100 red motos, fueled and ready!

The morning fog and rain clouds burned away by 10 AM in Port Elizabeth, but not before dozens of dolphin swam past the hotel, some even playing in the chest-deep shorebreak. I've been in the ocean a lot, even seen sharks, seals, otters, and dolphins surface next to me. But I've never seen numbers like those.

I wandered over to the Radisson at 8:30, hoping to find others. No luck. When I returned at 11:30, I found the lot filled with 100 red Honda CRF230Ls, many with scrapes but otherwise shining and ready to go. I found one with my name on it.

Since the UK-based riders still hadn't arrived, I decided to go grab a quick bite at the compex next door, which has a hardware and grocery store (for future reference, fellow Enduros).

And while eating lunch at the beach, I met three UNICEF staff from Pretoria in town to help launch the ride. We spoke at length about UNICEF's exciting new, family-based antiretroviral care programs for infected children and their parents, parts of which were developed and tested with NIMH funding support, I'm pleased to say.

I helped spot another pod of dolphin for them - the first they'd ever seen - before they had to run to help organize the day's events.

Stay tuned. The adventure continues.