AND SO THE JOURNEY BEGINS

OMG, there is so much to write about!  We’ve had a tremendously exciting month behind us.  Getting gear and bikes and bags and racks, and, and, and, was quite the feat…

When we realized that we still do not have adequate funds with which to execute our expedition to the full extend in which we intended, we got a little worried and organized a last minute fundraiser, which turned out to be fantastical fun, but unfortunately we still didn’t manage to raise enough funds to sustain us.

We could however not be stopped or slowed down. We were so convinced that once we got on the road, things would work out fine.  We have so many extraordinary companies, organizations and people behind us that we had no choice other than to have faith in the path that is shown.

We had an interview with Kwela on Monday, had Tuesday to pack and on Wednesday we had our send-off from the CSIR in Pretoria.  From there we went right around the corner to neighboring Johannesburg, where we had to make plans to fit extra racks to support the panniers, install inverters, etc.

We were supposed to leave on Thursday, but still we weren’t ready.  Only at 4.30pm, did we collect our bikes from Linex Yamaha, who did the 1 000km service and made last minute plans to customize the racks.

We were a sleep away from leaving on our long awaited, 8 month planned expedition to make ripples surrounding our water and sanitation issues in Southern Africa.  By now emotions were running high, because to a certain extend, we were far from being rigged out with the necessary, but what does a person really need? 

Saturday morning, whilst packing, we realized that we might be too top heavy, but packed what had to go regardless, and for the first time, we set off with bikes packed to the max.  Dante and Katryn seemed happy to be leaving, but Tryntjies trunk bag were a little too small for her.  She seemed uncomfortable.  I promised her that we would sort it out as soon as we knew how.

We were caught in one of the first thunder/hale storms this season, and waited for at least 3 hours.  We slowly made our way ahead and as it was getting dark, we had to start looking out for a place to stay the night.

Wherever we go, we are greeted with such hospitality and never need for anything.  We spend another 3 days in Bethlehem at Ferreira Yamaha.  These guys are awesome and customized our bikes and made bigger bags for Dante and Tryntjie.

We will be spending the rest of the week in the Drakensberg area, making our way to the Rhino Rally in Harrismith where we will have the opportunity to speak up about water and our journey.

We have been off to a very bumpy ride, but we are finding our feet as we go along.  We want to thank everybody for their interest and participation in our journey, especially those working with water, trying their utmost to preserve and clean up areas so that we could have access to safe drinking water.

We urge you all to be mindful of your actions, be aware of what you send down your drain, because somebody is bound to have to drink it.

Take care and we hope to see you along our route.  Stop, chat and share…