For me it was always a lifetime ambition..I was always reading all books available about this Africa overland trip as well as following all the riders that have done it before on social media. I think every adventure biker wants to do it at least once in their lifetime. I have planned it twice before, but every time something came up. So this time I was adamant to do it. Achmet my travelling partner, I met about two years ago, but it was on our Botswana trip in 2018 that we started to plan this Africa Trip for 2020.Achmet has previously backpacked through Europe in his youth days and wanted to explore Africa more. I have travelled extensively through the southern part of Africa and absolutely love Africa and its friendly and helpful people. We originally wanted to travel through Africa to Europeleave the bikes in storage and then do Europe at a
This also changed when we realised how expensive it is to travel in Europe at the moment. Our original plan was to get to Cairo, service the bikes and then if time allowed, ride the bikes back to South Africa and then the return trip include countries like Uganda and Rwanda.
We were both lucky to have partners at home supporting us all the way and looking after all our interests at home and work.
A year earlier than planned in 2019 the opportunity arose to get away from work for both of us and the planning started in earnestBig decision was which bikes to useI have a Super Tenere and a KLR and Achmet had a GS 1200, that he bought a few months before.
When we realized that we must pay 200% of the Bikes value in cash to the AA for the Carnet de Passage that is required for Egypt and Sudan, my mind was easily made up. Definitely the smaller and older bike with a lower value. Achmet also decided to purchase a second hand BMW 800GS with a much lower value.
the various visas- South Africans need visas for Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. Check lists were drawn up. We carried medical kit that includes a malaria testing kit and malaria treatment kit. Also went for all the necessary injections, from the British Travel Clinic, most importantly the yellow fever injection that they will required on some border crossings as well as our international driving licences from the AA. Motorbikes checked, and serviced. Outsurance insured my motorbike for most countries.
We decided on the Heidenau Tyres because of the possibility that we would travel back and then would do in access of 20000 km. Although its a long lasting tyre, it can be slippery in wet conditions and a bit harder on the road. We consulted with various experienced Adventure Travellers like Uwe Schmidt, Michnus Olivier and others. Matthew and Herold from Bike Gear in Port Elizabeth provided us with the gear and necessary assessories . Tony Schwartz was our backup in South Africa. By backup we mean he is the guy to keep everyone updated on the progress of the journey,
Route planned. We decided to basically travel straight through to Kenya from where we would explore more and then do Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt in more detail. Starting through Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania. We reckoned that we can always do the countries closer to us at a later stage and because of time constraints, we decided to do the top three countries in detail. I have also done up to Tanzania on a previous trip already.
I left Kidds Beach outside East London on Friday the 2nd of August to King Williams Town, just around the corner from me for a farewell braai and then a few mates travelled with me to Grahamstown where we met up with Achmet and some of our friends from Port ElizabethAfter coffee the two of us departed for the Gariep Dam for our first stay over. We played for time because I was still waiting for my Egypt Visa that was delayed. From Gariep Dam to Christiana via Bloemfontein where we stayed on my friend Danie Verweys farm and then on towards Rustenberg. In Rustenberg we did a final check on our luggage and filled
one bag with duplicated equipment and clothing.
