My name is Greg McKenzie and I’m currently taking a break from earning a living to do something which has festered in the back of my mind for a while now – a major motorcycle trip.

I’m going to ride the length of the Americas south to north, starting January 2005. I’ll be visiting friends on the way and hopefully making some new ones too. I anticipate it will take me six-months – but in truth, I don’t know and more than that, I don’t care! I’ve taken many road-trips before – often on the bike, sometimes in a car – very often to the south of France, occasionally further a field. But these have been mere appetisers – building an appetite to embark on this one big adventure.

Up until now now, I’ve never ridden into the sunset without knowing when I need to be back. The timetable of work, annual leave and mortgage payments dictating my thoughts, attitude and agenda.

The broad plan is to visit the southern most town in the world (Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego) and riding to the northern most point of the north American landmass (Deadhorse, Alaska).

This is the plan :

• PART 1: Ride to as far south as you can get (Ushuaia – 55deg SOUTH)
• PART 2: turn around and head as far north as you can go (Deadhorse – 74deg NORTH)

There’s beauty in simplicity! What could be easier? So this is the ambition and the basis of the preparation.

FIRST LEG – South America

I land in Buenos Aries, Argentina on 21st January 2005, briefly travelling north to visit Montivideo, Uruguay before turning south heading for Ushuaia, just short of Cape Horn.

I then turn north again trek around Patagonia, based out of Punta Natales, Chile and continue on through Santiago and the Atacama desert into Bolivia. Across the border into Peru and head north again to Quito, Ecuador.

SECOND LEG – Central and North America

The bike will be flown to Panama from where I’ll continue heading north through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico.

I intend to visit the Baja peninsula for some sea-kayaking and more trekking before continuing up into the USA stopping at Los Angeles and San Francisco on the way.

Across the border into British Columbia, Canada and on towards Anchorage, Alaska. From Fairbanks I’ll take the 400 mile solitary road towards Deadhorse and the the Arctic Ocean.

The bike is all set to go but it needs to go to Liverpool (!?!) to get a Dangerous Goods Certificate, basically means somebody checks that I’ve drained the petrol and disconnected the battery.

My flight is booked for Thursday 20th Jan with Iberia – I’ll arrive in B.A. late night on the 20th. I’ve booked a swanky hotel, if only to ensure I can get some English speaking help for picking the bike up. There’s a bunch of stuff that was intended but hasn’t happened, but I’m keen to get under way.

YE-HAW…….arrived in Buenos Aires 11.30pm on 20th Jan. The adventure begins!!!

The last couple of weeks before I left were manic..suddenly the motivation is get things done increased remarkably as the deadline sharpened.

Departure day was mighty long..after a few quenching ales the night before, I was left to pack the gear until 2am. Then up at 4.30am to catch the connecting flight to Madrid . Buenos Aires is minus 3 hours to GMT so the beer in the Hotel Nogaro tasted so goooooood!!!!

Despite the beer enhanced pack-job, I haven’t noticed anything missing. I even remembered to bring the bike keys!!

Initial thoughts on Argentina and Buenos Aires are great. People are friendly, prices are incredibly cheap, the food is copious and great quality (steak and red wine – perfect for a gout sufferer as myself) and the city easy to navigate. The taxi driver drove like like a nutter from the airport and he didn’t stand out (!) so looks like I’ll be right at home.

This morning I swapped the rather average hotel breakfast for a much better offering from a café on Plaza del Mayo. Coffee so think it could stand for election. A few photo´s are attached below to get a flavour of the city. In truth I´m still seeing the parts of B.A. that some Minister of Tourism encourages us to see. Despite taking a stroll away from the tourist / shopping centre today towards the more ´bohemian´ San Telmo barrio this afternoon (lots of shaded cobbled streets and quaint antique shops) I´m still on the tourist trail I think.

The bike arrived in one piece – good. I´m getting restless already. If things go to plan I´ll be on the road on Tuesday (25th).

If you want to know more about Greg’s travels, visit his website at: http://www.unbeatentrack.com/

Framed by glowing sunsets and a bountiful canopy of stars, lies the Kruger National Park. The park, rich in biodiversity, was established in 1898 and stretches for 350km (approx 140 miles – within the park itself the road network measures in at about 1300 miles) from the south to north along the Mozambican border before meeting up with the Zimbabwean border. A paradise for the wildlife enthusiast with close to 150 mammals to be on the look-out for, amongst them six cat species, the park also has more than 500 species of birds and over 300 species of trees for the visitor to identify. With its subtropical climate, the large habitat variety and a surface area of 19 633km², the park is home to a spectacular array of fauna and flora and is undoubtedly the world leader in dynamic environmental management techniques and policies based on experience gained over more than a century.

Most national parks also offer organised night drives or early morning drives in park vehicles with guides, but they have to stay on the road and take place at set times, so many people hire a car themselves to explore the parks on their own. Most parks have rest camps, and — depending on the park – a range of accommodation, from camps and huts to bungalows and guest houses. Most accommodation is equipped with self-catering facilities, although many camps do have shops, and some have restaurants.

In the last 20 years most of the fences have been removed between the private reserves and South Africa’s Kruger National Park, allowing game to roam freely. The most famous of the parks is Sabi Sands where you can find well known lodges such as Londolozi, Singita and Mala Mala. The Timbavati area is slightly further north and is well known for its large populations of elephant and buffalo.

When to Go

Between October and March, when summer rains transform the dry landscape into a flowering paradise, the park is alive with baby buck and migratory birds, but at the same time temperatures can hit over 105°F (40°C), dropping to 68°F (20°C) in the evenings. The foliage can often hide game, and this is when the risk of malaria is at its highest so you are advised to take a course of anti-malaria drugs.

In the winter, when water is scarce and the plant life dies back, the animals are easier to spot, especially at water holes and riverbeds. This is the most popular season, so be prepared to share your safari with other motorists. The days are warm, but temperatures can drop close to freezing at night, and units are not heated. Try to avoid going during the school holidays, particularly in winter, when the park is packed to capacity.

Driving

Unlike some private game reserves where rangers are permitted to drive off road, at Kruger you must drives on roads. The speed limit is 50 kmph on paved roads; 40 kmph on gravel roads; 20 kmph in the rest camps (30, 25, and 15 mph, respectively). There are speed traps! You should always stay in your vehicle unless you’re at a designated picnic site.

Safety

Under no circumstances should you leave your vehicle unless at a designated site; one story goes that a local ranger left his game drive to “relieve” himself didn’t survive to do up his zipper, so make sure to visit the bathroom before leaving your rest camp.

Entrance and Admission

The entrance gates open from January to February from 5:30am to 6:30pm; March from 5:30am to 6pm; April from 6am to 6pm; May to July 6am to 5:30pm; August to September 6am to 6pm; October from 5:30am to 6pm; and November to December from 5:30am to 6:30pm.

Admission to the Kruger Park costs R30 ($4.75) per person and R24 ($3) per vehicle; children ages 2 to 15 R15 ($2).

For the Rest Camps, the gates follow the same hours except in the summer months (Nov-Jan) when they open an hour earlier (that is, 4:30am). Camps are fenced off to protect residents from animals. If you’re changing rest camps, try not to ensure that you get to your new camp before its gates close. Operating hours for camp receptions are from 8am to 5:30pm; for shops from 8am to 1/2 hour after camp gates close; for restaurants from 7 to 9am, 12 to 2pm, and 6 to 9pm. There are petrol stations at every rest camp, but you can only pay in cash.

The highest risk of malaria is between October and May,

Getting There

There are nine entrance gates, around a 5- to 6-hour drive from Johannesburg or Pretoria. The closest gate, Malelane, is 428km (265 miles) from Johannesburg, while Punda Maria (the farthest) lies 581km (360 miles) northeast. The southern gates: Malelane, Crocodile Bridge, Numbi, Phabeni, and Paul Kruger. The central gates: Orpen and Phalaborwa. The northern gates: Punda Maria and Parfuri. Allow sufficient travelling time to the park; entrance-gate hours are strictly adhered to. Note that officials recommend using the new Phabeni Gate from safety and ease of access point of view.

To get to the Kruger park by air, there are three airports in the Kruger vicinity: Kruger-Mpumalanga International Airport (near White River and Hazyview, southern Kruger), Eastgate Airport (Hoedspruit, southern/central Kruger), and the Kruger Park Gateway Airport (Phalaborwa, central Kruger). There are daily flights from Cape Town on SA Express (www.saexpress.co.za) to Hoedspruit’s Eastgate Airport. SA Airlink (www.saairlink.co.za) flies daily to the relatively nearby Kruger-Mpumalanga International — as does Nationwide (www.flynationwide.co.za), but you’ll have to stop in Johannesburg for at least 20 minutes to pick up passengers. From Johannesburg, SA Express flies daily to Hoedspruit’s Eastgate Airport. SA Airlink and Nationwide fly daily to Kruger-Mpumalanga International. SA Airlink also flies daily from Johannesburg into Kruger Park Gateway Airport. From Durban: SA Airlink flies Sunday through Friday to Kruger-Mpumalanga airport.

For more information contact Dewald Bodenstein at info@stylishtravel.co.za or visit the official webpage www.krugerpark.co.za

In the first of a number of Where in the World profiles, we look at Diego Garcia, a tiny island in The Indian Ocean, with coral beaches, turquoise waters and a vast lagoon in the centre. It is 1,600 kilometres from land in any direction, which seems to be the main attraction for the people who are allowed to go there. If you were ever thinking of visiting Diego Garcia, unless you are in the US or UK military, it might be wise to think again. But where is it, and why is it so controversial?

The Portuguese put Diego Garcia on the map in the 1500s. The island’s name is believed to have come from either the ship’s captain or the navigator. Diego Garcia was covered in plantations (copra, coconut, etc) in the 1800s. Between 1814 and 1965 it was a dependency of Mauritius. It then became part of the Chagos Archipelago, which belonged to the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory. The island remains a British dependency today but is leased to the US by the British. In 1970.

Once Diego Garcia had a small native population, known as the Ilois, or the Chagossians, many of whom were agricultural workers or fishermen. They were, however, forced to relocate (1967–1973) so that the island could be turned into a military base, much to strong protestations of other Indian Ocean islands, who objected to the island being used as a base for cruise missiles. Most of the Ilois now live in reduced circumstances in Mauritius’s shanty towns, more than 1,000 miles from their home. A smaller number were deported to the Seychelles. In 2000, a British court ruled that the order to evacuate Diego Garcia’s inhabitants was invalid, but the court also upheld the island’s military status, which permits only personnel authorized by the military to inhabit the island. The Ilois sued the British government for compensation and the right to repatriation, but in Oct. 2003 a British judge ruled that although the Ilois had been treated “shamefully” by the government, their claims were unfounded. Not much help, really. In 2004 the British government issued an “Order of Council” prohibiting islanders from ever returning to Diego Garcia.

A somewhat biased 2004 documentary by Australian journalist John Pilger called Stealing a Nation publicised the plight of the islanders. According to Mr Pilger, the islanders were tricked and intimidated into leaving until “the remaining population was loaded on to ships, allowed to take only one suitcase. They left behind their homes and furniture, and their lives. On one journey in rough seas, the copra company’s horses occupied the deck, while women and children were forced to sleep on a cargo of bird fertilizer. Arriving in the Seychelles, they were marched up the hill to a prison where they were held until they were transported to Mauritius. There, they were dumped on the docks.” Some of the Ilois are making return plans to turn Diego Garcia into a sugarcane and fishing enterprise as soon as the defense agreement expires (some see this as early as 2016). A few dozen other Ilois are still fighting to be housed in the UK.

Now, Diego Garcia is home to a military base jointly operated by the United States and the United Kingdom, although in practice it is said to be largely run as a US base, with only a small number of British forces and military police. No other economic activity is now allowed. The base serves as a naval refueling and support station. It is also equipped with airfields that have been used on missions to Iraq during the 1990 Gulf War, and to Afghanistan in the 2001 U.S. Attack on Afghanistan.

But still there is controversy. Human rights groups claim that the military base is used by the US government for the interrogation of prisoners (allegedly with methods illegal in the US). The British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said in the British parliament that the US authorities have repeatedly assured him that no detainees have passed in transit through Diego Garcia or have disembarked there. Intelligence analysts say Diego Garcia’s geographic isolation is now being exploited for other, more sinister purposes. They claim it is one of several secret detention centres being operated by the Central Intelligence Agency to interrogate high-value terrorist suspects known as “ghost detainees” or the “new disappeared,” beyond the reach of American or international law.

We are sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is still e-mailing strong and recently sent the Beetle a collection of travel reminiscences.

A friend of mine reading my Guam notes was also stationed in Guam whilst working in the Navy. He told me something interesting about a couple of Japanese soldiers that had hid in the jungles for many years not knowing the War was over. He said that one was something like a private and the other a Corporal and they had some kind of disagreement between them and did not speak to each other for a period of twenty years while hiding out in the jungle. Ha!

I am still enjoying reading A Sense of Place about travel writers by Michael Shapiro. I was surprised to learn that India is Rick Steves favourite country although he writes and conducts tours mostly in Europe. He said he would never take a tour group to India as it is unpredictable: “I wouldn’t want to be in charge of making twenty people happy in India”.

Me: I visited India three times taking India rail pass and loved it and found it fascinating, but like Rick Steves, I would not recommend it to others for fear they might get ill and blame me! Rick Steves says the Reichstag (new one) building in Berlin is a new glass dome that is open and free all the time so people can literally look over the shoulders of their legislators and know what’s on their desk and keep an eye on them. He has a building in Edmonds Washington where he employs sixty people. Here, I thought it was just him with a backpack on his back roughing it through Europe, well, maybe along with a photographer! He says his tour guides for his tours are the best paid in Europe. I suspect his tours would be good for someone wanting to be with a group.

One of my favourite writers is Jan Morris. I started reading her when he was James Morris. Morris had sex change operation in Casablanca. He had been at one time an Intelligence officer in the British Army and accompanied the 1933 Everest expedition that reached the summit for the first time. He was married with four children. His wife and he still live together in Wales. I was disappointed when I heard he had become a woman as I prefer male travel writers. I guess I will have to reread his earlier work when he was a male to see if I can notice any difference in his travel writing as a woman.

The travel writer Eric Newby spent thirteen months in POW camps in World War II. He escaped in September 1943 immediately after the Italian armistice. A sympathetic Italian commander who was later beaten to death by the Germans let the prisoners escape. Newby who had recently broke his ankle left atop a mule. A Slovenian couple with anti-Fascist sympathies sheltered Newby who became smitten with their daughter Wanda. When it became unsafe for Newby to stay with Slovenian family, he sought shelter in the maternity hospital of a nearby hospital. But as the Germans closed in father of the family risked his life to drive Newby through Parma to a mountain hideout in the Po Valley. Ultimately Newby was recaptured and returned to prison camps but survived the war. Interesting accounts (to me)!

On continuing on the theme of travel writers, I’ve been reading Fodors’ Exploring India Author Fiona Dunlop 1998. On page 14, she says, “When a desert woman in Rajasthan (the most colourful and interesting section of India to me. Mac) dons a pido, a yellow veil with a large red spot, it announces her pregnancy and acceptance by the community. Simply being fertile is however not enough. Vedic verses honour sons followed by more sons but never daughters. When a boy is born conch shells are blown in Bengal and Assam and drums are beaten in Makargshtra. When a girl is born the women of Rajasthan retreat behind their veils and wail. In traditional Hindu households throughout India an ancient rite to produce a male child is still performed over pregnant women”.

In the 1980s a survey revealed that of 8,000 abortions carried out in India after prenatal sex determination only one was a male foetus. On page 15 the author talks about Muslims, who, unlike Hindus believing in resurrection after death and in the existence of heaven and hell. It is customary for Muslims to bury rather than cremate their dead.

If you would like to contact Mac, he can be e-mailed on: macsan400@yahoo.com

Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain’s Kings and Queens since 1837. Built by George VI on the site of the King’s House, Pimlico, the shell of which was preserved by Nash, the architect. Marble Arch once stood in front, but it was later removed to the western end of Oxford Street where the famous Tyburn Gallows once stood. When Queen Victoria moved here in 1837, just 10 years after the works had been carried out, it was barely habitable. There are 600 rooms in the Palace, of which under twenty can be visited, as well as the Queen’s Picture gallery and the Mews.

It originated as a town house that was owned from the beginning of the eighteenth century by the Dukes of Buckingham. Today it is The Queen’s official residence. It is regularly on the top ten lists of worse places to visit by those that have, but still draws huge numbers of those that haven’t. Some say that it is a nice place to view from the outside, though the crowds can be horrendous. If the Royal Standard is flying over the palace then the Queen’s in residence.

Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by the Queen, areas of Buckingham Palace are opened to visitors on a regular basis. The Palace is also the venue for great Royal ceremonies, State Visits and Investitures, all of which are organised by the Royal Household. Besides being the official London residence of the Queen, it is also the administrative headquarters of the Monarchy, including the offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family.

The State Rooms of the Palace are open to visitors during the Annual Summer Opening in August and September. They are lavishly furnished with items from the Royal Collection including paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Poussin, Canaletto and Claude; sculpture by Canova and Chantrey; examples of Sèvres porcelain; and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world. Visits to Buckingham Palace can be combined with visits to The Queen’s Gallery, which reopened in May 2002. The nearby Royal Mews is open from 5 March to 31 October 2005.

For those who do receive an invitation to Buckingham Palace, the first step across the threshold is into the Grand Hall and up the curving marble stairs of the Grand Staircase. Portraits are still set in the walls, as they were by Queen Victoria. The Throne Room, sometimes used during Queen Victoria’s reign for Court gatherings and as a second dancing room, is dominated by a huge arch supported by a pair of winged figures of ‘victory’ holding garlands above the ‘chairs of state’. It is in the Throne Room that the Queen, on special occasions like Jubilees, receives loyal addresses. Another use of the Throne Room has been for formal wedding photographs.

George IV’s original palace lacked a large room in which to entertain. Queen Victoria rectified that shortcoming by adding in 1853-5 what was, at the time of its construction, the largest room in London. It is 22 feet long, 60 feet wide and 45 feet high, the Ballroom is the largest multi-purpose room in Buckingham Palace. It was opened in 1856 with a ball to celebrate the end of the Crimean War. The Ballroom has been used variously as a concert hall for memorial concerts and performances of the arts and it is the regular venue for Investitures of which there are usually 21 a year – nine in spring, two in the summer and ten in the autumn. At Investitures, the Queen (or the Prince of Wales as her representative) will meet recipients of British honours and give them their awards, including knighting those who have been awarded knighthoods.

It is along the East Gallery that the Queen and her State guests process to the Ballroom for the State Banquet normally held on the first day of the visit. Around 150 guests are invited and include members of the Royal family, the government and other political leaders, High Commissioners and Ambassadors and prominent people who have trade or other associations with the visiting country. Today, it is used by the Queen for State banquets and other formal occasions such as the annual Diplomatic Reception attended by 1,500 guests. This is a very formal occasion during which The Queen will meet every head of mission accredited to the Court of St James’s. For the diplomats it is perhaps the highlight of the annual diplomatic social calendar.

From the Ballroom, the West Gallery, with its four Gobelin tapestries, leads into the first of the great rooms that overlook lawn and the formal gardens – setting for the annual Garden Parties introduced by Queen Victoria in 1868.

The State Dining Room is one of the principal State Rooms on the West side of the Palace. Many distinguished people have dined in this room including the 24 holders of the Order of Merit as well as presidents and prime ministers.

Before the Ballroom was added to the Palace in the 1850s, the first State Ball was held in the Blue Drawing Room in May 1838 as part of the celebrations leading up to Queen Victoria’s Coronation.

The Music Room was originally known as the Bow Drawing Room and is the centre of the suite of rooms on the Garden Front between the Blue and the White Drawing Rooms.

Four Royal babies – The Prince of Wales, The Princess Royal, The Duke of York and Prince William – were all christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Music Room. One of its more formal uses is during a State Visit when guests are presented to The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and the visiting Head of State or for receptions.

The last of the suite of rooms overlooking the gardens on the principal floor is the White Drawing Room. Originally called the North Drawing Room, it is perhaps the grandest of all the State Rooms. The Room also serves as a Royal reception room for The Queen and members of the Royal family to gather before State and official occasions.

The Bow Room is familiar to the many thousands of guests to Royal Garden Parties who pass through it on their way to the garden. It was originally intended as a part of George IV’s private apartments – to be the King’s Library – but it was never fitted up as such. Instead, it has become another room for entertaining and is where The Queen holds the arrival lunch for a visiting Head of State at the start of a State visit.

If you are looking for a job at Buckingham Palace, they are regularly advertised on the official website: https://www.rct.uk/visit/buckingham-palace