The Road Goes on Forever

Monkey Bay was a real treat and a little holiday within our chaotic adventure, well for most of us that is...Ant from the Pistons was rudely awoken in the wee hours of the morning by the Malawian Ant Army (oh so much irony here!) And his retreat came at a cost when he took cover in their van as the mosquito air brigade bombarded him causing some serious irritation. For the rest of us our little bungalows were magic!

What lay ahead of us and our stallions was basically the entire length of the Mozambique interior. After an early start we made good progress hugging Lake Malawi’s shoreline onto the neighbouring border post. But what has been custom on this trip is you can’t afford to become complaisant. Disaster strikes! A few kilometres from the Mozam border Fish’s scooter grinds to a halt. What became a local spectacle, saw six vintage Put Foot crews help us out. With Franci’s belly up on a VW kombi, our revised destination was Tete where we would regroup and re-strategise.

Rolling into Mozambique’s New York (Tete) we were stopped by the hundreds of 2M’s signs littering a local restaurant (2M is possibly the greatest beer ever crafted). Our half chicken and two quarts didn’t touch sides. Again our “Always make a plan” attitude saved the day as we were taken in for the night by a South African chap. The revised plan was a simple one. Jared would ride ahead early in the morning while James and Fish would follow suit with the Pistons.

With 980km to go to Vilanculos, there was no expectation that we could reach the dreamy town in one single days ride. Nonetheless, at 5am, I crossed the magnificent Tete bridge and headed Southwards. Stopping every 90 minutes for a 5min break and refuel, the morning flew past. The road meandered through small villages and hills as I was chanted on to Chomoi. 450km done, and still no sign of the Pistons. I decided to push on, stopping only to refuel. By sundown I had concern that these lads had passed me somehow. With no working phone there was no choice but to keep chugging on and get as close to Vilanculos as possible. There was something really enjoyable about travelling an entire day alone. The drive through the Mozam interior took me through a blazing inferno, pushed me off the road by an 18-wheeler, and gave me refreshments at a fuel station in exchange for a few stories. Nearing closer to Vilanculos, the back started to take its toll, my eyes started to become weary, and the road started to deteriorate drastically. I found myself weaving through sandpits and craters. The road had broken off my spotlight, so navigation became tougher. Then like magic, the Vilanculos turnoff sign appeared. After 20 hours in the saddle, and almost 1000km, Roxy rolled into Baobab Beach and was greeted with an ice cold Laurentina! 10min in my wake and the rest of the crew rolled into camp. The journey from Tete to Vilanculos had been a real marathon. High fives ensued and the realization had hit that we were merely 200km from the finish line in Inhambane. Today, Roxy the Big Boy Scooter had done a stirling job! The night wasn’t quite over yet. If you have ever visited Baobab Beach you will know first hand, that the Tipo Tinto flows like water and the party never ends!

Day 18 was a short parade into Inhambane Again; this wouldn’t be the Put Foot Rally without one last ounce of drama. You see, our beautiful finish line location floods during high tide, and with the SillyBuggers tardiness, there was no way we weren’t going to cross the Put Foot Rally finish line without getting wet!  As we started, we finished off last at the finish line beneath a beautiful African sunset.

62 crews, over 7000km, 7 countries, two wheels, and many more friends made along the way; the chaps had made it. In retrospect, there possibly couldn’t have been a better way to travel Africa. We had faced many challenges, ridden very slowly, and laughed plenty, but being in the open air for  every kilometre meant that we didn’t miss a single bit of our beautiful Southern African adventure . We were treated like rock-stars when rolling through villages and received helping hands whenever needed.

It was a pleasure to ride with the wit of Fish and the confidence of James. And it was possibly the most memorable travel experience we have had thanks to our Big Boy scooters and the ‘gees’ of all the crews around of us. The Put Foot Rally will make you think differently about any other travel adventure you seek. 

"The road goes on forever, and the party never ends!"

A big thank you to our sponsors for Put Foot Rally 2012. Big Boy Scooters for our noble steeds. Greenstone Autobody for our Orange make-over, and to everyone who donated to the Rally cause. With close to R600 000 raised for the Put Foot Foundation!

Signing off.

The Silly Buggers

Keeping it Silly