After I came back from my trip I wrote the following note to friends...
Yep I've returned. Had a fantastic time. I don't want to bore you with *all*
the details but here are just a few ( heh! yeah right) thoughts on my little
adventure to Zimbabwe.
Yahoo! was it a blast. I want to go back. Maybe in 2000.
I'd never visited a third world country or been to Africa before this trip.
The tour was me and 3 other people. They were all older... retired age. One
was a guy from Denver named Tom, he and I rode together most of the trip. Then
there was a married couple from PA, Paul (73) and Shirley (55-65). They rode
2-up. Our tour guide was Dan. Since the group was so small, Dan drove a truck
with all our gear and pulled a trailer with a spare bike. I was the newest
rider of the bunch... can't compete with guys who've been riding longer than
I've been alive.
I rode a BMW F650, Paul& Shirley were on the 850 and Tom was on the 1100R. The
riding was great. Paul and Shirley rode behind Dan and his truck the whole time
(they were concerned about getting lost). Tom and I went and rode ahead quite a
bit. The first time Tom and I took off Tom led and was pleasantly surprised
that I kept up with him. The next time I took the lead and as soon as there was
a good section of road the question popped into my mind... "how fast can this
bike really go?". It tops out at 160k or about 100 mph. Next time I'll have to
ride one of the bigger bikes. The speed limit on the roads was 120k (75mph). We
rode the whole time on paved roads unless it was a driveway or something. It's
hard to call some of the roads in Zambia paved because they are so full of
potholes. Take the worst pothole filled road you've been on and double it and
you have an idea of what long stretches of Zambia were like.
My favorite day riding was the day Tom and I did a section of twisties called
Skyline Junction twice. The guys knew I liked to ride fast and gave me some
hints on how to take the corners faster. It helped a lot and I managed to
scrape a peg once or twice. For those of you experienced riders this might not
be a big deal to you but it was a major deal to me!
We had 2 long riding days where we did over 600k (372miles). Unfortunately it
was during these long days that my traveling companions got the ickies and
didn't feel real well. I never got sick the whole time. We joked that it was
because I had peri-peri (hot) sauce on my eggs each morning.
My first sight of Victoria Falls was from a helicopter which was a lot of fun.
However actually going and visiting the Falls was an awe-inspiring event. I
think it'd be hard to look at the Falls and not know that there is a God. After
seeing the Falls I learned that as incredible as it was, it's even more
incredible during the high water season. For those of you wondering just how
crazy I was during my trip... I played it safe, no bungi jumping over the Falls
for me.
I bet you're wondering if I saw animals...
Yep! Monkeys and baboons are as common there as squirrels. Goats and cows were
rarely behind fences and thus frequently in the road or close to it. Warthogs
have such an ugly face they're cute. They run with their tails straight up in
the air. I had to swerve to avoid one on my bike as he tried to cross the road
in front of me. At least once a day we had to slow down and go cautiously around
some animal.
There were all manner of antelope to be seen. Impala being the most common, then
waterbuck, kudu, bushbuck, wildbeast and eland. I saw rhino, cape buffalo,
hippo (did you know they kill more people in Africa than other animals?), zebra,
crocodiles, giraffes, elephants and others. I didn't see any lions (just poor
luck on my part) but I did watch a leopard slink across the road in search of
breakfast. Most of these animals I saw from a safari vehicle. However I did
get close to an elephant in the wild while on my bike. As we came around a
corner, there he was right in the middle of the road! Luckily we came upon him
from behind and he wasn't too upset with us. As I rode past him, boy did those
tusks look long and did he look really big!
Speaking of animals... I ate ostrich, crocodile, kudu and sable.
Ok, so that's the highlights. I have lots of thoughts and experiences as they
relate to poverty, economics, race and slavery. All and all this was a big
trip. I got the adventure stuff of seeing really cool things and animals. My
riding ability improved. I met and talked to people way different from me. I
learned some African history and I think I grew as a person some. No regrets
and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
The number of vistors before you?
