10 things we've learned riding 8,000 miles across Africa
 

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We are currently crossing Africa on two XR600 motorbikes.

What tips do you have for long distance foreign travel? We are always looking to expand our knowledge. Please respond to this thread with any thoughts. Cheers!

10 things we've learned riding 8,000 miles across Africa

1. Have your bike and gear sorted before your trip. Our bikes weren't dialed before we left and we paid the price with 2 engine rebuilds and 1 new carburetor. This added a lot of time and expense to our trip. Bring your tried and true gear. Our latest and greatest sleeping pads popped numerous times. It was also difficult to find the fuel for our camp stove from home.

2. Pack everything for the "big" trip and then ride for a weekend. See what you use and afterwards separate everything into two piles. One for wants and the other for needs. Get rid of the first pile..that's what you take. Otherwise you end up shipping stuff home or give it away.

3. Realize most normal items will be available everywhere in the world. Don't pack a year's supply of toothpaste. Even motorcycle tires are challenging but can be found in far off places. Don't carry too much food. A few day supply is usually enough when supplemented with good local cuisine.

4. Have your electronic gear sorted before you leave and test everything. Our tablets don't have enough storage for all our pictures and video plus it's hard to find reliable wifi to upload to a cloud. A small laptop would be better. Also, trying to connect a GoPro to a helmets intercom microphone is an example of something you don't want to have to do on the road.

5. Practice repairing a punctured tire before your trip. We fixed flats with wild animals around in the dark. You want to be efficient to make it faster and not cause too much stress. Also, bring a compact bicycle pump. New age electric pumps are not reliable and they're heavy.

6. Invest in comfort. Bring the best boots. Not only for safety but also because you wear them a lot. Maybe splurge on a helmet if you can. Both our helmets are nice but the more budget one is a lot louder and not as aerodynamic. Above all, have a damn comfortable seat setup.

7. Route plan. We've used google maps, maps me, and in our case tracks for Africa. It is best to consult multiple resources when route planning. We also use a paper map since online maps can be unreliable. Maps me sent us through a winery in the middle of nowhere. IOverander is an amazing tool for route planning. A local SIM card can be useful as well, but we went through 6 countries without one. Overall they make life easier, we just didn't deal with it.

8. Intercoms are great. Not only to communicate but for music, podcasts and audio books. Riding up to 14 hours per day it's nice to have some entertainment.

9. The lows will be low, but the highs will be very high. i.e. Illness, injury, breakdowns...to incredible landscapes, fascinating cultures, interactions with exotic animals etc.

10. Take the trip. There were a ton of reasons not to go, ignore them as much as possible. Most of the things we worried about haven't happened. Only the things we never thought to worry of.. so why worry.

Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life—and travel—leaves marks on you.

We are currently in Tanzania heading towards Egypt.

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Just want to say about local food and drinks. If you are in the new area, please, do not drink its water! Buy only bottled water, and even brush your teeth with it. I wish I knew this earlier...

Try to buy bottled water as seldom as possible, be smart with where you source drinking water, filter, purify. There are enough empty plastic bottles in the world.

Hi there, I'm planning to ride from the UK down to Cape Town. Some years ago I hired a Transalp in Buenos Aires and rode it down to Ushuaia and back, with no tent or camping gear. Then in 2018 i rode 3 months through USA, with tent and gear, its easy to find accommodation. In 2019 I rode from UK to Ulaanbaataar with the tent and camping gear and only used it once, and even then I could have stayed somewhere. I'm really not a big fan of camping, and don't like carrying the gear as it makes the bike heavy. I ride a DR650. My question is - I'm thinking of leaving my tent and camping gear behind for Africa, do you think this is a wise move? I've found no matter where I go, I always find somewhere to sleep, but I haven't toured through Africa before. Grateful for your opinion.

I second this. You can think of it as saving money--several dollars/euros per day for a yearlong trip adds up to a lot of money. Or think in terms of being (relatively) kind to the local environment--have a look around at all the discarded plastic bottles, then decline to contribute.

I use what is now a very old-school gravity filter. It has reliably provided ~3 liters potable water per day for months on end all over the world, with very minimal effort. I swapped in a fresh filter some years ago and added a charcoal element for taste purposes.

Before buying the gravity filter I had a series of pump filters. I've used this one for at least 15 years. There are lots of newer products these days, and you probably (IMHO) want to carry at least one of these as backup anyway.

Hope that's useful information!

I'm curious how you're planning to evade current problems in Ethiopia and Sudan. I know your list of 10 key considerations isn't intended to be exhaustive, but for Africa in particular there are often concerns about geopolitical issues or civil unrest.

My personal habit has been to solicit information locally from transit drivers--buses, trucks, shared taxis, etc. I do also monitor lots of media, but find it quite difficult to separate wheat from chaff. This is especially true when it comes to, for example, the alerts issued by my own US State Department.

Mark