On our travels, we got to meet some interesting travellers and some have even become very good friends.
The first real overlander I’ve met was Chris Bright. I followed his RTW travels closely (1999 to 2002) and got inspired by his journey. You can almost say he is the reason why we do what we do today. He is from England, and travelled with his R80GS down to Cape Town, shipped to New York, travelled up to Alaska, and down to Ushuaia. While he was in Cape Town, I met him at his photo slide show at the Cape Town BMW Motorcycle club and invited him to stay over a night or two in Paarl. During his stay, I must have asked the same annoying questions we get today, like how do you afford it and what made you decide to do this etc. I apologize for this Chris, but it sure made me realise that this dream of seeing the world on a bike should not just stay a dream, it is achievable. View his adventures on www.thebrightstuff.com.
Early in our journey, we met Simon Milward, who was on his Millennium Ride Around the World. We met him in Mutare, Zimbabwe, and again in Blantyre, Malawi, where we spent a good few weeks together. Also, a dedicated Christian who came to the Lord during his journey. He was from England and left the UK on the 1st of January 2000, on his homemade Motorcycle with a Rotax 650 engine. He travelled East through North Africa and Arabia to India, North through Russia, down to Australia, across to North and South America, Cape Town and was on his way back to the UK when we met him. He sadly had a fatal accident in Mali a few months later after we met him.
Robert from Croatia. We met him in Marsabit for the first time and spent some time with him in Nairobi later while our bike was under repairs at the dealer. He travelled on his Africa Twin from Croatia to Cape Town in more than a year. His website is www.motorobi.com.
Oku is from Japan. We met Oku in Nairobi, while waiting for our bike, and again in Addis Ababa, where we spent a day or two together. He is from Japan and travelled with his Suzuki 250 down the west coast of Africa to Cape Town, and up the East coast to England in about two years.
Rene Cormier from Canada. While we were living in Dubai, we hosted Rene at our home for one month while he arranged visas for the road ahead. We met again a few months later in California, he was on his last leg homebound and we were on our way south. He travelled from Alaska down to Ushuaia, from Cape Town up to Dubai, through the ‘Stans’ into Russia, then east through Mongolia to South Korea, and lastly from Los Angelas back to Edmington, Canada, where his home is, all in 5 years. His website is www.renedian.com.
Tetsu from Japan. We met Tetsu in Memphis and spent 3 days together. He travelled on his 650 Africa Twin from Japan West via Russia to Morocco, and down the west coast of Africa to Cape Town, shipped to BA in Argentina, and drove north to Canada in two years.
Andy (England) and Maya (Holland), from Scotland. They are riding a 900 Triumph Scrambler with a sidecar, and are travelling from North Carolina down to South America. We met them on the road in Mexico and spent a few days together at Morelia and the wonderful Butterfly Sanctuary in Macheros, Mexico. Their website is www.adventuresidecar.co.uk.
