Updates
Check here often for general updates about the progress of the Africa Heart Beat project.
In the last few weeks I got to meet an enthusiastic group of California entrepreneurs in Zambia that are reinventing the what a bicycle manufacturer can do and how they can do it. In Lusaka, my KTM got new tires, an oil change after almost 8,000 kilometer run. In Malawi, an inspiring woman who set up an organization that helps Lilongwe’s disabled children and teaches their parents how to care for them.
January 2, 2010
I am riding in the barren Karro avoiding road crossing turtles and staring down ostridges. I bike on the Indian see, explore the see caves at Arniston and reach Africa’s southern most point at Cape Argulhas. When I arrive at Cape Town, its just in time for New Years. The 640 Adventure gets a new set of sprockets and chain from great mechanics at the KTM Cape Town.
December 22, 2009
Getting to the kingdom in the sky was half the fun. I ride in the rain up to rocky 2,872 meter high Sani Pass. Then a giant high desert plateau opens up before my eyes. Horse mounted and covered in blankets herders it feels more like Tibet then Africa. After almost three days of hard riding I arrive at the offices of Riders for Health is Lesotho’s capital.
December 16, 2009
After a six hour ride through drizzle and fog I cross into the hilly Kingdom of Swaziland. I am working on the story about Swaziland’s premiere nature and wildlife conservationist – Ted Reilly and the Big Game Parks he oversees. Its all thanks to great help and assistance from Darron Raw of Swazi Tours.
December 14, 2009
After a six hour ride through drizzle and fog I cross into the hilly Kingdom of Swaziland. I am working on the story about Swaziland’s premiere nature and wildlife conservationist – Ted Reilly and the Big Game Parks he oversees. Its all thanks to great help and assistance from Darron Raw of Swazi Tours.
December 10, 2009
For my last evening at the Siyabonga Guest House, Sheila and Justin invite me to a delicious “briee,” a South African BBQ. It was super. Next day, I purchase a GPS and am heading out East towards Swaziland. I make it 25 kilometers and my hydraulic clutch gives out… not in the greatest neighborhood, but with nice people all around. I checked the fluid, etc, tried pumping it… no luck. I called Biking Accessories guys and Brett happened to be minutes away. The clutch gets fixed and I get to hang out in Pretoria for the evening. Thank you Brett.
December 3, 2009 The flight from New York to Abu Dhabi and then Jobi took me ahead seven hours and forward from winter to spring. With much help and coverage from Sean, I am coordinating the AHB’s first articles… most likely to come from Swaziland and Maputo. I am staying at a Johannesburg’s Siyabonga Guest House (http://www.siyabongaguesthouse.co.za ) run by Sheila, a doctor originally from Durban, and her husband Justin, a pharmaceutical distributor. It’s a quaint place in Kensington area of Jobi (Johannesburg) and there are guests from Angola, Mozambique here. I am finding out how easy it is to speak Portuguese knowing Spanish. My rented VW “chico” is a throw back to the 1980s, but its GPS is a XXI century lifesaver. I’m driving in a city of six million people without missing beat. I just type directions into this little thing and voila- the route is outlined. I’ve meet some great people while looking for the right bike for the journey. Without exception they are super. I’ve test rode bikes from two people and an working with a KTM shop in Pretoria. The first Rider Magazine blog from the project’s bike portion is already up and Gatling.com is giving AHB great exposure: http://blog.ridermagazine.com/2009/12/01/birth-of-an-african-adventure Thanks to Alex and Rosanne for helping generously in the project.
21th November, 2009
The first time an idea of crossing Africa came to me when I was 10, right at the time when a large map of the world was hung above my bed in a small Warsaw, Poland apartment. In the evenings I would study the geography of each continent, its road and railroad network marked with thin yellow and red lines. The most prominent continent was Africa, placed in the middle of the map, right above where my head would rest on the pillow. I tried connecting Cape town and Cairo using the yellow and red lines, and it wasn’t easy. In 1970s few people have traveled that route.
The idea for this journey stayed in my mind for years. I would eventually learn to ride motorcycles in India and repeatedly travel to the Horn of Africa, to write articles from the region for publications in Poland and US. In January 2009 my grandmother past away and decided it was time to do the trek I’ve been thinking about for so long… a 25,000 kilometer ride from South Africa to Morocco.
Traveling for travel’s sake was no longer satisfying enough, and I decided I needed to find a purpose as I travel, something that would give meaning to the journey and benefit others. Originally I liked the idea of working with a orphanage organization I became acquainted with and helping them to create a loose network of orphanages across Africa. After meeting the board of directors I become less enthused about putting my name behind an organization I wasn’t convinced about.
For several months I brainstormed the idea and eventually the purpose of the journey evolved into a something I do well: finding interesting people and telling their story as a journalist. Other then just words on paper, I also wanted to create a project website that would become a portal for stories I tell, photos and videos, a place for feedback, and getting involved. As I am writing for several media sources about the “ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” I am writing about the more technical aspect of the journey - for ‘Riders Magazine.’
Choosing a motorcycle was probably the most important and complicated amongst the list of things needed before departure. I owned a Yamaha XT-600 in San Francisco and three 350 Royal Enfields during trips in India. Now, I felt that “my dues were paid,” I was ready to graduate to “Saxon bikes,” either a German BWM or an Austrian KTM. The KTM 640 Adventure, is a lighter, more maneuverable off road bike. The BMW 650GS Dakar was another option and that was a heavier bike that handled itself better on roads then off. I actually never rode any of these bikes, and relied on people that did. I contacted three KTM 640 bike sellers in Johannesburg area of South Africa. So far the communication via phone and email with the is great, and I hope to have my bike ready, registered and inspected around December 1.
