Bruce

Not scared of a hairy weber eater. Left Denver on fri AM  after a realy nice stay with Di and Jack  “thanks”, and headed for yellowstone, stopped to spend the night near the enterence, camped in a camp site, a guy came over and introduced himself, heard i was from SA, brought beer and we sat and talked rugby, he played for America, 2 games against the boks, way back when. Played with Naas in Dallas. Yellowstone is still covered in snow, and the lakes are still frozen over, could not get accomodation in the park as it was full. Managed to get camping at the west enterence, on the river, the bison came over and nearly ate my tent, with me in it, a whole heard was arround me, with babies. Saw grizly bear, got some shaky video of him, I think he wished he had’nt woken up as it was still so cold, also saw elk, deere, lots of bison, sheep and other stuff. I am on my way to Seattle and will stay with Jim and Vyv for a couple of nights, then head on up to Canada. The Canadian rockies are meant to be stunning, and further north there are lots of bears, so you have to hang your food in a tree, and have none in your tent, or you may become bear food.It is still damn cold, luckily i did’nt get rid of my winter gear in central america, still ride through showers and lots of cold. We will see as I go further north. Every where I stop people come over , ask where i’m from, where i’m going, they just love what i’m doing. The people here are the best, many have invited me to stay, all wish the best of luck, others want to read my book, so I may have to write one, yea right. But all in all it is majic and still not finished yet, Pruedhoe Bay is the target, a few more weeks. More later

Here I am in Denver, spending a few days with Di and Jack, it is nice to be around people you know and be able to relax and have nice food. They are great people. I went out in Vegas, but unfortunately did’nt win any money, just interesting to see, but not my kind of place. Moved on to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, it is impressive, not as beautiful as copper, but  much bigger and deeper, awesome. I camped there and met really nice people in the camp site. Then moved on to Moab, a town that is an adventure and outdoor centre, felt kind of guilty not doing any active stuff. On the way there I went through the Navaho and Apache reservations, they live side by side in a dust bowl in the Arizona desert, kind of sad really. From Moab I went toAspen, but the snow on the ski slopes had melted, the whole area has ski slopes and looks like real fun. But it was not to be. I had to buy all sorts of spares for the bike and give it some TLC,  as it has now done 28000 k’s and a few more to go to Alaska. W hen I pulled into the BMW dealer, a lady came over and we started chatting, then she said to me, you have a SA accent, I said yes and so do you. She and her hubby own the business so we had a long chat and she helped me out with the spares I needed. This place is not cheap, so my ass is still sore. The bike is a lot happier now . I will leave for Yellowstone tomorrow, should be good, then head west then northto Canada and the top of Alaska, can’t wait to see the bears, black, grizzlies and polar, hopefully! more later.

That is where I am now, quite am amazing place, glam, glitz and loads of sleaze!. I could be real bad here, but we will see, only here tonight, off to GC tomorrow, internet is very expensive here so I will keep it short. All is well, America is a great place, expensive though, but what the hell, you live once! More later, See Ya Later!

Ok the canyon is out of  this world!  I am a little apprehensive going to Grand Canyon, as it might be dissapointing! but I’ll go anyway as it is on the way to Vegas. Photos and video don’t do this place justice, the light and angle change the whole perspective, but I have taken lots.About food just eat what is going, yea we did catch fish and eat them, sometimes I am real bad when I hit a big city! sin food!  Mac’as, real bad, not often though. The tourist industry is taking strain here, not many arround. I leave here tomorrow for Hermosillo, sleep there and hit Nougales the next day early. Hey Ian thanks for the update on what is what, don’t care for the bulls though. I ate  some green stuff last night and it has made bubble and squeek in my tummy, like hand stands in the shower. I’ll get over it though, maybe need more beer!Don’t wan’t to bore you with tales of amazing stuff. More from US.

I spent last night in Durango, it was a long hot ride, about 800 k’s. Mexico so far has been boring, the scenery has been just like Transvaal. The lower areas are like the lowveld, no animals though, other is like from Polokwane to JHB and JHB to Freestate, none of the pretty stuff though. I nearly got sucked off by a twister, but it was to small. Saw my first wild life, a snake, rode over it, a cayote, a road runner, and a rabit. From Hidalgo del Parral to here is real Apache country, suddenly Mexico has gotten real. I rode into the first section of Copper Canyon, and it has to be one of the most beautiful, majestic, stunning places I have ever seen, kind of sucks the breath right out of you, leaving a lump in your throat, it is really WOW!.I will see more tomorrow, has to be one of the highlites of my trip. It must be one of the top natural wonders of the world, aiso dirt bike heaven. More Tomorrow Chow.

I crossed the border and spent the night in San Christobal, a 500 year old colonial town, rich in Mayan culture, very few tourists. If anyone told you Mexico is cheap, they lied, the roads are toll and I have paid over R600 in 2 days so I am a bit bleek, anyway, hopefully that is now past. I headed up the East coast, spent last night in Veracruz, was going to stop in Tampico, but it is just another large sprawling city, so I moved on to Valle. I will move on west and north towards Copper Canyon tomorrow. The Federales are full of shit , always stopping and searching, not my idea of fun! anyway Copper Canyon is in the wild lands of the central north, still pretty basic there and apparently stunning! The temp since Costa Rica has been around 40 every day so after a few beers you watch it run out your pores, so no beer boep! still lean and mean! After Copper Canyon I head up to Nogales and Tucson. More later Adios.

I left Coban and headed for lago de Atitilan, I hit what has to be the worst stretch of road so far. The road was non existant in places and land slides had taken it away in others. The bike started behaving badly, it was like trying to ride a snake, it would not go in a straight line and was worse after bumps. I eventualy stopped and found that one of the bolts that hold the frame together had broken, so I balanced the bike on some boulders and manouvered it back into place. I then griped it together with a vicegrip and ductape, it has held so far, will fix it properly in the morning before heading to Mexico. Didn’t see much of the lake or volcanoes as the cloud and fog was down. so I moved on. Fortunately no big night last night so all is good . More later. Adios

So I arrived in Copan on the border yesterday pm, there are Mayan ruins there and the village is real neat, so I decided to stay the night and do the border in the morning. I found a place to stay and then I heard this hey, nice bike, where you from? so I met Charles from Detroit on a KLR 650, he had been layed off in the states, so he rode his bike down to panama and married a couple, as he is a part time preacher, had a blast and on his way home. We went out and had beer, lots of it, met an english girl and a swedish girl who work there, yea big night, had a big babalas today. Got to the border to find a long line of trucks, thinking not again, the computer was down, so I spent the whole morning waiting in 40 degree heat, yea I felt it! So I got talking to the truckers, nice guys, we were all in the same boat, we ate fish and rice and salad, I felt a bit better. The computer came back at one, so I got going and to Coban, also has great Mayan ruins, and when I pulled into the place I am staying I saw Charles’s bike there so I’m nervous. Saw my first rattle snake today, road kill, but still the same, so I will have to look sharp. I will head on to Atitlan tomorrow, the lake with the 3 volcanoes and stay there tomorrow night. Head to M exico the day after and take it from there. It is Jacks birthday today, so Happy Birthday Jack hope you have a huge party and lots of fun and many pressies. I will bring something back for you! More later Adios.

I went to Volcan as it is on the way to a quiet border post at rio serena, met 2 americans who live in volcan,apparently there are some south africans living there, didn’t meet them though. Got to the border but the computer was down, so had to go to the main border, three and a half hours later i got through. Got caught in traffic on May1 holliday, 4hours to do 100 ks, crazy! Got to border with Nicuragua but truckers were on strike and had blocked the road and border, so I had to spernd another night. Next day I rode to the other border at  Los Chiles only to find the bridge was gone. When I returned to the main border ity was still blocked, I told the cops and truckers to Fuck O ff, one mad gringo and the Irish had come out, so I crashed their blockade, you can with a bike! Made the border with Honduras, the only vehicle in 2 days. When I was filling with fuel in the next town 2 bikers pulled up, so I met Paul and John 2 americans living in Panama, and riding central america, they are 60 odd and full of life, good guys and great fun, we had a night on the town, I was bad enough to hang with them! Leave for Guatemala tomorrow, look foreward to seeing the lake with the 3 volcanoes. More later, never a dull moment! Adios

I will leave Panama today for Costa Rica and head north rapidly, and try to stay away from crowds and other areas where I might get infected, to fly now may be as, if not more risky, so here goes  and hope for the best! More later, Adios.