It seems that the high season increase in tourists has begun. The most obvious signs are the people who are more than 25% above the ideal body weight, who have not seen sunshine in about a year, in their bikini's or speedo low risers and flip flops, motoring along the roadway at 80KM an hour without a helmet. The sun glistening off the undulating rolls of lily white fat, enough to cause temporary blindness. The German ambassador seemed to have summarized it best a few weeks ago in an interview with the local paper.referring to them as idiots who would never even dream about doing this at home, but will want the air ambulance paid for by the government to get back to their own country hospitals.
I have had 2 near misses this past week and the scenario is the same. Tourists on a motorbike, taking delight in going through red lights or crossing traffic to get to the other side and forgetting that the oncoming traffic is opposite to what they have at home. The screams of the girlfriend on the back still resonate in my ears and I was proud to be able to control my skidding on hot asphalt, although Clive was certain that he would be watching me fly through the air. Of course going 50KM or less is a good factor in my favour, and knowing that you always look left, look right, look left again and then right and then go. There is no forgiveness at the red lights, as the crossing traffic has begin to rev up when they have 4 seconds left on their red light and as it blinks green, they are off like a herd of stampeding horses. Perhaps I have become too adjusted to riding here and the defensive training I have had suits me well, it's the people who put their bodies and minds into vacation mode that scare me now.
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