Johnny-B-Good
Pack Dog
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2010
- Messages
- 76
- Reaction score
- 0
- Bike
- BMW F650GS / Dakar
Hello all.
I just joined the forum (should have done so long ago as my bike has a WD sticker on it). I am currently working up at Medupi with Tagsy and he recommended I log onto the forum to see if those wiser than I can help me out of a spot.
I am an American, originally from California, but been away for the better part of a decade. I have lived in South Africa for the last 18 months or so, and now that my contract is ending I am planning a ~6-week trip around southern and eastern Africa. I am sure I'll be back to South Africa soon, but for now I start a new job in San Francisco come November.
I had originally intended the trip to be a Long Way Up from Capetown to Cairo. Unfortunately, the cost associated with a Carnet de Passage and the risks in riding alone through northern Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt with an American passport were prohibitive. So, the current plan will begin in Johannesburg in early September, and end in the same place in late October before I make the move back to the bay area.
The 6 week itinerary will include: South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya (southern only), Tanzania (again), Malawi, Swaziland and Mozambique before returning to South Africa. I am looking forward to Sani Pass in Lesotho; the Garden Route in South Africa; the salt pans in Botswana; the Caprivi strip and Okavango delta in Nambia; Victoria Falls; gorilla sightings in Rwanda; meeting up with a few friends in Uganda and Kenya; visiting Dar es Salaam and trying to hop a ferry to Zanzibar; camping along lake Malwai; and endless sand roads, beaches and an old friend in Mozambique before returning to Johannesburg to catch a flight to the other side of the world.
Ready for the punch line: I leave in a week! My 2004 BMW F650 Dakar is mostly ready to go, but due to a last minute failure from my supplier in Pretoria, I am searching for some luggage and crash bars to replace the ones that Tourtech couldn't get to me on-time.
Like I said, I am new. I probably don't know enough to pull this trip off on my own. Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers.
Johnny-B-Good
I just joined the forum (should have done so long ago as my bike has a WD sticker on it). I am currently working up at Medupi with Tagsy and he recommended I log onto the forum to see if those wiser than I can help me out of a spot.
I am an American, originally from California, but been away for the better part of a decade. I have lived in South Africa for the last 18 months or so, and now that my contract is ending I am planning a ~6-week trip around southern and eastern Africa. I am sure I'll be back to South Africa soon, but for now I start a new job in San Francisco come November.
I had originally intended the trip to be a Long Way Up from Capetown to Cairo. Unfortunately, the cost associated with a Carnet de Passage and the risks in riding alone through northern Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt with an American passport were prohibitive. So, the current plan will begin in Johannesburg in early September, and end in the same place in late October before I make the move back to the bay area.
The 6 week itinerary will include: South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya (southern only), Tanzania (again), Malawi, Swaziland and Mozambique before returning to South Africa. I am looking forward to Sani Pass in Lesotho; the Garden Route in South Africa; the salt pans in Botswana; the Caprivi strip and Okavango delta in Nambia; Victoria Falls; gorilla sightings in Rwanda; meeting up with a few friends in Uganda and Kenya; visiting Dar es Salaam and trying to hop a ferry to Zanzibar; camping along lake Malwai; and endless sand roads, beaches and an old friend in Mozambique before returning to Johannesburg to catch a flight to the other side of the world.
Ready for the punch line: I leave in a week! My 2004 BMW F650 Dakar is mostly ready to go, but due to a last minute failure from my supplier in Pretoria, I am searching for some luggage and crash bars to replace the ones that Tourtech couldn't get to me on-time.
Like I said, I am new. I probably don't know enough to pull this trip off on my own. Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers.
Johnny-B-Good
