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Riding out the pandemic in Tanzania

ANITA Yusof had already done 14 countries in the African continent continuing her Global Dream Ride and was planning on zooming off to Sudan, Cairo and then to Saudi Arabia when the Covid-19 pandemic saw to it that all borders were closed.

Covid-19 put the brakes on her plans and she had to leave her trusty Yamaha FZ150i motorcycle — which had seen her ride into the Asia Book of Records as the first woman to ride around the world — in Addis Ababa and take a flight to Tanzania.

That was in March last year. When I caught up with her for a Zoom interview, she was still in Tanga, a port city in northeast Tanzania, enjoying what she calls her hibernation. Not that she was complaining because, "when I don't ride, I write!"

So, during her hibernation,first in the idyllic surrounding of Pemba Island, and later in Tanga, she gave birth to her third book, Global Dream Ride Siri 3, a book that was conceived during her solo ride through South America, through some of the most dangerous but amazing parts of the world such as Bolivia, Peru and Honduras.

"I had already done 22,000km when I reached Ethiopia from South Africa," said Anita from a small cubicle at an Internet cafe, where she had booked for our Zoom session. For Anita, the advrider (adventure rider), overlander and full time nomad, negotiating crises at border checkpoints, along dusty off-roads and dangerous mountain terrains, was something that comes with the solo adventure she had embarked since 2012.

Flying back to Malaysia was not an option because she might not be able to leave again to get her bike. Apart from that, flights are expensive. Staying on in Ethiopia where Malaysians are given only a month's visa meant that she would have to keep renewing at quite an exorbitant fee.

So, she opted to fly to Tanzania, a country she had visited and found to be ideal — the people are friendly and no visa is required. The most alluring aspect about Tanzania is the Maldives-like island of Pemba, where for the first time, Anita felt and behaved like a tourist, soaking in the beauty of the island, sitting on the beach and watching the sunset.

Although there was no lockdown in Tanzania, Anita self-isolated for two weeks before she could enjoy exploring the island.

After a few months, Anita felt restless again and took a boat out to Tanga where she stayed at a guest house and finished her book. Throughout her travels, with her minimal belongings, the mother of two and a grandmother of one also brought along with her four cameras, of which one is her handphone.

She recorded the sceneries, daily happenings on her rides, sometimes talking into the microphone and uploading them onto her Facebook. These she would do as a journal or diary that had helped her in writing her third book.

"As language is a barrier in Tanzania, I felt I couldn't communicate much there and so I hibernated and stayed in the room to write the book. I managed everything, thanks to technology, from the room; from writing to negotiating the publication and printing. All that time I communicated with my sons, Rudy and Emiershah, in Malaysia, who helped me especially in the final stages of publication and distribution of the book," said Anita, a former lecturer at the Teachers' Training Institute in Ipoh.

She had taken early retirement to pursue her passion on the road. Anita, mindful of the constraints of spending by the public during the pandemic, only printed 1,000 copies of her book, which was published in August.

The books were snapped up by her followers and biking enthusiasts, who found her solo adventure an inspiration. After the book, Anita turned her attention to her YouTube channel, Anita Yusof, Global Dream Ride Around the World — something she had no time for before this.

"I then had the time to look through lots of raw footage and then learn how to edit and upload them on to my channel," said Anita. Although she yearns to travel and see the beauty and culture that Tanzania has to offer, travelling without a motorbike can be expensive. Taking dala dala, a mini bus, is not advisable as they are always crowded and there is no social distancing at all.

"If I were to hire a dala dala, it would have been so expensive. I would have to sanitise it and have the dala dala to myself. But I also have to save money," she said, recalling a time when she was stranded and hungry when her box couldn't open; her money, food supplies were all in the box.

However, Anita, who has followers from all over the world, has fellow overlanders and riders reaching out to her all the time, sometimes inviting her to their homes or just sending her encouraging messages.

The Malaysian embassies too had been very welcoming when she passed through African countries where there are embassies. Anita embarked on this Global Dream Ride 2 on Dec 1, 2019, two weeks after she became a grandmother to Adam Iskandar.

She had turned 53 on Dec 6, and felt all alone and in the dark as there was a power failure. Just as she was wallowing in self-pity, there was a knock on the door — the staff at her guest house presented her with a birthday cake, ordered by her thoughtful daughter-in law, Nur Fatin Hakimah.

Being away, doing incredible things that we could only dream about, Anita inevitably shines in the limelight.

She was interviewed by the media along the way in Africa, while back home, she received several recognition and awards. Most recently she was interviewed for a series to be aired on Merdeka Day called Hebat Anak Malaysia.

She was also listed as one of the women featured in the International Women's Day celebration. The lady rider who was born in Batu Pahat, Johor, was also given an international recognition by the London Speaker Bureau and also listed among 100 other amazing Malaysian Superwomen for the celebration of 100 years Kotex.

Anita, Givi ambassador, is still hibernating, and the possibility of giving birth to her fourth book is not too far in the pipeline, that is, if the pandemic continues.

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