S. Africa, Botswana, Namibia

[jpotter]

Hi guys, my buddy and I are flying into Jo burg on Jan 11th. We are planning on buying and outfitting 2 Kawasaki 650s and taking them on a 2 month venture. We're both pilots looking for work so naturally we are looking at maun, gaborone, windhoek and swakopmund.

What I am wondering about are road conditions, places to stay on route and the fuel situation. If anyone has done the trip and has some insight or even a travel book they recommend that would be great.

If anyone is planning on being there at the same time let me know. Always good to have contacts when your in the middle of know where.

Thanks a lot
Josh

[MountainMan]

Hey Josh,

Sounds like a grand adventure. I've rode over there a bit and am in B.C. so if you want to chat more, feel free to drop me an email and I'd be happy to provide some general feedback to the questions that you ask. You can email me by clicking on my name above and selecting the email function. Happy planning.

[Miquel-Silvestre]

Ok. I see no one has posted an answer to this post for a while but Mountain Man. Probably they feel it is not a real problem for you that trip if you keep on the main roads. If you try secondary roads, Ok, that is fun but is real bush or real desert. BW, ZA and NAM are like the European Union. The borders are easy, the roads are good and there are enough fuel stations and places to stay. In Windhoek are at least to bike workshops and Cape Town, Pretoria and Jo´burg are plenty of them. If you need books, any bookshop can provide what you need, but it is easy to find “where to go” pamphlets. Of course, it is Africa and anything can happen, but just think clever and ride.

http://www.miquelsilvestre.blogspot.com/

[Vaufi]

Josh,

no probs at all. Infrastructure in southern Africa is far better than the rest of Africa. Even secondary roads are perfect for travelling, esp. with light bikes like the 650's. Just stick to the rules: No travelling at nighttime, pick up your money from the ATM while on the road - and carry on riding. Listen to the locals. They can tell whether it is safe to go out at night in their town or village. And they know the best roads in the vicinity ;o)

Some of the tougher roads can be found in Lesotho, but even those are doable with a loaded 1150GS (Sani Pass e.g.). In NAM, BOT and in the Karoo you will come across sandy pistes, but with knobbly tires and reduced pressure this is good fun

On the backroads of he Karoo and Namibia you might need a jerry can to extend your range, but basically a range of 300 - 400 kays is sufficient.

The best bike forum in S.A. is the Wild Dog Adventure Riding - Index Great guys, very helpful.

Enjoy your trip!
Hans

[jpotter]

Thanks for all the info guys, the trip is starting to come together. I'll let you know how the it goes.