So Far........

Where to begin?

Leaving Pretoria (PTA) was rather more sentimental than I had imagined. During our close to four week stay we had become really good friends with the Backers. They kindly put us up during our time there and treated us like stars. With them we went to two football matches (soccer for you Americanos), witnessed a lion feeding frenzy and spent many a good times at Eastwoods (a local restaurant) sporting the various teams in the Cup.

Our first day of riding took us to a camp ground just outside of PTA. Upon waking in the morning to finally set off on a first day of riding to reach the Botswana border my clutch lever cable snapped. In simpler terms, I had no clutch and couldn't change gears at all. This was our first massive downer. Luke had to go back into town to buy a new one. We fitted in 30 mins or so and were soon enough ridding the road towards Botswana.

So far we have both camped and slept over at various peoples houses. I have been continually astounded at how helpful strangers have been. On our way to Maun in Botswana we broke down just outside Orapa (a small mining village). Luke's front tire ridiculously decided to go flat so I hooked up to the back of my bike and took it to the nearest tyre fixer, some 20 kms away. While I was gone a lady pulled over and gave Luke her number in case we wanted to spend the night.

By the time the tyre was fixed up - in true African style it took the best part of two and a half hours, we phoned her and she met us at the East Gate. One must understand that not any one can gain access to Orapa. It is a small precious stone mining town of a mere 7-8,000 people who all have passes for access. The town has several entrances and to visit you must first survive security clearance, hand over your passport and be photographed as well as sign a binding statement that you won't hold the mining company responsible for anything that happens to you. This was definitely one of my first cool accomplishments of the trip.

As we left Orapa our hosts gave us the details of friends in Francistown we could phone. As we rode in we phoned up and in great Botswanan spirit Bonny said, "it would be a pleasure". In Botswana people have been extremely helpful. The country has an extremely laid back feel to it and most people seem to make the most of life.

Here in Francistown, Bonny pointed us in the direction of a mechanic. Calvin, it turns out is number one champ in Botswana defending his title this year. He really sorted us top notch and fitted off-road tyres on Luke's bike and a new rim. His old rim was completely buckled and made driving a rather unenjoyable experience. He also cleaned out the jets in the carburator and fixed the air to fuel mix ratio and now his bike is running much smoother.

Many people who we talk to ask us why we are doing this trip. For me it boils down to the experience. The experience of meeting people from completely varying different walks of life.

Here are some of the highlights that I've experienced so far:

-Being stopped by cops and talking my way out of being fined for an oil leak.
-Hitching a ride on a mule cart and having a little 12 year old teach me how to ride them (3 of them).
-Staying with strangers who have opened up their homes to us and have provided us with more than we needed.
-Riding on the Pans of Botswana, a vast area of NOTHING. Yes, nothing. Will post photos.
-Off-roading in the dirt tracks of Botswana.
-Getting access to Orapa.
-Running out of petrol and having to unload EVERYTHING off the bike to get to the jerry can.
-Taking two kids for a ride on my bike at the petrol station.
-My bike tipping in the Pans because it's pure clay so we they wouldn't stand up on their own, we had to use flipflops to distribute the weight.

Here are some photos of the trip thus far:

Oh and one thing I forgot was that on the way back from the pans Luke's muffler fell off. That was a hassle, we had to wait for it to cool down before bolting it back on again. Now, it's all sorted and should stay on...

Sorry for anything mistakes in spelling in grammar I've written this in an Internet Cafe and don't have much time to re-read everything!

Thanks for following! Jordan