Ride the lightning

 

Translation courtesy of María Urruti 

"Flash before my eyes
Now it's time to die
Burning in my brain
I can feel the flame"

Ride the lightning - Metallica - 

It's really impossible to predict when our time can come; that moment, that one time that we all in one way or another fear. In order not to worry, we can go through life trying to ignore that it will come , or  we might as well live worried all the time thinking that we have more chances to prevent it. Whatever the attitude we take, we all know about its eventual inevitability. When I set off for Lesotho, mostly every imaginable thing was in my mind, except the possibility to be even remotely close to death. What I would remember a few days later though, is that death is always potentially near us at all times. 

Out of Africa

Finally, after 10 months of riding across the east of Africa I arrived in South Africa, the great, and probably the only real, industrial power of this continent. This is the last country before completing the tour around the first half of Africa. Honestly speaking, I had never been particularly attracted to this country, but since it was on the way it wasn't a matter of avoiding it on purpose neither. It is true that the one who doesn't see, doesn't know, but today, after having spent two months in this country for which I hadn't originally felt interest, I have the certainty that had I not come, I would've probably missed one of the greatest gifts of traveling in Africa. During my stay in South Africa, I felt more in more in love with it and its people every day that passed, turning it easily in one of my favorites in the world.

In the blink of an eye

 

When I opened my eyes after crossing the border, I entered Swaziland, then I blinked and when I opened my eyes again I was already back at the South African border. That's the feeling that I got from my flying visit here. Swaziland is a country the size of freckle within this massive continent and I almost certain that most of the people in this world don't know it even exists. I needed a little less than two days to ride across its entirety from side to side. Neither its hilly terrain, nor its bad weather I had were enough to extend my stay a day longer.

2015 in retrospective

2015 has finally come to an end. A chaotic year that started as one of the most difficult of my life but ended as one of the best. Life may kick you mercilessly sometimes, but afterwards, it will always find a way to compensate you with joy, for the sorrow it put you through. That is what 2015 was for me; it was falling from heaven, shatter myself against the ground and stand up again to pick up the pieces and rebuild myself. All this process lived on a bicycle along thousands upon thousands of miles across the African continent. But beyond the miseries and times of joy, it was an intense year of great lessons that will definitely not pass unnoticed. 

Today, only 3 days into 2016, I look back to share in this post, some of the most intense moments of each month of 2015. One per month. It was a very difficult choice but here it goes:

January - I find myself in the idyllic Indian ocean coast of Mozambique going through a very rough emotional situation. The beauty of the country and its adorable people give me the strength to carry on without losing faith.