Che connection

Last night I settled down to watch the Motorcycle diaries which I expected was about South America. I have a similar ambition to ride about South America…

I found the movie too long and a bit painful at times. Only at the very end I realise it’s all about Che Guevara played by Ernesto. So I read up about him on Wikipedia. Yes, my suspicions are true, he is a bit of a numpty. I can’t believe his image is so famous.

As you do with Wikipedia, I surfed around and read the Congo crisis and then Mike Hoare who was fighting against “Che”.

His name rung a bell and it turns out Mike Hoare is a resident in my home town, Durban. The next day over breakfast I mention his name to my father and he excitedly tells some stories about this mercenary. My Dad used to drink with him in some hotel in Durban and he was asked to go with him on some trip, since my Dad was born near Aldershot he put two & two together. My father said he eventually refused, even though the money was incredible. When you are that age looking for adventure with amazing money, it must have been really tempting.

Since Durban is a village there are quite a few other stories about him. In the Wikipedia article he sounds… well mad. According to my father he was “upper class”. Very well spoken and great connections with the then South African government. One funny story was about his so-called imprisonment. My father said though he was “in prison”, you could meet up with him in a pub in Pietermaritzburg on a Friday for a drink.