@eakins:
about to cross the 50,000 mile mark
@Thumper Dan: haha, well, yeah, my mother tongue (native language) is Telegu from Southern India but my family lives in next state where they speak Tamil, so I speak that too, but not as good. I've studied and spoken English from birth, so I consider that my most fluent language but I keep in touch with Telegu by making sure to speak to my mom when I call home on Skype but it's English with dad to convey all the important stuff
Then, I studied French for 6 years through school and didn't pick up much but then when I started this trip and really got immersed into Spanish, I could start having conversations after 2 months, by about Colombia and then after 2 months in Brazil, I could converse in Portuguese
For Egypt and Sudan, I learned a few phrases in Arabic and at one point I could speak a few phrases in Mandarin when I used to travel to China a lot for work, but now I've forgotten it. Next I need to learn Japanese for my girlfriend and most likely Hindi by the time I get back to India. I highly recommend Michel Thomas and his language tapes, the easiest way to learn a new language
@Rotten Ronnie: I do have a stabiliser, the WER one but I think it works better at higher speeds in the sand and for that, I first need confidence of not falling over in the sand in the middle of nowhere with no one around, which this heavy bike doesn't inspire. I think I'd be much better in the sand with a light 250 or something
@Ganjora: sounds fantastic, Dave, but if I get my Zambian visa, then I'm going to head into there, then Namibia, then SA. If not, then direct to SA. I should find out in a few days...