Planning

Mike and his KTM

Not sure that you can ever completely plan for every eventuality on a trip like this. The best you can do is have an idea of where you want to go, a rough route and take into account environmental considerations like weather and regional stability. Add to this where to obtain visas and logistical things like fuel range, navigation, water and staying healthy on the road.

Originally this trip was going to be a solo one but an old buddy has decided to join me, which is great. Mike Rose (aka Mark Rhodes) has been riding since he was a young fella and has a natural mechanical instinct not usually found in an accountant. He's put his Triumph 1150 triple in storage, swapped his calculator for a socket set and brought himself a bike, which he won't mind getting dirty. He got a brilliant deal on a KTM 640 Adventure with only 500 miles on the clock and a whole bunch of extras. He was tickled pink.... well in this case orange. Mike has some exams to do in November so will be meeting me en route, probably in Mali if all goes to plan.

Overall the plan is to take our time and stay off the roads too well travelled where we can. The idea is to see as much of Africa as possible, meet lots of folks and just basically enjoy what will be challenging adventure. I've allowed eight to ten months for the whole trip.