At the petrol pumps there were two Beemer 800 GS’s. I pulled up and indicated to the one bloke that fuel was leaking out of his bike as the fuel cap was not closed. I don’t know if it was this or the sight of a Honda that pissed them off but they hardly greeted me or Deb and rode off! OK I did not have the designer gear and cool panniers so maybe they did not want to associate with me!
From Panda to Kasane the road improved and so did the speed and I loved the cool air of another overcast day. Thunderclouds were building and rain was coming, when we stopped at the Chobe River Lodge.
308 km for the day through an awesome part of the world. I had driven this stretch before and it has never failed to impress.
The next couple of days were spent lazing at the pool and also doing a fantastic cruise on the Chobe River, during which we spotted large numbers of elephant and hippo.
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ImageShack.us29 - 31 December 2010
Crossing the border into Zimbabwe was easy except for about a 40 minute delay obtaining a temporary import permit. I had bought third party insurance in South Africa and that saved a bit of time.
It’s a short scenic ride from Kazangula to the Falls and we pulled into the parking area of the Kingdom at around 11:30 am.
Of the three paces we stayed it was the place I liked the least but will say it was humming with people out having a great time. It seemed as if the Great Zimbabwean reunion was organized at the Hotel.
It was great to see the town so busy and reminded me of ’94 when it did not have free beds for a week! On the 30th there were 600 odd people rafting the Slambezi.
Activities are what made this town and we did a few. Bianca, Mix, Tom and Deb rode ellies, Deb and Mix did a tandem bridge swing and they let me push sticks on the river albeit only on the flats!.
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Sadly all good things come to an end and we packed up and hit the road back to Nata.
A vicious rain shower ensured I was soaking by the time we got delayed by a small herd of Ellies. They gave way when a Shearwater bus thundered by them.
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ImageShack.usThe border crossing as faster except for some officious official from the Botswana Agricultural Department insisting on searching all the bags for spare shoes to dip against foot and mouth disease. I have no problem with the protocol, but while we were doing this numerous folks wandered around between the border posts without complying. TIA or AWA or AAW, take your pick!
We grabbed some fuel in Kasane and headed south, spotting 41 elephants along the way as well as a truck that had hit an ellie the night before. The cab was completed bent back and the three individuals inside had been badly injured. No sign of the elephant.
We got to the Lodge at about 3 pm. I tried to wrangle another night out of the place but they were fully booked. So we made the best of it at the bar.
2 January 2011
The day stared early again but after lazing on the stoep and a great breakfast we got away just before ten. Clouds were building along the way and about 40 km north of Francistown the first storm hit, visibility closing down to around 20m or so at times. The bike wanting to aquaplane in patches.
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ImageShack.usWe rolled into Francistown just at around 12:30 and after waiting for an hour and a half for two waffles, a milkshake, two coffees and a coke, decided the rain was not going to go away.
Near Serule I eventually rode out of the rain and we turned east towards Selebi-Pikwe in a vain hope of getting to the Zanzibar Border post before 4 pm. Time was against us so we headed for Martin’s Drift, clearing the Botswana Border at around 5 pm. Then to my horror we got stuck in a queue at Grobbler’s Brug. It seems the “efficiency” of scanning and manually entering passport numbers was slower than filling in a form!
An hour and a half later with frayed nerves and darkness coming we headed for Lephalale, which we reached around 7:30, and eventually got settled into a place for the night. The Machauka Lodge was comfortable surprise!
I have to mention the two drunken arseholes in the red Toyota Cressida that cut me off and then took umbrage at my language.
520km for the day.
3 January 2011.
Last day on the road and a short little ride home, which we reached safely at 1 pm. It was great to have Mix on the back of the bike from Harties to the house. I have a strong feeling she is going to inherit the little XR when Deb graduates from it later this year.
Would I do it again? Yes as early as August this year.
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Topic: ZWY 635 GP goes north (Read 1090 times)
