C
ity stockbroker, Claire Elsdon, dreamed of ad-
venture, dreamed of escape. Standing on
the pegs of her Triumph Tiger
800xc, she dreamt of a life
without the mundane
drudgery of everyday
corporate toil as she commuted
to work each day.
Claire’s grandmother, in
her 80’s, commented that she
wished she’d had the cour-
age to pursue her dreams
when she was younger and
not be limited by the opin-
ions and comments of oth-
ers. This was all it took, Claire
threw in her job, pushed the
fears to the back of her mind
and set off zig zagging her way
down the length of Africa.
That ride, through 2012/13,
Claire saw first-hand the challenges
of communities within the African conti-
nent and what a difference something as sim-
ple as a motorcycle could make. Transport, healthcare,
TRAVERSE
economy were all impacted by the two-wheeled transport,
some positive, many negative.
Tanzania, where motorcycles had been used
since 2010 as taxis, was a great case in
point. A lack of road training, safety and
maintenance was taking a great toll.
Economically and socially, com-
munities were paying the price
as many riders, and passengers,
were being injured or killed. In
fact, it was suggested that 70%
of all motorcycle taxis have
accidents, to the point that
Tanzanian hospitals created
dedicated wards just for the
victims of motorcycle road
accidents. A shocking statis-
tic is that road-deaths are now
a greater problem in Africa than
malaria and HIV.
While the motorcycle was open-
ing Tanzania, creating opportunities for
the communities, Claire identified, through
a series of encounters with organisations using
motorcycles as a form of transport, a serious issue, some-
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