The Africa trip 07 NSF56k

_Will_ · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Jan 2006 Karma :

Well, iiiii'm baaaack and heres how it went Thumbs Up

Nice shiny bike to begin with
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Setting off
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Day 1: Swindon to Plymouth > Ferry
Errm, not mooch to say other than run o mill ride with rain, although it did put good test to the birds fairing, which kept me all dry Smile

Get on ferry and shove stuff in cabin then work out where roughly we want to be on the first day over a few pints.
The bloke who joined us for this trip tried warning us he was a bit of a snorer and belittled the notion he would have nothing on my dad and the other regular noel, he would find his antics tame in comparison catching just 2 hours of sleep despite the bevvys Laughing

Day 2: <Ferry, Santander to (somewhere near Vallalolid)
After the 20hr ferry all the bikes are sitting on the ferry starting up, 30 odd bikes revving like its le mans ready to hit spain, the suns out and here is where the ride really begins.
Takes a lil while to get out of immigration as usual then two blokes on goldwings we were talking to take us a little on the way just to get us out of santander and on route for a nice road
After a little traveling through some gorgeous sceninc roads we look for a campsite just before the 7 o clock cutoff ( Laughing

) then we set up camp (me and newbie tourer ken at other end of campsite to get a goodnights sleep!) and look for somewhere to eat, we go round the corner to a resturant we saw to find its closed (at 9pm!) so ended up in the petrol station next door eating baguettes cooked in the microwave cooked by the attendant(/chef) downing bottles of san miguel Laughing

where to go, they direct us to a place called Castelo De Vide.
This is a nice little castle town in north portugal, we find a lovely little hotel to stay in then the owner directs us somewhere for eats, now since its about half 10 at this point his brothers resturant is a blessing, the other three lads have a local dish (turned out to be goat) with goats cheese which was apparently to die for, i had duck in raspberry sauce which was amazing, bottle of wine and a few beers sees us for a walk around the quint little place then bed.

The motley crüe
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Catelo de Vide, beautiful town
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Day 4: South Portugal...somewhere.
We hit the road after breaky and keep going for a few hundred miles until our stomachs groan for lunch so we pull of for fuel and find a random little bar/cafe which had a resturant in the back, this turned out to be another local food type place, very un touristy, not an englishman (other than us of course) in sight.
We have the special, its a pork dish with onions, the meat was reheealy tender and just fell off the bone, de-lish i think is the word.
Then we head more south, finding another hotel late at night, we go for a walk along the marina, saw some weird bloke walking up and down sshhing imaginary people behind him then making odd squealing noises, as it happens we went past the closing time for all cooked food outlets so it was a snack dinner.

Day 5: Gibraltar.
Next it was down and out of portugal and headed for the border, finding lunch in another small random local resturant where we had egg and nettle soup followed by a selection of fish (heads still attatchd Neutral

(so i detatched before i munched), then we went up and down through some mountains which was very cool, although the drivers were a tad mad i got the chance to get some decent fast twisties down which i thougroughly enjoyed, the traffic become majorly heavy and the 4 became 2 and 2, me and another headed for gib which was the agreed destination.
I had been before so knew what was coming at the gate, but the other bloke had a bit of a surprised when we stopped at the barriers for the plane to cross Laughing

This has to be one of the craziest places on earth for moped riders, 5 seconds saw about 15 dinging scooters in whatever gap they could muster and its not just young people, every man/woman and their dog was on one, 60 year old women with pillions, girly girl teens, businessmen suited and booted, you name it!
So my compadre on his virago xv 750 opened up with his straight thru pipes and got some odd looks Laughing

We all meet up on the other side in a petrol station and head for the marina for a drink, after asking a barmaid a good place to kip she books us a couple of rooms in the cannon hotel, bags dropped n set out for food n drink, yet again we make mistake of drinks first in the napoleon ( the caffereys was going down rather well) so all finished night with a takeaway.

Day 6: Gibraltar continued to Algeciras.
Started the day with a nice full english and coffee, then a nice woman sat down for a chat, turned out she was on travels on her own which she does by public transport and such means, we traded stories of trips and soaked up the unique gib morning atmosphere.
We decided to spend a day in Gib, a few of us did some shopping and i bought myself a little pressie ( a shiny Nikon D40) we then headed up the rock in a minibus for the ape and cave tour, the monkeys were ace and the caves were cool too, a nice little trip all in all.

From there we had lunch in the square and mooched over the next move, eventually we decided to at least get to the port for a look then decide when set sail.

We got to Algeciras and went to the ferry ticket office, we discovered only half of us had our bike docs (also a legal requirement for spain Rolling Eyes

) so we got foot passenger tickets then booked into a hotel, after we went for a little walk through the backstreets and found an irish bar for a guinness, a little further saw us into an authentic tapas bar - a nice experience, my dad then had the idea of going into a dodgy bar to soak up culture, there were some odd characters there allright!
Monkeees
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Day 7: Tanger.
We left the bikes locked up in Algeciras port and got on the fast ferry to tanger, we got a guide and went through the kasbah it was all really interesting but didnt seem a lot like real Africa, its become quite commercial, however, we did have lunch amazinly cheaply in a french resturant - Dinah has a wonderfull exchange rate.

We did a lil bartering then headed back to the ferry, saw some morrocans get broomed from underneath a bus and seats ripped from cars.

After returning to spain we headed along the coast to look for a place to rest our heads, it was going to be another late night so went through the touristy bits for accomodation, through marbella and ending up somewhere between there and estapona, got a hotel and underground parking and headed off for forreging.
The others had a BK but i just didn't fancy it so i skipped for the meantime, we went exploring and found a lil german bar where we stopped for some fantastic beers, i grabbed a kebab (possibly the best kebab ever) then the ol' boys headed in at which point i hadn't had enough, so i ended up in a proper spanish salsa bar till 6am getting taught a lil bit o salsa and drinking the night away trying to communicate with an all spanish group of people Laughing

Tanger
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Day 8: Torre de mar.
More riding along the coast saw us to a somewhere very sunny for a drink, this was the point where i thought bugger it and was so hot it ended up jeans an t-shirt as i was melting beyond belief in the jacket n leather trousers.

After a little refresh and a lil sun we set off to try and catch it early to camp.

We got on the dual carrigeway and rode off with a set destination just in case, which turned out a good idea as dad got split due to an overtaking car at a turn off, after waiting and discovering we had his phone he turned up - he'd since got there did a reccy, found a campsite and places to eat, sorted Smile

We set up in a rather nice camp site, did a washing load as clean clothes were becoming few and far between.

Next in line was a taxi to the main town part, we walked along the coast, had a beer or two in a nice little bar and had another late dinner, after we got a taxi back, following a clearly off-his-trolley-drunk driver.

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Some imagination used here
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Day 9: Err, somewhere
From the campsite i took the lead as i'd been on holiday in these parts and knew the road to Nerja which runs right beside the sea with only barriers between cliffsides to make a nice scenic little jaunt before having some lunch in Nerja in the shade where we would decide our next move.

From here we wanted to at least make Jaén which we did and a bit more before we found a little town where we booked into a hotel for the night and taxi'd into the backstreets to find a nice little pizza bar, where we had a selection of pizzas and drinks - the beers were served in ceramic mugs that they kept in the freezer, a nice little touch which made the beer froth ice over.

Nerja, really pretty place
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Whilst a few went to look for diggs
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Day 10: The Madrid split.

From here i had arranged to meet a friend in Madrid so the others headed north from the outskirts while i made my way to the center, now this has to be one of the craziest places to drive in the world, the rules dissapear and its a case of do what you want and try and predict what others are going to do, which is very difficult - even the police are just as mad, if not worse!
No one stops for pedestrians, so don't expect them to and as a pedestrian its a similar daunting experience.

I parked my bike on one of the main streets of spain, the Grand Via and headed towards the hostel my freind had found for me for a wash and stuff then out for a meal and drinkies.

Day 11: You're having a Giraffe.
The next morning i find that pressing the button on my keyfob isn't disarming the alarm..........bugger, i try turning the key to check and set off the bloody alarm, i wait. nothing. Sod.....
Is it the batteries...lights are still flashing on it...could it be the bike? Well the alarm is still working..hmmm.

The RAC number comes out and soon theres a bloke to take my bike to a honda garage, trying to push my bird through streets and uphill took some effort then the breakdown guy stopped mainstreet traffic in one of the 5 lanes of a one way street to load my bike and off it goes.

So then i go to a net cafe as have nothing else to do and call rac people to find out next move, they get on to hireing a car while i surf, i lookup my alarm system and read up on something about radio waves jamming the signal which goes straight by me for the time being.
The breakdown cover lot get me a taxi to the car hire station only for me to find i can't have one as i'm not the minimum age of 21, so another taxi is ordered to go sign for the bike at the garage while they think of another way of getting me home.

I get a nice expensive black merc taxi to the garage to find the bike, they ask what the problem is and i try and tell the one semi english speaking woman there, but then its working Confused

we all come to the conclusion of waves jamming the system and i get the bike back, now im at the bottom of madrid and need to get north, im sat talking to them working out how to get back with a map when a nice bloke on a hornet 6 with the frutiest sounding can i've ever heard on a nekid sports offers to get me on the main road up.

So i follow the spanish nutter, worringly at this point 2 days of riding there had me aclimatised to the riding so i felt at a certain amount of ease, the only way of describing it is understanding organised chaos.

I get on route towards burgos to start catching the others up and pull over to a hotel about 50kms from Madrid to get my head down as the next day the boat sails so i needed to get sorted.
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Day 12: Awesome.

I set off nice and early to get some miles done, i make it to a petrol station just outside of burgos in 45mins Shocked

(thats about 150k's)

From there it comes off the motorway and changes to single lane roads, the 623 to santander begins.

This is to date my favourite stretch of road i have ever experienced, imagine if you will 150 kilometers of road race track consisting of hairpin bends and Z bends with extremely little traffic and scenery to boot!

One of the best riding days ever it has to be said and i would highly reccomend the 623 from Santander to Burgos to anyone thinking of riding in spain.

I meet up with the others and board the ferry for the return trip.
After catching up it seems my bike woes had picked the long straw as i discover that they had traveled down the day before getting completely soaked and cold, they went along the motorway route and missed the nice road i went along, which i had blistering sunshine for! Mr. Green

All in all, Fecking good my friends Thumbs Up

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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

binge · Emo Kiddy Joined: 03 Jul 2004 Karma :

Sounds Fun!

But

Pics or it didn't happen. Wink

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_Will_ · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Jan 2006 Karma :

Pics up.

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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

McGee · O RLY? Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Karma :

Looks like you had a great time Mr. Green

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Its pronounced Jixxer!

Whosthedaddy · Super Spammer Joined: 11 Dec 2005 Karma :

Very nice and you must have nads the size of melons to go travelling that far in my book, but dude, red rim tape?

'Bird looks stunning Thumbs Up

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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

Nb · World Chat Champion Joined: 17 May 2005 Karma :

Looks like you had a great trip! Thumbs Up

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Cbr1100xx blackbird gone, mk4 golf gt tdi chav now
Colin1 wrote 'Im grateful for what i can get, which isnt all that much.'
Columbus travel insurance are crap!! Do not use!

_Will_ · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Jan 2006 Karma :

Shay HTFC · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Mar 2007 Karma :

Wow that looks awesome! Shame you couldn't do a bit more of Africa, but ah well.
Its my dream to get touring round Europe on a bike, so all these posts just make me drool more and more Smile

Nice one!

sagalout · Nearly there... Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Karma :

Good write up Smile

We went on holiday last year to Mesqeutilla, which is a small fishing town between Torre Del Mar and Nerja. Its a lovely unspoilt part of the Costa Del Sol, which attracts Spanish holiday makers rather than the stereotypical english ones who tend to go to Torremolinos/Benelmadina. We spent a few days in Nerja - If you ever go back there you should visit the caves - they are the biggest in Europe and pretty awe inspiring. We also did a day trip to Gibralter from there, taking the coast roads on the way and the superbly maintained toll roads on the way back.

_Will_ · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Jan 2006 Karma :

Heres some small snippets of that last road from google earth.
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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

McGee · O RLY? Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Karma :

Like I said man looks like fun Karma

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Its pronounced Jixxer!

kawashima · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 May 2005 Karma :

Nice trip you've made Thumbs Up

Charlie · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 May 2007 Karma :

Nice trip shame you didn't spend more time in Morocco! I have just got back from a holiday there.. me, mum and brother flew and met my Dad who'd rode his motorbike there on his own.

He went down to the Sahara on it, got it stuck in sand, got caught in a mini sand twister. And also rode through the Atlas mountains which had super twisty corners for a bout 30 miles!

Looks like you had a great time though, I want to do something like that eventually. Btw how old are you? You seem quite young Smile

Edit:

I have that lads of tour t-shirt (from going on a pedal bike tour)

_Will_ · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Jan 2006 Karma :

19
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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

Charlie · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 May 2007 Karma :

Yiks! a 1000 at 19! Impressive lol.

McGee · O RLY? Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Karma :

Charlie · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 May 2007 Karma :

haha just like my moped did 200mph?

McGee · O RLY? Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Karma :

Hey believe what you want.

Not every one is scared of a little power Wink

Was planning on a k5 gsxr 1000 at 18 then 19 lol now I'm 20 and I still have not found the right one Crying or Very sad

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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
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Its pronounced Jixxer!

Charlie · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 May 2007 Karma :

If you mean on the track then that wouldn't surprise me... but how could a 17 year old afford the insurance... and we are talking about the UK aren't we?

McGee · O RLY? Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Karma :

Hell no.

USA Wink

In the UK around Banbury there are 17/18 year olds on brand new gixxer six's and 750's.

Low insurance area you see Wink

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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►
Its pronounced Jixxer!

_Will_ · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Jan 2006 Karma :

Charlie · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 May 2007 Karma :

a 1100 one sorry! lol

And McGee they'd have have the 33bhp restriction kit Wink

although they probably fell out on while leaning to far on a corner Razz

Is there away of finding out if you live in a low insurance area? I'd have though I'd have a low one

Nb · World Chat Champion Joined: 17 May 2005 Karma :