Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
- Messages
- 621
- Reaction score
- 2
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
OK - last word.....
When I started the trip documented above four years ago, I had every intention of heading south from Greece to Cairo, and from there to Cape Town...and back to Joburg....maybe :biggrin:
(You don't ride Cairo to Joburg, FFS)
That's why I believed it to be appropriate here....despite the Euro detour.
But four years is a long time....things change.
In the 2 1/2 years that the 950 sat in the warehouse in Greece, I lived in SA, Uganda and Tanzania. Combined with living in Kenya in 1996 and the extensive travelling and working I did in places like Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Sudan, and a dozen other countries, it changed my outlook....and not for the "better", if that's the word.
I've been overexposed, I suppose. Having also spent much time in civilised places, I simply have no more tolerance for the stone-age mentality of the Dark Continent.
I read RR's of rides through Zim, Kenya, and further north...and all around the perimeter of the continent, and marvel at the patience, tolerance and even ENJOYMENT with which people react to what is, in reality, corruption and abuse.
Over and over, everywhere you go...it's the same thing. Boring, predictable,and infuriating.
The first "black" African country I lived in - note LIVED, not TRAVELLED in - was Kenya. I was very excited to be there....thought I was the luckiest bastard alive, to get paid to be there, and highly mobile so I could see anything I wanted....
That faded after a few months. CONSTANTLY having to guard against getting ripped off, pervasive hostility from the locals, the difficulty of getting almost anything done, the filth....the corruption and incompetence, simply became tedious. It wasn't "fun", "interesting", "a different culture", or "freedom" anymore....just a grind.
Even so, I enjoyed Africa. Not until my spells of living in Uganda and Tanzania in 2009 and 2010, did all this crystallise....after being YET AGAIN let down, no....call a spade a spade...RIPPED OFF by someone who called me "..my friend".... into my current opinion of the continent and the people.
And until I had lived among the locals in Dar es Salaam - in an "upscale" neighbourhood nogal....
This ride is over.
The 950 will not be coming "home". Well....in a plane or on a boat maybe. But not on two wheels through Africa.
I am tired of dealing with ignorant, uncivilised and corrupt government officials.
I am tired of constantly being targeted as a two-legged money tree and charity dispenser. In Uganda, it's not "...give me some money..." anymore - never mind the fact that the word "please" doesn't exist in their language - but "...Mzungu, you give me MY money!" (Correct reply being, "FUCK OFF, C*NT"!)
I am tired of the constant underlying mistrust and hostility when dealing with people in Africa.
I am tired of being called "MZUNGU" because I've spent enough time around East Africa to know that it's NOT a term of endearment. Euro tourists and fat yanks (and Saffers with guilty consciences trying to prove how tolerant, brotherly, cool and with it they are) do though :imaposer:
I abhor filth. Africans embrace it.
I am fed up with always having to be on guard when dealing with Africans.They enjoy nothing as much as getting one over on the mzungu. Don't believe that? he he....get out some more.... :biggrin:
I am tired to my soul of reading and hearing about barbaric murders, rapes, and general animalistic behaviour. Mankind is supposed to Evolve, FFS. Not DEvolve....
So no, I will not be riding, or visiting, any part of Africa except SA, Namibia and the northern parts if I can help it in any way.
When I left SA at the end of August to go to work, I had a very disturbing feeling that took me days to identify....and admit.
I was glad to get the fuck out of South Africa. For the first time EVER.
That's not good.....
Work's done for a while, heading to Australia at sparrowfart in the morning. I sincerely hope something will happen that will change my opinion of Africa....well, be honest ...Africans....
I mean, it's my HOME. I'd like to finish the trip some time.
Cheers
When I started the trip documented above four years ago, I had every intention of heading south from Greece to Cairo, and from there to Cape Town...and back to Joburg....maybe :biggrin:
(You don't ride Cairo to Joburg, FFS)
That's why I believed it to be appropriate here....despite the Euro detour.
But four years is a long time....things change.
In the 2 1/2 years that the 950 sat in the warehouse in Greece, I lived in SA, Uganda and Tanzania. Combined with living in Kenya in 1996 and the extensive travelling and working I did in places like Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Sudan, and a dozen other countries, it changed my outlook....and not for the "better", if that's the word.
I've been overexposed, I suppose. Having also spent much time in civilised places, I simply have no more tolerance for the stone-age mentality of the Dark Continent.
I read RR's of rides through Zim, Kenya, and further north...and all around the perimeter of the continent, and marvel at the patience, tolerance and even ENJOYMENT with which people react to what is, in reality, corruption and abuse.
Over and over, everywhere you go...it's the same thing. Boring, predictable,and infuriating.
The first "black" African country I lived in - note LIVED, not TRAVELLED in - was Kenya. I was very excited to be there....thought I was the luckiest bastard alive, to get paid to be there, and highly mobile so I could see anything I wanted....
That faded after a few months. CONSTANTLY having to guard against getting ripped off, pervasive hostility from the locals, the difficulty of getting almost anything done, the filth....the corruption and incompetence, simply became tedious. It wasn't "fun", "interesting", "a different culture", or "freedom" anymore....just a grind.
Even so, I enjoyed Africa. Not until my spells of living in Uganda and Tanzania in 2009 and 2010, did all this crystallise....after being YET AGAIN let down, no....call a spade a spade...RIPPED OFF by someone who called me "..my friend".... into my current opinion of the continent and the people.
And until I had lived among the locals in Dar es Salaam - in an "upscale" neighbourhood nogal....
This ride is over.
The 950 will not be coming "home". Well....in a plane or on a boat maybe. But not on two wheels through Africa.
I am tired of dealing with ignorant, uncivilised and corrupt government officials.
I am tired of constantly being targeted as a two-legged money tree and charity dispenser. In Uganda, it's not "...give me some money..." anymore - never mind the fact that the word "please" doesn't exist in their language - but "...Mzungu, you give me MY money!" (Correct reply being, "FUCK OFF, C*NT"!)
I am tired of the constant underlying mistrust and hostility when dealing with people in Africa.
I am tired of being called "MZUNGU" because I've spent enough time around East Africa to know that it's NOT a term of endearment. Euro tourists and fat yanks (and Saffers with guilty consciences trying to prove how tolerant, brotherly, cool and with it they are) do though :imaposer:
I abhor filth. Africans embrace it.
I am fed up with always having to be on guard when dealing with Africans.They enjoy nothing as much as getting one over on the mzungu. Don't believe that? he he....get out some more.... :biggrin:
I am tired to my soul of reading and hearing about barbaric murders, rapes, and general animalistic behaviour. Mankind is supposed to Evolve, FFS. Not DEvolve....
So no, I will not be riding, or visiting, any part of Africa except SA, Namibia and the northern parts if I can help it in any way.
When I left SA at the end of August to go to work, I had a very disturbing feeling that took me days to identify....and admit.
I was glad to get the fuck out of South Africa. For the first time EVER.
That's not good.....
Work's done for a while, heading to Australia at sparrowfart in the morning. I sincerely hope something will happen that will change my opinion of Africa....well, be honest ...Africans....
I mean, it's my HOME. I'd like to finish the trip some time.
Cheers
