IMPORTANT NOTICE

hey guys. for political and social reasons regarding the change in the global weather i have decided to place my travel blog on the official sponsor trek blog for muti.

I WONT BE WRITING ON THIS BLOG ANYMORE BUT ON THE ONE BELOW. SO GO THERE IN THE FUTURE OK.
http://muti-africatrek.blogspot.com

so check here for now on ok. this old blog will remain the - prior to takeoff blog. thanks and sorry the inconvenience. check, we just added some new postings from serbia: the land of ...well....not very much...!
ciao for now....

blurred me

i move so fast that even when i stand still im blurred.

trike trek

found these crazy dudes on the road whilst buying spares.
awesome halloween trike!

packin things

well here we are getting ready for the big day. we got the stuff on easier than we thought. the bikes also handle really well with all the weight. gonna be around 270 kilos in total. ooooh i hear the sound of popping kidneys....

its all happening now...

leaving in three days time. got the bikes yesterday. had a hellish ride in the rain, on the highway and at night. what a way to break in the bike. beautiful machines.... so fast, centred and well made. feel so solid, sharp and crisp. anyhow. my next post i should be on the road. got a manic 3 days ahead of me. yiiiiikes!!!

the Rooi Gevaar

Breathless...... the girls are ready, we are ready, and so is the rain. but its cool, cos the rain feels like champagne and angel peepee mixed together in a delightful cocktail of drizzling joy from the sky. lifting my mood and vapourizing the black clouds and replenishing them with a beautiful kind of soft pink cotton candy. nothing can take away the joy i feel when i gaze upon these beautiful red italian thoroughbreds. oh joy oh raptour oh tralalalalalalaaaaaaa....

Some training in the Italian alps (Assieta) i did some months ago. just found the photo now. miss that bike... kinda sorry i sold it in the end. anyway its a bike for nerds... could'nt be done you know.Went with Matteo Paringoni (Bmw F650 Dakar)on a wikid trail riding mission way up to around 2400m.

All my gear

All my stuff. its a lot i know. now im going to have to try and get it into 3 little bags. i still have to add some spare parts, couple of other tools and some more clothing. 99% of the stuff is here though.

Route timing

Here is our rough timing plan for the journey. click on the below image to enlarge.

Camping gear arrived

We just received all our camping gear from Ferrino. They are our official technical sponsors for the trip. We might be receiving some financial help from them as well. We'll see how that pans out. Many thanks to Cristina Martinetti for all her help in closing up this deal for us. and a big thanks to Ferrino for all the super gear!

Ducati factory

Well heeeere we go.... the bikes are getting a solid work over at the Ducati factory. here is one of the gals. the bashplate below is being hand made by the ducati superbike engineers. it should be ready early next week. then we're getting some pirelli m16 tyres, they'll be arriving early next week as well. Marco Rimondi has been our Mother at Ducati and had done an amazing job moving this mountain in such a small timeframe. big up to you marco. Lucio Attinà (director of marketing at ducati) has done an incredible job as well. he has been so supportive of Muti by helping us find other sponsors for our book and giving us all the help he can muster. And thats it, were awaiting the official biking kit, boots and helmet and we are well on for our 17th october departure date.

Ciro Ferrara supports Muti Onlus

Here we go, the great Ciro Ferrara supporting Muti. He played with Maradona for 5 years and then for Juventus. He is now the official fitness coach to the Italian national team and Juventus. Hoohaa...

ducati official sponsor!

yeeeehaaaaaw! two spanky multistradas! modified for the desert... with all goeters, bike gear, helmets the works. free insurance, carnet, medical insurance allas. the bikes will be ready on the 10th october. im going to be the official photographer for the trip. matteos going to do video. well chuffed about this move and feel luckier than a 4 leaf clover in a lucky packet. things are moving well. got my two visas sorted. syrian and jordanian have arrived. just have to get my egyptian visa now. 3 weeks to go go goooooooo!!!!

d-day coming soon!!!!!

is coming up. i dont have a bike. no money in the bank, havent got all my papers.... and im supposed to be leaving in 3 weeks time! things are going a bit wonky... but ill get there. going to ducati tomorrow. then will make the big decision. to go with them or go yamaha TTR. all the rest if pretty much sorted. got my jordan visa. syrian on the way. egypt in one day. just bike prep, docs and shave my beard. didnt think the hardest part of this trip would be getting to the starting line!

Motul - new sponsor

Just heard news that Motul (a racing lubricants company) is interested in sponsoringus for the trip. great news! thanks to Matteo Parnigoni. the dude doth rock.

So far we've got sponsoring us:
- Ducati - 99% in
- Motul - TBC but really interested
- Ferrino - TBC but really interested

Not bad for a monkey ass operation like this yeah

Thanks Oz!

Been in perth for the last 3 weeks visiting my mother. and the camping here is fntastic! been buying all my outdoor clothing. which is so tough (well it has to be for the aussie outback). and all my camping gear. thanks mark! got some great discounts through family when i bought all my gear. heres a list of the things i got here:
- duel fuel camping stove (runs on petrol)
- ceramic core water filter
- all weather jacket
- kick ass mack hiking boots
- swanky swiss army knife
- various rugged clothing
- canon lens 24-70mm L F/2.8 (awesome quality)

and loads of various goodies and gadgets that'll keep me alive in the middle on nowhere. thats it, going home now. where ill be sorting the last of my camera equipment out and getting the bike sorted from Ducati.

Ducati and our Africa Trek

99% percent confirmed for the trip. i sent them a pre-requisites pdf for what we need. i sold my other bike, and so its pretty weird. im about to leave in 6 weeks and i dont have a bike yet! yikes. oh well... things are moving along. august is just a weird time. italy is closed down and so theres nothing to do but wait till the factory opens again.

Changin bike

yup, just sold the TT. didnt have a good karma with the girl. so best that i change now while i still can. funny, but you pick up energy from machines. some have good vibes, others dont. and thats that. reckon im either going to go for a TTR or a KTM adventure 640. either or, good solid bikes.

Assieta

just been training in the alps. with a wonderful forum community - a bunch of really cool guys from northern italy. we were 25 geezers. had a wonderful time up there and they were teaching me all the tricks of the motox trade. bum back on the slopes for more grip, steering on the pegs whilst standing, foot out round the corners, leaning in then opening up the gas.... so much fun was had.

Muti charity

the whole idea to do this journey came about when south africa won the world cup. i wanted to do something for my home country and be a part of this prestigous event and moment for our country. i cant play soccer, and ive little else to offer. so i decided to make a book. documenting the soccer culture throughout africa in the running up to the world cup. my goal is to find the purity of football. and i figured that the poorest kids on earth would know something about it.

I am about to open up a charity association with matteo, cristina and puggina. we are registering it tomorrow. its called muti. and it will be used to organize and divert funds that we gather through sponsorship. yes, were walking the town and knocking on doors for cash. which in turn will be used to sponsor the production of the book that i will be producing during my travels in africa. all proceeds raised through the selling of the book go directly to charity. we wanna buy medicines to help cure children suffering from AIDS and TB. we will be donating to the Nelson Mandelas children fund in s.a. and a small small charity in cape town called Fikelele. thats it. ive already been to ducati, and this weekend were going to see a huge tent company called ferrino. gonna ask them to sponsor us all the equipment we need and give us some green loving for the charities funds. wish us luck.

Ducati

Went to present my bike trip to Ducati. asking them for some dosh and two spanky multistradas 1100's! they were really interested in sponsoring us... in return for all the glitz ill be giving them a full on desert photoshoot and ducati blog.

cant seem to shake off this italian style stuff... i wanna what the bedouins will think when i cruise past on that sexy latin numba? cluck, they load the chamber of their kalashnikovs in unison.

getting sorted...

just bought my kit. boots (lovely sidi crossfire blue seude numbers), a good helmet, motox pants and a decent jacket. went riding in the alps last weekend in the rain, the mud and fek it was fun. spent 4 hours up there in the clouds on col de lys. just me, the goats and the cows.

got my carnet pretty much sorted. the director of my insurance company is writing the heavy cheque for the many countries import duties. egypt being the biggest and baddest of them all. they want a guaranteed cheque valued at like 8 times the price of the bike. eish.

ordered some bags in the post from london. side panniers. called andystrapz... http://www.andystrapz.co.uk/ but they got stolen in the post! so theyre resending them now. some geezer in the post office might be needing some xtra luggage on his postal bike (for stealing more goodies i expect). anyhow, things are coming together slowly but surely. still have to order my gps, pannier racks and the millions of spares that i need.

last but not least.... looks like matteo will be coming in the trip with me! super happy about that. hes buying a bike right now. a TTR. so well have a similar bike. good for spares.

getting my hands dirty

Decided to try and fix my front forks. the oil seal had gone on the left fork and i hit a a car last week. twisting the forks in their yokes. i reckoned its better to try fixing something yourself first, then if you cant take it into the shop. well we rocked hard, gaetano helped my out the whole day! we spent 10 hours doing it. we also changed the brakes, oil and pads. (which is a lot more difficult than it seems) and ja, drank lots of beer and had an awesome day. so much bloody after action satisfaction i say.




in the thick of it.



fooling around...



all i need now is a torn off black shirt and a bottle of jack..... ow, i feel like a real man working a bike! ih ih ih....

Heres my route

This pretty much the route ill be taking. might pass by swaziland in the end then jet back up to botswana.

Welcome to my trek blog!

Hectik TreK

Ok, so this is the deal. im leaving the land of fine food and wimin (italy) for Cape Town. only trick is that im going to be going back on this bicycle below. mid september to 1st october is the window period for leavin, will be travelling down the east coast of the med. to egypt, then spittle down the east coast of africa. slowly slowly until i reach cape town, 8 months to a year later, a lot wiser, poorer and smellier.

Every thousand mile journey starts with its first step... or so its said. No body told me that the first step would take 8 months to prepare! i have a gazzillion things to do. from visas to the horiffic carnet de passage, vaccinations and an xcel list of useful things i have to buy... which is not what i make money for, its for crap! so no more bowling shoes, no more designer hoodies, and no more sack, back and crack waxing sessions.

I bought a bike. Her name is Giulietta. (have to let you know that its a Yamaha TT600E, hence Giulietta, TT, tt.... i never seize to amaze myself...).

Ok thats it, just wanted to christen this new blog with some brain farts and bad spelling. stay tuned...