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Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

The only impossible journey
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25 years of HU Events


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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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  #1  
Old 5 Jun 2023
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Location: Northampton, UK
Posts: 112
Keetmanshoop to Springbok

It was still dark at 6:30am while loading the bikes but starting to get light at 7am as we rode out of town. All very quiet as it was a Sunday. Great roads but much colder than expected at 5'c. We kept thinking it would warm up as the sun came up but it stayed pretty cold. That made for an uncomfortable ride as I'd lost my cold weather kit with the panniers. It was a straight forward ride to the border.

The border post was the most organised we've seen in Africa. One way through, all the buildings are laid out in sequence. All the offices are labelled and had entry and exit doors. Simply park up, go and get the carnet stamped, go to immigration for passport stamp and that was Namibia done. Ride through and down the road to the SA side. First stop was at a friendly police line. We were given a piece of paper and directed to some parking. From there, again, all the buildings in a row and sign posted to show what each building contained. Go to immigration for passport stamp, next window for carnet stamp, next building for police to stamp the piece of paper. Ride to the exit post and hand the stamped piece of paper to a friendly policeman and that was it. We were in South Africa. The whole process from arrival to exit took 45 minutes. A new personal best for African border crossings!

Then a ride to the town of Springbok. Good roads but cold again and it started raining. I already had rain gear on to try and retain some warmth and stop the wind chill.

Springbok is a small town and everything except the fuel station was closed on Sunday afternoon. We tried a few hotels. All had rooms but the first was expensive, the second had no Wi-Fi and we didn't reach the third as we spotted a suitable place on the way there. R900 per room with Wi-Fi.

Only thing left to do was to find insurance and buy a SIM card but that would have to wait until the Monday morning.
Attached Thumbnails
Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

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  #2  
Old 5 Jun 2023
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Springbok to Worcester

We started the day at 8am at an insurance brokers. They couldn't help with 3rd party insurance but also said we didn't need any. Anyway, we went looking for another insurance office without success. As time was moving on we decided to continue without.

It's a lovely ride down the Cape Namibia Highway. Good road, stunning scenery, shops and fuel. Two police road blocks. First waved us through. Second one was stopping everybody. The police checked my driving licence and had a look over the bike. It was all efficient and friendly and we were on our way again.

There were some long stretches of road works but all well organised. Contra flows in place but the operators stopped traffic in one direction while coordinating the flow by radio with their colleagues at the other end.

The route goes past many vineyards and citrus plantations. The town of Worcester is neat and we booked into a hotel in town. It had a courtyard to park the bike in, although that was an extra charge, only R30 (less than £1.50) so better than leaving the bikes on the street.

We were looking forward to the ride to Cape Agulhas (southern most point of Africa) the next day.
Attached Thumbnails
Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-05  

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  #3  
Old 6 Jun 2023
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Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: London
Posts: 32
Good luck for the final push. Let us know when you get there.
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  #4  
Old 6 Jun 2023
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Join Date: Sep 2021
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Worcester to Cape Agulhas (Southern most point of Africa)

Worcester is a relatively small town so getting out of town was easy, no real traffic. It was cold again. 4'c when we set off at 8am. No point setting off any earlier as it is still dark.

The ride to Cape Agulhas was spectacular. My Garmin and Richards Garmin gave different routes to the destination. Mine agreed with Google so I followed that but it did take me on an unpaved road for a shortcut. Richard was in pain with his ankle and going off road was not an option so he followed the longer paved road.

There was a bit of a delay as we lost each other and had to stop and send messages to agree to be on separate routes. Seemed ridiculous to ride through Africa together and then split up on the last 80 miles.

Anyway, it worked out well and we met up in the town of Bredesdorp which is before L'Agulhas. We rode down to the coast and along the coast road and back before finding the monument.

Of course we took the photo opportunity and walked to the sea front plaque and map of Africa. After the photos we just sat and looked at the ocean for a while. It's a beautiful spot and marked the end of a long and eventful journey through Africa.
Attached Thumbnails
Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-06  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-06  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-06  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-06  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-06  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-06  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-06  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-copied-data-2023-06-06  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-20230606_113504.jpg  

Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route-20230606_113803-lr.jpg  

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