Author Topic: Botswana- it isn't as good as Xpat says (Read 2239 times)

Ri · « **Reply #20 on:** June 27, 2019, 08:15:35 am »

Fantastic read! And great photo's too. Agree about your favourite one - stunning.

Go forth - ride and write!

eberhard · « **Reply #21 on:** June 27, 2019, 08:25:18 am »

Thank you. I enjoyed reading and seeing the pictures.

Grunder · « **Reply #22 on:** June 27, 2019, 08:36:00 am »

Thanks for the RR.

Enjoyed it

Rough Rider · « **Reply #23 on:** June 27, 2019, 08:41:08 am »

Black_Hawk · « **Reply #24 on:** June 27, 2019, 09:23:39 am »

Thank you for sharing your nice RR, it was very well written.

Looks like you have a nice adventure

ClimbingTurtle · « **Reply #25 on:** June 27, 2019, 09:55:04 am »

Quote from: OomD on June 27, 2019, 06:40:17 am

Quite an inspiring and humorous RR, and it's epic! Thanks for sharing! One day I'll overcome my fear of sand, and do a trip in this direction.

You've got the right bike for sand....

Great RR - thank you for taking the time!!

jaybiker · « **Reply #26 on:** June 27, 2019, 10:34:39 am »

Dammit you wouldn't think a layabout pensioner would be too pressed for time to read a report fully, but I can see I've got to make time, 'cos this looks like a real good one.

Later.

m0lt3n · « **Reply #27 on:** June 27, 2019, 12:28:08 pm »

Thanks for the RR. Was a great read!

Can you share the Bots route please?

daveh · « **Reply #28 on:** June 27, 2019, 01:22:12 pm »

Great adventure and report- thanks for the effort in posting this

JonW · « **Reply #29 on:** June 27, 2019, 01:24:54 pm »

Nice story and pics

Thanks for sharing

Amsterdam · « **Reply #30 on:** June 27, 2019, 06:04:44 pm »

Very nice, we need to share some more details over a beer sometime soon.

Xpat · « **Reply #31 on:** June 27, 2019, 06:33:07 pm »

Well, I'm glad you enjoyed Bots - was a bit concerned when I saw the title first time.

Little correction: while they might have rooms in Molopo lodge for R1000 a night, they also have other options. If I remember correctly i paid about half for airconditioned A frame with ensuite bathroom last time I was there over Easter.

Since you seem to be done, I will pad it up here with some photos of mine - I'm sure you will not mind.

McKracken · « **Reply #32 on:** June 27, 2019, 06:40:30 pm »

Quote from: Xpat on June 27, 2019, 06:33:07 pm

Well, I'm glad you enjoyed Bots - was a bit concerned when I saw the title first time.

Little correction: while they might have rooms in Molopo lodge for R1000 a night, they also have other options. If I remember correctly i paid about half for airconditioned A frame with ensuite bathroom last time I was there over Easter.

Since you seem to be done, I will pad it up here with some photos of mine - I'm sure you will not mind.

I was looking online, so that explains it.
No problem, add as many pics as you have

Sent from my SM-G9350 using Tapatalk

Xpat · « **Reply #33 on:** June 27, 2019, 06:50:24 pm »

Here some pictures from the day McKraken & I rode together from Bray to Tsabong:

Morning in Tapama lodge in Bray:

Garage in Bray:

Dirt highway from Bray to borderpost in Makopong about 80 km away:

And finally what we came for - riding heaps of sand following Bots / SA border from Makopong to Tsabong for next 150 or so km. McKraken:

Annoyingly a strap holding my luggage down broke within first 15 km and I had to sort it out with new webbing:

Once fixed, off we went, following sandy double tracks through shallow dunefields flanking the border, inteersped with couple of dozen km of off-piste bush crashing:

Here some bundu bashing following compass heading (south to south-west) and cattle tracks:

Old abandoned road we finally found after 15 or so km of getting shredded to pieces by the bush:

Xpat · « **Reply #34 on:** June 27, 2019, 07:02:38 pm »

More of the bush riding:

McKraken already described the issue I run into on my 500 - the bike started spluttering about 20 km before Tsabong and was having more and more frequent misfires. Fortunatelly we made it to Desert Motel, the place to be in Tsabong and started the root cause analysis. I contributed muscle power, while McKraken did all the thinking, as he actually is an engineer (I just have a paper that says so). It turned out to be battery - I got brand new Motobatt Made in USA yellow thing and came to be sorry that I rather didn't look for some cheap China crap. Well, I have learned a new lesson from McKraken - that is that brand new batteries have tendency to die sometimes quickly, so will never again go for trip with brand new one without riding it first for few hundred km in less remote location.

That was the end of that trip for me (original plan was to do two more days north and east of Tsabong looking for lions and more of the likes of red dunes I have ridden two months ago to the west past Khawa. On the positive note, McKraken didn't have to stick with me riding unknown bush tracks with potentially questionable result (there was slight possibility that we will not bump into lions) and instead could use the saved time to go and do those dunes between Khawa and Bokspits that I knew from experience are something else

Thanks for company Craig, hope we will do it again (will make sure to use chinese battery this time)

Next day for me it was a cage drive back t Bray (or whatever it iås called on Bots side) where I pushed the bike across the border to the amusement of the border officials. Luckily the border post is literally 100 meters down the road from Tapama lodge where I had my bakie:

Xpat · « **Reply #35 on:** June 27, 2019, 07:19:15 pm »

Forgot the route:

2StrokeDan · « **Reply #36 on:** June 27, 2019, 08:14:24 pm »

Great ride, and I really like your analog fuel guage.

Straatkat · « **Reply #37 on:** June 27, 2019, 08:24:17 pm »

Yeah it sucks when your bike lets you down, 2 years ago I was also on my way with Martin to Bray when my Husky 610 seized a motor, I had to get my wife to collect and X-pat continued on, so I have first class knowledge of how that feels, glad it was only the battery, my bike was a little more fooked.
Craig, thanks for a good ride report.

gee · « **Reply #38 on:** June 27, 2019, 08:27:30 pm »

thanks great read

McKracken · « **Reply #39 on:** June 27, 2019, 09:55:38 pm »

Thanks for the pics Martin. Sorry about the click bait title-milenials what can you do?
@molten I will share the GPS tracks eventually, I need to download them still. Like I said I was having issues, so there wi ll b e ga ps.

And thanks for the comments- this being my first RR I didn't really get how nice it is to hear from people who enjoy it

Sent from my SM-G9350 using Tapatalk