WarthogARJ
Pack Dog
Hey there Wild Puppies,
So I FINALLY arrived in Joburg after starting out from The Hague in June. My bike is still there, but I'm in Sheffield, England now. I had to fly out in a rush to do my next thing: school!!!
Who says you cannot teach an old warthog new tricks????
I posted on Wild Dogs a couple times for hep on the way down and you guys helped me: thanks!
Plus I posted on GS-911 for help with an erratic left cylinder and got sorted there too.
I only saw the one WD member (Ewald) in Joburg, but next time I'm in RSA (maybe over Dec/Jan but definitely next July) I'm going to continue on down to CT and will drop in on a few of you. And then the plan is to ride back up via the West Coast of Afrika.
I say "sort-of" to Joburg because my shock gave out just North of Vilancoulas. I put it on a taxi/trailer to get to Vilancoulas to sit out the time to get another shock and then asked where they were going to finally: Joburg. Hmmm...... So, I decided why not. Would have been days to wait to get a shock and could sort it out quicker in Joburg.
So I pulled into Joburg with the HP2 on a trailer. Ah well, not as planned, but I have ridden to Vilancoulas from Joburg before (on a BMW R80 G/S) so it's a more-or-less complete trans africa trip, albeit not with same bike, and with 15 years in between....
The trip was great. Rode to Turkey via Eastern Europe, then thru Syria and Jordan to Egypt. Did a Sinai circuit. Went from Cairo via the Western Desert to Luxor, then onto Aswan. Then the dreaded ferry to Sudan. Then a meandering route to Khartoum.
From Khartoum I was with some Germans who were in a 4x4 and we heard the South was open. So, why not? Rode via the Nuba Mountans (hectic off road there, not even trucks going the last part). Then from Wau to Juba then to Northern Uganda.
Roads not so good in South Sudan: about 1500 km of somewhat dubious road. The 4x4 went very slow at times, a bit like watching paint dry being nearby them!!! So I roared off ahead usually. Quite a few mines still tho, so stayed on road.
Stayed in Juba a few days at the Mineteck Holiday Resort while I got my clutch line fixed at a Nairobi shop (I got caught in a rut and I went one way, and my bike went another way). But after re-installing it and bleeding with new fluid all was well.
Some people thought I might be the first Westerner riding a bike thru Southern Sudan since the war: I'm not sure. Nobody at Customs has seen one before, but I imagine some hard core German has done it on a moped or something during the thick of the civil war so I don't think I'll push my claim to a first transit too hard. Still, there definitely have not been many bikers that way, I was an unusual sight for the people there, that's for sure.
Rode into Northern Uganda, somewhat nervous about the LRA, but they've moved onto the DRC. Had a few stops on the way to Jinga to kayak there.
Then took a somewhat ill advised short cut via the North end of Mount Elgon.....eeee yaaaaa. A REALLY bad road. Mud to the knees. Washed out rivers. Fun and games when I fell off a 2 meter cliff (bike was OK, it fell on me so no damage to it...:-0
Anyways, after 3 days on a 60 km road I got to Kenya.
Kenya then Tanzania (plus Zanzibar). Into Malawi (with an earthquake). After finding my boots when they were stolen one night, I rode into Mozambique. Got close to Vilancoulas before my shock died.
Then 29 hours on a taxi to Joburg.
So: that's my trip report!!!!!
Will post some photos just now.
I wanted to post something in case there was anyone with questions to ask about the route etc.
Alan Jarvis
So I FINALLY arrived in Joburg after starting out from The Hague in June. My bike is still there, but I'm in Sheffield, England now. I had to fly out in a rush to do my next thing: school!!!
Who says you cannot teach an old warthog new tricks????
I posted on Wild Dogs a couple times for hep on the way down and you guys helped me: thanks!
Plus I posted on GS-911 for help with an erratic left cylinder and got sorted there too.
I only saw the one WD member (Ewald) in Joburg, but next time I'm in RSA (maybe over Dec/Jan but definitely next July) I'm going to continue on down to CT and will drop in on a few of you. And then the plan is to ride back up via the West Coast of Afrika.
I say "sort-of" to Joburg because my shock gave out just North of Vilancoulas. I put it on a taxi/trailer to get to Vilancoulas to sit out the time to get another shock and then asked where they were going to finally: Joburg. Hmmm...... So, I decided why not. Would have been days to wait to get a shock and could sort it out quicker in Joburg.
So I pulled into Joburg with the HP2 on a trailer. Ah well, not as planned, but I have ridden to Vilancoulas from Joburg before (on a BMW R80 G/S) so it's a more-or-less complete trans africa trip, albeit not with same bike, and with 15 years in between....
The trip was great. Rode to Turkey via Eastern Europe, then thru Syria and Jordan to Egypt. Did a Sinai circuit. Went from Cairo via the Western Desert to Luxor, then onto Aswan. Then the dreaded ferry to Sudan. Then a meandering route to Khartoum.
From Khartoum I was with some Germans who were in a 4x4 and we heard the South was open. So, why not? Rode via the Nuba Mountans (hectic off road there, not even trucks going the last part). Then from Wau to Juba then to Northern Uganda.
Roads not so good in South Sudan: about 1500 km of somewhat dubious road. The 4x4 went very slow at times, a bit like watching paint dry being nearby them!!! So I roared off ahead usually. Quite a few mines still tho, so stayed on road.
Stayed in Juba a few days at the Mineteck Holiday Resort while I got my clutch line fixed at a Nairobi shop (I got caught in a rut and I went one way, and my bike went another way). But after re-installing it and bleeding with new fluid all was well.
Some people thought I might be the first Westerner riding a bike thru Southern Sudan since the war: I'm not sure. Nobody at Customs has seen one before, but I imagine some hard core German has done it on a moped or something during the thick of the civil war so I don't think I'll push my claim to a first transit too hard. Still, there definitely have not been many bikers that way, I was an unusual sight for the people there, that's for sure.
Rode into Northern Uganda, somewhat nervous about the LRA, but they've moved onto the DRC. Had a few stops on the way to Jinga to kayak there.
Then took a somewhat ill advised short cut via the North end of Mount Elgon.....eeee yaaaaa. A REALLY bad road. Mud to the knees. Washed out rivers. Fun and games when I fell off a 2 meter cliff (bike was OK, it fell on me so no damage to it...:-0
Anyways, after 3 days on a 60 km road I got to Kenya.
Kenya then Tanzania (plus Zanzibar). Into Malawi (with an earthquake). After finding my boots when they were stolen one night, I rode into Mozambique. Got close to Vilancoulas before my shock died.
Then 29 hours on a taxi to Joburg.
So: that's my trip report!!!!!
Will post some photos just now.
I wanted to post something in case there was anyone with questions to ask about the route etc.
Alan Jarvis
