Diary

Before the trip

Oslo 2003-08-24 23:50

Jabadabadoooooooo!!!! Tjoho!!! It’s not very easy to describe our happiness in writing... However, we are extremely happy right now. So many good things have happened since the last time we wrote. We have five new sponsors!!!

For starters we have made an agreement with one of the biggest and most well assorted motorbike stores in Sweden, Touring Butiken. Touring Butiken has helped us with a whole lot of things, for example boots, helmets, base layer clothes, spare parts, a tent, sleeping bags and a GPS. The list is even longer. Further on we can inform you that Europeiska Reseförsäkringar (travel insurance) is sponsoring us. This is very important since they have the best and most reliable travel insurances on the market (our opinion). We have also made important agreements with Stena Line (boat trip from Karlskrona to Gdynia, Touratech (tank bag) and NGK (sparking plugs).
We are truly happy, grateful and a little bit surprised when it comes to our success with sponsorships. We can admit that we, and some people around us, were a little bit sceptic in the beginning, but anything is possible if you work hard and believe in yourself and your project.

As for today, it’s only three weeks left before we steer south (!) We think that we have most things under control right now, the equipment, all documents etc. Two things that are a little bit out of control are the two of us. We are getting “a little bit” nervous and it’s hard to focus on the daily rounds in Oslo. I wonder how many times per day we are thinking Africa. It must be at least 4-5 hundred...

Our beloved Africa Twin is now in Växjö, Sweden. On 26th August it’s time for the yearly motor-vehicle inspection and on 1st September he will get his service.

The next time we write we will be together with our bike in Växjö and the day with the big D will be just around the corner...

Se ya,

Helena & Daniel

PS. Our motorbike and all our equipment are in Växjö, Sweden so we won't publish any pictures this week.

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Oslo 2003-08-04 23:50

The countdown is continuing. We have decided to begin our journey 15th
September. It’s only about one month left(!)

It’s happened quite a lot since the last time we wrote. First of all we have
a new important sponsor, Outside. Outside is a specialist in high quality
equipment for adventures like this and has among other things helped us with
a Letherman, Black Diamond headlamps, a water purifying system and a XKG
multifuel kitchen. At this time we are also negotiating with one of the
biggest and most well assorted motorbike stores in Sweden. Stay tuned.

From 24th to 30th July we went to Sweden for a “promotion tour”. In Gävle we
got interviewed by Elin (Radio Gävleborg) for the radio programme “I väntan
på en ny istid”. Our radio debut went relatively well. The interview was
also sent in Radio Kronoberg’s programme “Kronoberg Direkt” a couple of days
later. (The interview will be available on our website before long.) Good
news is that we at regular intervals will be heard in both these radio
programmes during our journey.
After two days in Gävle we took off to Växjö. On 28th June we were guests in
TV4 Southwest’s live broadcasted (!) news. The “Destination Africa” couple
were a little bit nervous and literally sweaty in the studio. Well, well. It
was very nice to be on TV and we don’t think that we made a “total” fool out
of ourselves. We are going to appear in TV4 Southwest two more times. When
we are in Cape Town and when we are back in Sweden.

This Sunday we went to the travel clinic for our injections. Together we’re
going to get more than twenty(!) injections. Ouch:-)

So long,

Helena & Daniel

Elin from Radio Gävleborg are interviewing us	Picture from our sweaty appearance in TV4 South east. (copyright 2003 TV4 Sydost)	It’s important to study hard

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Oslo 2003-07-15 23:49

Hi there!

Two months left (!) It’s actually been 1,5 years since we first started to plan this trip. At that time Helena really wanted to go to Africa while Daniel was planning to go through Europe by motorbike. It all ended up with the perfect compromise, expedition: “Destination Africa”.

The big news for now is that we have been sponsored by Daniels job, Varia, and that we are going to be on the radio, Radio Gävleborg. Our radio debut is going to be Friday 25th July in a program called, “I väntan på en ny istid”.

Lately we have been in contact with the Swedish Automobile Association. They will help us to get the important customs document Carnet de Passage en Douane. This document means that the Swedish Automobile Association will be responsible for us taking the motorbike out of the different countries within prescribed time. To get this document you have to pay a deposit of many, many thousand SEK. The good thing is that you get the money back when you return the motorbike to Sweden. A Carnet de Passage en Douane is a must if you are driving a vehicle trough Africa.

To be honest both of us are a little bit stressed at the moment. We don’t have that much time left to find our last sponsors. The most important things that we don’t have under control are helmets, motorbike boots, spare parts to the bike and a satellite telephone. Is somebody interested to become our partner???
Except for the Carnet de Passage en Douane there are a lot of other documents that we need. For example a Green card, an International drivers licence and insurances. At this time we are contacting all current embassies and the Swedish ministry of foreign affairs to get some advice and updated reports on the countries we are about to visit. This is only a fraction of everything that’s spinning around in our poor heads at the moment. Important to add is that we are really enjoying ourselves. It feels like we are running our own company.

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Oslo 2003-06-23 23:48

Hello everybody!

It’s getting closer. Only three month left to the big take off. It won’t be long before we’re actually sitting on the motorbike on our way to Africa. WE CAN’T WAIT!!!!

It has happened quite a lot since the last time we wrote. It’s been a lot of long days for both of us. Daniel has, among other things, spent a lot of his time making the aluminium cases and Helena has spent a lot of time in front of the computer hunting new sponsors and trying to get in contact with media. Luckily it’s been going very well. The aluminium cases are finished and at this time we have two partners, Jofama and Bridgestone. Jofama has given us really nice motorbike clothes (the prototype was actually used in the Paris-Dakar Rally 2002), rainwear and motorbike gloves. Bridgestone has given us off road tyres. We are negotiation with some more companies and we believe that it’s going very well. Stay tuned.

The media part is also going very well. On Saturday 28th June we are going to be interviewed by the entertainment magazine “NöjesNytt”. We are also going to be seen on TV. This will happen on TV4 Sydost 28th July (live 6 pm). The popular travel website Reiseliv.no have offered us a banner on their front page, which we of course have agreed to. In addition to this we have a lot more coming. We have been in contact with the biggest bike magazine in Sweden, a big newspaper in Gävle, Sweden and one of Scandinavia’s biggest backpack site. This is very exciting.

We have been in contact with a orphanage home in Johannesburg, South Africa where we are planning to work as volunteers. Most children in this home have AIDS or other terrible diseases. This is definitely going to be tough, but useful.

Last weekend we went on our first Africa test ride. We packed our motorbike as heavy as we could, drove across the Swedish border, into the middle of a pine forest and camped. The bike, that was pretty heavy, did very well in the forest. We are planning to eat rolled oats pudding as much as possible on our trip. This is of course what we ate in the Swedish forest. Nutritious, easy to make, cheap (and horrible).

From now on this website is going to be updated every second or third week. From the 15th September it’s going to be updated every week.

We are looking forward to your next visit!

Helena & Daniel

Our computer expert Virdung, and Helena is designing our website.	On "training" in the swedish woods.	At MC Touring in Oslo, trying out our new Motorcycle clothes.

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