TRAVERSE 135
TRAVEL - SOUTH AFRICA
CHRIS VENTER
BLIND AND HERE TO STAY
As I sit and write this , it has been exactly ten years since my journey of a lifetime . A decade ago , I was ploughing through Africa ’ s highways and byways , on a tiny two stroke Vespa scooter . The very trip that would change my life and the way that I see the world . My eight months of adventure that would create the story for my first book , but also rob me of my sight . It is still so hard to believe that my love for adventure would change my life so much and would forever alter the way I have to see the world .
There have been numerous adventures since that fateful year . Thousands of kilometres travelled on motorcycles and sometimes projects that saw me behind the wheel of a smorgasbord of vehicles . Loads more writing and a whole new life . Even some documentary filming and a whole new house built totally blind . But no matter what life has put in my path , I still yearn for a throttle in hand and a dirt road ahead of me , as far as the horizon shows . Today , my motorcycle trips have evolved into me being the pillion and how I enjoy these journeys has taken on a new meaning when everything I experience is through sound , smell , taste , and touch .
During and since my original safari on that scooter , many people have asked so many questions . One that always comes , why on a scooter ? It ’ s a simple answer . To create a different type of story . I talk about getting noticed and the benefit it brought to our chosen charity . I mention the idea that at least I could repair the Vespa if needed without help . I talk of my passion for the old scooters and scootering . What I fail to mention is that if given the chance to do it all over again , I very well may choose a quite different means of mobility .
You can imagine my excitement
TRAVERSE 135