News from Jupiter
The end days of Triumph in LA
March 29, 2026
Doing housework on my computer I just now came across this little piece about my reception at the Triumph headquarters on the edge of Los Angeles. It was 1975 and I had come half-way round the world. They greeted me with laconic enthusiasm. For ten days they looked after me in considerable comfort. They put me up at a quite stylish motel called the […]
From My Notebooks In 1974: Southern Rhodesia
With all the tough travelling behind me I’ve still got a long way to go to reach Cape Town, but I’m looking forward to an easy ride, mostly on asphalt. I spent a couple of days in the capital, Salisbury (now renamed Harare) and moved on to a motel in Umtali (now Mutare) on the border with Moçambique. Now I’m following the border down the […]
From My Notebooks In 1974: Into White Rhodesia
March 22, 2026
February 8th Lusaka to Livingstone. Good sunny day with light cumulus, developing to storm clouds in late afternoon but generally off the road. Felt a real sense of the beautifulness of this earth, and as I contemplated the rich pasture land stretching out in all directions to the sound of lowing cattle, and remembered the thousands of miles since Nairobi (and before in Ethiopia) I […]
From My Notebooks In 1974: To Zambia
March 15, 2026
I’d been riding on this TanZam highway for two days, but my notes don’t reflect the chaotic nature of it. Because of the war in Angola this road had become provisionally the only outlet and supply route for Zambia – copper to the Indian Ocean and oil to Zambia. Much of it was dirt and in the process of construction. There were many diversions around […]
From My Notebooks In 1974: Kenya to Tanzania
March 8, 2026
After a few days in Mombasa, Malindi and Lamu, I rode on to the border at Lunga Lunga. In a strangely fearful mood. Monday, January 27th Rain stops. I drive on. No more tarmac. Packed sand. Looks like slippery trouble after the rain, reinforcing my expectation of disaster but it proves easy enough after all, and dries out quickly. But my thoughts stay morbid. […]
From My Notebooks In 1974: Still in Kenya
March 1, 2026
The heat on the road to Mombasa melts the patches on my inner tube, and I’m stuck. Kibwezi, 18th and 19th January Could have been just another place. Jumble of buildings on a dirt road. Buses pulling in. Stalls selling fruit and a few vegetables. Main store on the corner (Asian of course). [I cursed myself for not having what I needed to repair […]
From My Notebooks In 1974: Day 2 with the Turkana
February 22, 2026
Yesterday Lucas flew me to a remote tribal area, home of the Turkana, north of Nairobi and close to Lake Rudolph. This is my second day. Lodwar, January 10th [Outside the hospital, on the sand with Doctor ”Jerry” who invited me here. We’re waiting for the flying doctor who does operations.] Outdoor surgery. Doctor arrives in LandRover. Soon a woman arrives with her baby […]
From My Notebooks In 1974: Turkana in Lodwar, Kenya
February 15, 2026
Nairobi, Tuesday, January 8th Mike Pearson, the bluff and hearty boss of Lucas, Nairobi, says: “I say! We just bought a plane. Where would you like to go?” So I told him I’d got a postcard from a doctor working with the Turkana tribe in Lodwar. [Before I left London a few letters from readers arrived at the Sunday Times wishing me well. One was […]
From My Notebooks In 1974: Kenya
February 8, 2026
The road from Moyale, on the border, to Nairobi had a bad reputation. It was unpaved, of course, and boasted a rich variety of stones of all colours and sizes but I found it relatively easy. There was game of all sorts – I saw my first wild ostrich and giraffe – but no traffic, and it was dry. The vibration, however, finished the job […]
From My Notebooks In 1974: Ethiopia
February 1, 2026
On my way south from Lake Hawassa, the first stop was Yavello where I had an extraordinary dinner with two drunken teachers who tried to stuff their food into my mouth. I recorded none of this. Happily, when I came to write the book I remembered every detail, but not with pleasure. January 1st, 1974 New Year’s Day. Leave Yavello for Mega. Road is […]