THEY have faced blinding sandstorms, flash floods, rampaging rhinos and even the odd burst tyre, but after 15,000 miles they have finally reached their goal.Ewan McGregor and his friend and fellow actor Charley Boorman have completed an attempt to motorbike from John O’Groats to Cape Town.Yesterday, after the gruelling trip which spanned three months and took the pair through 18 countries, they reached the finishing line.The epic journey – dubbed the Long Way Down – will help raise money and awareness for three specially chosen charities; CHAS (Children’s Hospice Association of Scotland), Unicef and Riders For Health, which distributes medical supplies and food to remote parts of Africa by motorbike.Trainspotting and Star Wars star McGregor was euphoric after reaching his South African destination.”It’s been incredible, just incredible,” he said. “Some of the places that we have passed through are almost indescribably beautiful, like something out of an Indiana Jones film. It’s a great feeling and a real privilege to have achieved our goal.”We’ve had the opportunity to see such different ways of life to ours and have travelled to remote places very few people have access to. The sense of freedom and exploration has been incredible.”Boorman added: “We were both up for an adventure and Africa has certainly given us that. There have been times when it has been unbelievably hard going but that has been countered by amazing riding and extraordinary people.”The intrepid pair were followed on every mile of their journey by a documentary camera crew.”From sandstorms to floods, mosquitos to rhinoceroses we’ve encountered everything on Long Way Down,” said film-maker Russ Malkin.The journey will be shown in a BBC2 series this autumn.Source: news.scotsman.com

[i]We met up with Long Way Down Bikers Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman in Cape Town[/i]The motorcycle journey of a lifetime has reached its epic conclusion. After spending three months travelling the Long Way Down through Europe and Africa, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman have concluded their 15,000 mile adventure on a beach in Milnerton South Africa in front of the dramatic backdrop of Table Mountain.(more images of Ewan and Charley coming on monday)Ewan and Charley arrived on their motorbikes at the Milnerton Lagoon Beach Hotel in Cape Town accompanied by a cavalcade of local bikers, looking surprisingly good considering the journey that they had just undertaken.Jovial and friendly they joked with the crowd before popping champagne magnums on the beach and in good “race end” style they soaked themselves and the media with bubbly. “We made it” shouted an ecstatic Charley Boorman.Since they began in May 2007 in John O’Groats, Scotland, they have ridden their bikes through eighteen countries, including Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Rwanda. They have encountered some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth and negotiated blinding sandstorms, searing temperatures, dodgy border crossings and extreme riding conditions.Ewan and Charley spent 3 months planning the expedition, deciding which countries they should visit and preparing the bikes for the ride. It was important to Ewan and Charley that they explored parts of Africa that are less travelled including western Ethiopia near the Eritrean border, Gulu in northern Uganda and western Tanzania close to the shores of lake Tanganyika.Source: www.capetownmagazine.com

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman celebrate on Milnerton beach with Table Mountain behind after arriving in Cape Town completing the Long Way Down, motorcycle journey, Cape Town, South Africa. Keep checking the gallery for updates! 🙂