Larry and Sharon McGillewie left Grahamstown on their motorbikes at the beginning of January, on their journey of a lifetime through Africa and Europe.
Larry and Sharon McGillewie left Grahamstown on their motorbikes at the beginning of January, on their journey of a lifetime through Africa and Europe.
After reaching Tanzania this week, Sharon wrote on their blog: “We are not sure of our route, because of the political troubles in Egypt, so we are looking at the possibilities of crossing with a ferry from Sudan into Saudi Arabia, where I believe you can get a three day transit visa to cover 3000km”.
By Wednesday the couple had completed 5 700km, after reaching the Old Farm House, more than 50km into Tanzania, one of their resting spots along route to Europe. “The border was a breeze, with the Tanzania side really polite and official,” Sharon's wrote in her blog.
The two have met up with a number of bikers on their own journeys. At the Old Farm House, about 600km from Dar es Salaam, they met a German couple on motorbikes, as well as a young man from Cape Town, who had spent six months travelling along the west coast of Africa. They also met up with an Italian man, who had left Italy 50 days before and was on his way back home.
On 25 January Larry and Sharon arrived at Senga Bay, meeting up with three Dutch people, also on bikes. Before that, the tour guide for a group from the Czech Republic provided some touring tips. “He was able to give us some useful pointers about Turkey, Croatia and some of those places. We might try to visit them once we reach Europe,” said Larry.
In an earlier blog post, Larry said, “Africa is thriving”. Since they had left the Eastern Cape, the couple had seen “only lush, green, tropical environment. Admittedly, this has been the rainy season, and we have experienced our share of that”. However, Larry said “there are thousands and thousands of children / people,” wherever they go. “It is very worrying to see how many children there are, and realize how overpopulated Africa seems to be”.
Larry said most things in Malawi were provided by various aid organisations, including schools, clinics and official vehicles. "So many signs say EU this, or project that," Larry wrote. "Surely this must be the country in Africa that receives the most foreign aid.”
They heard that 21 000 classrooms had been, or would be built by Britain, although they frequently passed groups of school children being taught "under a nearby tree”.
Larry said the border post into Malawi “was the slowest so far, which was a bit unexpected”. For the first part of their trip, to Malawi, their son Ralph and family friend Johan Dreyer were part of the ride.
Johan and Ralph returned to Grahamstown on 22 January.
