Last year in June (1999) the four riders that were meant to go on this trip met in Los Angeles to start organising and delegating tasks so we could be properly prepared. Over the several months that followed, two of the riders had to back out due to personal reasons. Jim and I then decided to have a pow-wow and see if we were going to commit ourselves even if it meant it would be just the two of us.

Once I had decided that I would go regardless, I set things in motion on my side. I landed in Switzerland which is where I went to work so I could save up as much money as possible and got to work. Over the next couple of months, Jim appeared rather undecisive and whenever we talked on the phone it didn't look like he was that keen on coming. That was when I figured that even if he didn't come, I would do it alone.

In hopes of getting as much information as possible, I contacted people who had done such a trip, went to a motorcycle meeting in Belgium where several people had just finished the Cape Town to Cairo stretch, and received a lot of helpful insights.

For about two months, I contacted many motorcycle magazines and television productions in hopes of gaining their interests. Once responses were received stating their interest in publishing an article about the trip, I then started looking for sponsors. This is not such an evident thing to do, as many responses (if you get one at all) are negative. However, as you might have seen under the 'sponsor' section , it was successful nonetheless.

As I was getting comfortable with the idea of going alone, Jim contacted me and asked me what was up. We talked for a long while, and he realized that over that last few months he hadn't really committed himself and we made a date for him to decide if he was in or not...this was to be the final word. On July 5th, three months before the start date of the trip, Jim committed himself and we were to be a team again. I readjusted to the notion of being two (something that flooded my friends and family with relief) and realized the advantages of having a companion on such a trip.

It was now time to hussle and get things done as the time kept creeping by at a faster and faster pace. Jim was in charge of the site (great work, huh) with the help of Eric Ramstad as well as the electronic equipment and I was in charge of the camping arena. We individually prepared our motorcycles, of course.

After organizing the shipment of the bikes, finding plane tickets, buying the stuff we needed that didn't get sponsored things were under way...my bike left Switzerland on the 22nd of September to arrive by boat on the 18th of October in Cape Town (thanks Freight Logistics). Jim had to opt for the (rather expensive) air shipment of his KLR as it would have been too late for him to ship the bike as it was still in the garage.

As for visas, we both decided not to get any. The reason being that neither of us needed one to get into South Africa (you do need a RETURN ticket however, or they will either not let you in or they will make you buy one - regardless of the fact that you don't need one) and there are many embassies at which we can purchase the ones we need all at once without sending our passports away or wasting a day at a time to get them individually prior to entering the country.

Another document that seemed important to purchase was the 'carnet de passage' which a lot of countries require here. However, we opted NOT to get this document due to its price. In the States you supposedly can't get them, and in Switzerland you have to pay a minimum of 3000CHF which is about 1800 USD plus more depending on the value of your bike. I didn't have the cash to be able to block such an amount as I needed it for the trip. We have yet to find out the consequences of not getting the carnet, but if we have serious problems, we might try to get someone in Switzerland to set a couple up for us.

Running around to get things done definitely took up time, but our main worries were which countries to go into, where were the least dangerous countries...and mainly how we were going to cross from Kenya up to Egypt without going into Sudan (a country that has been at war for over 15 years), Ethiopia (just finished a war with Eritrea and has millions of unexploded land mines), or Somalia and Eritrea. Now, if you look at the map, you will realize how big this whole unsafe area is...it is about 1/3rd of the entire length of our route. As of yet, we still haven't really decided what to do, except that we would play it by ear as we head up...if you want to find out I guess you'll just have to read the road journals...ENJOY!!