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Have moto, will travel

As of this post, I’m in Swankopmund, Namibia.  If you looked at the tracks you will know we rode through a remote section of Namibia.  There was no or very limited wifi.  Most riders could not maintain a wifi connection.  The cell service was OK.  As you can see by my Spotwalla tracks we have been in a constant move and have seen much.  I’ll try to catch up but and time is limited.
Day04 – Jan 18, 2017

After a day’s delay, we ride today …

Start Location:  Cape Town, South Africa

End Location:   Springbok, South Africa

Distance:          586 km (364 miles)

Hotel/Pension:   Kleinplasie Guesthouse (limited poor wifi)

Money Conversion: R1 = $0.0443 USD; $1 USD = R13.459

At 8:00am we load all our riding gear and luggage into a mini van and ride ~12 miles north to the container yard.  We all got our original Certificate of Ownership’s (pink slips) and our Carnet de Passage (kinda like a passport for the motorcycles).  We will need both for border crossings.

Finally, our motor! Last time we saw this box was 3 months ago!

All motos are secure and in perfect shape.

Motos are unloaded, batteries reconnected, and panniers & cases packed.  Tom B’s battery was dead!  His BMW was loaded onto the trailer and went to the BMW dealer 15 miles away.  By 10:30am we are on our way.  2 hours later he chased after the main group using his GPS tracks.
Harry (SA and local tour guide) lead 8 of us 20km out to the highway 7.  We all got our first taste of left side riding.  Traffic circles are clockwise.  It was fairly easy left-side riding following a lead rider.  How will we do once we are on our own?
Photo: Arrow Windshield
Since we are one day behind, we had to ride 586km (364mi) on highway 7 due north to the second nights stop in Springbok.  The entire route is paved.  We are encouraged to not ride in a group!  Stop wherever you want for food, drink, rest, fuel, photos, etc.

Quickly the group of 9 riders dispersed along the route each riding his pace and style.  A couple of the faster riders paired up and disappeared.  I ended up riding alone for most of the day.

Although my 2016 Honda CB500XA had 8,000 miles on it, this was the first time I rode with full loaded panniers and top case.  I rode at various speeds topping off at 120kph (75mph) .
The first ¼ of the ride felt like riding US101 through the Napa/Sonoma wine country.  The countryside turned into the barren, flat desert and the temps began to rise.  When we arrived in Springbok  the temps was around 100°F!
Day05 – Jan 19, 2017
Start Location:  Springbok, South Africa

End Location:   Fishriver Canyon, Namibia

Distance:          318km (198mi)

Hotel/Pension:   Canyon Village (limited poor wifi)

Money Conversion: R1 = $0.0443 USD; $1 USD = R13.459

Today we made our first border crossing from South Africa into Namibia.  It was easy and all of us were through in a couple hours.  On the Namibia side we had to purchase a “Road Tax” of R170.

The Namibian Dollar is the same as the South African Rand

We just exited South Africa and entering Namibia.

Temps are 105°F.  Last couple days I started drinking massive amounts of water.
The last 60 miles were dirt (gravel, sand, rutted, washboard) roads!  We all dropped tire pressures to ~25 psi.

We are out in the boonies!

The dirt road is actually pretty good.  I was able to ride 70 kph for the bad parts, 100 kph for the good stretches.  Last 30 km had some sand.

This is the oasis at the end of the dirt!

The Canyon Village Lodge is very unique.  Very rustic.  The rooms are isolated string of villas on stilts.  The furthest rooms are 400 m from the main lobby.  No A/C, no phone, very sporadic wifi, and baboons raiding some of the guest rooms!
Day06 – Jan 20, 2017
Start Location:  Canyon Village Lodge, Fishriver Canyon, Namibia

End Location:   Canyon Village Lodge, Fishriver Canyon, Namibia

Distance:          0 moto mileage

Hotel/Pension:   Canyon Village (limited poor wifi)

Money Conversion: N1 = $0.0754 USD; $1 USD = N13.256

Today we visit the Fishriver Canyon Park.  It’s the second largest hole in the ground after our Grand Canyon.

The second largest hole in the earth!

Lunch at the Canyon Roadhouse.

This was a great place for lunch and gas tomorrow on our way out.

Photo:

A perfect sign for bone jarring moto riders!

A tree grew through the motor area of this ol' junker.

Just in case you're lost.

Tomorrow, 573km/356mi to Sossusvlei – entirely on dirt roads!
CURRENT LOCATION:  Upper right corner titled “Current Location” is my Delorme inReach Explorer satellite tracks provided by SPOTwalla.  When activated, it provides a real time track of my travels.  Select “1 Cape-Cairo” and a map with my latest location comes up.  The 2nd banner tab “Cape to Cairo 2017” opens for more options.  Select “Adjustments” enables the viewer to select more days to view.  Remember we started Jan 13 so factor that in to the total days.

Use the zoom slider on the left to open up the map to see our entire route. The two tabs in the upper right “Map/Satellite” switches the map illustration with satellite photos.

GlobeRiders has it’s own BLOG “Cape To Cairo Adventure 2017”.  There is a complete description of the excursion, rider bios, updates of the ride, and an active satellite location link.
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7 comments to Have moto, will travel

  • Great write-up Dean. Really enjoy your trip reports. 100 deg F sounds pretty good now in SoOregon, where it is in the 30′s at night and not much better when the sun is up. Enjoy your ride, stay safe, and keep the rr’s coming.

  • Thanks for the update Dean, sounds like an awesome time.
    Sitting here at work following your tracks….

  • Judy Oates

    Thanks for including me. I really enjoy reading about your adventures. You do such a fantastic job. Enjoy the ride and stay safe.

  • Thomas Key

    Dean…When Lynette and I were in Peace Corps back in 1971-72, we took a trip to Victoria Falls and while there a one day trip over to Kasane. It was a small village and its main importance was it’s close proximity to the 1.0 mile of common border with Zambia at the Kazungula Outpost on the Zambezi River. Back then Botswana was completely surrounded by white ruled countries – SA, SW Africa (Namibia), Angola, and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) – except for that 1 mile. Just a bit of history.

    Ride on my brother!

  • So love to travel vicariously through you…..as I sit here….back on the farm! Gheeze! I worked so hard to get out of Livingston and farming!

  • Doug Chapman

    Thanks for sharing Dean. I’m hanging on every word and picture.

  • Mary Jane Weedin Cunningham

    Enjoying your blog…what an amazing adventure you are having. Watch out for those baboons! Stay safe my friend.

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