My grandfather stands six feet tall, with bright orange hair and muscled arms that come
from swimming 100 laps a day even at age eighty. He has traveled much of the world by
motorcycle – crossing Africa twice, driving along the Silk Road, Russia, and North America.
My grandfather is my inspiration and also the one who made the mistake of giving me, a
few years back, the book “Jupiter’s Travels” by Ted Simon, which tells of his four-year
journey around the world by motorcycle. Since then my greatest dream has been around
the world in four years and two wheels. I am now in the middle of my second great
motorcycle trip, on the way to realizing that dream. Three months ago I flew to Cape Town
and bought a BMW F700GS, which I am driving solo to Ethiopia and back. So far I have
ridden approximately 15,000 kilometers through South Africa, Namibia and am now in
beautiful Botswana. This adventure has been one big life lesson – every failure or setback I
try to see as part of my “education fees”, and a chance to learn.
Botswana is known for having more donkeys than people. And indeed, there are a lot of
donkeys. It also seems as though all of them, including all the sheep, goats, cows and
horses that Botswana has, are constantly standing in the bang middle of the road,
preferably staring at you angrily if you try to come through. It is starting to feel more like
the real Africa – potholes and animals dotting the roads.