Time for another adventure – Saturday July 7th.

Here we go again!!! Africa beckons once more and, two years on, it’s time to hit those dusty roads.

To those of you who journeyed with me last time, welcome back. Sharing my last trip with you was, for me, such an important part of my ‘safari’ and I am delighted to have you back on board. Here’s hoping for an equally enjoyable, memorable and safe experience.

If you have just climbed on board as a new pillion then you too are equally welcome. I hope that you will feel part of this adventure and that it will be something that you will look forward to sharing.

I must express enormous gratitude from the outset to Ruth, Kerrie, Eoin and now Kaylee (who, at just over two months old is the most beautiful grandchild one could ever wish for) for their constant support, caring advice and encouragement. Sadly Kerrie will not be able to join me on this trip because of the demands of motherhood but perhaps, in time, Kaylee will don a helmet and ride pillion on some future road trip with me….

This time the journey will begin on the shores of the Indian Ocean at Mombasa in Kenya. I will then ride west across southern Kenya, stopping in Nairobi before crossing the border into Uganda, and will stay in Kampala on the northern tip of Lake Victoria. Next country will be Rwanda and then south down through western Tanzania until reaching Malawi. After taking a break beside Lake Malawi I will make my way to Blantyre in the south of the country and then turn westward into northern Mozambique. Thereafter the planned route crosses into Zimbabwe, stopping off in Harare and Bulawayo on the way into Botswana. I intend crossing through the centre of the country this time and may even do a safari into Chobe from Maun. Then onwards into Namibia to explore as much of The Skeleton Coast as is possible on two wheels and where perhaps I might be lucky enough to encounter the San people of the Namib Desert. I will continue on by traversing South Africa into the landlocked kingdom of Lesotho and hope to ride across the Drakensberg Mountains down the Sani Pass back into South Africa. I will likely finish the journey back on the shore of the Indian Ocean, but this time at Durban, from where James Cargo will ship my motorbike back to Ireland and I will fly back home.

It’s a bit of a zigzag route and this is an approximate outline of the journey ahead but it will of course be subject to alteration depending on weather or political situations. It would be great if you could take time to read the blog posts but please bear in mind that previous experience would suggest that reports may be sporadic because WiFi is not always readily available.

So that’s what will be happening over the next couple of months and it would be nice to have you along for the ride.