Kenyan-born writer Elizabeth ‘Bizzie’ Frost presents a unique perspective of the people, culture and landscapes of the Middle East in her travel memoir, Travels with Maridadi: Harley-Davidson Adventures in Saudi Arabia.
In 1999, Bizzie’s life was turned upside down after a botched spinal operation in Saudi Arabia left her partially paralysed at 45, requiring a walking stick and wheelchair to move around. Frost and her family had relocated to Jeddah city in 1984, when her husband Richard ‘Frosty’, a Boeing captain for Kenya Airways, got a job with Saudia Airlines.
After the disastrous surgery, Frost’s life changed dramatically. She was forced to give up surfing, sailing, trekking holidays and long walks, and could no longer wear sandals or stylish high heels. Yoga, swimming, wheelchair walks, and other solitary sports became the limits of a once vibrant lifestyle.
“I craved adventure and felt that it had been ripped out of my life,” she writes. In 2005, her husband suggested they buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, even though he had little biking experience. Initially, she was unenthusiastic, concerned about the impact on her body and general safety as “the driving standards in the Kingdom were terrible.” However, with Frosty’s insistence and encouragement, she cautiously returned to biking after 21 years.
Raised in the western Kenya town of Kericho, Frost, 69, first rode a motorcycle on their tea farm when she was 14. While a student nurse in London in 1973, she bought her first motorbike and started biking with her brother at a time when few women in England had motorcycles.
Hooked once more to biking, Frost and her husband bought their own Harley-Davidson in Saudi, customised it with practical features and stylish ornamentation, and named it Maridadi. Motorcycling became a constant feature of her life and helped boost her battered self-confidence.
With a new way to move around, Frost resumed travel writing for the local newspapers and international magazines. Riding in the pillion seat, Frost was often the sole woman in an eclectic mix of male Saudi and expatriate Harley-Davidson riders as few ever brought their wives along. The Frosts joined a group of friends on a 2500km trip to Muscat in Oman, one of the many long journeys they would undertake over the next 10 years. “Without Maridadi I don’t know how I would have survived them.”
The Maridadi travelogues take us through the cities, highways and rural landscapes of Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries. We ride into territories few outsiders have seen, through bracing mountain air, barren rolling hills and shimmering hot plains, along hairpin bends with panoramic views, passing hamlets, historic sites, dessert oasis, Bedouin settlements, and camel herds. The thrill of the ride and sense of freedom far outweighed the inconvenience of police checkpoints, breakdowns or inclement desert weather.
The Frosts lived in Saudi Arabia before the relatively recent introduction of social reforms, when Wahhabi Islam and stifling patriarchy governed all aspects of life.
Tourism was practically non-existent apart from religious pilgrims. Alcohol, public music and entertainment were forbidden. Women were not permitted to drive, travel without a male escort, work in public places or exit the country without their husband’s permission. Expatriate families lived in gated walled compounds and even foreign women had to wear black abaya robes and head coverings outside the home.
A horrific collision with a Lamborghini sent Frost back to hospital, followed by many weeks of painful recovery. The incident also left her with a gut-gripping fear of motorbiking. Beach barbeques with friends, visits to the Old Town and photographing sites in the Kingdom were enjoyable but nothing could replace the excitement of biking. Eventually, with the encouragement of a Harley friend, she recovered her confidence and wanderlust and resumed motorbike touring. She and her husband covered over 6,400km by the time they left Saudi Arabia for good.
Travels with Maridadi is an entertaining and easy read. Frost has endured enormous struggles, but a gutsy and fearless spirit revitalised her life with fabulous journeys and unforgettable biker tales.
