An African adventure

Riding a motorbike over hundreds of miles of African sand, mud and rocks can be life changing – and not just for the riders

GlobalEnduro rallies see ordinary people tackle some pretty hairy terrain, usually by motorbike, in India, Africa, the Himalayas, and now the Arctic. But, as founder Simon Smith explains, and as we discover in one man's tour diary, they don't just leave behind tyre tracks in the mud.

He’s motorbiked nearly 100,000km over the last eight years, across deserts, jungles, rivers and the world’s highest passes, but for Simon Smith, the founder of the ‘GlobalEnduro’ series of rallies, the adventure’s only just beginning.

Plans are afoot to add even more events to a series that has exploded from a small scale fundraiser in 2003 into one of the most successful charity adventure franchises in the world, supported by the likes of Princes William and Harry and with routes covering Southern India, Africa, the Himalayas, Cambodia and soon even further afield.

It all started when Smith went on a charity bike ride in India more than 10 years ago “It was a brilliant concept, but poorly organised,” he told WideWorld, “It just needed to be done right.” A couple of years later he took the plunge, ditching his job as a city trader and organising a 1,000km tour across Kerala and Tamil Nadu in Southern India on classic 1950s Royal Enfield bikes. “Everyone was telling me I was crazy, but I’d gone from being on the phone from 7am 'til 7pm to biking round India – who were the crazy ones?”

Things escalated when the success of the Indian route led to a conversation with a journalist from Motorcycle News, who suggested Smith should do one in Africa too. Not one to rest on his laurels Smith jumped on a plane to do just that. Africa however, was a completely different kettle of fish and with few contacts or experience of the continent, it was difficult to know where to start. Luckily Smith saw the contact details of an off-road adventure company based in South Africa in the pages of an in-flight magazine, got in touch and thanks to a successful partnership, ‘EnduroAfrica’ was soon born.

Since then the franchise has branched out to include ‘EnduroHimalaya’, encompassing some of the world’s highest roads and passes, many of which have been closed to the public for decades, ‘Karma Enduro’ again through Southern India, but this time in 1950s cars that ‘handle like drunk badgers’ and soon possibly the most adventurous route of the lot – the Arctic. Inspired by the indigenous Sami people of Lapland the new rally launching next year is planning to start on dogs and sleds and then graduate to 500=horsepower snowmobiles to cross the Russian border.

So what about the charities? “Well,” says Smith, “we partner with charities that will benefit the people living on the routes we pass through. Participants have to raise enough to cover the cost of the trip and a sizeable donation to the chosen charities. For some, they just pay it themselves but for most we help them organise fundraising. It’s not always easy – one chap, for example, who was a pavement artist, took three years to raise all the funds, but in return for the investment in the charities they get the trip as an incentive.” Over the last seven years GlobalEnduro has raised over five million pounds for its various charities.

As well as the good times, there have been some harder moments: On one occasion the South Africa team got caught in the worst storm for 50 years with rain so heavy that they would have been better off with canoes than motorbikes. Another time, a team riding in India during the Monsoon faced landslides, boulders falling onto the roads, people falling off cliffs and a near-mutiny after an incident that involved cutting down trees to get 27 bikes across a flooded river.

But it's times like these that turn a rally into an adventure and while the Global Enduro brand has gone from strength to strength, with even Princes William and Harry taking part in Enduro Africa in 2008, it’s the individual memories for the participants and the smiles on the faces of the people helped by the charities, that Smith reckons count as the real success of the rallies.
  
A Motorcycle Diary

Day 1

After a long flight from London we finally arrived at Durban airport via Johannesburg. We then had a two-hour bus trip to Port Talbot to meet the Enduro Africa staff and collect our bikes. No rest for the wicked: after unpacking and finding our accommodation for the night, we had to meet for a one-hour ride that included sand hill climbs and some very narrow tracks. I

Day 2  (220km)

Today was a mixture of steep climbs and descents, coupled with river crossings and some very rocky climbs just to get used to what was coming. We didn't finish until 7pm but it was fantastic – tired, sore, but very happy.

The rain, along with the dogs chasing you and trying to avoid riding into the locals – who have made a sport out of dodging motorcycles – made it a very interesting introduction.
I am just pleased that I spent so much time in the gym before I came: Lots of falling off but there was always someone there to help you up and it soon became clear that you wouldn't be able to do this on your own. I have seen lots of Africa, but nothing as rural as this. The scenery is starting to be truly stunning, along with the people.

Day 3 (47km)

Before the river crossing we spent some time under some trees just to get out of the sun. We were soon surrounded by the local kids, sharing sweets and taking pictures. One of the boys had a ride on the bike – easy to get him on but much harder to get him off; he reminded me of my son, Rory, when he was the same age. Just shows kids are the same the world over.

The ride in the afternoon was really hard going with steep climbs, steep descents, but everybody worked hard as a group. The bad news was that one guy injured his hand and decided to go home and another damaged his leg but decided he was going to stay even if he did the trip in the back-up truck. Just shows how tough some people are.

Day 4 (150km)

We awoke to another beautiful African day, clear blue skies and you could see for miles. Today should be really special, if for no other reason than it is my birthday – 61, I cant believe it. Still who cares on a day like this; it feels good to be alive.

More bad news as at the very end of the day as one of the blokes had a “major off” and broke his wrist in five places. I am not sure how the other groups are doing, but normally I think the drop-out rate is about 10 per cent so it makes you think! I must remember that I am supposed to meet my wife at the end of this for the rest of our holiday.

I watched a game of foot ball on the beach tonight – there must have been 50 aside, but no one seemed to care about that. No rules, just lots of running and laughing.

Day 5 (160km)

Today it got really tough; we rode for over 10 hours. We had some really deep river crossings with water covering the wheels and everything else. If there was ever an advert for Honda this would be it – the bikes are simply amazing.

Our team leaders have certainly got everybody working as a group to get us all through this. I saw some whales off the coast today, along with some magnificent black eagles later in the day. What a country this is. We had some really nasty “big offs” today – including mine. Try as I might, I just could not miss that big rock. It had my name on it for sure.

Day 6 (rest day)

Today is really important as we are off to a local school to help make some badly needed improvements. It's in a remote location with no power. When we arrived all of the local adults had already arrived and were sitting in the rain waiting to see what would be done. By the time we had left we had painted the buildings, put a roof on, installed power and lights to all the buildings, installed a DVD player and constructed a “jungle gym”.

When the lights went on, so did the kids' faces. This really was one of those major moments in life that make you realize just how lucky you are. Without a doubt this really was the highlight of the trip and with lumps in our throats we returned to our hotel for a good meal and more beer.

- Steve Hammond