Final Update April 2009

Dear Friends,

I have now finally completed the disbursement of all the money raised for Enduro Africa 2008 - a grand total of £21,413 which I have distributed as follows:-

NUMAST Welfare Funds - £7,055 (handed over at NUMAST WF Committee - 9/12/08)
Riders for Health - £7,050 (handed over at MCN Show to Riders for Health on 30/1/09)
Enduro Africa (for Sentebale, Nelson Mandela Fund for Children and UNICEF) - £7,308 (final cheque sent to EA on 3/4/09).

My sincere thanks to all my supporters.

Firstly apologies to all my Blogwatchers for not confirming my safe return before now! As you will now gather I am in one piece, slightly battered and bruised but still smiling.

I hope you have all visited the Enduro Africa group on Snapfish at:-

enduroafrica2008rideone.snapfish.co.uk/snapfishuk

which contains my photographs and those of many other participants in the Ride for Life.



I also hope that you took the opportunity to visit my Blog which as promised I updated on a daily basis (actually this was only possible with the help of my wife Keiko). I took photos and emailed them together with a daily update which she then posted for me. Thanks babe!

I made much of the fact that the Gold Team was the only group to have completed the entire ride in tact without losing anyone through illness or injury. It turns out that we had three casualties all of whom managed to continue in silence despite being in pain or suffering. Firstly, we had Andrew who you might recall from my Blog crashed on the penultimate day and had to wait for a tow to catch up with us. After three days at home he was sent to the doctor by his wife and was told he had three broken ribs and a punctured lung. And we just thought he was a miserable git! Stevie had a crash on day two and his arm was in a shocking state but he rode on. When he got home it turned out he had broken his elbow and has since had it pinned. And Nathan – he suffered dehydration on the last night but still rode into Port Edward on the following day.

I stubbed my big toe and that really hurt…………




Anyway, enough of my tails of woe. It was an amazing event which in total has raised over £300,000 for the various charities (and over a million in the three years it has been run). I reached my target and some and I am now in the process of collecting the final pledges so that I can split the total raised between Enduro Africa (for Sentebale, UNICEF and Nelson Mandela’s Fund for Children), Riders for Health and the NUMAST Welfare Funds.

Your support has been very much appreciated and my heartfelt thanks go to everyone who has helped. We have made a difference and that’s what counts.

Gold Team Video Show

I'm home!

I have now arrived home in East London after 24 hours in transit from Port Edward.

This is what greeted me!

To the Wild Coast Sun and beyond!

This was a view from my room at Mbotyi River Lodge.


We left there in the morning for the last ride.

Our first stop of the day - a visit to the Magwa Falls, east of Lusikisiki.


Our lunch stop was in front of the field and a tractor.


Given the journey we have been on and the heights our riding has now reached, today's ride can only be described as tame.

Mostly dirt roads through stunning mountain passes and valleys, it only registered a mere tremour on the richter scale by comparison to previous days' rides.

This however did not prepare us for the "civic reception" laid on for our arrival which was far from the ordinary as is possible.


All the teams met up on the outskirts of town for a cavalcade ride en masse into the TO Strand Resort.

Police outriders with sirens blaring, Zulu warriers dancing and hotel staff singing it was enough to me grown men cry.


Many did as we all hugged and slapped each other in celebration at having been the only team to make the entire trip without losing any of its members.

It's been an epic ride in more sense than just the physical.

It's over now but the memories will remain forever.

None of us leave Africa the same as when we are arrived.


I would like to introduce more people from Enduro Africa 2008.

Pictured is our Medic Etiene who has patched us up en route and delivered life saving medical assistance on more than one occasion these past 8 days.


Our leader and Mike Glover ... who makes the whole thing happen.



By the way, Princes William and Harry will be joining Enduro Africa 2008 from Port Edward to back to Port Elizabeth.

Good luck to them!

From Hole in the Wall to Lusikisiki

The accommodation arrangements hit rock bottom!

Bunkbeds & sofa beds.

And we have found our snoring champion - Pete Branson.


We have arrived safely at our overnight stop at the Mbotyi River Lodge near Lusikisiki after 197kms of riding.

The day began with a ride up to the cliffs above Hole in the Wall.


We then rode along the cliff track and spent some time whale and dolphine watching rather than joing the back of a queue of around 70 bikes being refuelled in Coffee Bay.


We then climb the hills and rode the farm and sheep tracks before getting back on to dusty roads.

Unfortunately two of our team took tumbles today.

Steph took a nasty fall on a steep rock outcrop as dropped down into a river bed.

She's ok and completed the day.

Andy failed to notice the road bearing right and over the edge he went in a ball of flailing arms and legs and of course bike.

We had to arrange for a tow and left him behind.

We had to spend time waiting for the team to regroup due to the accidents and the local children came to see what we were upto.



One old lady was overheard telling her kids that's these crazy white men are to kill themsleves.


We reckon Red Team must have been through ahead of us, hence the Old ladies cynicism, as they are all axe murders and as such.

Today has hard some technical stuff but mainly hard riding on dusty and potholed tracks that pass for motorways in the Transkei.

Tomorrow we ride for our final destination which turns out to be Port Edward and not Durban as we had anticipated.

This is Africa and you have to go with the flow!


Here is our team leader, Kevin Fisher.