Gael warning in the Congo

[simondippenhall]

And to conclude I tried to show you my Garmin track through Africa. In general it's the great or pink lines.



Oddly I seem to have deleted the track up to Senegal (hence the suspiciously straight line!) And through Gabon.

Note the odd loops around Ghana and through Botswana...and around the Westwen Cape. It was (intentionally) a very peripatetic ride.

Now to think about options on the RHS...




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[Northern jock]

You may have already done so in the detail but is it worth highlighting where you were able to store your bike? I suspect a few folk might like to do a similar trip if they could break it into bits as you managed to do very well.

And, good job done with the trip report, always good to let folk have an armchair adventure!

RHS??? ……………………………………many ideas...….

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

You may have already done so in the detail but is it worth highlighting where you were able to store your bike? I suspect a few folk might like to do a similar trip if they could break it into bits as you managed to do very well.

And, good job done with the trip report, always good to let folk have an armchair adventure!

RHS??? ……………………………………many ideas...….

Royal Horticultural Society are sponsoring his return trip. Or possibly coming up the right hand side of Africa.

 

[simondippenhall]

Ha ha! I'll take sponsorship from anyone, even the Horticultural mob!

I know there are places to leave a bike in Gambia, Togo, Cameroon, Confo Republic, Angola, Namibia...but best source is ioveelander, Horizins Unlimited (HuBB) and just asking around as I did in various places and Jim did in Windhoek.




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[simondippenhall]

So things have been quiet on this blog for a while...but Jim and I have been planning.

We are returning to Windhoek on Saturday, where the GS and the Suzuki 125 were parked up in March.

So the plan is to recommission the two bikes (hopefully a straightforward process as (at least in theory) they have had batteries on trickle charger and are in a secure barn on a farm surrounded by high, barbed wire topped fencing). They will both get a service and good to go.

I will again be bringing tyres as the trusty TKCs I brought to Cameroon a year ago are pretty finished by now.

.

Jim will be heading in one direction (I will say no more as he will be along shortly with his own blog to tell you more!), and I another.

A quick reminder of the road taken so far

I am hoping to head North East to Zambia and then on in the general direction of Sudan, and see how I get on.

So these few days are the final packing and deciding what NOT to bring. Think I need to fit a new RHS pannier rails as the old one is beginning to suffer, so have been in pursuit of mounting bolts today, once I learned BMW would charge £27 for 3 bolts!

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[simondippenhall]

And while Jim has been scratching his head and trying to remember what he left in Windhoek, I have been trying to assemble my luggage plus two TKC 89s in a way that will fit the Airlines’s luggage regulations for the trip out

And I think the magic formula has been achieved - at least for one of the two pieces of luggage, but the bigger one which had the front tyre:

Success:

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[Jockser]

Definitely in

 

[Micky]

I'm in ....

 

[dean0n0]

Is Africa bigger than England then?

 

[barak666]

Looking forward to this - I'm in.....

 

[simondippenhall]

So we have had a dramatic few days on our trip to Windhoek where the bikes were stored. Jim has covered in detail in his blog here 'In search of Father Jack' so I will just summarise

Leaving home for Heathrow

Refused boarding by Ethiopian as we don't have onwards tickets out if Namibia (funnily enough, motorcycling doesn't issue tickets!) So we had to buy tickets online, and hope they were refundable!

Last I saw of my luggage on Saturday (as at noon Tuesday!)

The flight delays begin... eventually amounting to 2.5 hours which is unhelpful when you have a 1.5 hour transit window in Addis!

As we waited at LHR this lady, who was Italiuand South Sudanese, joined us and we chatted. Seems she rides a Ducati....and was also having some documentation problems as, being she said a member of the Sudanese royal family, travelled on a diplomatic passport and so did not bother with visas, a point of view Ethiopian did not share

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[simondippenhall]

So after a scramble across the Addis tarmac we find ourselves on a flight to Johannesburg not Windhoek


Eventually after an afternoon in Johannesburg airport we reach Windhoek at 10 but without baggage.

Next morning we view the bikes after their 7 month slumber

The GS starts on the first attempt. However Jim's Suzuki needs a drink from the BMw bowser and then some TLC ...we think fuel in the carb may have resonated (if that's a word). I find some injector cleaner fluid in my top box (the rest went into my full fuel tank when I laid the bike up) and that and some energetic kick-starting (to save the battery) allows Jim to tease the 125cc bike to life.

So it's iffto Windhoto get each bike serviced....within 200 metres I see my first two warthogs and a troop of baboons.

AfrI a, we’re back!


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[simondippenhall]

So now it's Wednesday morning, we arrived Sunday and we have n idea where our bags are

Here's Jim looking at Ethiopian airlines world map and trying to guess where our bags are

In the meantime the bikes are serviced. My starting motor in particular needs and me TLC as it is disengaging a bit slowly and shows some of the mud and dirt of recent miles.

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[simondippenhall]

So I am starting to triage solutions if the bags are gone forever.

The three critical things in my bags were new tyres, malaria tablets, and my contact lenses. I have located a local source for tyres, booked a doctors appointment for a atovaquone prescription, and found a source (albeit costly) of such tablets. Now need to find a contact lense supplier, Tomorrow may be decision day!. And these things are part of why makes travel interesting.

In the meantime we calmly watched yesterday's sunset

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[Northern jock]

Hopefully the bags will turn up, there will be a way round it but nice to get the stuff

Haven't had a Windhoek Lager for a while, enjoy. You're going to get a nice selection of beers in the next few weeks, two of the better ones (I think) being White Cap and Tusker but location is everything, any of them can taste good!

 

[simondippenhall]

Hurrah! After a long ride to the Windhoek airport, dodging warthogs and baboons en route, and after an amicable chat to customs, my luggage and motorcycle are reunited and the road beckons (tomorrow, once the tyres are fitted!)

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[twizzle]

A great feeling when your luggage turns up.....

 

[simondippenhall]

Thanks twizzle. Tyres were to be fitted this morning but the Motorrad compressor broken-down so looks like an afternoon departure, into high winds.

Jim already on his way South, left an hour ago. Note the fashionable Gucci motorcycling flipflops! (Don't worry on his actual departure he was in full Moto gear).



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[gspod]

I really enjoy your ride reports Simon so it’s a big welcome back from me.
D

 

[simondippenhall]

Thanks GSpod! Now parked up 240kms north of Windhoek and flying the flag



Must have seen a thousand warthogs on the way North so a good reason to stay alert!
Before heading out of Windhoek I passed this establishment



Well named I think.
Obviously slightly tired as I ordered a non alcoholic beer by mistake


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