Kabale, Uganda
Posted by: Charley Boorman | Date posted: 12/07/2007
Pictures
Charley gears up for another wheelie ©
Charley and Ewan spoke to Chris Moyles on his show this morning about what they’ve been up to in the last week. You can listen to the show again or download the podcast at the Radio 1 website. Read on for the highlights.
Calling from a grey and rainy London, Chris speaks to Charley first of all.
'Well I'm standing here, looking out at this most beautiful delta, and I've got elephants walking past me. Just to, you know, make you guys jealous.'
Charley goes on to talk about their time in Uganda, where he's been practising his party piece again...
'Uganda is a kind of cool place, very cool people,' Charley explains. 'They love people popping wheelies, so, not that I'd advise anyone to do it on the street obviously, but they like that. There's lots and lots of people who are on motorbikes, and there are little motorbike taxis, and they sort of gather around corners and stuff, and you slow down and pop a second gear wheelie as you pass them, and you hear all of the shouts and screams, it's fantastic fun!'
Chris is amazed that he can manage a wheelie when the bikes are so heavy.
'Well there's so much on the back that all you have to do is twist the grip and the whole thing comes up!' he explains.
Thrill-seeker Charley had even more fun on the white water rapids in Jinja.
'I can remember at one stage going down this massive level five rapid, which is one of the highest levels you can do, and they said try not to fall out because it's quite rough, and all I can remember is it was like someone had grabbed me and was pulling me from the boat, and I could see everyone's faces going 'CHARLEY!' as I went flying out into the water. It was hilarious! Good fun.'
Handing over to Ewan, it seems he has slipped into a time-warp, and is coming to us live from Radio 1 in the 1970s...
'Radio 1 Roadshow!' he sings. 'Hi, It's Ewan McGregor here, live from Uganda...'
Chris has received a tip-off from a listener this week, and has something he wants to clear up. Have Ewan and Charley been nightclubbing since they last spoke?
'Oh yeah,' confirms Ewan, 'we went out to a nightclub called The New Cadillac. It was brilliant! We had a really good night out. It was quite an eye-opener actually.'
Ewan doesn't need to say a message for his wife, Eve, because he will actually be seeing her very soon, he explains to Chris.
'She decided that she wanted to come and do part of the journey with us, and she wanted to ride her own motorcycle. She'd never ridden a bike before in her life, so she's spent the last nine or ten months learning how to ride a bike, and she's actually in Malawi at the moment. She's coming up in a pick-up truck with a fixer and her motorcycle on the back to meet us, and we're riding down towards the Malawian border and we're all going to meet up there.'
Chris is worried that this will upset Charley.
'It's OK', he explains. 'We had a long talk, we had a long sit-down chat about it, and he understands. It's OK, it's OK. In every relationship there are periods of time like this, you know? When we have to be with our wives!'
But Charley must be heart-broken?
'Don't make me out to be the bad guy!' cries Ewan, 'I've been married to her for twelve years!'
Charley loved the white water rafting - and you had some great stories to share about thrill-seeking adventures on your travels. See them below.
Comments
Comments 1 - 10 of 29
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At 05:06:34 PM on 12/07/2007, Michael Lobodzinski (Toronto, Ontario - CANADA) wrote:
BC White water!!!!
Best place I've been rafting was near Squamish B.C. I'm sure some fellow CANADIANS who frequent this site will agree! Props once again to all you CANUCKS rooting for Charlie and Ewan!!
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At 05:17:54 PM on 12/07/2007, Richard AW Tortorella (Langley, BC, Canada) wrote:
BC White water!!!!
I couldn't agree more with Michael L - BC Rapids are great! oddly enough I am heading rafting in 3 weeks - it is amazing! Let's hope you come this way one day to see for yourselves! With that said, for me, the adventure itself is a thrill - just getting on the open road with nothing to do but enjoy it, is beyond any type of thrill out there. Ride safe, Richard T.
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At 05:19:06 PM on 12/07/2007, Evil Puppy (Istanbul TURKEY) wrote:
Thrills ???
I've not been on any "thrill seeking" adventure - well, at least not INTENTIONALY! There was this one time when we climbed down a mountain with NO lights at night.. The guy that took us up was like "it's no problem climbing down, we won't need any flashlights" - easy for him to say. He's been up there God knows how many times! I was soo mad at him. In the end everyone made it down OK though! Now by watching these series I am gathering courage and ideas to attempt to see the rest of the world.. Though it won't be on bikes (cause I don't know how!)& probably not last this long, it is a very exciting idea! Now, if only I can convince someone to travel with me...
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At 06:18:41 PM on 12/07/2007, Kristen Olsen (Vancouver, BC) wrote:
Rafting
Me three on the BC rapids -- I went rafting in the Kooteneys last summer and it was not only a blast, but the scenery was beautiful. Stay safe and keep having fun on your trip!
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At 06:56:26 PM on 12/07/2007, Stacey (Ellerslie, GA USA) wrote:
Sweet!
Awesome that Eve gets to join you, Ewan! Poor Charley though... who will snuggle him at night? :D Lovin' your updates from the American south :) Come this way sometime and I'll make you some apple pie!
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At 07:39:40 PM on 12/07/2007, Sarah (Bacton, Norfolk) wrote:
Hightlight
The highlight of my day is coming home from work and logging on to see where the boys are. Thank you, it's all been fantastic so far and I truly admire the whole team's stamina and commitment - absolutely awe inspiring!
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At 08:12:19 PM on 12/07/2007, Alex Hart (Portland, OR) wrote:
Extreme Thrills
I just returned from White Water Rafting in the High Desert on the Deschutes River where we encountered a class 4. My biggest Class was a 6 with an 18ft drop in the Columbia Gorge at White Salmon.
My other extreme sport I recently did was in Hawaii, where I Ziplined on the island of Kauai. Ziplines included ones 200ft up to 960ft across. Here's a link of footage I shot and produced. http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=12008981 -
At 09:01:08 PM on 12/07/2007, Duncan (age 7) (Brooklyn Park, MN. USA) wrote:
A little 7 yar olds advice...
"When youre falling off our bike you just have to remember the good stuff like seeing the elephants." Duncan has Tourette Syndrome and sturggles with the tics. He always looks on the bright side. He says, "If there's something youre not good at like faling off your bike, just remember the stuff your'e really good at. God give you special talents and things that are hard- He gives you both. So, when there's something you do really really bad or something awful that happens to you- then you just have to look for the super cool thing about you that makes everything equal out." Good luck on your trip and thanks for helping the kids with Unicef!!
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At 09:19:45 PM on 12/07/2007, Mandy (St.Neots) wrote:
Eve
I think it's great that Eve is coming to join you. Definitely need more women on bikes. I like going to rallies and on ride-outs but I'm always sadly outnumbered. The kids love going pillion as well (although sometimes it's nice to escape!)So come on girls, get riding.
At 05:00:18 PM on 12/07/2007, richard a munns (warrington) wrote:
wish i was with you guys
keep it up guys, your doing a great job, wish i could do somthing like this, but now you guys have done it so there is no point in me trying anything like it. lol because its been done boo hoo...
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