BOTSWANA '09 - Our easy intro. to ADV Riding

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                                                BOTSWANA ’09 -  Our easy Intro to ADV Riding

Planning this trip was all consuming for us.  We had never done a ride of this scale before and preparation started in September 2008 after a trip down the wildcoast. We then realized that with both of us on one bike with camping gear we couldn’t set our sights any higher than a short, local trip. Anything longer would mean me riding my own bike ….. a new deal for both of us!

It was decided that BOTSWANA and the CAPRIVI STRIP would be an ideal place to ‘cut our teeth on’ – some of it was familiar territory and some of it unknown to both of us. Many decades ago Kingsley completed his military training at various camps along the Caprivi strip ( a narrow stretch of Namibia  running  west to east between northern Botswana southern Angola and bordered on the north-east by Zambia and on the east by Zimbabwe) and was part of the construction team that was responsible for building this ‘golden highway’ – as it was referred to.  Way back then he had decided he would like to return, but on a motor bike.


Completing a loop would be a good option offering us a bit of adventure with minimal risk.
Now the stress started! We both needed to get our motorbike licenses – after all these years of going without. Only now does one realize how ignorant one is when it comes to road signs and rules. You take all these things for granted but when it comes to putting pen to paper it’s a different story. November saw us writing our learners test. Kingsley, who has been riding a motorbike since he could walk, failed!!  Time was running out as our departure date was the 1 April and a rewrite could only be booked for 3 months later. To cut a long story short the day before we were due to leave, Kingsley managed to get his license. We were now both legal.

In between battling through licenses we went through many lists, read interesting travel information and spent hours on google earth. We decided to take our chances and not make any camping reservations which proved to be a good decision as we never stuck to our original plan.

Our plan was to pick up a friend from Beta Beta and he would drop us off in Nata( Botswana) and meet up again at Elephant Sands (50km north of Nata) 10 days later. He was going to spend his time tiger fishing while we completed a loop through Botswana and the Caprivi.
DAY 1
On April 1st we set off with much excitement and apprehension with a trailer transporting a Tenere and my newly acquired XT 600 E.
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