Invitation to visit Angola

If you've been following my blog you'll know that this expedition I'm embarking on is a solo journey.  However, I'm being taken to Cuito Cuanavale by 4x4 along with some other ex-combatants who were involved on various sides of the apartheid wars.  I will part with my 4x4 friends and start my cycle journey at Cuito Cuanavale but the vehicles will continue on.  They will visit some of the other places where the SADF clashed with SWAPO/PLAN, FAPLA, and the Cuban army.

There are still some places available in the vehicles.  If you or someone you know is interested in joining this expedition please get in touch with me by leaving your contact details and I'll tell you about the group and the vehicle expedition.  The vehicles will leave from Johannesburg and are likely to be away for two weeks.

This is not a commercial trip and members will be expected to share the expenses of fuel and food etc.  The expected departure date is early June.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Going Nowhere Slowly: Frustration, Disappointment and Hope

Someone once said something like “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.  I have to disagree.  Most journeys begin with an idea which progresses into planning and preparation.  It’s how my journey started and continues.  It continues to provide excitement and frustrations in equal measure.  And I’ve yet to leave home.  I don’t go to the gym or ride my bike without focussing on the Angola ride.  My life revolves around it. 

Now another frustration, a postponement, stands in my way like a swollen river.  At the last minute some members of the group who were to drive with us to Cuito Cuanavale, the start of my bike ride, dropped out, leaving just two of us to cover the costs of running the Landy there and back.  This has forced us to postpone the trip until June or July.

There is a ray of hope.  An international news organisation is keen to film part of my journey and will pay towards fuel costs.   Once this is confirmed we can set a date for the physical “first step” of our journey.

So I continue my mind-journey with its obstacles and frustrations, sometimes high with excitement, other times low and tired.  Much like a physical journey, one moment I’m freewheeling down hill, the next I’m working out how to cross a swollen river.  Or wait, maybe there’s another way round…