As we stop at a Love's fuel station (local fuel station brand) after riding through the northern part of Alabama on our way East I told Charmaine that it is unbelievable that one country can be blessed with so much natural beauty. We’ve cris-crossed the country since mid July and have seen the most gorgeous natural scenery and wildlife on our entire journey so far.

When they heard that we are from Africa, most Americans reckon that we are blessed and must see lots of wild animals in Africa. The truth is just the opposite, especially if you travel with a motorcycle. The sad fact is that you will travel through the entire African Continent and see no wild animal, unless you pay top dollar and enter a Game Reserve, which is sometimes nothing more than a big safari park. And on a motorcycle, forget it china, you aint going in. . . . ....
 

We found North America to be far wilder than Africa when it comes to Animals and Wilderness. The ride between Memphis and Atlanta was no different. This Southern Part of the States is regarded by some locals as "overpopulated" with little wilderness' but all we could see next to the big Interstate was woods and trees with the most beautiful autumn colours as far as the eye can see. We enjoyed the dry weather after a few days of extreme cold and rain in Memphis. Memphis is another story, and if it wasn't for Graceland it would not be a town to visit at all. Graceland was a highlight' and we spent most part of the day learning about the life of the world's most famous singer' Elvis Presley. His home (Graceland) is so popular that it gets over 600,000 visitors per year' second only to the White House in DC. We've seen the house with a lot of his awards in' his cars' his Army career and his private airplane. His plane' Lisa Marie' is far more luxurious and nicer that the old Air Force One we've seen in Seattle' and both planes are from the same era. Memphis is also apparently famous for Beale Street. Beale Street is known for the home of Blues' so we went there for the evening' and visited the Rock 'n Soul Museum. This is a museum dedicated to Rock 'n Roll and Soul Music. The Southern part of the USA is where this music types originated from. It was also interesting to learn that this part of the USA had a very similar history than us in South Africa. They too had government rules that segregated black and white from each other' in exactly the same way we had. It was the music of the poor communities (black and white) in this area that brought the cultural differences together, and lets face it, no other country in the world loves music like the Americans. Beale Street was nothing to write home about, and was sadly infested with chances and beggars who made our Beale Street experience unpleasant' similar to the locals in Tanzania. One guy wanted to "sell" his dirty "black" jokes to us' when we told him we are not interested he still told us these jokes and asked for "donation" afterwards. His jokes were not funny or amusing, it was just plain stupid, and I felt like telling him to get off his arse and get a job to earn honest money. Instead, we just shacked our heads and walked on ignoring him. He was not the only one, there were a few others too that has nothing to offer, but want money from you. They are all the same over the world, and use the same technique so that you can recognise them easily, these chances, their first approach is always friendly, and most of the time they will address you as their "friend': even though they've never met you before. Then they will pretend they know something about your country when they find out where you"re from. It seems the only thing they know about South Africa is Nelson Mandela' and nothing more. Then they'll tell you a sad story and that they need money to feed their children or a hospital treatment or something in these lines. We were relieved to be out of there and for the first time in America felt a bit intimidated by the "bad element".

During our time in Memphis we got to meet Tetsu, a Japanese RTW traveller on his Africa Twin. He was the brave type, as he was heading north to Montreal, Canada while we were heading south trying to escape the cold weather. In Atlanta we stayed with another lovely CMA couple, Ed and Karen. We got our Mexican visas at the embassy in Atlanta in record time, the same day, so we headed further south and stayed with Russ and Rhea Ward in Macon, Georgia. Rhea is better known by the local CMA'ers as "The Banjo lady". She plays Bluegrass music, and we got to go with them to one of her shows the one evening in a opry near Macon. An opry is a place where local musician's get the chance to entertain the locals with their talent. There was a dance floor with some folk dancing on the tunes.(Hear Rhea’s music on our New York and Sturgis youtube videos, search jc4ever) From Macon we went down to the Okefenokee swamp in southern Georgia, where we went on a bout ride in the most amazing waterways and alleys through the swamp. It was stunning and we got to see our first Alligator, a local water tortoise and the local Turkey Vulture. The second night we endured our coldest temperature  so far, even colder than what we had in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska! It was time to get seriously south. . . . . . so we got on the Interstate and head for Miami and the Florida Keys. Miami and the East coast seem like a place for a person who like the city buzz, in other words not really our cup of tea, but interesting though. Our time down on the Keys was awesome, and we loved it down there. Temperatures was very pleasant and the scenery of the Tropical waters was top class. We stayed on Long Key, a State Park right on a beach that reminded us a lot of Zanzibar. At night we were entertained by Racoons trying to steel some of our left over foods, and they succeeded in steeling our neighbours whole dinner right next to him. We thought it was funny and amusing, but he did not agree and was out there looking for the "bandits" till late in the night. Back in Miami we got to meet Bill and Nancy, and stayed with Bill a few nights. We got to learn from them what it is like living in an area that has Hurricane treats every year.  Bill told us how Hurricane Andrew changed his whole life when it flattened and destroyed all his belongings some 15 years ago. He is still busy building a house with steel structure that can withstand 150mph winds, a massive and expensive task indeed. Both Bill and Nancy agreed that Miami is a lost paradise, as like most cities with a financial boom, it gets overpopulated and a big foreign cultural influence that is not always desirable and acceptable to the born locals and conservative folk.We heard the same argument in Dubai from long time residents and locals there too. . . . .We also visited the Everglades National Park, and saw some beautiful water birds, alligators and the endangered American Crocodile up-close.

Epos gestuur 5 December 2008 ..............Texas hier kom ons!

Ons is weer terug in New Orleans.................Ons was by die embesade van Panama, en word toe meegedeel dat die visa eers dalk in Januarie sal deurkom! Ons moet teen volgende week uit die land (VSA) wees, en kan nie langer hier wag nie. Ons reel toe met die ou om ons aansoek te forward na die embesade in Costa Rica, waar ons hopelik die visa kan optel. Intussen kyk ek ook na moontlikhede om Panama te skip, ons sal maar sien. . . . . Die embesade is egter baie vriendelik en ons word goed behandel, die openhoud is te danke aan 'n klomp vakansie dae in Panama.