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Trans-Africa By Motorcycle: A Father's Diary
Most people would regard it as irresponsible madness for a father to take his 17-year-old son, riding old and somewhat worn-out XT500 motorcycles, on a four-month ride across Africa. But Lawrence Bansby did. In this era of celebrity, fully-supported long-distance motorcycle journeys with 4X4s carrying spares, a camera crew, full medical kit and a great deal of money, Lawrence and his son Gareth set off on their old but bullet-proof XT500s, with a handful of spare parts and the three Michelin maps that cover Africa. The plan was to travel North from their home in Natal, South Africa then West through Zaire, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Niger and, finally, across the Sahara through Algeria but it was not to be… wars in Sudan and Zaire, murders of Europeans in Algeria forced them further and further East until they found themselves in Eritrea on the Red Sea coast, with war-torn Sudan blocking their way to the West and the closed border of Egypt to the North…
For all bikers who have embarked on long-distance adventures, those planning a trip of their own or the arm-chair traveller who always thinks, “What if…†this diary is a must: an amazing read – touching, interesting, exciting, filled with insight about the countries they travelled through and the people they met along the way. Unlike many travel diaries of this sort, however, Trans-Africa by Motorcycle – A Father’s Diary is the account of a growing relationship between a father and son, of seeking adventure together despite the limitations of finance and equipment, of achieving that which, at heart, every father secretly wants to do with his son or daughter.
This is an uplifting and inspiring book. And what is even more special is that, 15 years later, in 2011, Lawrence and Gareth completed another motorcycle journey together, this time into Russia – both still inspired with a love for motorcycles and long-distance adventure travel. This trip is captured in a similar way in Bransby’s account Venture into Russia – Three Motorcycle Journeys, also available on Kindle.
About the Author
Lawrence Bransby has taught English to both high and primary school children throughout his life, often taking his personal experience of working with young children and teenagers as the starting point of his novels – especially during the break-up of the hated Apartheid regime in South Africa when the all-white school he taught at became multi-racial.
Of the eight teenage novels he has written, four have won literary prizes and one short-listed. Twice his novels were chosen by Book Chat as South African Children’s Books of the Year (Homeward Bound and A Mountaintop Experience). Down Street, his first teenage novel, won the prestigious MER Prize for Youth Literature and The Boy who Counted to a Million won the seldom-awarded Percy Fitzpatrick Literary Prize. Bransby’s writing includes novels both for teenagers and adults as well as travel diaries, begun when, in 1997, he crossed Africa with his 17-year-old son on old XT500 motorcycles. Since then, he has travelled by motorcycle to Russia three times (Venture into Russia), Albania (Albania by Motorcycle) and driven across part of the Western Sahara in an old Ford Fiesta (Plymouth-Dakar/Banjul Old Bangers Challenge).
He now lives in Paignton, Devon, and keeps himself fit kayaking, cycling and, whenever possible, travelling on his motorcycle to remote places.
