Africa tomorrow!!

Yes, tomorrow I hit Africa.  So hard to believe.  Finally.   Don't know what to expect!! But I'm ready to embrace the chaos. Really curious to see how I am going to adjust to a new culture.  Especially since I am in a very vulnerable sutuation.  Very VERY EXCITED.

I spend today in Tarifa.  Was hoping to do some kite-surfing today.  Just some R&R to get my mind off bikes and Africa for the day.  Wind was completely wrong direction so that didn't happen.  Will definitely come back here though.  Miles and miles of perfect kite-surfing beach.   And because the Sahara is across the straight there is nearly always wind.

I ended up giving my bike a good service, and trying to sort out the overheating problem.  Looks like it is a combination of to much oil (who would have guessed), to much weight(really?), and some off the protective stuff I put on the bike. The protective stuff decreases the flow off air to the radiator, so I am going to try and revert back to orignal setup.  DHL is going to nail me again. Luckily nothing to serious.  Don't want to revert back to all original though, the protective stuff is there for a reason.

I must confess I learnt so much in the last few days riding.  Especially about the bike.  These bikes are very robust and supposed to be die hards, but the last few days just taught me that they are also highly tuned machines that run within very fine limits.  They need to be treated with a lot off respect.  The one thing no one told me is that every thing you change will have a big effect on other areas of the bike.  So many people are quick to say the bike needs this and that part is weak/vulnerable.  And off course there are loads off expensive solutions for every 'problem'.  The real problem is that the bike doesn't always come out beter on the other side.  I'm learning the hard way. Comes down to the big thing I've learn't so far, everything cannot be perfect when you are as limited as I am.  It's all about compromise. But compromise is so hard to make when you have not done this before.  Fingers crossed.

 I also think that is why such a trip is a very unique experience for everyone who does it.  Everybody makes different compromises and thus ends up in different situations and has a different quality experience.  The only scary thing is that you don't know if you will be able to handle the 'potential end off trip' situations. I am dying to find out if I can handle this.

The mountains off Morocco have been visible on the horizon the whole day.  Teasing me.  Taunting me.  Africa is calling.  Tomorrow the fun starts!!