Honestly, how many languages do you speak; apart from english, which is your second language? I'm still trying to master the english language, and me grammar sucks? You Jay, mast be a born intellect!!
December 5, 2012 Bem-vindo a Moçambique! From Songea, it was a beautiful dirt ride to the border, then I slogged my way through sand on the other side. Me and a heavy bike are no good in sand. I made it to the first village and was invited to stay with the sole customs agent there. The night sky was amazingly brilliant! I could see stars just above the trees and huts. My Portuguese is coming back quickly and I managed to have some decent conversation. Eu gosto de falar esta língua bonita. From there, it was an easy ride on hard-packed mud roads with granite peaks all around and grand vistas. I made it to Lichinga, the big town in the area, withdrew some local money, Meticas, bought a local SIM card, activated internet and headed for the shores of Lake Malawi or Lago Niassa here. It's warm and there's a strong breeze blowing from the lake into my little beach hut Agora, para um pouco de descanso...
@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...
December 6, 2012 Come, let's go fishing on Lago Niassa... A relaxing day at my beach hut, eating lots of mangoes, listening to bossa nova amid the waves coming on shore and enjoying the slow pace of life here Back on the road tomorrow, heading for the coast.
lake turkana... man, what breathtaking region! you and you friends were very inspired in this place, so many GREAT PICS! you did not try take a bath in the lake? (you sayed that are crocodiles in there, but you dont see any ) i dont know if i would resist the temptation! thanks for saving my friday night, loving every bit of the adventure, hope its everything okay!
December 8, 2012 Riding the forests of Northern Mozambique. From the lake, I shot back up over the mountains and am heading east across the remote Niassa province. The road is paved for a couple hundred kms on either end of this stretch but I really enjoyed this bit in the middle, still 'untouched' by the Chinese and their paving machines. The track narrowed down to this single lane road and it was good to brush up against the shrub Rain clouds were moving all around and I sought shelter from a lightning storm in one villager's hut. All the kids were entertained by this stranger as I took their photos Should be an easy ride to the coast tomorrow...
December 9, 2012 Rolled into Pemba, on the Mozambican coast and realized it's the first time that sanDRina's back at sea level since entering Africa last May at Alexandria Staying at a backpacker's place and met the only other guest, Rob, a South African pastry chef from Spain who's riding home to Durban on a Honda Africa Twin. We went out for some local grub yesterday and bought a huge, freshly-caught squid for $8 and this lady by the beach grilled it for a dollar. It went great with some pilipili hot sauce and cold Manica beers with a stiff breeze blowing in from the sea. Rob and I traded biker's tales and he revealed that he's worked for some of the top-rated restaurants, such as El Bulli and El Cellar de Can Roca in Barcelona. So, today we bought some small octopi and using both our camping stoves made an octopi curry with my mom's garam masala served over rice :dg
Nice going J. You have a girlfriend who's happy to wait while you drive the DR up and down the world for a few years?? Well done on that catch
@Quasenada: hey amigo, yeah, Lake Turkana is one of those special places in the world, so far removed from everything else and such a stark beauty. Yeah, there are some crocodiles and Im sure you could swim, if you dare... @Roughshod: sweet, thanks! @Jacl-Kampuchea: well, I just met her during my break in Nairobi, but yeah, she's willing to wait till I finish this trip. She loves riding on the DR @Ganjora: yeah, man, been dreaming about it for so long and now I get to ride it in the rainy season, oh well, c'est la vie...
December 12, 2012 or 12/12/12 The old port at Ilha de Mocambique. I had a rainy ride down from Pemba and covered good ground to reach a nice camping spot on the beach in front of Mozambique Island, the original capital of Portuguese East Africa and an old trading center with influences from the Arabs and Indians. The island is a ghost of its former self but that also means that strolling around its crumbling colonial buildings can be done in peace. On the volunteer side of my trip, I've joined up with the Muskoka Foundation, which connects overland travelers with organizations in need of skills that the travelers can provide through workshops. I was requested to find out more about an organization on Ilha that could possibly partner with Muskoka and I interviewed Jessica at Azlera's Projecto Oceano, who provide diverse after-school activities for talented youths. Sounds like Projecto Oceano will be a good fit for Muskoka's travelers. I finished my visit to Ilha de Mocambique by stopping by the old Hindu Temple that's been there since the 17th century. The lone priest was excited to show me around and we had a good chat I've hooked up Rob again on the Africa Twin and we're heading off down the coast on some dirt roads
December 15, 2012 Back to civilization after three days of hard riding along the rural Mozambican coast between Ilha and Quelimane Good fun to be riding with Rob; he's better in the sand and I'm better on corrugations and the 700 km (435 mi) route was about half sand, half corrugations and half mud. We rode thru coastal wilderness and thru many small villages with lots of poultry crossing the track; ducks are preferred as when they start crossing, they continue and finish the crossing, albeit slowly, unlike chickens who run across and then cut back. We've been camping on the beach every night, buying some fresh seafood and Rob's cooking it up deliciously. Last night we had coconut shrimp and tonight is grilled fish with lime :dg sanDRina's running great but she's in need of some servicing: the clutch is starting to fade, the chain is near its end and there's a small crack on the frame where the swingarm connects...
December 19, 2012 Fishermen at Pebane, waiting to see if the new day brings them calm seas. From Quelimane, Rob and I thought we had an easy day of 500 kms of tarmac to Beira, but nope, the tarmac ended halfway and we had to rush through 200 kms of corrugated sandy roads. It's fun to ride fast over dirt roads but all the bumps take a toll on sanDRina. We reached Beira by dusk and have been relaxing with family friends of Rob's. They put us in touch with a friend who runs a trucking company and his workshop welded up the crack on sanDRina's frame. After removing the seat and tank, I found two more frame cracks, on either side of the airbox. Poor girl is getting tired Got her all welded up, installed new rear brake pads and replaced the chain and sprockets. I've been using JT sprockets for years, so I wrote to them and they agreed to sponsor me Along with enough sprockets they sent me a new x-ring chain that they've been developing, so I mounted that and let's see how it goes. It seems very heavy duty and up to the task. On the paperwork front, I got my Zambian visa approved! It's taken months but finally I get to visit my childhood home in eastern Zambia From there I plan to ride through Namibia and enter South Africa towards the end of January...
Hey Jay! Glad you got the repairs done! Any chance of any pics of the frame cracks pre and post welding? I'm interested to know the vulnerable areas, specially the one near the swing arm. How many Kms. did your previous chain go for? Brand? Surprised your clutch is worn out again. When did you replace it last time? Was that done in Austria or Europe somewhere? How many miles did it last? Stock Suzuki clutch plates .. ? or? We hear of very few clutch failures on the BIG DR thread or on the DR forum. I guess the big load and riding lots of technical Mud/Sand tracks takes its toll on your clutch. I recommend Suzuki replacements as I've heard a few negatives on EBC plates. Good luck, hope your bike makes it! Sandrina should be bought by Suzuki and enshrined in their Historical Museum in Japan! (I'm serious!) No one has done what you've done on any Suzuki (Austin Vince included!) Buena suerte! Whats the plan once you reach S. Africa?
December 12, 2012 Guess where I'm sleeping tonight, Mom? In our old house in Chipata, Zambia! My family and I used to live in Chipata from 1983 to 1991 and this was the last house that we stayed in. I crossed the border this afternoon and it felt different this time. It wasn't the excitement of entering a new country, but the joy of coming back home I rolled into Chipata, a bustling town set amongst beautiful hills and decided to go by our old house and see who was living there now. Turns out that it has become a guest house (motel) and the best part is that I am typing this from my old bedroom! which I have to pay $25 a night for now :/ Things are expensive in Zambia compared to her neighbors, but the price is worth it for a major trip down memory lane Thinking about my family and childhood friends...