That's it for now

Place: Cape town Airport

Tunes: Imagine what an airport sounds like.

I am writing this at the Cape Town airport. Today was pointless as there was nothing else to do than to pack and wait. Everyone is a bit anxious to get home so that there’s not much going on. The hotel managed to make a mess of all the arrangements for checking out a little later. Peter left first and the Istanbul gang was to follow. Me and Teijo decided to take the same ride, even if our flights were on much later.

I was in for a surprise at the airport. The evening flight of 00:55 to Amsterdam seems to be the only KLM flight of the day. This means that I can only check in my luggage after nine pm. By the time I discovered this, most of the others had already gone across past security. It's an adventure to the end.

In any case, it was a nine hour wait for me. Teijo and Ari kept me company for quite some time but all good things come to an end and off they went.

Nine hours of waiting gives you a ”feel” of the airport and the sights and sounds therein. If hear any more pointless ”African Atmosphere” music ever again, I will be sick. The shops were exactly the same as in any international airport with exactly the same things for sale. Except for more wooden hippos and elephant poo.

This is the end of this blog – for now. Some things remain still not finished. The bike will be shipped to Helsinki and presented on the big motorcycle fair in February. From this fair I will somehow try and get the bike on the ferry to Travemunde in Germany and ride it home from there. The ride from the fair center to the harbour can be a bit tricky if there is a proper winter in Helsinki. Germany should be easier, but you never know.

Then there is also the matter of repairing the motorcycle. It would be cheaper to buy a stick of dynamite, blow this one up and buy a new one than to take this one to the BMW dealer and tell them to fix it. So, I will do everything that I can myself and leave the difficult stuff for them. After this, what happens to the bike? Time will tell. Maybe the Deadhorse to Ushuaia thing.

Some people will ask how was the whole experience? Was it a life-changing turning point in my life? Will I now move to Africa and start an orphanage or donate all of my non-existent future earnings to charity?

To answer these questions I will say this. If you read blogs and books about this kind of thing it kind of sets the bar of expectations pretty high. Everyone underlines the positive and leaves out the negative. If you have made this huge effort, you have to show your friends, family and sponsors just how profound, enjoyable and "huge" the experience was. You just have to! If you cannot do this, you have "done it wrong" somehow. I definitely feel that I "did it wrong" as I did not find enlightenment in Africa.

Maybe the pace was just too fast across the continent.

The rhythm we got into, the long days riding and writing this blog made sure that we did not really have time to do that much on the places we went into. We had no contact with any locals apart from a couple of occasions as we did not know anyone in these places. And if you looked at most of the cities or villages, there was absolutely nothing there that you would want to have anything to do with in any case. 

Add to this the poverty, chronic inefficiency of everything, corruption problems and massive amounts of plain stupidity and there you go. There are plenty of things not to like. Sad but true and this is probably why this blog is a bit one-sided. Some conversations with other travelers and people on the road, lorry/van drivers, some fixers and hotel/restaurant staff were filled with good humour and genuine curiosity. These conversations were very enjoyable, but most of the time there is always a catch. Someone wants something from you. Especially in the Middle East it would seem.

Most people were acting with some kind of logic that I could not comprehend because it made no sense whatsoever. Apparently we should have somehow adjusted to ”African time”. What this precisely is eludes me as it cannot be defined or measured in any way. In Europe shit gets done when it is supposed to. In Africa it might get done if someone feels like doing it, but if not then that’s ok too. Shit might also get done at some unspecified point in the future. Maybe. And when shit gets done, you don't touch that shit anymore. Ever. No maintenance, no anything. There is a certain difference in the standard of living between Europe and Africa. Maybe there is a correlation here?

The single most enjoyable thing was of course the riding. Sometimes it was dull and an air conditioned Land Rover would have been bliss, but most of the time it was excellent. When the road and scenery were just right and you could ride at your own pace without worrying too much, it was the most fun you could have with your pants on. And we had this fun for nine weeks. Who could say no to that.

This trip was an experience that I will not easily forget. It has changed my perception of the world in some way. In ”first world” countries we have things very well sorted out and some of the alleged problems we have in our societies seem even more ridiculous now than they did before and trust me, that takes some convincing. We should really appreciate what the previous generations have built for us here and try to keep what we have.

Would I recommend doing this trip to others? If you are insane and they have not yet taken your licence away, then maybe you would enjoy it. Based on what I have read and experienced, it is a mixed bag. Africa will not leave anyone cold, I can promise that. You will love it and you will hate it and you will have an adventure. You will have stories to tell.

To get more than that, ask someone else that can convince you would be my answer I guess. Read Ted Simon’s and Sam Manicombe’s books and you will get a slightly different perspective on the whole thing. Or if you prefer something better, read the KCCD blog (http://www.kccd.no/blog_no.html).

As for practical things; first of all take less than half the amount of shit I took with you. Knowing what I know now I would still take the 800cc BMW. I would put on all the stuff I put on mine and get a better rear shock, different (much smaller) panniers, a better seat (the corbin seat looks sweet), a cruise control thing and an exhaust that does not sound like a lawnmower. I would take a smaller waterproof duffle bag and a better tank bag. A day bag pack is a good thing to have around and there are some small ones out there that are really compact that you can stuff in the duffle bag. Waterproof kit I did not have after I sent the gore layers from the BMW suit away. A million thanks to Jukka for borrowing his spare rain overalls. I had a poncho but I looked like batman wearing it at 100kph.

Also learn how to ride off-road. Unless you plan to have some common sense and go only after 2013 or thereabouts as then the whole route will be paved (apart from the roads to Lailibela, but you can take a bus for that).

The KTM 900 Adventure whatever is recommended by some people but it is pig-ugly and it requires a lot of maintenance (I have been told by reliable sources). And some skill to ride. If you have that skill and do the maintenance it is no doubt faster and better than the beemer. If you do not plan to go off-road, the big GSA 1200 may be the perfect bike as it is so comfy on big roads and has a big tank. Or you might as well take the RT with the same engine. The Multistrada looks sweet but do you really trust Italian engineering that much.

As a general conclusion, I would say keep your panniers as wide as your handlebar or less. You need maybe 60 litres total in your tank bag plus duffle bag. Do you need a tail bag? Not really. But it is really handy to have around, but in terms of weight distribution it is shit. The tank bag is like your office desk. So, take great care in choosing and organising the one you want. One last thing I want to say is that you should give soft luggage another look. It will not break as easily as hard stuff, it weighs less, is easier to repair and it will not destroy your ankles.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and for bothering to read all this. More nonsense to follow in February.

And last but definitely not the least a big thanks to Ari, Markus, Teijo, Pasi, Jukka, Pekka and Peter Pan Bike for this adventure. Hope to see you in Helsinki!