* Important notice *

New english translation available for the previous posts.
Look back!

Bike Maintenance

Almost in love...


Changing rear tyre

Look at the difference.

Complete check up

Changing air filter

Everything ok!

Krikey, im not as organized or as clean as matteo, as you can see, we have very different ways to work on our bike. im just bloody messy. and i love getting dirty, especially when its bike grease! changed my air filter and had a serious look at my transmission. my chain hasn't had a serious lube up since Istanbul. there is just so much sand everywhere. and lubing it up does more harm than good. its hitting and slapping around a bit. just to dry. i also tightened up my chain a bit. so lubed her up and whaddya know. shes full of dirt of already! oh well... changing my air filter is quite hard right now. as my fairing and lights are held together with cable ties! so undoing them is tricky business. especially as i dont have any more and you cant buy them anywhere. i tell you, one day im going to make a bike outta cable ties and duck tape. without those two elements, no-one can traverse africa. my filter was absolutley filthy. i even had sand in my air box. and a lot of it! so cleaned her out and put in my last air filter. should get to jo'burg on that. this is one of the last bike maintenance days of our trip.... and it makes me get all soppy.

In Lusaka ho fatto un check up completo alla moto ed ho trovato tutto in perfette condizioni. La moto sembra ancora nuova, come appena uscita dalla fabbrica. (Ad eccezione di un paio di graffi sul fianco sinistro). E, considerando tutto quello che ha dovuto passare in questi cinque mesi, e' veramente incredibile. Ho cambiato il filtro dell'aria ed il pneumatico della ruota posteriore. Con queste ultime modifiche ora dovrei essere in grado di arrivare fino a Cape Town.
Colonna sonora: "Special K" Placebo

In Lusaka I checked up my bike completely and I found it in perfect conditions. My Ducati looks like it’s brand new, just out of the factory (apart from a couple of scratches on the left side). Well, going back with my mind to all we’ve been through during these last five months, it’s quite incredible.I changed the air filter and the rear tyre: now the bike should be OK all the way to Cape Town.

Soundtrack: "Special K" Placebo

Luangwa Bridge - Lusaka (18.239 km)

Big Baobab tree

Kids running to receive some gift...

...but I don't have so many gift!

TseTse Control

Lunch break on the way

La zona attorno al fiume Luangwa e' infestata dalla mosca Tzetze e prima di entrare nella provincia di Lusaka abbiamo dovuto superare un posto di blocco dove un ufficiale con un retino effettua il "controllo tzetze". Tutti i veicoli provenienti da est vengo ispezionati ed a quel punto inizia un’esilarante e buffa “caccia alla mosca con retino”. Arrivati a Lusaka siamo stati multati per eccesso di velocita' nonostante stessimo viaggiando a soli 70 km all'ora su di una superstrada a tre corsie. Ma questo e' l'unico modo che hanno i poliziotti per "arrotondare" il loro misero stipendio. A Lusaka ci siamo fermati al Chachacha Backpackers (S 15 24,700' E 28 17,552') Colonna Sonora: "Zobi La Mouche" Les Negresses Vertes

The surroundings of the Luangwa River are infested with tsetse flies, and before entering the Lusaka Province we had to stop at a checkpoint where an officer with a net makes ‘tsetse-fly’ inspections. All vehicles coming from the East are inspected, and it’s very funny: everybody’s hunting flies with a net. In Lusaka we were fined for fast driving, despite our speed was only 70 km/h on a 3- lane freeway, but this is the only way the traffic police can make some extra money to ‘round off’ their low wages. In Lasaka we stopped at Chachacha Backpackers (S 15 24,700' E 28 17,552')

Soundtrack: "Zobi La Mouche" Les Negresses Vertes

Lilongwe - Luangwa Bridge (17.989 km)

Drowing some clouds in the sky

A lot of coal on the road

The coal guard

Lwanga Bridge

Our Camp

Alla frontiera con lo Zambia non abbiamo avuto grossi problemi, anche se gli zambesi sono di una lentezza esasperante. La strada ed il panorama in Zambia sono terribilmente noiosi, tent'e' che ad un certo punto, per rompere la monotonia ci siamo fermati a disegnare alcune nuvole nel cielo. Per fortuna negli ultimi 100 km sono arrivate le colline e tutto e' diventato piu' divertente. Dopo aver superato il modernissimo ponte sul fiume Luangwa ci siamo accampati al Luangwa Bridge Campsite (S 15 00,302' E 30 12,9125')
Colonna sonora: "C'mon everybody" Eddie Cochran

At the Zambia border we didn’t have difficulties of any kind, but the slow-pacing locals are just too much.The road and views are extremely boring in Zambia, so to give it a break we stopped and spent some time drawing the clouds we saw in the sky.Luckily enough, the last 100 km are hilly, and so everything was more fun. After crossing the ultra modern bridge on the Luangwa River we spent the night at Luangwa Bridge Campsite (S 15 00,302' E 30 12,9125')

Soundtrack: "C’mon everybody" Eddie Cochran

Muti Football Book

One of the main reasons for embarking on this trans africa trek was to make a book. a book for the 2010 world cup in south africa. a book that would try and reveal the purity of football. i figured that it would be found in the children of africa. The kids that play in the dust and the mud.

A sight so beautiful and so simple.

Money is as good as dust when you can make a ball from rags tied together with string; when you can draw adidas stripes on your feet to emulate your favourite footballer; when you can make goal posts from branches and when your football pitch is an open plain in africa.

Here are a few photographs that ive been taking during the trip down. i have many more, and there are more to come.

Chitimba - Lilongwe

what a chef! you wouldnt wanna taste my cooking though...
some kids i met on the way. love the colours that africa has.
looking rather rough. biking takes it out of you. sometimes i look about 10 years older after a ride.

well we had a lovely two days at Kande beach. i managed to put my back out whilst lifting my bike up so had to rest on my last day. that evening the wind was howling hard, and at 06:00 as i woke up it started to rain. heavily. and mamma mia did it rain. buckets. so had to pack everything up and get the bike ready to roll. its a miserable sight when your entire world is drenched. i say world cos my bike and my gear is all i have. and so when everything is wet and muddy you feel a little worn down. but you get over it and we just literally waited it out. we got rolling around 11 that morning. another easy cruise. again beautiful scenery. im not going into detail as ill just be repeating myself. but yes, beautiful beautiful beautiful! the grass on the side of the road was awfully high. which made it very dangerous. kids are running all over the place down there and there are loads of goats and cows constantly running onto the road. usually they cut the grass back for safety. its better if you can see them approaching. but like this it was so hard. they could literally appear 3 metres in front of you and you would have seen them coming. so we went quite slowly. about 60km/h. the ride was a little boring for the first 2 hours. we stopped for some fried casava, which is a type of potato, like a sweet potato but not. delicous! the ride got better and i stopped falling asleep. i have a wonderful remedy for falling asleep. i sing to myself. as awfull as it sounds it keeps me awake. and im starting to come up with some pretty horrific songs of late. not in content but in pitch! we arrived in Lilongwe to find a pretty little african town. not the usual chaotic, dirty beyond belief, city. but a nice clean one with green trees, everything seems so orderly here. a nice change. today were off to zambia. and i think we'll be bush camping tonight juts beyond the border. apparently the petrol in zambia costs 2 usd per litre! might be pushing our bike through the place in the end. feels like a bit of the adventure is gone now. everything is so easy down here in southern africa. where are the deserts? i dont wanna see a gas station every 50km, and i dont wanna buy bottled water. all sure signs that were arriving in civilization.

Senga Bay - Lilongwe (17.487 km)

Prima di Lasciare il Malawi ci siamo fermati un giorno nella capitale per lavorare un po' sul computer e per ricaricare le energie per affrontare le terribili strade dello Zambia.
Lilongwe e' una citta' piccola, ma con infrastrutture moderne. E' molto pulita e tranquilla e per certi aspetti ricorda un po' Kigali. La gente e' fantastica, come del resto in tutto il Malawi che forse e' il paese piu' sicuro ed ospitale di tutto l'est l'Africa.
Colonna sonora: "Nel ghetto" Fratelli di Soledad

Before leaving Malawi we spent one day in the capital, in order to work on the computer and for some relax before heading towards the awful roads in Zambia. Lilongwe is a small town, but its infrastructures are modern. It’s a quiet and clean place that reminds Kigali in some way. The people are fantastic, like anywhere in Malawi, which is arguably the safest and friendliest country in eastern Africa.
Soundtrack: "Nel ghetto" Fratelli di Soledad

Chinteche – Senga Bay (17.359 km)

Chia River

Malawi Moto GP

Local Canoes

Lake or Ocean?

In questa zona del Malawi e’ appena terminata la stagione delle piogge e lungo la strada che costeggia il lago fino a Senga Bay si possono vedere moltissime persone del posto intente a falciare e raccogliere l’erba che spesso finisce col ricoprire completamente l’intero manto stradale. Davvero un bello spettacolo da vedere, pero’ questo rende la strada terribilmente scivolosa e guidare la motocicletta in queste condizioni non e’ proprio il massimo.
Dopo circa 200 km abbiamo attraversato un piccolo ponte che passa sopra il fiume Chia (S 13 07,633 E 34 19,517). In questo periodo dell’anno la portata del fiume raggiunge il livello piu’ alto e l’acqua carica di detriti assume un colore rosso scuro che, in contrasto con l’acqua azzurra del lago Malawi, forma un bellissimo gioco di colori.
Arrivati a Senga Bay abbiamo campeggiato al Cool Runnings (S 13 43,860 E 34 37,151), un bel posto sulla spiaggia gestito da una ragazza dello Zimbabwe davvero gentile e simpatica.
Colonna Sonora: “Mr. Jones” Counting Crows

In this part of Malawi the rainy season is just over and along the road coasting the lake to Senga Bay you can see a lot of locals making hay and picking up the grass, most of which covers the pavement. A nice thing to see, but riding a bike on roads like these is rather difficult and unsafe. After about 200 km we crossed a small bridge over the Chia River (S 13 07,633 E 34 19,517). This time of the year the water is highest and full of debris, making it a dark red colour. The mix of the river waters with the blue waters of Lake Malawi creates an interesting range of colours.In Senga Bay we camped at Cool Runnings (S 13 43,860 E 34 37,151), a homely place on the beach run by a nice and friendly girl from Zimbabwe.

Soundtrack: “Mr. Jones” Counting Crows

Mzuzu – Chintheche (17.070 km)

Abbiamo speso l’intera mattinata a Mzuzu cercando invano di fare qualche lavoro sul computer. Qui in Africa tutto cio’ che ha a che fare con la tecnologia si traforma in un impresa praticamente impossibile da realizzare ed ammesso che si riesca a trovare un computer, nella maggiorparte dei casi non e’ in grado di eseguire quello di cui si ha bisogno e quelle poche volte che si riesce a fare qualcosa puntualmente, appena un attimo prima di poter salvare il lavoro, salta la corrente.
Nel pomeriggio siamo partiti per un’altra corsa sulle strade malawiane che sembrano disegnate da un ingegnere della Moto GP. Questa volta, pero’, sono riuscito a controllare la fortissima tentazione di spingere al Massimo i 1100 cc della mia Multistrada, ma ho dovuto fare affidamento a tutta la mia forza di volonta’ (per altro piuttosto scarsa). E’ stato per me come smettere di fumare all’improvviso due pacchetti al giorno di Gauloises caporal senza filtro. Un grande aiuto, pero’ me l’ha dato Herby con la velocita’ di crociera ridotta della sua KTM 950. Per riprendere la metafora e’ stato un po’ il classico amico non fumatore che ti offre continuamente chewingum al mentolo.
In questo modo abbiamo avuto la possibilita’ di osservare il bellissimo panorama offerto dalle colline che fiancheggiano il lago Malawi completamente ricoperte da una distesa infinita di alberi della gomma. Ogni singolo albero viene intagliato e la gomma che se ne ricava viene venduta in tutto il mondo.
Prima di arrivare al Chinteche Inn Campsite (S 11 52,921 E 34 10,120) abbiamo avuto il tempo di fermarci a giocare un po’ a pallone con alcuni ragazzi che vendono lungo la strada palloni di gomma intrecciati a mano.
Colonna Sonora: “Start me up” The Rolling Stones

We spent the whole morning in Mzuzu trying in vain to work on the computer. Here in Africa anything regarding technology becomes an impossible task to accomplish. Even if you find a computer, you can’t work on it, and in case you can, just the minute before you save your work the power goes off.In the afternoon we went for another ride on the Malawi roads; it’s like they have been designed by an engineer from Moto GP! This time I controlled myself from the temptation of full throttling the 1100 cc of my Multistrada, but I made a big effort (actually, I was about to surrender)! For me it was like stopping abruptly from smoking two packs a day of Gauloises caporal with no filter. Herby was very helpful, I must say, thanks to the constant low speed of his KTM 950. He was kind of a non smoker friend who keeps offering you with mint gums!Well, slow driving gave us the chance to admire the wonderful views of the hills surrounding Lake Malawi, sprawling with gum trees. Every single tree is carved and the gum is sold all over the world.Before getting to the Chinteche Inn Campsite (S 11 52,921 E 34 10,120) we had the time to stop and play soccer for a while with some boys who sell hand-woven rubber balls along the road.
Soundtrack: “Start me up” The Rolling Stones