LONG WAY DOWN -motorcycling from Scotland to So Africa

A few years ago I watched a TV series/documentary called LONG WAY ROUND, which features "Star Wars" movie star Ewan McGregor and his friend Charlie motorcycling around the world. It was a fascinating journey to watch as they motorbiked east through Europe, China, Russia, hopped a boat to Alaska, then biked across North America.

Playing around with my ROKU box I stumbled upon a second series/documentary where the same team motorcycles from John o'Groat at the northern tip of Scotland down to Cape Town South Africa. This journey is called LONG WAY DOWN and was filmed a couple years later.

LONG WAY ROUND and LONG WAY DOWN are both available from HULU+

Not sure why, but I'm fascinated by travel journey's like this. Its interesting to see how different each of the African nations are. Cross a border and desert turns into lush green landscape. Some nations require armed guards for protection, others are safe for lone travel. Some have modern paved roads, others gravel paths. And then there are the stories of the people they meet along the way.

Many years ago, when I lived in the UK, a guy I worked with quit to make a similar journey on a motorcycle with his Australian girlfriend. He took a slightly different route from London, England to end up in Brisbane, Australia. In pre-email days it was fascinating to get his letters about every month. It was also a lot safer back then. How the world has changed in the last 30+ years.