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Recent information: Kinshasa - Lubumbashi & Cameroon - Ouesso (Congo) Recent information: Kinshasa - Lubumbashi & Cameroon - Ouesso (Congo)
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Ride Tales Post your ride reports for a weekend ride or around the world. Please make the first words of the title WHERE the ride is. Please do NOT just post a link to your site. For a link, see Get a Link.
Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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Photo of Lois Pryce, UK
and schoolkids in Algeria



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Old 18 Aug 2014
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Antwerp
Posts: 41


Hi folks,


We passed through two weeks ago, almost same time as Cam and John (posts above).

On a 24 year old Yamaha XT600Z tenere and 2001 KLR650.

Contrary to them we followed the Illebo route. Hearing their story I think it is probably better to choose Illebo over Tshikapa, that is if you are not a sand-lover.

We only had 1 really hard day, where we only managed about 50-60km, from Kapia to Mapangu, due to loads of soft sand. The rest were always 100+ km days.

It ‘s good to calculate about 2 weeks (we did about 12 days). (this is in DRY season!)

And as Campbell mentions make sure both rider and motorbike are in good condition before you start and you’ll be alright.
Also be prepared to deal with people that have no clue what the words ‘personal space’ means. Stopping for 2 minutes to buy some bread or fuel will attract 50 people and more in no time. They will not steal from you, but some will touch you, ask questions, just stare at you. The first time this is funny, but not after the tenth time. Trick is to think of a happy place, block yourself from most of it and try to concentrate maybe on those few that are genuinely curious and answer their questions.

I am writing this not to say it’s easy, but it’s also not impossible. (I was quite nervous from the start, reading the story of the 800gs’ s fried clutch...)

A few tips:
  • The One Million Dollar Tip: look out for bicycle tracks, if you want to save your energy and go easier on your motorbike!! You will see the main logistical system is people pushing their loads on bicycles. They also hate deep sand, so follow them!
  • Staying at Catholic Missions: of the 11 nights we stayed one night in a village (really good experience) and once in construction camp of an Indian mining company. In Mapanga, we stayed at a really nice mission, drawback was that the Congolese abbay liked USD a lot and we didn’t talk about this beforehand. He tried to charge 45USD, we got away with 25USD (still enough). Normally you don’t need to pay, but better to briefly clarify this when you arrive: say you stayed at lots of missions for free before.
  • Do you need to change all your USD in francs before leaving Kinshasa?: NO, you can pay EVERYWHERE with USD, although in smaller villages it ‘s better not to pay with 100USD notes. This will take time for them to change, during which the crowds will grow and grow ;-)
Have fun ;-)
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