Planning a trip in September/October 2007 to ride from England to South Africa (mates live there so you can leave your bike with them if you need to, e.g to plan a trip to South America after or no cash to transport them back).

Waiting to see if the border will open between Morocco and Algeria otherwise I'll be entering Africa through Tunisia via Italy. Either way, Im heading down the East coast with only 2 planned stops in Addis Abeba (brother flies into there so would be a cool place to meet up) and just South of Lake Victoria in Tanzania in a place called Geitz (mate works in the mining area there). Will be avoiding Zimbabwe, instead riding through Mozambique.

First point of call though after leaving England, is to spend a few weeks with a mate in North West France on the border of Spain for a few weeks down the beach.

This trip is perfect for anyone wanting to get their first long ride under their belt and for those who just want a chilled adventure. I am very placid and open minded to re-routing and stops. I estimate the trip will take a maximum of two months.

Ill be riding a BMW F650 Dakar bike with a 39litre tank (sadly from Touratech as its so expensive!). With Garmin Zumo 500 GPS and a couple of paper map books. Ill also be taking a Carnet de Passage. Obviously its up to you if you want to get one, although it may cost you more at the borders than it's worth. However, I dont mind spending 7 hours at the border as I see it as just part of the experience.

Estimate costs at around 20-30 quid a day = max 900 quid a month (obviously excludes repair/service costs).
Carnet de Passage (excluding Egypt as its 800%) will cost me around £750 on my bike valued at around 3 grand but only telling the insurance company 2 grand (uh hum..cough cough)...

Let me know if you would like to join, what bike you intend to ride and if you have any past experience of similar rides.

Ive started collecting information together here: Smellybiker :: View topic - Helpful Beginner Guides

Also, go talk to your doctor about what vaccinations you need as they can take up to 6 weeks to do! Let him/her tell you but some of the ones he/she should suggest are Hepatitis A,B, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, typhoid, Meningitus ACWY (Meningococcal meningitis), Rabies and Malaria. AND GET A CERTIFICATE AS SOME REGIONS MAY NOT LET YOU IN WITHOUT IT

Regards
Christian