Analogue Africa - Top to bottom just before the Internet

[richeyroo]

In 1995, I left the Royal Navy and didn't have a clue what to do next. In the Navy since the age of 18, I'd spent 8 years being told what to do and when to do it, and what clothes to wear whilst doing it.

So at the age of 26, having thoroughly loved travelling the world at The Queen's expense, I decided it was time to set off on my own. And this was the map I used to spark my imagination

[richeyroo]

This was 1995 and although people with an interest in technology may have been aware of the Internet, for me and my then girlfriend, this was still the world of maps, paper diaries, compasses and hearing magical stories about one or two brave individuals who been to Africa by motorbike.

We kept a diary



and we kept awesome financial records





occasionally we dreamed of giving it up, going home and doing the trip by Land Rover so we made plans accordingly

[richeyroo]

I did the trip with my then girlfriend Tracy



and we used a mighty XTZ750. 2 up. With hard plastic Givi cases :woohoo:




Look, don't blame me, we didn't have the Internet back then to ask a billion questions before we set off. I'd seen the Paris-Dakar on the TV, saw a bike in a showroom that looked a bit like the ones on the telly, so bought it

[richeyroo]

This isn't really a Ride Report with a huge number of awesome photos because we didn't have a Digital camera, just a simple film camera. Although I went on to spend some time as a professional sports photographer much later in life, at the time it never occurred to us to snap away every 5 minutes as we do nowadays. We took a few snaps every now and then but didn't get a single frame developed until we got back home

So it might be a bit light on pictures and heavy on words, but I thought I ought to put our little story up on the Internet somewhere as so many other people have made a great effort to upload their stories. And it is a great effort to post so it does make me appreciate the reports other folks have made

[PHILinFRANCE]

(thumbs) no thats my sort of trip , my best GPS is 2ft Sq :laugh: looking forward to the rest (thumbs)

[crofty]

Looking forward to the story as well

[richeyroo]

As a 48 year man, it's hard not to fall into the trap of being a miserable old b@stard who thinks the old days were better, but I'm very glad we had the opportunity to do this trip when we did. I think Chris Scott had published a hand stapled, photocopied version of his motorcycling handbook in 1995 but I don't recall reading a motorbike specific guide on any sort of overland travel. Of course hundreds had done the trip before us and ours was nothing special but there was a huge feeling of the unknown.
There was a nice chap called Richard Dorrell (I think) in Stourport who had had ridden into Algeria on an R80GS a year previously. The bike had a gazillion litre tank on it and when we went to his house for a chat, we were so nervous, and felt like we were in the presence of motorcycling royalty.
Our first stab at planning was to contact the Algerian Embassy and they wanted to know our date of arrival and departure, and which hotels we were planning to be staying at. Errrrrmmmmm, nope no idea..... and so we literally and 100% stopped planning at that point.
We explained the Poste Restante system to various parents and friends, bought a compass that could point south and I remember fixing a 10 litre water container into the inside of the Givi pannier. But our preparations didn't mount up to much more than that.
I remember being terrified as we headed down the M5 thinking that the back wheel would collapse with the weight but we had a ferry ticket from Plymouth to Santander and not much else by way of plans. We had around 4500 quid with us in cash (!!) and Travellers Cheques, a tool kit that weighed about 15kg, a heavy tent and some heavy sleeping bags. We didn't even have a bloody cooker.
We were terrified and naive in equal amounts and it's difficult looking back to try and understand our emotions and not superimpose our feelings of today with all that we now know.
Certainly I think stepping off on a journey in the way we did was phenomenally exciting but perhaps no more or less so than it would be for a similarly idiotic 26 year old nowadays. But people seem to ask so many questions before they set off and have so many plans. Maybe that's better, they see more, they do more and they can meet like minded people and make the most of what time and money they have.
But we really didn't have a clue

[geoham]

I'm enjoying reading about your travels so keep it coming richeyroo (thumbs)

[Tramp]

Good timing on a shit winters night....the old days where the best...we where young and everything was a adventure...

Thanks for posting ...

[rodyorkabr]

Excellent true to life adventure..