Hogsback - Plettenberg Bay (31.062 km)

The Bay

Big Whale

Con gli ultimi chilometri di fuoristrada il pneumatico posteriore di Robin si e' consumato a tal punto che ne era possibile vedere la trama interna. A Port Elizabeth siamo capitati per puro caso davanti ad un concessionario Ducati di cui ignoravamo addirittura l'esistenza. Il proprietario Remi Van Den Berg ha fatto tutto il possibile per aiutarci tant'e' che nel giro di mezz'ora siamo ripartiti con un pneumatico nuovo verso Plettenberg Bay dove ci aspettava una squisita grigliata di pesce cucinata da Tanah e Jane che ci hanno ospitato nella loro bellissima casa sulla spiaggia. Tanah e' un incredibile esperto di mare e di pesci. Il giorno dopo ci ha portato a fare un giro sulla sua barca ed in meno di un paio d'ore e' riuscito a farci vedere centinaia di delfini, foche, balene ed una quantita' infinita di pesci locali di cui ha descritto ogni singola caratteristica come non avrebbero saputo fare neanche su Discovery Channel.
Ci siamo svegliati prima dell'alba e siamo andati tutti insieme alla baia per vedere il sorgere del sole ed aspettare l'arrivo della marea. Io e Robin siamo rimasti estasiati di fronte a questo spettacolo. Tanah si e' girato verso di noi indicando l'orizzonte dove un'esplosione di colori illuminava l'oceano oltre la baia. In quel momento ho capito che cos'e' che lo ha spinto a venire a vivere in questa baia.
Colonna sonora: "(Sittin' on) The Dock of The Bay" Otis Redding

During the last kilometres, Robin’s bike rear tire was completely worn out; we could even see the pattern inside it. In Port Elisabeth we passed in front of an unexpected Ducati concessionaire we hadn’t heard of before. The owner Remi Van Der Berg did all he could to help us, and in half an hour we set out to Plettenberg Bay with a new tire. In Plettenberg we had a gorgeous fish barbecue cooked by Tanah and Jane, who even put us up in their beautiful house on the beach. Tanah knows a lot of things about the sea and the fish. The next day he took us on a boat tour and in a couple of hours we were able to spot hundreds of dolphins, seals and whales. We also saw thousands of local fish, which Tanah described in full details; wow, much better than Discovery Channel! We woke up well before dawn and headed all together to the bay to see the sun rise and waited for the tide to come. Robin and I were completely enraptured in front of this wonderful sight. Tanah turned to us pointing his arm to the skyline, where colours were exploding illuminating the ocean beyond the bay. At that very moment I knew what induced Tanah to settle in these surroundings.

Soundtrack: “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of The Bay” Otis Redding

Coffee Bay - Hogsback (30.5174 km)

The Fellowship of the ring

The Edge

Il mio problema all'orecchio continuava a peggiorare, cosi' abbiamo deciso di fermarci da un dottore ad East London. Il Dr.Paul Bak e' un grande appassionato di motociclette ed ha viaggiato parecchio con la sua moto attraverso tutto il continente africano. Durante la visita e' sembrato decisamente piu' interessato al nostro raid motociclistico che non al mio problema uditivo. Alla fine in due minuti ha liquidato la questione orecchio prescrivendomi una cura a base di cortisone ed ha parlato per piu' di mezz'ora di motociclette, viaggi e strade ideali per motociclisti. Seguendo i suoi consigli abbiamo percorso una bellissima strada sterrata che attraversa le montagne ed arriva fino ad Hogsback. Questa zona e' ricca di foreste, ruscelli, canyon e grandi picchi rocciosi. Sembra di essere in una di quelle regioni fantastiche descritte nel Signore degli anelli e popolate da nani, elfi, stregoni, cavalieri neri e gnomi.
Colonna sonora: "The Gnome" Pink Floyd

The problem with my ear was getting worse, so we decided to stop for a doctor in East London. Dr Paul Bak has a great passion for motorbikes, and he travelled a lot on his bike throughout the African continent. He definitely seemed far more interested in our motorbike raid rather than being concerned with my ear problem. In a couple of minutes the examination was over. He prescribed me a cure based on cortisone and went on talking about motorbikes, travels and ideal roads for bikers for a good half an hour. We followed his advice and cruised along a scenic dirt road through the mountains to Hogsback. This area is dotted with forests, brooks, canyons and high rocky peaks. It reminded me one of the imaginary regions Tolkien writes about in “The Lord of the Ring”, inhabited by dwarves, elves, black knights and gnomes.

Soundtrack: “The Gnome” Pink Floyd

Durban - Coffee Bay (30.041 km)

Coffee Bay

Who is shooting who?

Umzimbuvu River

La wild coast e' una zona prevalentemente montuosa. Non c'e' una strada che segue la costa, ma per spostarsi da una baia all'altra bisogna risalire le montagne nell'entroterra.
Patrick, Robin ed io ci siamo divertiti come dei pazzi a guidare le nostre motociclette su queste montagne. Attraversando questa zona selvaggia ho avuto come la sensazione di ritrovare di nuovo la vera Africa. I bambini ai bordi della strada saltano dalla gioia quando ci vedono passare e ci salutano con dei grandi sorrisi. Proprio mentre stavo pensando a quanto e' bello vedere tutti questi bambini felici, uno di loro ha fatto un rapido movimento con la mano ed un'istante dopo mi e' arrivata una pietra proprio sulla visiera del casco. Che dire, questa e' l'Africa!
Dopo una breve sosta alla foce del fiume Umzimbuvu a Port St. Jones siamo andati a dormire sulla spiaggia di Coffee Bay.
Colonna sonora: "Family Affair" Sly & The Family Stone

The wild coast is a hilly region. There’s no road following the coast; you have to climb the mountains inland to get from one bay to the other.
Patrick, Robin and myself had great fun driving our bikes on these mountains. Riding through these wild lands I felt like I was back in ‘real’ Africa again. The children on the side of the roads jump with happiness when they see us passing by and their big smiles mean ‘hello’. I was just thinking how nice it is to see all these happy children, when one of them swiftly twisted his hand and suddenly a stone hit my helmet visor. Well… this is Africa!
After a short stop at the mouth of Umzimbuvu River in Port St Jones, we spent the night sleeping on the beach at Coffey Bay.
Soundtrack: “Family Affair” Sly & The Family Stone

Durban - Coffee bay

i hit 30.000km that day.

patrice lookin smooth

transkei

these okes were pumpin the skei roads hard

port saint johns

We left pretty early again. we have been riding a lot now. since mozambique we hadn't had a rest day. ouch. i was really looking forward to this day. the route is infamous for its beauty. we hit the coast and immediatley the roads just twisted away beneath us begging to be cranked. and crank 'em we did. we hit a very aggressive police block. one of the most aggressive we've seen in africa. cops armed to the teeth ordering us around and whatnot. pushing on we found that the roads in the transkei were fantastic. thought they were supposed to be terrible. nice surprise which ended up in more cranking. the roads are tight, small, windy and great to ride on. you have to be very careful, every now and again youll come round a corner and find a sheep standing there. the guys were riding hard. i couldnt keep up. and was wary of riding hard so close to the end. they always happen 5km from home they say... when your nice and relaxed and your concentration wavers. the road into port saint johns was fantastic. winding left and right. the bike flipping over into the curves. it was wonderful to ride a bike like that again. the hypermotard would have eaten those curves up nicely. we rode hard all day. the roads are very twisty and small and so it takes time to cover distance. we miscalculated a bit and so we only arrived at coffee bay after nightfall. we were greeted with a nice beer and free potjie. what a great backpackers. slept like the dead that night. the next morning we had another long ride ahead of us. my back was starting to hurt cronically. the upper part. too many kilometres on the bike. the wear and tear on my body from the trip was starting to show.

Johannesburg - Durban (29.444 km)

Alfie Cox The King of Paris Dakar

Per andare a Durban siamo passati lungo il confine orientale del Lesotho attraverso le montagne del Drakensberg. Ancora una volta abbiamo potuto ammirare paesaggi mozzafiato e guidare le motociclette e' stato uno spasso. Credo di essermi danneggiato il timpano dell'orecchio sinistro durante l'ultima immersione in Mozambico. Infatti tutte le volte che c'e' una curva verso sinistra perdo l'equilibrio e mi sembra sempre di cascare per terra. Prima di arrivare a Durban abbiamo incontrato Alfie Cox, la leggenda sudafricana della Parigi Dakar, che ha prestato una delle sue moto a Patrick per arrivare fino a Cape Town.
Colonna Sonora: "Roads" Portishead

We chose to ride along the eastern border of Lesotho in order to get to Durban. We crossed the Drakensberg mountain range and once more we could take in breathtaking views along the way. Riding our bikes was great fun. I’m afraid I damaged my left eardrum while diving a few days back in Mozambico. As a matter of fact, every time I have to curve to the left I can’t keep my balance very well and I feel like I am falling down. Before getting to Durban we met Alfie Cox, the Paris-Dakar South-african legend. He kindly lent Patrick one of his motorbikes to ride as far as Cape Town.
Soundtrack: “Roads” Portishead

Joburg - Durban

my great buddy patrick

ewok and co. our wonderfu hosts in durban.

somehow the view from my toilet at home is just not the same

fooling around

roadside meditation.

saying goodbye to all our new found friends in jo'burg. big up to kim and gabi.

golden gate

We said our goodbyes to the many friends we had made in joburg and made our way towards the drakensburg. our destination was Durban. patrick seddon, my great friend flew in from cape town town to accompany us on our final leg. we were due to pick up his bike later that evening. a ktm 990. spanking new. the ride down was just lovely. golden gate is a must. with the scenery rivalling that of turkey in Goreme. mountains and rock that leave one in awe at their beauty. we then passed this lake. flat as glass, crystal blue and a crisp light breeze. it was a wonderful days ride. one of those where you ride slowly soaking up all the sights around you. i was so very happy to have my best friend on the back. to share sights of that magnitude with a buddy like that is special. we rode all through the day and into the night. we arrived near Durban and picked up patrick's bike from Alfie Cox. one of ktm's sponsored demogods. hes a seasoned paris dakar guru and enduro superhero. so it was a real pleasure meeting him. matt will post a photo of us together shorlty. it was cool meeting a guy like that after a journey like ours.

Maputo – Johannesburg (28.640 km)

Siamo partiti da Maputo molto presto perche’ dovevamo arrivare a Johannesburg in tempo per la cena organizzata dal Ducati Owners Club South Africa. E’ stata una bella serata. Abbiamo conosciuto tantissima gente simpatica che condivide la nostra stessa grande passione per la motocicletta ed abbiamo ricevuto un’infinita’ di complimenti per la nostra impresa. E’ stato divertente anche se eravamo talmente stanchi che facevamo fatica a tenere gli occhi aperti.
Colonna Sonora: “Satisfaction” The Rolling Stones

We left Maputo very early in the morning because we were due in Johannesburg for a dinner party organized by the Ducati Owners Club South Africa. We spent a very nice evening. We met a lot of nice people sharing the same great passion for motorbikes as we do, and we were paid many compliments for our bold enterprise. It was very funny, but we were so tired we could hardly keep our eyes open.

Soundtrack: “Satisfaction” The Rolling Stones

Praia do Tofo – Maputo (27.950 km)

Siamo partiti da Praia do Tofo veramente tardi. Questo posto era talmente bello che abbiamo fatto fatica ad allontanarcene. Quasi tutto il viaggio l’abbiamo fatto di notte al buio, ma fortunatamente la strada e’ stata rifatta da poco ed era quindi in ottime condizioni.
Colonna Sonora: “Night time is the right time” Ray Charles

We lingered at Praia do Tofo, and when we set out it was really late. The place was so beautiful that it was difficult for us to leave it behind. We travelled mostly by night in the darkness, but the road has been renovated recently and it was in excellent conditions.Soundtrack: “Night time is the right time” Ray Charles

Swaziland - Inhambane Tofo

our wonderful friends

our mozambiquen dinner club

road patchwork

pragtig sunset. kuik hoe mooi.

Matteo left a day earleir than me. so i rode to mozambique alone. it was a long ride. and i rode the whole day. doing more than 500km. mozambique is exotic africa. they speak portughese and it adds a completely unique flavour to the place. its not africa as you know. instead it feels more like cuba. the beautiful old colonial buildings. the people are just so nice and friendly. the country is very close to south africa and so the infrastucture and roads are very good. it all became so tropical again. a nice change after the dry brown country side of johanessburg in winter. the ride was pretty uninventful and fast. there was a wonderul sunset over these rice patty fields with all these tributaries illuminated by the setting sun. i arrived at Tofo. a lovely beach town. good surf, great diving and loads of whale sharks. we met some fantastic people there and started a dinner club. the amazing thing about travelling is the people you meet. we ate dinner and haung out with spanish, german, mexican, israeli, italians, south africans... to name a few... i really find it incredible. we swam with a whale shark on our last day. which was a memorable expereince. i swan along side it for nearly an hour. pumping away to keep up with it. the water was full of jelly fish so it was a bit tricky. i managed to get stung on my tongue. dont know how. at one stage the 9meter beauty came up very close to the surface and i was literally 2 metres from her. a beautiful beautiful moment.