I had imagined a moment where i crested the brow of a hill to see a sign saying "Welcome to Cape Town", with a panoramic view of the city and Table Mountain laid out below me, basking in in the crisp winter sun. But no. The final kilometers of this 6 month trip were reminiscent of the fist few. Layered up in every piece of warm clothing i had with waterproofs over the top of my riding gear. The elation of finally arriving was overridden by by the now familiar confusion of arriving in a strange city and trying to find a place to stay.It was the 11th August. The 29,000km trip (this is an approximation as the speedo/odometer broke in the Congo) had taken 1 day less than 6 months. The next day was a scorcher so i headed down to the Cape of Good Hope for the obligatory photo by the sign and gave the bike its final long run on African soil.
riding the big bird.
During my 6 days in Jeffrys Bay with all the surf "dudes" i caught a surf movie where the stars headed off the coast to go and ride ostriches. I decided that i must do it too. I managed to stay on for about 30 seconds as the bird ran around the enclosure trying to shake me off. Probably a little cruel but funny as hell.
Tomorrow the bike flies back to Heathrow on South African Airways and I follow on BA on Tuesday. My work here is done.
5 comments:
Dude I am totally and utterly inspired. I am trying to talk a friend into just giving it all up so we can get a bike and just ride! Let's GO!
I just wanted to get a map of Africa and I found this blog. That was an hour ago and I cant get enough. Totally awesome!! Discovery channel should give you your own show!!!!
Great story Paul, what would you say were your most useful and least useful pieces of kit on the whole trip?
Hi Paul, came across your blogg when searching for something else. Great reading. I thought.. is that.. and yes it was.
Hope everything is good with you. I am gooing back to the Sahara, and down to Bamako in January, doing The Budapest - Bamako rally. Check out my latest projeckt
www.funduro.no
Its a bit diferent from last time, but I am sure it will be a lot of strugke and fun. Haakon
picked up a link from ADVrider and read it all the way thru.
Well done!
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