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sub-Saharan Africa Topics specific to sub-Saharan Africa. (Includes all countries South of 17 degrees latitude)
Photo by George Guille, It's going to be a long 300km... Bolivian Amazon

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by George Guille
It's going to be a long 300km...
Bolivian Amazon



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  #16  
Old 13 Feb 2014
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I´ve spend 2 months in the country and its one of the nicest places i´ve been to in Africa, sooo many spots to go and fantastic people !!

For a bike to get around I would buy an indian made Bajaj 150, you should get one new for around 600$ and its very (!!) easy to just sell it after your trip. All the moto taxis ( called "boda boda", the name comes from a time where there was no public transport between Kenyan and Ugandan border and local guys made a buisness out of it transporting people on bikes ) use that modell and with more than 20.000 of these "taxis" in Kampala you´ll find a buyer quickly.

They are reliable, use around 2,5l/100km, make up to 90km/h, spares are available in even the smallest roadside villages ( + everybody knows how to fix them ) and they have quite a good suspension and torque ! The same modell is used in westafrica too, we went on these bikes with 3 people nearly every day and even on the roughest pistes the bike handled well and confortable !





Cheers,
Chris
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  #17  
Old 18 Feb 2014
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Location: Kampala, Uganda
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Thanks Pike - good to meet you and glad you enjoyed the "otherside" of Uganda. Take care until next time. Parky
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  #18  
Old 23 Mar 2014
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Great to hear , I leave on the first of May from Johannesburg on my trusted Vespae for a epic trip to tha Vespa factory in italy and will be in Uganda later in the year , so will look you up for some insider info.
Regards
Michael
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  #19  
Old 25 Mar 2014
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There's mad and then there's Vespa...

I salute your madness and embrace the whole idea! Make sure you pack some Hemorrhoid cream lol
Hope to see you when you get into town. Have cold on the go day and night for thirsty voyagers.
Ride well and stay safe.
Parky
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  #20  
Old 25 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Parky View Post
Make sure you pack some Hemorrhoid cream Parky
I´ve done around 40.000km through north-west-cental and east Africa on a vespa myself and have to say that the seat and riding position on a vespa is not worse than on my Yamaha XT500 or the KLR650 i´ve tried when it comes to long distances on tarmac ! ( which is 90% of the route if you go straight Cape Town - Cairo as Isiolo-Moyale should be all tarmac mid 2014 )

@ Michael :

Which modell did you chose for the trip ? Take all the spares you need ( MANY CDI´s, extra front/rear damper, piston, full ignition, I carried even a spare cylinder ) as you won´t find any from Kenya to Egypt ( and oh boy I did seach a lot as I was on a 125cc primavera smallframe, which makes it impossible to find anything even tires ), where they have plenty of PX 150 so with a lot of effort you´ll get all the essential stuff, especially in Alexandria so when you are there and in trouble send me a pm and i´ll tell you how to find the shop. I havent seen any vespas in Ethiopia and in Sudan only maybe a dozen, mainly they have Bajaj with three wheels as taxis but completely differant engine, even the stearing bearing is differant ! ( had to get a new bearing with dhl into Addis ) Any blog of fb page where I could follow your journey ??

Greetings from a fellow Vespisti traveller,
Chris
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  #21  
Old 5 Jul 2014
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Arriving in Kampala

Hey Parky arriving in Kampala in the next week or so , I have dropped you a mail , I hope we can get together for a Uganda catch up.

Kind regards

Michael
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  #22  
Old 16 Oct 2014
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I would just like to update this thread by recommending that if anyone is in Kampala, Uganda they get in contact with Parky. He's great company and an invaluable source of local knowledge. So if you're just passing thru and fancy a or have a problem which needs help....

My problem at the moment, is that I was out with him until 2am this morning!
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  #23  
Old 4 Feb 2015
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Just to like to say that motorcycling in Uganda is highly recommended. Traffic can be a bit nuts in the big towns (but no more nuts than other places in the region) but bikes are cheap to buy, spares are everywhere, as are mechanics.

I stay here for a large proportion of the year so if anyone needs help, bike storage etc send me a PM.

Cheers.
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