Characters...

If a picture is worth a thousand words then we want to show you just a couple to introduce you to a man named Ken who we met at The Spot. We think that if you have traveled anywhere in the world you might have met him too. Our friends Lilian and Thomas had met him a month earlier.
The first picture is our car. This is how some people travel and get around. It's a pretty good deal – costs about $25 a day and though we weren't planning on renting a car for most of our time we decided in the long run it would be more helpful to us. While we were at The Spot two guys came in who were doing a trip from Port Elizabeth all the way up the coast to Mozambique in just a couple of weeks. They were driving pretty nice motorcycles pictured here. They were interesting to listen to. One was one of S. Africa's best motorcross competitors. Shortly after they arrived one afternoon, in rode Ken on his bicycle complete with Kermit the Frog riding next to him.

Look close at the bike and his bags. Ken currently is riding from Cairo to Capetown so he is close to the end point. However then he has another end point – riding up the west coast of Africa to Europe where he claims he will stop! We aren't sure we believe him. After all, Ken, who is originally from Canada has been riding his bike (not this current addition which he bought in Tajikistan or somewhere!) around the world for 25 years! Ken is 49! Take a look at the bike again. This isn't a high tech sponsored outfit. This is Ken, his bike, his stuff and pure grit and endurance. The two motorcyclists thought what they were doing in two weeks was difficult. They were literally speechless as they heard more of his story.

We talked long into the night. How could you not?! Ken thought his life was pretty great and pretty normal. When asked what countries he hadn't been in yet, he paused and thought for a while and replied, “Siberia, Iran, Burma, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and maybe a couple 'stans'!!! Though he didn't mention Antarctica, we assume that is on the list too – but literally everywhere else. We couldn't quite wrap our heads around this man. Twenty-five years. About 100 kilometers a day. And no real helmet to speak of. He has had a couple injuries along the way but has never gone to see a Doctor. One day when cycling down the Andes his tire blew out and he took a spill breaking his clavicle. He couldn't lift his arm over his shoulder for three weeks but no doc and he kept going! When needing money he has stopped and worked – English teacher, construction, dive instructor, lab analyst. His two sisters came and rode with him in Kenya earlier this year. Sometimes he will hang out at a place for a while. He said that the camping fee at The Spot he had to pay that night (around $8US) was the most expensive he had paid other than one time in Virginia a couple decades ago. If I had been the owner of The Spot, this character and legend would have spent the night on the house – in a room!

Please if someone has a connection to a publisher or a producer, Ken is someone that needs to be tracked down so his story can be told!

It is often said that one of the best things about traveling is the people you meet and for me this has never been truer than on this trip. As Andrea wrote in our Plettenberg post finding community and friends along the way has been key in the quality of this trip. So whether it has been Dave and Bella at Old Vic, Kagiso, Khenya, our friends at ACS, Ken, Ayal (our free spirited Israeli hitchhiker who came to S. Africa with only 200 dollars believing he would just fall into things – who also believes there is no hope for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) to Lilian and Thomas our new Swiss friends (who evidently like us enough to have come stayed with us for a couple nights) and many more, we are so grateful. Again, evidence of a greater love!

Duncan