Riding around Southern Africa on an XT250 and CRF250

Hi everyone!

You may remember my previous RRs to Central Asia, Russia and Mongolia in summer 2014 (RIDE REPORT HERE) and in 2016 with a 3 months exploration of Russia and central Asia in 2016 (RIDE REPORT HERE ).

This time, I am taking you for a 4 months blast around Southern Africa! We will cover Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa.

Ok, some of you may be a little bit confused!

If you followed our last adventures in summer 2016, you know that Alistair had some health problems and in the end we had to cut short our trip. You may also remember that Alistair specifically requested that our next long trip for summer 2018 should be “somewhere civilised" as he put it (no offence to anyone please).

I knew what he meant, somewhere with nice accommodation, easy life, no risk of food poisoning and stomach being pumped, good hygiene, flushing toilets, water on tap and where everyone can speak English… Well, it was a no brainer, it had to be Northern America. Then somehow we went to Africa!

How the hell did we end up in Africa, can I hear you ask! Well, I did start actually investigating about shipping our bikes to Canada or the East Coast of the USA! Honest! But somehow I got sidetracked.

We went to the HU meeting in Wales, in June 2017, you see. We made a couple of presentations, but we also went to some interesting ones. That is when it happened. We met Leonie, from "Amsterdam To Anywhere" fame. With her husband, they spent 3 years travelling, on 2 Honda CRF250, around the world.

Leonie’s presentation was spectacular and her section on Africa did it for me. I had to go! Alistair was easily convinced once I explained and narrowed in down to “highly touristic countries”.

“It will be like a very long holiday, easy and lots of nice accommodation”, I said.

I actually did plenty of research and I meant every word. With just enough challenge to keep it interesting!

So here we go. Lets start our Ride Report about Southern Africa!

Our rough itinerary:





And few photos:














No driving service for campers:

In

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I feel I should put a post about the bikes (and luggage).

Let's start with my XT250. It is a 2009 grey import from Japan. I has probably been badly crashed over there and has few issues with the electrics, but nothing major.

Modifications / preparation:

1 / Tubeless back wheel (and front wheel): fitted with heavy duty inner tube and filled with "green Slime". It seems to have done the trick as both during my 2016 trip and this trip I had zero punctures.
Fitted with Shinko tyre at the back in Kyrgyzstan in 2016. Not replaced as it was truck back to the UK.
Front tyre: Pirelli MT21.

2 / handle bars replaced by rental ones.

3 / full service, new sprockets, chain, fluids, K&N air filter, (new wheel bearings if I can remember?)
And that's about it.


CRF 250
This one we spent more money as it was its first overland trip.
In addition to the XT250 point 1 and 3:

1 / 12 litre fuel tank fitted

2 / custom made frame to fit our soft panniers, as well as fitting under the luggage frame a 5 litre fuel canister. (My XT250 has a 10 litres tank and I did not want to change that - I carry a 5 l fuel bladder instead for extra).

3/ Alistair fitted a small tool box on the tail, to be used as a top box, for tools and waterproof.

We also got a £20 horse riding gel saddle over the seat, about 2 inches thick, for comfort, identical to mine. They remain in place with just some elastic.

That is about it for the work done on the bikes.

How they look like:





Now, why do we travel with such small bikes? Only 250cc, I hear you ask!

First, I did the one year long trip (around South America ) on a BMW 650 GS. For me, it was a complete nightmare.
First, it broke down pretty much everywhere. Then it was way to heavy for me to handle, once we ran out of tarmac. So in the end there were lots of place we did not go as it was too hard for me to ride through that. At the time my only experience of dirt was the BMW weekend course in Wales. Not enough.

Then we rented 2 small YBR125 in Vietnam a couple of years later. For me, it was a revelation.
All of a sudden, all those terrifying rough tracks were actually fun to ride. So from there, we decided to downgrade.
No point in Alistair riding a 1200 something if I cannot keep up. It would cause a lot of trouble in our couple. I have seen enough couples, him on the big bike, her on the little one. Him pissed off because she is going so slow, her pissed off because she struggles to follow. Not good!

With our 250, outside of the western world, we have enough speed, and they are light enough to go through anything. Also, they are very simple to repair. With my BMW, 10 years ago, finding someone with a computer to plug the beemer n the middle of nowhere in Bolivia or Patagonia was near impossible, unless trucking it to the capital city.

So there

section on luggage to follow.

About our luggages:

On the XT 250.

I carry a tank bag with my iPad, small camera, phone, guidebook, bottle of water, and the occasional small pack of snacks (peanuts or nuts).

At the rear I have a 49 litre Ortlieb bag. One of the main straps broke within a couple of weeks of starting our trip. I think I will avoid that brand in the future, as they seem to have dumbed down in quality but still demanding high price.

In the bag I carry:
Big Agnes Dome tent
2 down sleeping bags
2 thermarest
Fuel stove and kit
Small Titanium cooking pot, aluminum plates, titanium forks & knives and collapsible cups.
5 litres Fuel bladder
4 litre water bladder (it was a waste of time, never used)
Mini kit of water filter (never used but tiny)

At departure my bag weighted 10kg.
Once the weather got warm I was able to ram in some of our waterproof (the over trousers and my jacket liner insert).
On occasion I also added few tins of baked beans, bags of instant noodle etc…

In addition to my riding gear I also had a backpack with some copies of my documents (like passport), bike docs as well as the “Carnet de Passage en Douane”, etc.… I never left the backpack out of my back or sight. The carnet is essential.

I also used to carry the bread in there so it is not squashed.

Some tools were also packed under the plastic frame, each side of the fuel tank, as there is a nice space for that.

In addition, I had a small 10 or 15 litres auxiliary bag, once we started cooking our food, that we called the Food Bag. This was strapped on top of the big roll bag. It contained often a jumper or light down jacket, instant coffee, powder milk, selection of salt, sugar and pepper, spices, as well as peanut butter and tins of food.

Engine oil was fitted between the roll bag and the PAcksafe so it would not move once the bag was strapped to the bike. We use Rokstraps.

On the CRF.


The small topbox contained tools, few spares like cables, sprays like WD40 or chain lube, and few of Alistair ‘s stuff (like winter / spare riding gloves and insert liner for his jacket).

The panniers contained all our clothes. Estimated weight was about 12kgs.

In the right pannier we put the stuff we will need every day: Clothes we would need for the evening, towels, shoes, toiletry bag, cables and plugs for our electronics.
The left pannier had the spare clothes and stuff we would not use often (like swimsuit) , the clothes washing kit, pharmacy, flip-flops.

Bulky winter clothes like feather jacket, fleece, my winter/summer gloves (depending which ones I was using) were moving from one place to the other depending on requirements.

The outside pockets of the panniers (one on each pannier) we put stuff like chain lube spray and other sort of sprays (like for the K&N air filters).

We shipped the bikes to Cape Town by sea freight. We delivered them to the shipping company early April, with some of our luggage and camping gear.

On the 28th of May, we got to London Gatwick and landed in Cape Town the following day, after a change in Istanbul. The flight was uneventful.

One of my ex-colleagues and south African friend, Johan, came to collect us at the airport in his massive Land Rover. Soon, we arrived at his house and as he returned to work we made ourselves at home. In another words, we just crashed out and rested.

Johan, Jo Ann and the kids, arrived soon enough in the afternoon. They had a South Africa treat for us. And no, it was not the fabulous South African wine, which is a given, it was Braai! The local version of a BBQ!

We discovered Springbok meat! Oh My God! The best meat I ever ate in my life! I am a convert! It was amazing. We also tried the local delicacy Boerewors ( local beef sausage). It was quite a feast!

It was great to catch up with them and discover the local life style, much more laid back than in London. Last time we saw them, as they were about to leave London and go back to Cape Town, Lexi, their first kid, was just few months old, now she was running around. 18 months later, another baby girl had arrived. Remarkably well behaved toddler and baby!

The next day, Johan worked from home as he insisted on driving us to the shipping company headquarters. We found the bikes on a pallet each, wrapped in bubble wrap and plastic, as the shippers had already removed the surrounding frame. As Johan went back home we got to work.

We had to reconnect the batteries, fit again the top box, fix the chains that had been left way too tight by the mechanic who changed the chains and sprockets… there was a lot of faff around to retrieve the tools from the small cubicles on the side panels of the Serow but after a couple of hours, we were ready to go.

Less than 2 miles from the shippers, I ran out of fuel on the motorway. Not the best place to breakdown, the area was far from glamorous! It is south Africa after all, probably one of the most dangerous countries in the world, in some areas at least! Rape and murder rates are off the scale here! So I was a bit concerned!
Luckily, I managed to stop on the emergency lane, and luckier yet, Alistair noticed.

Obviously, the shippers in the UK drained my fuel a bit too much! The Reserve light did not light up, my metre tends to play up a bit. For shipping, the bikes are supposed to be on reserve, not empty of fuel though! Thanks to the fuel canister, in the CRF rack, Alistair got a bit of his fuel in the canister and generously shared it with me. It was just enough to make it to a petrol station.

With no other problem, we rode the 20 kms back to Johan’s house.

We then repacked everything.

In the evening, Johan got another local feast on the go: Potjie ( pronounced “poeet-kee”). While it simmered for few hours, I offered my bike to Johan for a little test ride, while we seeped beer with Alistair and Jo Ann.

After another great evening in great company, it was time for bed. We were ready to hit the road.

Thursday 31st May – Paternoster – 180 kms

(All distances will be in kilometers because my bike is a Japanese import and only shows kms)

Ready to go:


Our plan was to ride north to Namibia, following the coastal line. The best laid plan, as always, goes out of the window, the moment you ride out!

The next day, we woke up to a downpour! Typical. They are supposed to have drought down here, yet, when we turn up, it rains! Would you believe it, the only time we crossed Death Valley in the US…. yes, you can guess, it rained too! As for our previous trips across Russia and central Asia, if you read my RRs, rain, hail and storms have been a constant. We even had torrential rains in July in the desert in Kazakhstan! Go figure!

Anyway, we waited a bit and by late morning, after getting all our waterproofs on, we made our goodbyes and left. It stopped raining eventually, but instead, we had much worse. A horrendous wind, with gusts so strong, I felt my head would be detached from my body and my helmet was inserting itself into my jaw!

(This photo would be the next day, blue sky and all!)


Our initial plan was to ride to a coastal town called Lambert’s Bay, about 250 kms away. An easy ride under normal circumstances. After 180 kms however, we ended up cold and exhausted in the small resort of Paternoster, where every other house is a hotel or guest house! All painted white! This being winter, it was rather dead. We found a place open and took a rather amazing room with a spectacular view over the beach and the grey sea and heavy sky, with the wind blowing dog walkers almost off their feet!

After a light breakfast and skipping lunch that day, we were rather hungry.

We found the local minimarket where we bought some amazing local fish and chips, for an early dinner!

Day 4 – Vredensdal – 285 kms (Friday 1st June)

We left the beautiful but empty white town of Pater Noster and joined the N7, riding north.

The wind was much better, the sky blue, and we managed 100kms/h. The previous day the wind was so strong that we could barely manage 80, and our fuel consumption was up by at least 30%.

We stopped here and there to refuel and rest. The road was long, flat and boring. There was not much to break the monotony and we failed to see much wild life, although I spotted few ostriches once!

We arrived at a very reasonably priced B&B (Vinie’s Cottage) that I spotted in Booking.com the previous night. The owner, Vinie, is a lovely lady and gave us an amazing and very big room, filled with jars full of sweets and biscuits. We made the most of it. The day was a bit warmer but we till kept all our layers.


As we were rather out of town, Alistair jumped into the bike (we cannot remove the panniers form his bike, without unscrewing the top box) and rode to the supermarket to get us some food for dinner and breakfast. We sat in the rear garden, by the small pool, to eat our dinner, although the evening was rather cold.


The next day, Vinie asked for our picture with the bikes for her website. It seems we are her first bikers. Definitely a nice place to stop over.

Day 5 – Springbok – 300kms (Saturday 2d of June)


We continued on the long boring road north, the wind was still strong and exhausting, and it was cold, very cold.

Silly me! I knew that going to the southern hemisphere; it would be winter down there. But hey, it’s Africa, so surely, it is supposed to be hot!?

Well first you must understand the size of Africa.

This little stuff should help:




It term of square miles, you could fit the USA 3 times over in Africa and still have spare space left!
So, of course, when you get songs about saving Africa and stuff like that, you really have to understand that only a fraction of Africa is in deep trouble or dangerous.

This trip has been a journey of discovery for us, reassessing my views about this vast continent.
We never planned to cross Africa. Like many people, we thought the whole continent was dangerous and troubled. Exploring a small section of it was quite an eye opener, to say the least.

Springbok was our last stop before crossing into Namibia.
I had been dreaming of exploring Namibia for many years. I had high expectations. I had read all the ride reports from the south African forum (Wild Dog) and was also quite apprehensive. Namibia was going to be wild, very wild.

Wise words about Africa.
I've been twice (2007 and 2015) to Namibia. Wondefull nature and very friendly people.
Last time we did a tour around South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibie.
Followed (as good as posible) the Oranjerivier from Oranjemund till the source in Lesoto.
Wonderfull trip.

Thnx for sharing,

Greetings Toine

Hi Toine, yes Namibia was extraordinary. We spent 6 weeks there and could have explored even more! I loved it. Details will follow.

Talking of tours, we did a 3 weeks organised tour almost 20 years ago, around mainly Zimbabwe. ( before the country took a wrong turn and its economy was destroyed).

Not on motorbikes. We had a mini bus, a driver and a guide. That cured me forever of organised tours! After 3 weeks I wanted to strangle half the people in our small group! I could not even bear to look at them! including the guide whose only preoccupation was to bed the 3 single girls in our group. ( successfully I think).

How can adults get through life behaving like entitled drama queens spoilt brats, is beyond me! On the plus side, we did stuff you can’t really do on your own ( on a budget) like canoeing doing the Zambezi river for 4 days, getting really close to elephants with our canoes, or horse riding and swimming with our horses. Still we are definitely lone riders since.

Maria,

no we didn,t go on an organised tour, but did both trips "op de bonnefooi" (= as it comes). No organised tours longer than maybe 1 day

Greetings,

Toine

Back o the strip:

We arrived at Springbok mid afternoon. It was a short ride to Namibia.

I always plan to get to a border in the morning, to give us time to cross and find a place to stay in the other side, find local currency and other other issues we may have to sort out, like local insurance for the bikes.

The guesthouses were a bit pricey in Springbok but we found one a bit cheaper in the town centre. We got changed into our normal clothes and walked to the local Spar. It was closed! Argh!

Shops close at 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays in this part of South Africa! The liquor store was open though, so we got some water, beer of course, and crisps.

For dinner we had to go out. We were usually told not to walk out after dark, but it seems in Springbok it was ok. So we walked the few 100s metres to the most famous restaurant in town (according to the Lonely Planet!): Taurean. It specialises in meat! Well, it’s South Africa after all, so what else? They love their meat around there.

Outside the restaurant, we saw a big motorcycle, a BMW800GS with all the gear and panniers for long distance travel. Closer, we saw that the number plate was from the USA! Interesting!

Inside the restaurant, set as an American steakhouse, with little booths and tables, we sat and I tried to spot the American. I saw a lone guy with an iPad. He was not wearing motorcycle gear and I could not see a helmet around, but I had the feeling it could be our biker.

Never the shy one, I got up and asked him if the bike was his. It was! That is how we met Clark (like superman alter ego he said!). He had shipped his bike from London to Cairo with Motofreight (the same shipping agent that we used) and rode all the way down Africa by the East Coast!

Meeting a fellow motorcycle traveller is always good. Car travllers don’t pass the same relevant information, as they have no clue of what can and cannot be done with a bike.

We spent the evening talking and exchanging info. As it happens, Clark lives in London, so we hope to catch up later this year! He wanted to ride north by the west coast back to Europe. I am not sure it is wise. He will have to cross countries like Mali, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire etc where there have been lots of kidnappings.

These days very few people seem to cross all of Africa. I have friends who did, via Syria and the east coast of Africa, all the way down to Cape Town, but that was over 10 years ago. The world has changed a lot since then.

I ate a massive steak washed down with the local wine. Bliss!

Back at the guesthouse, the WiFi was down (not a rare occurrence in our trip) so we went to bed early. I wanted to get to the Namibian border as early as possible. I did not know what expect! Our first African border crossing!

Let me give you some information about Namibia first.

Namibia was part of the Union of South Africa since late 19th century. Colonised and controled in succession by the British Empire, the Germans, the British Empire again, then annexed by South Africa. Apartheid, established in 1948, was also imposed on Namibia.

Following years of unrest and demands for political representation, Namibia finally got full independence from South Africa in 1990. It is multiparty functioning democracy.

So it is a very young country, with a small population of about 2.5 million. It is quite a big country though. Which means a very sparse population and very long stretches of empty roads between settlements.

Namibia has a lot of natural resources: off shore gas, lots of uranium mines. Unfortunately we were not able to time it so we could be in Swakopmund to do one of the monthly guided tours. It could have been quite interesting!

They also mine lots of diamonds but a it is a bit like area 51 , no one is allowed to enter these very huge areas of diamonds deposits! I wonder why !?

Ai-Ais, Namibia – 250 kms – (Sunday 3rd June)


We left Springbok after a huge breakfast, including some very tasty boerewors sausages, and stopped for fuel. Then we rode the 120kms to the border. The weather was nice and sunny with not much wind for a change.

Leaving South Africa took about 10 minutes, as there was very little traffic.

Entering Namibia did not take much longer, riding over the Orange River.

We didn’t need to do any paper work for the bikes, as Namibia and South Africa share a custom agreement. So our Carnets, stamped in South Africa when the bikes arrived in a shipping container, would be valid across Namibia. This custom agreement also include, we found out later, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. It makes for very easy and fast border crossings.

The whole process was calm with no chaos or hangers on loitering around as I was expecting. It was very civilised and efficient. The staff on both sides was friendly.

Once we paid our road tax in Namibia, we were good to go. We stopped few hundreds metres later to get fuel and local currency. The local currency is called both (Namibian) Rand or (Namibian) dollar, which can be confusing when being quoted prices and they say “dollars”, as the Namibian dollar is about 14 to the US$! !

There was a fuel station with a small shop and an ATM machine, in the middle of the desert.

The owner came to speak to us. We asked about insurance for the bikes but he told us that it was not necessary.

We discussed about our destination fro the day: Ai-Ais, and he advised us the take straight away the small road that follows the border with South Africa, and the Orange River, rather that the main road, much further north. That ride was supposed to be more beautiful. At least there would be less traffic!


We followed his advice and, as we rode through the desert, surprisingly, we came across vineyards. It was quite extraordinary and surreal to see large vineyards along the road, in the desert!


After a while we saw, among the vineyards, a sign for a Spar supermarket. We followed it and came across a sort of shopping mall, smartly built, with bank, shops and a SPAR, all those building inline, planted in the middle of the desert, facing a large car park and beyond, a village! All the shops were closed as it was Sunday.


The surprising thing was the “village” on the other side. It was only small shacks with tin roofs. We assumed it had to be the vineyards workers there. The contrast between the well build commercial buildings and living quarters was quite surprising.





Soon enough we ran out of tarmac and rode a gravel road. It was not too bad and we were able to make good progress. It felt so good to finally leave the tarmac and head through the desert on those empty gravel roads. I had had that image in my head for so long, preparing this trip! So many dull winter days, at work, staring at my computer screens and spreadsheets, dreaming! The only thing that kept me sane!










Ai-Ais is a large campsite and hot springs, near Fish river Canyon, the biggest canyon in Africa, which really compares to the Great Canyon in the US, for scale, according to my Lonely Planet.





For a campsite (which also has lodges and flats) it was rather expensive. We paid 20$ per person per night. Not cheap! But to be fair the facilities were amazing with very clean shower blocks, separate cooking and washing up block, drinking water on taps, spring swimming pool, a small shop etc…

The campsite seemed very popular with South Africans. The majority of people staying were from there, with very few Europeans on rented SUVs with the tents on the roof.

South African seemed to love Big off road cars pulling all 4X4 trailers! Those trailers are amazing, with everything in there, including a full fitted kitchen, it seemed to me, and more food than necessary to survive a nuclear winter!

As we had no food at all, on the other hand, we ate at the restaurant. The choice was grilled pork, chicken or Orix, with few vegetables.

After that we read a bit and decided to go for an early night. We set the tent in a grassy patch, near a shower block, between two palm trees.
Not that it was winter down there, it got dark very early (around 6pm).

Finally I get in on a thread at the beginning. Up to date and ready for more. Thanks!

There is a lot more to come! A lot! I spent 4 months in Southern Africa, and a good 6 weeks in Namibia. Barely scratched the surface. So a lot more coming in the next few weeks, as I keep working on my notes and photos

Ai-Ais – 0 kms – Monday 4th of June


I woke to the birds’ songs and the staff chasing the raiding gang of baboons that had descended into the camp. The weather was splendid.


A group of baboons was near our tent. They sent 2 young ones up the palm tree next to our tent, and from up there, they threw what looked like yellow dates, to they family in the ground.

The staff kept chasing them with the use of slingshots.





At first I thought how exotic this was and how charming they looked. With time and experience, over the following few months, I came to totally dislike the baboons! Little did we know to start with! Don’t they look cute?!




We made coffee and with bread and jam from the shop, that was our morning breakfast.

While I did some laundry, Alistair did the washing up.

Later on we got in search of the hot springs. At 65 degrees Celsius, they were too hot to bath in. But the swimming pool next to them was still super warm. It was fantastic and we swam and lazed a bit by the pool for a while.

Fighting the baboons part 2


We spoke with various people in the camp. The South Africans were super friendly I must say and they came easily to talk to us.

Late afternoon, while I was busy near the tent, Alistair got talking to 2 women near a small tent, at the very edge of the campsite. That was when we discovered how canny and intelligent those baboons could be!

While a couple of female baboons broke into the small tent that the 2 ladies were sharing, stealing a camping mat, and sending the 2 women and Alistair running after them, another very large male Baboon got into the boot of a car, left unlocked and parked about 50 m away, and tried to get away with a very large plastic box containing food and wine.

When I spotted that fellow, I shouted to alert the others, as I was too far to do anything about it (and not keen to get into a fight with a large baboon!).

The female baboons scattered toward the hills with the mat, while Alistair got near the large male baboon. The large male was not ready to give up on his very valuable loot.

After a small staring contest with plenty of teeth showing, the baboon gave up on his loot. That was lucky, as it had very big sharp teeth! An adult male baboon is a very large beast! You don’t mess around with them! Alistair got quite a fright, as they stared at each other with only the large plastic box between them, the male baboon measuring his chances of winning the fight! !

Staff, a bit later, managed to retrieve the mat. That was fortunate as the owner, with a large group of friends, was going to hike the canyon for 5 days. Without a sleep mat, sleeping would be have been rather uncomfortable and cold.

Day 8 – Keetmanshoop – 250kms – Tuesday 5th June

Packing camp in Ai – Ais took a long time because one of us needed to keep watch on the very clever and organised raiding baboons.

We did not see any around that morning. Were they gone, or hiding cleverly?

In any case, we knew, from the previous day events, that they were lightening fast and very cunning, using distraction technics to get what they want.

After packing most of our stuff we got ready to sit for some breakfast. With our cups of coffee, bread and jam ready on the campsite table, I was still packing some stuff near the tent. Alistair just walked to the bikes, only few metres away. Just few seconds inattention, that is all it took!

In the blink of an eye, a baboon, which had been obviously spying on us hidden somewhere, came at the speed of light, out of nowhere, jumped into the picnic table and stole our bag of bread! Before any of us could react, it was gone! So this is how a baboon stole our breakfast!

Luckily, the tiny shop in the campsite had a bag of bread rolls left, so we ate our breakfast and finished packing very carefully.

We finally left, later than we wanted.

We rode to the Fish River canyon viewpoint, which was ok but nothing out of this world I thought! Sometime guidebooks and tourist websites make something such a big deal, building expectations, and when you get there it can be underwhelming. Still, it was a nice ride.










Then we made our way to Keetmanshoop, the biggest town in this part of Namibia (but only 20,000 inhabitants). Short of 30 kms, it was all gravel road. We usually try to stay on the small back roads, much more pleasant on our little bikes.

Although the gravel roads were in good condition, it was still very tiring for us, as it required 100% attention. At this early stage in our trip, we were still very much out of shape for long days riding. It usually takes few days to get into the Zone.