A Dash South, and Back Again
It has been 18 days since we left Nairobi for South Africa, then returned to Kenya. In that time, we passed through 8 countries, 18 border posts, covered 9,000 kilometers and saw some of Africa's amazing beauty and realized just how vast of a continent we live and work on.
[caption id="attachment_1024" align="aligncenter" width="770"] Sunrise riding is beautiful[/caption]
A BRCK Expedition is meant to be challenging, as well as provide a testing environment for the device, and of course to have fun as well - this was all of those things.
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Philip fixes his broken throttle cable roadside, early morning in Tanzania[/caption]
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Our path to SA and back to KE[/caption]
Through the BRCK, and partners like Inmarsat (with their iSavi device), we were able to stay connected on the road to the internet. We learned about the hassles of SIM buying, registering, activating, buying airtime and converting that to internet data in each country. On the motorcycles we stayed in conversation using Sena headsets, which meant we could warn each other of dangers, as well as have conversations on future products and features (of which there are many). Around campfires in the night we discussed our current challenges and ways we could make things better.
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Inmarsat iSavi, BRCK, computer and solar panels[/caption]
The team back home, as well as our families, tracked our progress and helped us remotely out of some problems. Whether that was trying to get the information on the gap needed on a 1983 BMW R65 spark plug, or finding a place for us to camp in the next couple hours when things got a bit dicey. Having the ability to communicate and people who anchor the expedition team were amazing luxuries to have.
We used a couple channels for public updates, including the BRCK Twitter and Instagram accounts, Open Explorer as our geographic diary of sorts, and of course the BRCK blog. However, on the trip north we also had a cool gift from the Inmarsat team of a satellite tracker for the vehicle.
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The route back north to Kenya[/caption]
A Few of the Best and Worst Experiences:
[BEST] Makuzi Beach Malawi - a beautiful, unexpected, and much welcomed oasis. We did amazingly well on our 500km that morning, so were there by lunch and had a whole afternoon to rest, fix things and have some fun before continuing. [caption id="attachment_1016" align="aligncenter" width="770"]




