A night of comfort does wonders for the soul.
Actually that is a lie. Comfort is for *******, whipping boys and BMW riders.
Okaaaaay. OK OK OK. Don't get too excited. Until very recently - like two weeks before this trip I WAS a BMW rider. It doesn't matter what bike you ride, as long as you ride. Even if it's a DR.
(Gratuitous picture of DR650)
When we were planning this trip, we got very excited over the map. See, everybody knows about the Doodsakker - it's like the prom queen, all dressed and fancy, everyone wants a piece of her at the school dance. But the rest of the country is the mysterious hot goth girl lurking in the corner. Who has even spoken to her? Maybe she has a wicked sense of humour. Maybe she has twisted and extraordinary ambitions with pieces of your anatomy. Maybe she cooks a mean apple pie.
Even Tracks for Africa knows nothing about the south east of the country. I'd spoken to several de-mining agencies and was armed to the teeth with information on how not to die there. I wanted to lead an expedition through unknown wastelands, swim my bike through a river and possibly see a tiger. But after blithering around for several days in northern Namibia with broken motorcycles and generalised disorganisation, and then making astounding progress at the rate of 150km/day through, admittedly incredibly beautiful scenery, all Livingstonian ambitions were grinding to a halt. Which made mockery of my carrying a pith helmet all this distance in my right pannier bag.
We had to get home to mummy. Or jobs, or whatever. So we took out a pencil and drew a more or less straight line south through a big green area that may be a game reserve, but probably wouldn't be since it was Angola, in the hope of seeing a tiger.
And off we went.
It was boring tar for the first two hours, so I have nothing to show you. But just where we were turning off into the bush there was a shebeen and it was hot, so we settled in for a little drink. Have I mentioned Ngola beer costs R7 in Angola?
We were thirsty. So we sat and drank.
And took in the scenery, which was constituted mainly of small children:
for whom we were a constant source of fascination, and lots of motos.
Motos are a real feature of motorcycle trips through Angola. For one thing, their riders are fantastic. For two, they carry all sorts of amazing ****, and for another they are bizarre little vehicles.
Take this one, for example.
Now why buy Ohlins when you can simply forge ahead with the double spring technique?
Even better are the trikes:
I would seriously like to get me one of those in Cape Town, kit it out with a lot of pink fur and use it as a party truck on a Friday night.
By this time we were six or seven down (well, except for Camel - he's abstemious) and drunk bikers and dumb ideas go together like Liberace and glitter balls. We've probably mentioned that The Midget is a crack shot with a catty.
I'd REALLY like to tell you what happened next, but I think video may be a better resort.
[flash=640,480]https://www.youtube.com/v/cdfKTRgFevk[/flash]