbikes as useful tools to help communities in Africa. I have had the privilege of riding with them. They were not expecting me so I could see how is their real work. They are fighting against AIDS and non hygienic habits teaching people about good manners of having sex, cleaning, cooking and eating. They are supporting mothers and children. They make inspections of shops to avoid selling expired goods. They go to the very tiny and hidden villages where no other health worker is expected.





The equation is easy. How much is the cost of one of those big super 4X4 other NGOs like to use? A Toyota Land Cruiser costs about twenty of those small motorcycles and the running cost per Km is about 18 cents of Euro. So think twice when seeing motorcycles just like a toy for bold boys and be smart. A motorcycle on the right hands of an African woman can help much more than one can think.



Anyway. As I was at the hospital with them, I decided using the Lesotho Health System to cure my wounds and remove stiches. The Hospital was Ok and too many people were waiting for assistance. The staff also treated me. But not like one could expect in Western World. You should try once Public African Medicine. You will feel how lucky you are to live in a developed country.





Africa is not for sisis. The nurse put off the dressing over my arm wound and all the thin tissue I had been growing up to cover the lack of skin was also gone. Dammed pain! But I am Ok, if Africans can survive, I will probably do.



The fact is that my stiches were put off and now I feel better having a cold beer after one of the best riding days beyond the Lesotho Horizon. Get for me a stout for Riders for Health, and if you can, help them one day. They make the money ride in the proper way.