Brendan's Adventures

With a full moon rolling through the sky, I zip my safari tent shut while leaving the screen open enough to watch the light show of a night in Chobe National Park.  The stars pierce the early night sky before the full near-full moon chases them into hiding and me into a sleep. Curled up [...]

In stark contrast to the peaceful day I had cruising the Zambezi River, or the calm of a flight in a helicopter I took over Victoria Falls, today I’m gripping the cold rails of a speed boat while bouncing over rapids and tearing inches past cliff edges.  Jet Boat Extreme plies the waters of the [...]

“Are we going to be able to cross that?” “I don’t think so,” I reply to a group of guests from Jollyboys Backpackers. “The geometry of it doesn’t work.” The bus driver asks us to step out of the vehicle and then proceeds to slam the vehicle into the walls over a deep ditch grooved into the [...]

Heavy mist dusts the air across the old colonial bridge downwind from the famed Victoria Falls.  Joining Zambia to Zimbabwe, the bridge is more than just a border, it’s the scene of screams.  At the midpoint of the bridge, a ledge hangs vicarious from the lip and the enthusiastic shuffle their bound feet to the [...]

I drag my bags from the cozy guesthouse bed in Mbanza-Ngungu, DRC where I spent 2 days in complete peace recovering from malaria and toss it on the back of my scooter which is held together by little more than duct tape and love.  I have a couple hours of driving left until I reach [...]

This is a continuation of the story from yesterday.  Read this article first… ————————- Pastel blue walls surround me as does a combined congregation of people in white shirts, random children and an authority figure of some sort.  My arm is taped to a t-shirt and the bed.  I look at my hand and it [...]

My arrival in Brazzaville was meant to be one of joy; the closing of a chapter if you will.  In many ways it is.  I arrived at the beautiful and friendly confines of the overlander paradise known as Hipocampe.  I am reunited with Jeroen and Sonja, the overlanding couple from Holland I’ve dubbed Double Dutch.  There is [...]

Overlanders talk about the road from the Gabonese border into the Congo as the worst road in Africa.  So I obviously wasn’t too keen on the fact that my day wasn’t going all too well to start.  I certainly wasn’t keen on finding myself where I am now, laying down on my side, Ann Murray laying on top of me, sand [...]

Through the bars I see Anne Murray parked in the dark confines of a storage room.  She has a brace tied to her wheel and a tag wrapped around neck.  A series of events that could only happen in rural Africa have left Anne imprisoned.  Only a case of bad luck could have me on [...]

A while ago I was given the opportunity to visit the Costa Brava region of Spain. Unfortunately, I was in the bushes of Africa being chased by elephants. Thus, I sent one of my awesome columnists from Vagabundo Magazine instead. Ash always takes great photos and can write with the best of them to boot. [...]

You know, it’s funny.  I remember leaving the coast of Ghana, and heading for Togo, thinking to myself how the trip had been too easy thus far.  I had these grand dreams of writing an adventure novel about my scooter trip from Mali to South Africa.  However, nothing really exciting was happening.  Sure, I was [...]

I can hear the alarm clock on my desk across the room singing its creepy song.  I must have accidentally chosen the ghost alarm tone. It’s fitting.  I roll my bruised body out of bed landing on one knee at the edge.  I press both hands to the bedside, shove myself to my feet and [...]

During my scooter trip down Africa, I haven’t written much about what it’s actually like to be on the road with the scooter.  Thus, I thought rather than writing about another destination along the trail I’d write a little bit about the journey itself.  I have spent so much time on the bike so far [...]

I sit on the foot of my bed.  The soles of my shoes swing carelessly inches above the dusty tiled floor of my Beninese hotel room. “Shit” I say to myself looking down at the light hairs standing on the top of my knees. I’ve forgot to put my pants on before putting on my [...]