Stephan
Race Dog
Thursday morning came and I arrived at the dealer to pick up my bike. Both the clutch and master cylinder had been replaced under warranty (due to no parts available in stock they stripped a new bike to fix mine in time :thumbup: 
). Slight problem when I got there, instead of replacing the TKC?s with my Tourances, they fitted brand new ones! To say the least I was :shock: :shock: when presented with the bill! Soon figured out what the problem was, removed the new ones and replace the old ones, fixed! However that screwed up the schedule for the rest of the day, resulting in me arriving late at home the afternoon.
Soon after I arrived the rest left for the gathering point at the Total north of Pretoria. Only 4 bikes this time, and slightly more comfort as the Isuzu and a trailer was going with, transport for the kids (the excuse). The fact that I left about 2 hours later than the rest of the group would turn out to be a mistake as I could not find the turnoff to Kolobe Lodge, first night stopover, in the dark, the rest of the party was enjoying themselves on the lapa, sans cellphones, leaving me searching in the dark with no one to talk to. I ended up with probably a litre of petrol left in my tank before they decided to check their phones to see whether I was trying to contact them, resulting in my bike taking a trip on the trailer until we could refuel and offload it again. NO PICS! (way to embarrassing) This would turn out to be an omen of how the trip would end as well, although for a different reason.
Kolobe Lodge is the other side of Ellisras just before the Martinsdrift turnoff on the Stockpoort road. We ?camped? on the premises and would recommend it as a stopover without reservations.
During his conversation with Red & cie after their arrival, he also recommended that we rather use Stockpoort as crossover as the big trucks tend to clog Martinsdrift. According the ladies recollection he said: ?it is 30 km good gravel road and 70 km tar?. Turned out to be the other way around. The gravel portion turned out to be on the Botswana side of the border, first 15 odd k?s was good hard pack with no gravel, this however didn?t last and turned into hard pack with lots of loose gravel and sand with some tricky middelmannetjies, the ladies sweated while I sat frustrated in the car.
Enjoying a break after the gravel.
We then headed for Palapye to stock up on meat and other liquid necessities and headed north to Nata. We camped at Nata Safari Lodge for the evening and headed north to Kasane the next morning.
First proper sight of Botswana elephant.
The ladies on the road.
Stop over at Pandamatenga for lunch
On the way to Kasane
Red on arrival @ Toro Lodge
The three ladies
Red on stretcher, suitably protected from the night air chills! :lol: :lol:
The next day we decided to go for a leisurely game drive along the Chobe river front, this turned out to be an excellent decision. These are some of the pics that where taken on the day.
While we were pausing for a lunch time snack, an elephant bull ghosted past in the bush about 500 m away. The ladies busy answering the call of nature, thought we were joking when we called out to warn them!
The highlight of the drive would come the afternoon as we sat watching a leopard leisurely clean himself 4 meters away in the shade of a tree.
Each camp site at Toro has a mini ablution block with a kitchen area, with plug point and hot water, in front and a toilet, shower and basin at the back. Having stayed at Chobe Safari Lodge previously (they where fully booked this time) I would recommend Toro as a better option mainly due to the ablution facilities.
And so we headed for the border again, Ngoma and Namibia this time. The day turned out to be hot!
On arrival at Ngoma we could for the first time really appreciate how the water levels had risen.
These are comparative pics of the same area August 2006 and May 2007.
On the bridge
And we met up with Millroy and party the other side of Katima in the Caprivi Strip.
On the road to Ngepi
That evening we stopped over at Ngepi camp, just below the Pupa Falls, except that with the high water levels there was no falls only a series of rapids as the water covered them totally. Of all the camps where we stayed, this one was the highlight of the trip. The road in was a fun sandy twee spoor up to where we had to cross the water to reach the site. The last portion of the access road had washed away and a temporary fix, using plastic :shock: sandbags had been put into place (no problem on 4 wheels but nice and slippery when on a bike!) was put into place.
Arrival
My butt?s sore!
We went for a boat ride / fishing trip the next day and just generally enjoyed ourselves. This is one stopover that we will extend in future trips as there is a lot to do in the area with the game reserve (old Buffalo, 32 Bn, just across the river). We could hear the elephants trumpeting and breaking branches during the day. The photos can explain a lot better than I can.
Ruins of Buffalo
After a day of lazing around we headed for the border again the next morning for the shortest ride of the trip to Drotsky?s Cabins just the other side of the border. The rest of the party went fishing again, with no evidence of success although the stories of lost catches abounded!
Sunrise last morning before the trip back started.
As we headed for Maun, Letlakane, Ellisras and home, I realised that I had a toothache starting. By the time we reached Maun it no longer qualified as an ache but was quite painful. Of the trip the next day to Letlakane I don?t remember much other than the fact that I was totally focused on riding the bike and taking pain killers every 2 hours to try and manage the toothache. At Letlakane we found that there were no camp sites and ended up taking 2 x 2 chalets and pitching 2 tents outside after some negotiation. That evening I realised that I was in no condition to complete the trip on the bike, I couldn?t even fit the helmet over my head as my cheek looked like I stuffed a tennis ball inside. So we headed for Molalatau the other side of Ellisras as our last stopover with my bike on the trailer and semi-dosed inside the bakkie.
Suitably anaesthetized I sat watching the Bulls pulverise the Reds that evening.
After the requisite visits to a doctor (Sunday after arrival) and the dentist, it turns out that I have not one but two abscesses that developed beneath my bottom molars and will have to visit a dental surgeon in the near future.
Ah well, all?s well that ends well.
As far as lessons learnt goes:
1. Don?t book, it?s a lot cheaper, Ngepi was the only booking we did, it turned out to be close to double the price on site. If you do book contact the site directly don't use an agent. Not even the Internet type!
2. Not booking allows you to be a lot more flexible in adapting to the local circumstances. No one could have predicted the high water levels. Apparently this was also true on the Makgadikgadi, one on the locals strongly recommended that we stay of the pans as it was treacherous.
3. A backup vehicle on a cross border trip is invaluable.
4. Check your teeth, when they go wrong you won?t like the bite!
). Slight problem when I got there, instead of replacing the TKC?s with my Tourances, they fitted brand new ones! To say the least I was :shock: :shock: when presented with the bill! Soon figured out what the problem was, removed the new ones and replace the old ones, fixed! However that screwed up the schedule for the rest of the day, resulting in me arriving late at home the afternoon. Soon after I arrived the rest left for the gathering point at the Total north of Pretoria. Only 4 bikes this time, and slightly more comfort as the Isuzu and a trailer was going with, transport for the kids (the excuse
). The fact that I left about 2 hours later than the rest of the group would turn out to be a mistake as I could not find the turnoff to Kolobe Lodge, first night stopover, in the dark, the rest of the party was enjoying themselves on the lapa, sans cellphones, leaving me searching in the dark with no one to talk to. I ended up with probably a litre of petrol left in my tank before they decided to check their phones to see whether I was trying to contact them, resulting in my bike taking a trip on the trailer until we could refuel and offload it again. NO PICS! (way to embarrassing) This would turn out to be an omen of how the trip would end as well, although for a different reason. Kolobe Lodge is the other side of Ellisras just before the Martinsdrift turnoff on the Stockpoort road. We ?camped? on the premises and would recommend it as a stopover without reservations.
During his conversation with Red & cie after their arrival, he also recommended that we rather use Stockpoort as crossover as the big trucks tend to clog Martinsdrift. According the ladies recollection he said: ?it is 30 km good gravel road and 70 km tar?. Turned out to be the other way around. The gravel portion turned out to be on the Botswana side of the border, first 15 odd k?s was good hard pack with no gravel, this however didn?t last and turned into hard pack with lots of loose gravel and sand with some tricky middelmannetjies, the ladies sweated while I sat frustrated in the car.
Enjoying a break after the gravel.
We then headed for Palapye to stock up on meat and other liquid necessities and headed north to Nata. We camped at Nata Safari Lodge for the evening and headed north to Kasane the next morning.
First proper sight of Botswana elephant.
The ladies on the road.
Stop over at Pandamatenga for lunch
On the way to Kasane
Red on arrival @ Toro Lodge
The three ladies
Red on stretcher, suitably protected from the night air chills! :lol: :lol:
The next day we decided to go for a leisurely game drive along the Chobe river front, this turned out to be an excellent decision. These are some of the pics that where taken on the day.
While we were pausing for a lunch time snack, an elephant bull ghosted past in the bush about 500 m away. The ladies busy answering the call of nature, thought we were joking when we called out to warn them!
The highlight of the drive would come the afternoon as we sat watching a leopard leisurely clean himself 4 meters away in the shade of a tree.
Each camp site at Toro has a mini ablution block with a kitchen area, with plug point and hot water, in front and a toilet, shower and basin at the back. Having stayed at Chobe Safari Lodge previously (they where fully booked this time) I would recommend Toro as a better option mainly due to the ablution facilities.
And so we headed for the border again, Ngoma and Namibia this time. The day turned out to be hot!
On arrival at Ngoma we could for the first time really appreciate how the water levels had risen.
These are comparative pics of the same area August 2006 and May 2007.
On the bridge
And we met up with Millroy and party the other side of Katima in the Caprivi Strip.
On the road to Ngepi
That evening we stopped over at Ngepi camp, just below the Pupa Falls, except that with the high water levels there was no falls only a series of rapids as the water covered them totally. Of all the camps where we stayed, this one was the highlight of the trip. The road in was a fun sandy twee spoor up to where we had to cross the water to reach the site. The last portion of the access road had washed away and a temporary fix, using plastic :shock: sandbags had been put into place (no problem on 4 wheels but nice and slippery when on a bike!) was put into place.
Arrival
My butt?s sore!
We went for a boat ride / fishing trip the next day and just generally enjoyed ourselves. This is one stopover that we will extend in future trips as there is a lot to do in the area with the game reserve (old Buffalo, 32 Bn, just across the river). We could hear the elephants trumpeting and breaking branches during the day. The photos can explain a lot better than I can.
Ruins of Buffalo
After a day of lazing around we headed for the border again the next morning for the shortest ride of the trip to Drotsky?s Cabins just the other side of the border. The rest of the party went fishing again, with no evidence of success although the stories of lost catches abounded!
Sunrise last morning before the trip back started.
As we headed for Maun, Letlakane, Ellisras and home, I realised that I had a toothache starting. By the time we reached Maun it no longer qualified as an ache but was quite painful. Of the trip the next day to Letlakane I don?t remember much other than the fact that I was totally focused on riding the bike and taking pain killers every 2 hours to try and manage the toothache. At Letlakane we found that there were no camp sites and ended up taking 2 x 2 chalets and pitching 2 tents outside after some negotiation. That evening I realised that I was in no condition to complete the trip on the bike, I couldn?t even fit the helmet over my head as my cheek looked like I stuffed a tennis ball inside. So we headed for Molalatau the other side of Ellisras as our last stopover with my bike on the trailer and semi-dosed inside the bakkie.
Suitably anaesthetized I sat watching the Bulls pulverise the Reds that evening.
After the requisite visits to a doctor (Sunday after arrival) and the dentist, it turns out that I have not one but two abscesses that developed beneath my bottom molars and will have to visit a dental surgeon in the near future.
Ah well, all?s well that ends well.
As far as lessons learnt goes:
1. Don?t book, it?s a lot cheaper, Ngepi was the only booking we did, it turned out to be close to double the price on site. If you do book contact the site directly don't use an agent. Not even the Internet type!
2. Not booking allows you to be a lot more flexible in adapting to the local circumstances. No one could have predicted the high water levels. Apparently this was also true on the Makgadikgadi, one on the locals strongly recommended that we stay of the pans as it was treacherous.
3. A backup vehicle on a cross border trip is invaluable.
4. Check your teeth, when they go wrong you won?t like the bite!
