Africa with Charley Boorman

(EVE is Ewan McGregor's wife -that went on there LWD trip) - You're thinking of Charley's Wife

GP - How did you get into being able to do this?

Just give Charlie ~$13,000USD and he'll take you on the same trip. Riding with Ewan's wife is extra though...

http://www.motoaventures-touring.com/

In, regardless of who you rode with.

Will there be a dvd for sale?

Ive just spent three months riding around South Africa and im in Springbok about to cross the border into Namibia tomorrow, while i was in cape Town I got told that Charlie was in town and that i should meet him and maybe do the tour with him but being the cheap bastard i am i thought id just leave it and go by myself and spend the 13000 bucks on piss insead, and so far so good, was into the springboks tonight a green liquer and kaluha bloody beautiful mate. Oh well should get to sleep, supposed to be heading to fish river canyon tomorrow. Enjoy the ride Globalpilot the video was excelent looking forward to reading your blog, cheers mate

Nice intro
Looking forward to the ride report andmore video!!

Cheers

Todd

Awesome vid. I'm in. Hit it!

How does one go about trying to convince your better half that you "need" to go to Africa for three weeks to go ride giant dirt bikes for 5,000 km and to drink massive amounts of beer each night with people you have never met. How do you tell your kids that "daddy has to go away for three weeks to go play in the sand on another continent" with their college savings. And last , why the hell does it take 36 hours of travel to get from Phoenix to Cape Town!! Really... 5 stops and 4 layovers??!!

My wife was surprisingly easy to convince. She knew that I was stressed to the max with work, mortgages, kids, the frickin' world economy, etc. She too realized that I needed to take a break and recharge my batteries, or else I was going to shut down. She cared so much about my sanity that she insisted that I go have the time of my life. Who are we kidding... she wanted a trip of her own... a paid trip to South Beach with her girlfriends! DONE...and I was off to start planning my adventure!!!

I initially planned to go ride Morocco with John and Su with Motoaventures on a KTM 450. The trip was 5 days. In and out...no problem. Easy for the wife to digest, and easy for me to get the time off. I had heard great things about this company, and I was itching to go ride some dunes. When I got on their website, I was surprised to see a new tour being offered. It was a 5000 km, 16 day, 3 country ride through South Africa. I was intrigued. I saw that it was being led by none other than Charley Boorman. I was in! What an experience it would be to ride with Charley in Africa. I had seen Long Way Down, and he seemed like a cool guy. I was just hoping that he lived up to that reputation in person.

I really struggled with justifying the cost at first. It was 7000 Euros without the off road training in Wales with Simon Pavey. I have been riding off road for many years, and I didn't feel I needed the course...although it would have been incredible to do some advanced riding skills courses with Pavey himself, 9 time Dakar Rally finisher. At the time of the conversion, it was less than $10,000 USD. I had plenty of miles to use, so airfare was free. I looked into other tours of Africa and realized that the price was fair. My bike, a 1200 GSA, was included for 16 days with full insurance, all accommodations at gorgeous African lodges were included, breakfast and amazing 5 course dinners were included, and two support vehicles were thrown in.

I know that some of you are extreme adventure riders, and the thought of an organized ride makes you cringe in horror. Please spare me your negative feedback. I too have done some amazing solo rides in the states and to Mexico without any support other than what was on my bike, and I was perfectly content this time to have the safety of a support vehicle with a paramedic on board while we rode through remote African countries. We actually had a bad crash which required his services...but I will get to that later!

Thanks for subscribing and I hope to keep you entertained!!

Nice one!!

In! Subscribed!!

Enjoying your RR the vid and looking forward to more...No need to justify anything here; so you have done both solo and guided..On this occasion you chose guided with all it's advantages, and in good company by all accounts....it's you cash, ride and life and your enjoying it..Nice one Subscribed.

Cheers
Potski

Hope whoever hit the deck was ok never a nice thing to happen while on an adventure.

Now that I had approval from the wife, the employer, the bank, the kids, the doctor, and the insurance company, I was ready to start planning and preparing for my trip. My biggest concerns were as follows:

1) Visas- These were a non issue as they are readily available at the borders for the right price...
2) Vaccinations- Having traveled to Africa before for work, I had all the vaccines. Yellow fever, tetanus, polio boosters, Hepatitis A through f'n Z. I decided to have my doc stick me for typhoid fever and a bottle of anti malaria pills. Those damn things will mess you up. They cause terrible stomach aches if taken on an empty stomach, and they give you the most lucid, trippy dreams. I will be glad to be off of these soon!!
3) Riding gear- A non issue since I have everything from riding my F800 GS here in Arizona. I have the Olympia X Moto jacket and pants. Great product and extremely versatile. We rode in temps from near freezing in pouring rain on mountain passes, to 105 degree scorching desert rides in Namibia and Zambia. I was always comfortable! Here is the gear:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GO23VAQlZ90" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

4) Boots- My trusty, broken in Sidi crossfires. Worth every penny.
5) Helmet- Arai
6) Underwear- This was one of my biggest concerns! How the hell was I going to pack enough underwear for 16 days of riding with no wash machines?? The answer...Exofficio Boxer Briefs. These things rock. I brought only three pairs. I would wash them in the evening, and they would be dry in about 2 hours. I returned home and threw out all of my cotton briefs for these bad boys!! Enough about underwear!!
7) Airlines- A combination of Continental and South African Airlines got me and all of my gear there and back without a single issue, despite the fact that it took over 35 hours each way! I had a large duffel that I checked with all of my riding gear, including my helmet. I wrapped it up in my jacket to protect it. I then zip tied the outside of the bag. Let me tell you, I was so relieved to see that bag come out on the conveyor belt in Cape Town!! I traveled with a North Face Basecamp duffel bag for my carry on. These things are dust/water/baby/bomb proof. These bags are the shit!
8) Camera Equipment- I brought my GOPRO for my helmet cam, a Canon IS210 for my front pocket for pics in a hurry, and a Canon 550 DSLR for the nice photos. I decided to head out into the desert behind my house for some practice with all this camera equipment.

Note: I know this is a lame ass video, but I was trying to play with various camera settings and angles. I tried to put it to some "in your face" music to make it seem badass...but I know it isn't! With that great intro, I present training day!!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fj66DdoAsKI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Let the backlash begin! Ha!!

I'd ride with Charley Boorman any day on a motorbike tour. He comes through as an extremy likeable guy with good riding skills.
-- subscribed ---

I'm in, sounds like the trip of a lifetime!!

$10,000 for that much trip is a smokin' hot deal!

I actually like the second video! Keep them coming.

"Training Day" Training Day? And there I was expecting a movie with Denzel, Ethan and (I am loathe to say the name of the actress because it's too close to Eve for comfort), Eva Mendes.

Then you go and spring a video of a guy smoking around on a motorcycle in the beautiful Sonoran Desert on me.

Tag

Got me rethinking guided tours for sure....... Am curious to see how it worked out and your thoughts on it, sounds positive so far.