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. ~ ·--- , - l -- - I ~". -, ~ d...J l CI 'f'f-:r~_CjJ A/bees African Bike Safari CLeft) Young elephants play, ignoring the truck full of slack-Jawed dirt-bike riders on a morning game drive. IAbove) We passed many small villages. Here, a woman winnows grain, which she'll later use to prepare a meal. (Above right) One of the flrst things you do upon arrival in Zimbabwe Is visit world·famous Victoria Falls_ (Below) Well-learned in African flora, fauna and customs, guide Anton tries to share his knowledge while the group takes a break on a scenic rock outcropping overtooklng miles of wilderness. CLeft) Though Zimbabwe Is a fairly dry country, It's not African·desert dry. In fact, most of It Is bush iand like this. CLeft) The chase trucks also carry ample fuel (besides spares, food, water and your baggage). (Below left) Wart hogs: We saw plenty of these fellows that only a mother wart hog could love. (Below) Albee's tours leave plenty of time for Just playing around. (Below right) While our tour kept mostly to dirt roads In order to cover big miles, Albertyn has since rerouted the tour to include lots of slngl....track trails, though you can stili go dirt roads the whole way. miles of film with jaws agape at the abundance of elephants, impala, wart hogs, zebra, baboons, crocodiles, hippos, fish eagles and other indigenous wildlife. This is nothing like your local zoo. Eventually, we got even closer to nature. Our ride took us to a tentcamp, where we spent the night quite not unlike Dr. Stanley Uvingston. From here, the Albertyns have since added two overnight stays at the lakeside resort of Gache Gache and the island of Fothergill Island, named after Rupert Fothergill who was instrumental in carrying out Operation Noah. Here, one should expect to see a lion or two wandering around, since the area is claimed to have the second-highest concentration of these animals in all of Africa. 42 JULv17,2002' c: U c: I • Our next stop was the town of Kariba. From there, the tour took an aquatic turn, as the next two days were spent aboard a large houseboat as it leisurely explored the lake. Small craft enabled us to view game along the shores, or even to fish when the houseboat set anchor in an inlet for the night. The tiger fish is prized for its fighting ability, and it's commonly found in Lake Kariba. The time on the houseboat is definitely a great way to unwind and bench-race. Just don't expect to go swimming, as the lake is full of crocodiles along the shore. Before I knew it, we came to the eighth and final day of the tour, as the houseboat took us back to Lake Kariba. From there, we headed back to the small airport for a n _ VII' S return flight to Johannesburg and then home. As far as the actual riding, the tour we went on utilized a lot of simple dirt roads, similar to that of a leisure dual-sport ride. After gathering our input, though, Albee and Colin have searched out more interesting singletrack that'll keep intermediate-level riders more challenged and entertained. (The four-wheel-drive trucks carrying your baggage will still take the dirt roads, as those are really the sole means of connecting many of the towns; paved roads remain rare in these parts.) While the dirt roads reminded us at times of those in Baja, the scenery was completely different - African bush all the way, with scrub-covered wilderness stretching from horizon to Your Host Albee's African Bike Safari 2276 Griffin Way, Ste. 105-PMB 184 Corona, CA 92879 949/589-1324 www.motosafllri.c:om Your Cost $3900 (includes bike rental, fuel, food, lodging, soft drinkslbottled water, chartered air flights, tour of Victoria Falls, time on houseboat, game drives/walks, "booze cruise" on first night, and more). Price does not include air fare to/from Johannesburg, South Africa; nor does it .include items like souvenirs, airport taxes. tips, phone calls and extra activities.