Trip Conclusion : 29,000 KM's, 9 Countries in 9 months.





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Hi TechnomadicJim here. I have mostly been posting on the Wild Dog forum about my trip as its more local but I'm a member here too and wanted to share with the HUBB.

Time : I have 3-9 months. (I arrived on the 25th September.)
Where : Southern Africa. Maybe Tanzania but definitely South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho.
What : Honda CTX 200 (AG Bushlander)

Here's my "Planning a ride" thread I started on the local WIld Dog Forum : South Africa to Kenya and back in 3-9 Months
Here's my Big vs Small bike discussion in "General Bike Related Banter" : Big vs Small Bike for 3-9 Months to Kenya and back

I bought the Honda CTX 200 for 35,000 Rand (~£2150, ~€2500). Read the big vs small bike thread for more info on why I decided to go for the CTX. I'm keeping the bike mostly stock but I did visit PistonPete at Outriders and had some 50/50 enduro Mitas tyres put on the bike.

I'm actually 3 months in now with 6 months to go but will slowly bring you up to date. This is where I shall begin my ride report :


Cape Point on my first day heading out with all my gear.

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Live Ride Report : Live GPS Tracking

I started out from Cape Town and headed to Cape Point (see above pic) where I had 3 ostrich's running just in front of me. They can run! Next if followed the coast on to Onrus camp site. Spent a couple of nights there quite bored to be honest. Saw some whales. meh...

Onwards to Cape Agulhas to visit the obligatory most southern point of Africa. Was tempted to take the bike right up to the sign but there were a lot of tourists around so I just walked up.



I ended up in Swellendam where I spent 4 nights because it rained and I didn't fancy riding in it so I just holed up and got on with some work. Stayed at Swellendam Accommodation | Overberg Backpackers Hostel Lodging | South Africa Nice place and you can camp or dorm bed it and have your bike parked safely round the back of the house next to your tent/dorm.

Next I headed to Mossel Bay for another obligatory tourist thing of shark cage diving. The sea was rough and I was very sea sick and ended up spewing over the side and feeding the little fish. I still managed to get some photo's and did get a suit on to go in the cage while they dragged a fish head in front of the sharks as they bashed into the cage. I'm not sure how humane it is really as I'm sure I saw some lacerations on the shark's noses possibly from the cage :/



After 3 nights I headed up to Oudtshoorn and sat on an Ostrich. Bit weird.



Today I drove the Swartberg pass.



And then descended into "The Hell" and what a great ride! Really awesome twisty roads and small river crossings. I truly christened the bike and cut my teeth on some good off road terrain. The little CTX really performed well.

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Live Ride Report : Live GPS Tracking

So I left Oudtshorn for Warmwaterberg Spa after having it recommended by two separate people. Its really good value for money. I'm paying 200 Rand for a room with a kitchen and I get my own private massive bath with a huge tap for the hot mineral water. So good I decided to stay two nights.

The power was out so I headed the notorious "Ronnies Sex Shop" for my morning tea.



I then backtracked to Ladismith today so that I could ride some of the back (off) roads near the Swartberg mountains. There's a really nice road near Zoar that cuts through. Here's a couple of still's from the video (GoPro2 720p/30fps) I took today :





I didn't have time to follow the road all the way round so at this point I turned round and headed for a local bikers place. He kindly gave me some new directions and I took a mostly off road way back to warmwaterberg spa. Thanks mate!

Really fun day zipping about without luggage.

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Live Ride Report : Live GPS Tracking

I'm back in Cape Town until Tuesday to hopefully pick up my TRN so I can get my number plates. Then I'm heading up north to explore the Western Cape and then Namibia.

I've been going through my video's and pulled out a few more from "The Hell" :



This little fellow was frozen as soon as I drove round the corner. There was a second or so when we both just stared at each other. Really cool experience.



Crossing through this stream was great fun. I imagine its pretty intense after heavy rains.





Taken at the pass near Zoar :

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Live Ride Report : Live GPS Tracking

I left Cape Town on Friday and headed to Cerderberg nature reserve for a spit braai at cederberg oasis with some local (wild dog) riders.







Went for a really cool ride with some new friends and saw some impressive bushman paintings :









Spit Braai! Mmmmmm....



My camp :



Went exploring round the camp site and found this old bath. Had to get in it of course :



The ride out towards Clanwilliam. Nice winding road :



Just on the out skirts of Clanwilliam near where I am staying now :

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Live Ride Report : Live GPS Tracking

Just an update. No pics. I'm not finding too much interesting stuff to see or do the last couple of days.

From Clanwilliam I decided to head to Elands Bay to get away from the heat. I passed "The Dunes" and thought I would have a gander but dropped the bike on the sand on the way so decided it wasn't such a good idea! I only stayed one night in Elands bay as it seemed like a pretty boring place. I get the impression it is busy at weekends and around holidays. I hit the road the next morning and decided to just drive north until I felt like I had enough which happened to be Garies on the N7. Its a tiny agricultural town. Seems quite friendly here.

The driving today was 50% road 50% gravel / sand and a good learning curve. My off road riding skills do seem to be improving although I have to admit I nearly lost it a few times when I went from gravel thick sand.

Before I head into Namibia I'm going to head to Upington to get my 4k service done as its the only Honda dealership between Cape Town and Windhoek. I'm liking the look of Augrabies Falls national park and may drive here tomorrow : Augrabies Backpackers - Home Its 415 km's so it would be my longest drive yet. Will see what happens.

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Live Ride Report : Live GPS Tracking

Please tell me what it cost you to get into Malawi, visa, road tax etc.

I want to do something similar next year.

Have a great one!

Hans Steyn

Hi Hans

Here's the part of my ride report about Malawi :

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...6-4#post462111

The visa price depends on your nationality. For me as a British citizen and for most people it is free. Check the Malawi immigration website for more info.

Good luck with your trip.

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Live Ride Report : Live GPS Tracking

Hi Everyone!

Its been 4 months since I left SA. I wanted to give you all a quick update. I've been mainly catching up on work but I've also been going through all my footage and pictures. I'm going to begin editing it together soon with the idea to create a narrated mini (30 minute or so) documentary. I'll be sure to upload it to youtube and post it on here when its finished.

In the meantime here's all of my GPS traces I took on the trip collated on to one map. Its really cool to be able to visualise it in this way. It's really interesting zooming in on areas like the Messum crater in Namibia, the Makadikadi pans in Botswana and the Chimanimani mountains in Zimbabwe. All area's I was exploring without much idea of direction.



The different colours represent a different trace which is generally a different day. I've added the map to my first post too for new people who come across this thread.

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Live Ride Report : Live GPS Tracking

Loving the report

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Regards,
Leigh