Sub Saharan Africa for oldies
 

Any beer drinking senior citizens fancy the following no sand and only smooth ripio trip starting Sep 09 and finishing when you get bored?

Ro-Ro from Southampton to Durban. North through Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania/Kenya for sculk in Dar or Mombasa then to the Serengeti to see the big migration. Uganda, Zambia, Vic falls, Utosha park (Namibia) Botswana, South Africa in toto then repeat as necessary. Tents only in the Serengeti and beer and steaks/seafood whenever possible. Sub Seniors with ambition and beer drinking talent may also apply. Ride safe.

sounds interesting - any thoughts on likely cost of ro-ro to Durban?

Drew (not senior yet but currently ageing rapidly at desk)

Sub Saharan Africa for oldies
 

Old, but not dead yet, I'd be interested if I can get my bike to Durban at a reasonable cost from the US or Latin America.

Chris

sub sahara
 

currently planning trip to india aug 09 but would be intereted as an oldie subject to ro ro costs may peel of from time to time i.e. to visit swaziland where i used to live in sixties and leave in kenya to head for ethiopia

Hi Guys, thanks for expressing an interest in the trip. I am waiting for a reply from Wallenius Wilhelmsen ref. cost of Ro-Ro and will PM you when I get it. Ride safe.

OAP trans Africa
 

Yep, count me in. I am currently i Chile, having taken 18 months from Alaska. Really slow, lots of beer on the way. Plan to be back in SA in June/July next year, to ride slowly through Africa, hopefully on the way to India, Asia, and Australia.

Hi People, just in case the PMs didn't work the estimate from WW for my moto, a BMW R1200GS, from Southampton to Durban is £900.00. There will be a cost for getting the bike out of Durban dock and I hope that charge will be similar to Zeebrugge, Southampton and Halifax which has been about £60.00. This cost is significantly cheaper than the costs incurred using a container and the bikes only have to be delivered to Southampton 5 working days before the Ro-Ros departure. Ride safe.

Hi all you oldies,
So, seeing as you are doing Moz and maybe Swaziland then you may just as well swing across to Hazyview, Mpumalanga (not so far away) and have some of that beer that you keep mentioning. Ah, I forgot to mention, I have a liquor store...... spark some interest? Yes, there is also a spare cottage, sparsely furnished and basic but hot water and flushing toilet with some beds, maybe throw some camping matresses on the floor, cos it sounds like there will be a load of you arriving now and it is safe and secure. So now you can drink a beer and not have to ride and all you need to do in exchange is share a few of your tales (of which there will be many, I'm sure) and then get on your way northwards.

Let me know if you need a spot to rest on your journey, I am about an hour or so from the Moz border post at Komatipoort.

Martin.

Rather email direct to martin dot smith at vodamail dot co dot za as I do not get to Horizons that often and when I do I don't always check my messages.

National Parks are challenging for motos
 

FYI: Currently in Nairobi, having just visited/ridden through most of your planned countries and stops, I am somewhat disappointed in the situation. In short - bring LOTS of money if you want to do the National Parks. The park fees charged to foreigners is a real bummer - usually $50 to $100 just for a 24 hour entry fee. Then, you can't ride your bikes into the parks usually. So you have to arrange things through a tour organizer and they aren't cheap. Today, its $230 pp for 24 hours in the Serengeti or Ngorongoro) - all inclusive, but still, how many cheap-ass moto travelers spends that much for a day?

I needed work on my bike when I was in the Hazyview (S.A.) area - so I left the bike at the Nelspruit BMW dealer, had a cheap compact rental waiting, took all my gear in the car and drove into Kruger Park where I was able to see the big 5 (elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion, leopard) in just over 24 hours time. Kruger was the cheapest of all park visits. Everything else has been too expensive - and I'm not one of the cheap-ass travelers - just voting my disapproval of high fees by not paying doing more parks.

But boy, would I fit into the rest of your plans (see my home page).

Hi Guys, a bit more gen on the Ro-Ro's, the actual schedule covering next Sep. should be published around June '09 although the office staff have a fair idea before that. Going by past schedules, Southampton has on average 3 departures a month taking 19 days to Durban and the first decision to make is where to spend your time after delivering the bike to the WW people at Southampton and going by past experience, Durban is not a bad place to wait. Check out the prices of beach front budget apartments/suites near the city centre and the exchange rates I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Ride safe.

Purchase a bike in Durbin?
 

Does anyone have thoughts on the possibility to buying a moto in Durbin?
Thanks
Bob

http://bobsmotoadventure.blogspot.com

Hi,

Just back from my second West African jaunt and spotted this which immediately captured my imagination - like, why not do the other end of the continent.

I will have a lot of thinking and discussing to do but am interested. :thumbup1:

Below is an account of the recent trip in two parts because the first site stopped uploading the posts. Maybe it was after we were arrested!!!:oops2:

http://www.travelblog.co.uk/2008/wri...peterzzzcullen

http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/petcul/

Hi Bob, I'm a couple of years out of date but when I was last in South Africa bikes that could cover the sort of milage I am thinking about even second hand ones were really expensive but if you are looking at the costs of getting one from the US to SA it may be an option. Charleston to Southampton (UK) to Durban with a WW Ro-Ro would be around £2,000.00 which converted into americanese would be about US$3,000.00 at todays rates then there is the return to think about. There a several SA motorcycling web sites and the South African BMW riders site would be a good place to start. Keep us informed if you find anything. Ride safe.

Bikes in SA
 

Have a look at prices for new BMW's in South Africa: a F800 costs around $ 10 000, less than the States or Germany. And used bikes are also pretty reasonable, especially since the local currency (rand) runs about 10 to the dollar.

Ball park
 

Mike (maja)
I'm curious as to how much time you anticipate for your trip. Can you give a "ball park" estimate?
Thanks
Bob


Bob's Latin America Adventure