Long Way Down: An Epic Journey by Motorcycle from Scotland to South Africa
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Eighteen countries. Five shock absorbers. Two bikers. One amazing adventure... After their fantastic trip round the world in 2004, fellow actors and bike fanatics Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman couldn't shake the travel bug. Inspired by their UNICEF visits to Africa, they knew they had to go back and experience this extraordinary continent in more depth. And so they set off on their 15,000-mile journey with two new BMWs loaded up for the trip. Their route took them from John O'Groats at the northernmost tip of Scotland to Cape Agulhas on the southernmost tip of South Africa. Along the way they rode some of the toughest terrain in the world and met some of the friendliest people. They rode their bikes right up to the pyramids in Egyptand visited Luke Skywalker's house in Tunisia. They met people who had triumphed over terrifying experiences former childhood soldiers in Uganda and children living amidst the minefields of Ethiopia. They had a close encounter with a family gorillas in Rwanda and were nearly trampled by a herd of elephants in Botswana. Riding through spectacular scenery, often in extreme temperatures, Ewan and Charley faced their hardest challenges yet. With their trademark humor and honesty they tell their story the drama, the dangers and sheer exhilaration of riding together again, through a continent filled with magic and wonder. Publishers Weekly Starred Review. In this follow-up to their around-the-world motorcycle travelogue Long Way Round, actors/bike enthusiasts McGregor and Boorman chronicle an 84-day road trip from Scotland to South Africa. Taking turns with the narrative, both are funny, smart and skilled at evoking the thrill of the open (dusty, sandy, gravelly, pot-holed) road. With a trusty team of logisticians, plus local "fixers" in each country, the duo survive spills, wildlife, nutty drivers, border delays, searing heat and misdirection, while squeezing in some time for sightseeing. A compassionate thread limns the macho derring-do, which includes efforts to raise awareness for UNICEF and other children's charities. Bearing witness to the health and poverty crises in Africa, they put human faces and stories to the statistics, and find hope in a visit with Riders for Health, who bring medical help to hard-to-reach sites via motorcycles: "the most effective answer to the problems of reaching people in remote areas; I could see it working all over the world." Though long and exhausting, McGregor reports of the journey that he "didn't want it to end"; readers-especially fans of their first volume-will likely agree. 20 b&w illus., 48 pages of color photos.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Prologue 11 Where's Charley? 32 Three's a Crowd 143 Break a Leg 184 Saddle Bags & Steroids 265 Five...Four...Three... 316 Here We Go, Charley 447 Cobblestones, Cars & Kissing 608 Sea Legs & Security 709 Under African Skies 7810 Here's Sand in Your Eye! 9111 Ice Cold in Alex 11312 Pyramids & Porn 12413 Riding Bikes & Saving Lives 13714 The Stuff of Dreams 14915 The Sand in Sudan 15916 Kalashnikovs & Customs 18517 A Cup of Ginger Tea 19218 The Road at the End of the World 20219 Stewed & Brewed 22020 Lola 23121 Size Does Matter 24822 Another Country 26023 Destination: 'Transit' 26924 Lilongwe Down 27825 Out in the Cuds with the Girls 29326 A Motorcycle Diary 311Appendix A Route 329Appendix B Equipment 332So What Next: UNICEF 336Acknowledgements 340
