21 days through BotsNamZamZim two up May 2011

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Wayne Duck

Race Dog
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No fixed address...Travelling Southern Africa in a
21 days through Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe – unassisted, two up on a KTM 990R (about 70% tar / 30% dirt)

This trip we did in May 2011, before I joined this forum...a shorter version did appear in Enduro World but with much less pictures.

We (Ronelle and myself) started with the thought of riding up to Kariba and sailing on the ferry...but, after the planning started in earnest (on Mapsource and the internet) in November 2010, we had soon included not only the Kariba ferry, but all the countries mentioned above! By January 2011 we had everything booked and, by April, all the necessary paperwork, travel insurance, vaccinations and, of course, the bike serviced.

Day one, 324 km’s (Sun City, Ellisras, Big Fig Inn):

This was an easy run from home to the Botswana border at Martin’s Drift. We left after lunch and reached the Big Fig Inn, 3 km’s from the Martin’s Drift, at 4.30pm.

All packed and ready to leave home
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Day two, 552 km’s (Martin’s Drift, Palapye, Lethlakane):

We got up early to clear the SA and Botswana border formalities and push on to Palapye for a mid-morning “bacon-less” breakfast at Wimpy (no pork due to foot and mouth outbreak). From Palapye we headed out to Serowe and arrived at the Mikelele Motel in Lethlakane before midday. After removing the panniers we rode off in the direction of Kubu Island, the intention being to try see a bit of the Makgadikgadi Pans. However, in the hot afternoon sun the thick sand was fluffy and difficult two up…both the bike and I were overheating! We decided to follow the dirt road to Masu in a circular route back to Lethlakane (which we re-named Lekker-lanie while “re-hydrating” ourselves at the bar!)

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Days three to six, 373 km’s (Lethlakane, Rakops, Maun and Okavango Delta):

This route skirts around the Makgadikgadi National Park. We were amazed at the thousands of livestock walking freely across the huge open “vlakte”, and of course across the road! Arriving in Maun we rode straight to the Old Bridge Backpackers, where we were to spend the night (and leave the bike) before leaving on a 3 day Inner Delta Safari (organised by Old Bridge Backpackers).
In the morning we boarded a “tinny” (aluminium hull speed boat) and threaded our way through the delta’s thousands of channels for four and a half hours until we reached Chief’s Island, deep in the Okavango Delta’s Moremi National Park. Here we set up tents to camp for two nights. During the days we did bush walks and a mokoro trip, seeing a lot of game. A highlight was coming across 3 lion feeding on a warthog...we got to about 40 meters away before they noticed us and ran away, taking the carcass with them. We were very relieved (understatement of the year!) that they ran away because our guide (a chap from the local village just outside the park) was “armed” only with an old pair of binoculars!

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View from tent at Old Bridge Backpackers
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Swimming in the delta!
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Relaxing at Old Bridge
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Day seven, 439 km’s (Maun, Etsha, Mahango Park, Popa Falls)

All packed and about to leave Maun we had the only “incident” with the bike the whole trip…I turned the key in the ignition and nothing happened, no instrument lights, or the comforting “systems” check or whirr of the fuel pump! In an instant my 30 years of biking experience was forgotten – I immediately thought the worst and set about stripping the tank bag off to check the fuses. All 100%. Next wild thought, the battery must be flat. Nope, the head light and flickers worked. So it must be the fancy-electronic-immobiliser-chip-thingie in the key, I thought! While I was digging in my pockets for the spare Ronelle (with just 3 years biking experience, gained via me!) very tactfully asks “darling, does this bike have a kill switch?” Ok, so now I’m embarrassed  :-[  Duh, bloody kill switch! I gave her a big hug and we were on our way! (I never turn the kill switch off...must have been someone fiddling while it was parked for the three days - that's my story and I'm sticking to it  ;D )

The route up the Okavango panhandle is an easy one and before you know it you’ll be at the Namibian border. From there it’s a short hop through the Mahango National Park to Popa Falls (Rainbow River Lodge) for the night.

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Many foot and mouth spray downs along the way
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Nice cool swim at the end of another hard day in Africa!
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Day eight, 453 km’s (Popa Falls, Caprivi Strip, Chobe, Kasane)

Anyone who’s ever ridden the length of the Caprivi Strip will know it’s very long, very straight…and hard on the bum! We were fortunate to see two Cheetah right next to the road, allowing us to stop 50 meters from them for a while before they disappeared into the bush again. Entering Botswana again at Ngomo border we rode through Chobe to Kasane (Mowana Lodge) to overnight.

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Entering Chobe
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This little chap wanted to hitch a ride into Zambia
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Days nine and ten, 95 km’s (Kasane, Kazungula Ferry, Livingstone)

Chaos! That’s all I can say about the Kazungula ferry into Zambia! I wanted to do this for the “real African experience”…and boy, was it an experience! I can now cross that off of my bucket list! From this border (which, miraculously, we cleared in just two hours) we rode to Livingstone to spend two nights at the Royal Livingstone Hotel (yes I know that this is not usual accommodation for adventure riders but after 25 years with Sun International I do get to enjoy the perks!)

The wait for the ferry begins...
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...and finally on the ferry, squashed in like sardines!
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Cleared the border now finally in Zambia. Truckers seem to pile up in these long queues at most borders through Africa, I'm glad I do not have their job.
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First sight of the falls "smoke" as you ride out of Livingstone
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Next, into Zimbabwe...
 
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