Long Way Down

Route

The team travelled from their base in Shepherds Bush, London to John o' Groats at the northern tip of Scotland to begin their journey. The start was nearly delayed after Boorman, frustrated by an official at Gatwick Airport, made an off-the-cuff comment regarding bombs and was detained for questioning. After being released without charge, he took a later flight to Inverness and the journey began as scheduled. The team took four days to ride from John o' Groats back to London, via the McGregor family home in Crieff and the Silverstone racetrack, where they camped in the middle of the circuit. They took the Channel Tunnel to France, and rode south to Italy. The European leg ended in Sicily, where they caught a ferry to Tunisia.

In Tunisia, McGregor and Boorman visited the set of Star Wars (McGregor was not recognised despite the pictures of him there) and then rode into Libya. However, American producer David Alexanian and cameraman Jimmy Simak were unable to obtain the necessary entry visas and were forced to fly from Tunisia to Egypt. After visiting the pyramids they boarded a ferry to Sudan, continued into Ethiopia and then into Kenya, where they crossed the equator. From Kenya they rode to Uganda and then Rwanda, where they had an audience with President Paul Kagame. They went from there to Tanzania, and then into Malawi, where they were joined by Ewan McGregor's wife Eve. The final leg took them through Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and into South Africa. The journey ended at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of the continent, from where they were accompanied to Cape Town by a phalanx of bikers, similar to their arrival in New York on the Long Way Round.

Border crossings

The team anticipated problems at the various borders they would need to cross, particularly in Africa. Given their experiences on the Long Way Round, which included problems with Russian visas, a "fine" due to a missing stamp in their carnet, and delays of up to twelve hours, a major focus of their preparation was planning for transit between countries. Although the American crew members were barred from entering Libya, this was anticipated ahead of their arrival at the border. Upon arrival in Tunisia, the team had to bribe the local authorities with a few bottles of vodka to ease their passage into the country, which they assumed would become a regular event as they travelled through Africa. However, although delays of a few hours were common, there were few significant problems at crossing points as they made their way further south.

Breakdowns and accidents

They were often pleasantly surprised by the quality of road surfaces throughout east Africa, but there were some sections through rough, bumpy or sandy terrain, as well as a small river and mud wallow. The shock absorbers bore the brunt, with both McGregor and von Planta suffering broken springs. As the only spare had been fitted to McGregor's bike, von Planta had to ride in a support vehicle while his bike was sent on ahead for repair. McGregor and von Planta also came off and damaged their bodywork, with von Planta involved in the more serious incident on a motorway in South Africa. Boorman admitted he had been "putting on a show" for a roadside garage, and braked sharply as part of a manoeuvre. Von Planta, who admits he was riding too closely, fell while avoiding a collision; he was shaken but uninjured. His motorcycle was substantially damaged, and the footage of the rest of the journey to Cape Agulhas appears only to include support vehicle and helmet cam footage, suggesting that Von Planta's motorcycle was not being used. McGregor's wife Eve, who learned to ride only as part of the preparations, joined them for part of the trip and took several falls on the sandy terrain of Malawi and Zambia, apparently without injury.

UNICEF

During the trip the pair visited three UNICEF facilities to promote the work done by the organisation. In Ethiopia they visited a land mine awareness project and met children injured by mines. In Uganda they met former child soldiers of the Lord's Resistance Army and saw the work being done to rehabilitate them. In Malawi they visited care centres for children orphaned by AIDS. Both McGregor and Boorman had visited such centres in Africa previously.

Music

The title song was performed by Welsh group Stereophonics, and is identical to the Long Way Round theme with the lyric "round" replaced with "down".

The soundtrack features music drawn substantially from the catalogue of Real World Records, which produced the accompanying album. Co-director of photography Jimmy Simak also acted as musical coordinator.

Broadcast schedule

The original broadcast dates in the United Kingdom were:

Future trips

In the final pages of the Long Way Down book there is a mention of "Long Way To Go" but this is not the intended title for a third series, but a reference to the continual support that UNICEF needs for its work. In the DVD extras, while preparing the bikes for cargo, McGregor refers to a possible future trip in South America, perhaps called Long Way Up.

On the Late Show with David Letterman (17 February 2010), McGregor said he was not planning another trip because he finds it difficult to be away from his family for such a long time, but he also mentioned wanting to do a trip from South to North America.

In September 2010, Boorman said that the third installment of the Long Way series was planned with McGregor for 2011, saying: "It should be crazy stuff riding up through South America. I'm expecting jungles, bandidos and drug lords...."

In June 2015, McGregor indicated that the long-discussed South American trip was still at the planning stage, but he expected that an excursion through Baja California Peninsula would take place first.