Good man ........proper envious and i'll hold you to that wander

Hi John having sold all the bikes ( medical problems and age ) i will look forward to you getting back to the part of the world . I may be able to ride off road by then . And maybe Phil + Russ would allow me to join them
But for now keep up with the regular posts loving it
all the best keep safe
shan

Guys...you humble me with what you say always happy to ride with the "band of brothers" if a little mad and senior

I know what you mean about deserts..Forests are the same....ISOLATION...nature at its purest...

keep it coming beg fella

So that settles it then. At some point four slightly deranged misfits need to get together and hit the road less travelled! Sounds like a plot for a B movie! Also sounds like it would be a bloody good laugh! Hahahahahahahahaha.


Happy Easter everyone.
I move on again tomorrow so it is only right I bring you all up to date with my meanderings. Well the thing about not getting to the salt pans..... I don't like to be beaten. I know when to turn back, traveling on my own and all that precautionary bs. But, I don't like to be beaten! So new tyres and plan B. Dammit I am starting to plan stuff now, got to stop that! But can't be beaten, just goes against the grain.............

New route sorted. For those crazy enough to look stuff up I went down to Letlakane below the pans, turned north off the tar with the intention of getting to Nata via Lekhubu Island. Looked good on the map and a check with those in the know said the roads were passable......well the chap on the island said " The road is bad, make sure you take the adventure camp road and if you are adventurous you should make it." Oh yes my kind of advice.

So I left the rain of Maun and headed for the rain of Leltakane. Bugger! four days of rain overall, so two nights waiting at letlakane before the trail to let me and the ground dry out. More confirmation of the state of the road, "wet, dry and bad in places, ask advice at the vet gates." No worries then off I pop!

Day one; To the Island. Head in the right place, sun in the sky and sand on the trail. No worries big bike, big power loads of fun! Up to the edge of the pan. Hmmmm, the road goes out there, so do some vehicle tracks. Ok so the pan is a mudflat about as big as a county or two in England, what could possibly go wrong? Hahahahahaha. The top is a dry crust, underneath is the mud. Think tea tray on ice and you get the idea. So no braking, gentle rolling on and off of the throttle and keep your head up. Made it about a mile before dropping it. Hahahahahahahahaha. No worries just pick it up and go again. Ah man anyone ever tried to pick up a loaded Adventure on an ice rink! Hahahahaah. Slip, slide, spin, dance a flipping jig and then fallover in the heat laughing like a fool! I don't think I ever got the pannier of the ground! Hahahaha. Ok so unload the bike, do a bit of digging for foothold and pick it up. Sorted, reload slowly get to the edge of the pan and plan to follow a rough route along the edge to the vet gate. There were even tracks at the edge and the sand, mud was a little more consistent. Ah cracked it. For maybe another half mile when the back and front swapped ends! The bottom line is it took a while to get across the first bit of pan and this was supposed to be the easy bit!
I had a good laugh with the chap at the vet gate, who was there before I was! Hmmm I wonder why? He told me the route to follow. The direct way to the Island was impossible due to all the rain. Take the north road and it is on real ground........across another section of pan! To be fair this was a lot harder, mud with a lot of salt leached up to the surface. Also some vegetation which firmed stuff up a bit. Time for that big power again, read the terrain and power across the soft stuff hoping to get through it before you run out if revs. I did most of the time, only dug the bike out once! The last part was a sand, rock, gravel trail. The bikes true home! A fantastic blast to end the day.
Day two; North back to the tar and fuel. 90km according to the signs and good trail according to the only other people on the island. Again check at the gate as there are two trails. It was glorious. At the gate I was told take the high road it is dry, the low road along the edge of the pan was wet! Also was asked if I wanted a . I politely declined, it was about 9:30am! The trail went through some amazing scenery, huge grassland to the left and an even bigger vista of nothing across the pan to the right. Lots of sand some deep and lots of undergrowth encroaching the trail. At times my hand guards and luggage took some big hits. Sand! 2nd and 3rd gear constant roll on power through, roll off stabilize and power up again for the next section. Good riding, but very hard work. Getting to the road was good. Fuel up and head back to Maun. Just 180 miles away, fortunately it only rained for 170 of those..........................

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Nice one mate , love the foot prints walking away from the bike in the 3rd pic

lol..mad Bugger...

I had Easter out on the plain of wiltshire with the ccm guys...loved the Rutts ..not much mudd as its very dry here....better still no break downs...

Camping this weekend trial run before France adventure.....

update..forgot to measure gate opening before trying to ride through with soft panniers..

still they are soft and sqish easily..lol

so you didnt lick the salt pan then ..

Ah yes, the wide bike syndrome. I have a few scrapes on the panniers for the same reason .

For some damned fool reason I decided the sand at Le Kubu just wasn't enough. A new plan formed, cross the Kalahari but not on tar. The route was simple, head to Ghanzi and go south. There were some trails on the map so it looked possible. I asked advice in Maun and was told the sand would be a big issue. Wild camping was ok but be aware. No worries then!

The first part was good, easy trail and a pleasant night camping out in the sticks. I left in the morning and the trail soon got worse. Nothing too bad just a good top covering of sand. This is ok but it means the speed has to go up so I can skip over the imperfections and let the bike wander around a little, 50 to 60mph worked best. The trail was straight and in a corridor of bush. Not very inspiring and when crossing the highway showed more of the same I couldn't be bothered. I joined the road down to the next section. Here the sand was better, for about 10 miles then the deep stuff came in. I pushed for about another 10 miles then knowing, I had about 100 more to go I back tracked to the tar found a place to camp and got the maps out. Hmmm Damn!

So day three and a new route. Tar for a bit then turn off. Good graded track to start then the sand came back. Reasonably even, about 3 to 4 inches deep and rutted by traffic. Time to get the speed back up. Here 60 to 70mph worked best, very hard work but doable! So blast along for a while, stop and rest when the arms got tired, then go again. I have no steering damper on the bike and one here would have really helped. I crossed tar to what I hoped would be the final stretch to the border at Bray. It started well the went back to a sand pit. A deep sand pit! Kalahari sand and Sahara sand are very different. I guess it must be because it is so much wetter here. It is like riding through builders sand. It grabs at the bike and pulls it away from you. Deep ruts are hard slow work.

The main problem was when I needed to dab. As soon as the foot goes down it sinks into and is grabbed by the sand. As the bike goes forward anyone with panniers knows, you then get belted on the calf and your leg can get trapped. It makes it very slow going. I had already set myself up for two days to do the last stretch but just kept falling and being trapped by the bike. I decided a broken leg out here would be too much. So I turned around. It was yet another time when I know I would be ok with an unloaded bike, but fully loaded is too risky.

Damn, damn, damn. I hate to be beaten! Three times the Kalahari got the better of me. I need a support crew like Ewan and Thingy. Then I could dump the luggage, blast the trail and emerge the intrepid wanderer............... But that would be cheating, Hahahahahahahahaha

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Blaa blaa blaa .......blaming the sand i seem to remember laying down was a fun part time for you

It dose look heavy going mate especially lugging a half ton tangerine around, bet you wish you'd taken your bucket and spade

Look out for these nosie rascals

Hahaha. I heard plenty but never saw any. Jackals yes but nothing bigger. The noises out in the bush are fantastic, I have no idea what they are!

Now I have moved on again. After the trails of the desert I made it into South Africa and the rain! Hmmmmmm, I went via Pretoria up to Drakensburg for a look round and really only saw clouds! I have ridden through a lot of scenery reminiscent of North Wales and Scotland. A lot of the towns have names Brits would recognize and trout fishing is big out there. All very beautiful but for me, meh. Also the pace of life has rocketed, everyone seems to be in such a flippin' rush! Hmmmm, I believe so called civilisation and self importance go hand in hand.

So I packed up my wet gear and hauled south. Through the pine plantations and round Swaziland. It rained on me I think only four or five times during that day! But as I got into Natal and the Zulu territory everything got much better. I wild camped in the bush. Just the best way to live, it's brilliant

Now I am in Durban, doing the washing and other chores. tomorrow I leave and head for somewhere very special. Oh I have to service the bike too and again that is going to be special as well. Yep looking forward to moving on in the morning.

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Brilliant posts big man - for some reason I only get notified avery four weeks or so!

See you sometime - have fun, and live to tell the tale

Simon & Polly

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Ahhh ......civilisation ...... perhaps we got it wrong

Great pics John this guy might be worth a shout
Christmas Safari 2 - 2014 Edition (Botswana & Namibia) - ADVrider

Hello, sorry its been a while. Bad planning, enjoying myself or just plain lazy? Ahhh, you decide. Hahahahaha

So I left Durban with two destinations in mind. I needed the bike serviced and Alfie Cox was a way up the road. For those who don't know who he is............ Well...... probably the toughest most hard core racer I will ever meet in my life. Dakar stage winner and podium achiever on the motorcycles and now a car racer. He and his wife Hazel run what must be the best KTM workshop in South Africa. Ex works racers as mechanics and staff with a level of involvement that is inspiring.

So me the tight fisted Brit walks in and says I want to service the bike, but as I don't want to pay for the labour can I just buy the parts, pitch my tent for a night and do the work! I end up staying in their accommodation for three days, get the work done and spend the evenings with Alfie and his family. Lets just say as trophies go the mantelpiece takes some beating! I don't do the hero worship thing. I am too old for that, people are people and we all have different strengths and talents. But to listen to and ask questions of a man with Alfie's background and drive was a pleasure. As I said probably the toughest and most hard core racer I will ever meet!

After this I moved on to Sani Pass. Wow, what a road! I intended to travel up through Lesotho but once I got there I had a change of heart. The nights were cold and I was at the bottom only around 5000 feet up. The top being around 9400 feet up was going to be way colder. Nah, I have done cold camping before, the knees just moan like hell in the mornings! However a beautiful sunny day to play on the pass, now that can't be refused. The road, the scenery, the views and the crazy riding were all superb. Definitely a highlight in more ways than one.

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that Sani pass looks interesting and a man after my own heart with the suggestion of an "offer please mate"

But i have found on my own hummble travels that ordinary working folk are very generous to dirty travelers on bikes

Stay and ride safe mate
Phil

The Sanni pass is a must do for me, but I know that in the winter it can be closed due to ice.

Tim if you are going to do it, do it soon. There is talk about tarmacing the top section and judging by the ground work that has been done up there I would say it is serious talk. The pass is closed a lot during winter due to the weather, the top is at about 9400 feet. Quads and two wheel drive are already banned. I was told the quads due to accidents and the two wheel drives because they get stuck and block the pass.

It is an amazing stretch of road, well worth the effort to get to.