Motorcycle Explorer February 2015 Issue 4 | Page 232

Healthy
Overlanding
by
Dr Pat Garrod
Pat Garrod , with his pillion, wife and fellow GP
Vanessa, spent four years riding a BMW R100GS, ‘The Bear’,
100,007 miles around the world, a journey you may be familiar
with through Pat’s highly acclaimed book, BEARBACK, The
world overland.
Prior to this they rode from Cairo to Cape Town in 1995.
Between 2006 and 2009 they circumnavigated the entire
African continent, some 40,000 miles, crossing the Algerian
Sahara, both Congos and eventually returning through Libya
just prior to the Arab Spring, always 2-up and still on the trusty
Bear. They now keep a Land Rover Defender near Cape Town
having spent six months covering another 20,000 miles
exploring the wildlife-rich areas of southern Africa, this time on
four wheels rather than two. Still travelling and still
maintaining careers as GPs in the emergency sector MEM is
delighted to welcome them on board with a series of regular
features and top tips, concentrating, mostly, on the medical
aspects of overland travel.