My Video Collection Entirely on Vimeo

In 2009 I completed a trilogy of travels in my faithful Honday Today NVS 50cc. All the videos produced from the footage gathered on those travels are now on VIMEO, a great community ready to host quality material. The forthcoming clips will also be hosted on VIMEO.

Here is the triology. Who knows what comes next!

2009 - Scooting in Dreamland - The Scootish Highlands and Hebrides

21 days - 5300 kms

2008 - Pizza Boy Goes to Sahara - Morocco

13 days - 3250 kms

2007 - Asturias Adventure - Spain

6 days - 1370 kms

Pizza Boy Goes to the Sahara - Teaser (VIDEO)

I also managed to find the time to edit a teaser clip of the much promised "movie" of the trip to Morocco, in the Summer of 2008.

Morocco... an adventure destination for Europeans. A whole different culture, the highest mountains of northern Africa (the Atlas chain), a smell of the biggest desert on the planet that announces itself in the South... And an adventure destination requires an adventure trail motorcycle to be explored, right? Well, check this teaser clip before making up your mind...

In the Summer of 2008 a pizza deliverer ;-) travels through the heart of "Berber land", conquers the Gorges of Dadès and Todra, only to know how a desert storm looks like and returns home with his dream fulfilled. And this in his toy scooter.

In my unsupported self-filmed Moroccan tour of 3250 kms in 13 days, I spent a total of 210 euros in food, fuel and accomodation... the later under the stars, mostly - the best life has to offer. This is only a teaser... the complete story is yet to come. Stay tuned...

The musical credits are due to Alex Khaskin.

The Scootish Highlands - August 2009 (VIDEO)

This was my last scooter trip, in the Summer of 2009.

Lay back and enjoy the wonderful scenery of the Scottish Highlands and Outer Hebrides.

21 days, 6 ferry boats, 5300 kilometers in a 50 cc, 4 stroke, 4 hp scooter, from Portugal to the Scottish Highlands, Outer Hebrides (Harris & Lewis), the Isle of Skye and back to my country - these are the numbers and such was the adventure. I have nearly zero experience in videography and film editing (as it can easily be observed). I traveled solo, with no trip or movie planning, with no backup and I camped wild many nights. The average speed was below 40 kph. I purposedly decided to leave the footage untouched; this means that the images you are watching weren't post-processed in any way.

This was my third trip in this 50 cc scooter and it was by far the most expensive, mainly due to the several ferry crossings. I'm a firm believer that one doesn't need a lot of money or expensive heavy machines to enjoy the best life has to offer.

This won't be my only film about the journey; at least one more will come out one day. There are also a lot of unforgettable moments that were left out of this movie. They simply cannot be captured in images. For the most, I'm thinking about the many interesting people I met along my way.

I'm thankful to a bunch of friends who inspired this and other previous adventures. The Nomad's Club of Portugal and the "Sydoníticos" were certainly the most influential, but there are many others. My warmest thanks to Toni Parente and Teófilo, two friends that always toke care of my little Honda Today like a baby. I had zero problems during the journey.

Long Time No See...

I know, it's unforgivable... Not posting anything for a long time. I've been posting directly on forums or friends' mailings lists... Or even my facebook network. But I still want to keep the essentials in one place. And this is it.

Pictures of Morocco

I'm back from Morocco and finally with some time to update the blog. As I had anticipated, I had to give up my initial plan of jumping from island to island to finally "land" on Morocco. The good news were that I had more time to dedicate to explore this wonderful country. I went much further south than I ever though and "survived" around 60 degrees Celsius near M'hamid, near the Algerian border. I'm smiling about the whole thing but it wasn't all fun back then. Enjoy the first photos. I'll shortly publish a FAQ and I am currently editing the video.







Great machines at 2700+ meters (8850+ feet) high, near Agoudal






Four "Adventures" in the neighbourhood of Midelt ;)




Approaching M'hamid




Cirque de Jaafar area




Pastures near Imilchil, in the Atlas mountains





Lake Eslit, close to Imilchil




Mohamed, Lake Eslit sheppard




Atlas village




"Salade du Maroc"




Road in the deep south

A Moroccan Adventure

While Iberia begins to appear small for the tiny Honda Today :-) a plan started to build up in my mind. My initial idea was to take advantage of the ultra recent ferry connection between the southern coastal city of Portimão (Portugal), the Portuguese Madeira and Porto Santo islands, and the Spanish Canary Islands. This ferry connection is ran by the company Naviera Armas, and just started operating one month ago. The same company also held the ferry connection between Puerto del Rosario (in the Canary Island of Fuerteventura) and Tarfaya in the Moroccan coast. This would be perfect for a tour like the one in the map on the left.

While working on this plan, two difficulties arose. Firstly, the connection between Portugal and Madeira/Canary Islands operates only once a week. This would be too less for my time window, if I wanted to take my time bumping around in both Madeira and the Canary Islands (as I always like... I hate to rush...). Secondly, the most severe restriction. I found out that the Assalama, the ferry boat that allowed the connection between Fuerteventura and Tarfaya, had sunk last April 30th! (see Youtube video here). Even though there are rumors that Naviera Armas intends to replace this connection with a ferry connection between the Canary Island of Lanzarote and Agadir, in Morocco, there are still no official news (the ones that matter) from the company.

Well, this forced a change of plans. I'll leave the relaxed island tour for later. I decided to head to Morocco "only". What?? Morocco, with this tiny hair dryer (as some of my friends call it... :-) )? You must be kidding... Oh no... I'll do this again with my faithful Honda Today. And not "just Morocco". I've been in the country before, and this time I'll try to stay away from the tourist beaten tracks. The High Atlas mountains (the highest elevations in northern Africa), the berbers, lost villages, altitudes well above 2000 meters, August heat in Africa... will be some of the things I'll experience... if all goes well. As always, I go with no rigid plans, but with some background in my readings about the places I want to spend some time in. The story, the pictures, the video... well... you'll find them here, later. :-)

The Beast

Well, ok, an Honda Today... But what does it look like?

Quite simply, it's one of the tiniest, lowest horse power 50 cc scooter ever made. However, it's a reliable Honda scooter, with it's own charm. Incredible fuel mileages can be achieved with this beast. I got 100 MPG (2.35 l/100 km) in my last year six day summer trip! Surprising, specially taking into account I'm not lightweight and the poor little baby was fully charged with luggage.

The only real complete review I found in the internet was the one by the site The Scooter Review. You can read the full review here. Thanks, Ketzal "Hollywood" Sterling , for the great review. Below are the manufacturer's specifications. It's time for a picture of my "touring" ;-) Honda Today version.

Manufacturer Specifications

Max power at shaft	2.8 KW (3.8 HP) @ 8000 RPM
Max torque	3.6 Nm at 6500 rpm
Engine Type	Single-cylinder 4 stroke OHC
Cylinder Capacity	49cc
Seat height	695mm
Dry weight	71kg
Kerb weight	---
Fuel tank capacity	5.0 liters
Starting	Electric & Kickstart
Transmission	CVT “Twist and Go”
Storage volume	---
Cooling	Air Cooled
Bore X stroke	37.8 x 44.0 mm
Compression ratio	10.1:1
Chassis	Underbone
Front suspension	Telescopic
Rear suspension	Unit swing arm
Front brake	Drum
Rear brake	Drum
Front wheel/tyre	80/100-10 46J
Rear wheel/tyre	80/100-10 46J
Length	1695mm
Width	630mm
Wheelbase	1180mm
Max speed (km/hr)	---
Type approval	---
Consumption (ECE applicable text cycle)	---
Consumption @km/h - km/l	---
Audible Indicator	Yes
Full helmet storage	Yes
Glove box	No
Fuel Guage	No
Trip Meter	Yes
Seat release (via remote control)	No
Seat release (remote, ignition/switch)	Yes
Alarm	no

Asturias Scooter Adventure

July/August 2007

This is the first adventure I want to tell you about. The 10 minute clip below is the brief story about a trip I toke from Portugal to Asturias, Spain and back, in a 4 cv, 50 cc scooter in the summer of 2007. 1400 joyful kilometers through the natural reserve of Ancares and the mountains of Asturias to finally reach the incredible Playa del Silencio in the asturian spanish coast.

One of the purposes of this adventure was, besides all the great fun in it, demonstrating that one can have a good life with little money.

Some data about this trip:

Total distance: 1370 km (851 miles)
Total fuel costs: 35 euro
Average fuel economy: 2.35 liters/100 km (100.1 MPG)*
Number of days: 6
Maximum distance in a day: 335 kms (208 miles)
Highest elevation: 1850 meters (6,070 feet)**

Special and warmest thanks to:

• my friend Toni Parente for building the front luggage rack
• my Spydonite friends for inspiration.
  

The trip report in portuguese is ready and it will be soon translated and published in english language.

* MPG refers to US liquid gallon
** at Fonte da Cova Pass, Spain