Wednesday 20 April 2011

Motorcycle Diaries Days 3 & 4

Day 3 was thin on training to say the least! We learnt a bit of mechanics and I can now find all the important parts of the bike......brakes foremost! One trainer had other commitments somewhere and the other needed to arrange the embalming of his uncle who died at the weekend.

Day 4 was more exciting with a long ride out to see crocodiles at Paga. The dirt roads take an enormous amount of concentration as they have sections of deeper sand, large potholes and either mounds or ditches. It's a bit of a slalom course to say the least! We had to take it in turns to be in the lead with one trainer dodging up and down the procession of bikes. On one stretch I was gripping on for dear life following the trainer & I was interested to watch him perform an interesting manoeuvre . He took his helmet off and propped it on a wing mirror, reached around and took a bottle of water from the box behind his seat, unscrewed the cap with both hands took a long swig from it, replaced the cap and the bottle before putting his helmet back on his head! I suppose that is confidence, but I failed the next test when we were told to let go with one hand and wave at the next group of children. No chance, not yet!!
We stopped for a break and a coke at a busy village called Sirigu. This man proudly showed me the guinea fowl he had just bought for £4 each........and his red teeth!  Beetle Nut chewing, I think.



When we saw the crocodiles heading towards us out of the pool, I was slightly alarmed however, they were clearly under the influence of the men holding the bait. It was all rather a tourist attraction. However, the children bathing in the pool behind them didn't seem concerned either! It may not look it but I've lost 5 kilos since you last saw me. Good eh?

2 comments:

  1. When I saw you I thought that the overall impression was that of you being slender! I am not surprised that you have lost the weight with the heat and having to wear the kit. I love the look of the crocodiles - Not quite as close as the ones in Cuba but there is no fence...!

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  2. I'm sure you should never take your eyes off a crocodile even when posing for a picture! Glad you lived to tell the tale. Your diet sounds rather extreme but there might be a book in it yet!
    Love Marcia

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