Southern Africa 2023
 

Hi, I am planning a motorbike trip from South Africa to Kenya (or the other way round) in 2023. I have around 2 months free and plan to start sometime between May and Aug. I want to explore as many countries on the way as possible. I would try and go further than Kenya but right now it looks like Ethiopia/Sudan are hot spots.

This will be my first big adventure ride so looking for someone who would like to join. No fixed plans, budget etc. yet but will start planning soon. I live in London so will be shipping/flying my bike in/out.

If anyone is tempted please let me know!

I think it's a good to calibrate your expectations - you can certainly ride from RSA to Kenya in 2 months (it's possible in a week or so if you simply go A to B), however I think that you'll need to focus on what you want to see and do on the way. You phrase is "explore" so this implies some time spent wandering around and seeing different areas. I suggest that you pick no more than 3 or 4 destinations in each country, join the dots, and spend quality time in these rather than finding yourself wondering, a month or two afterwards, "I wonder where this photo was taken?".

Personal suggestions (noting that your interests may be completely different from mine, and that you will not be able to visit Game Parks with the bike, so if interested you'll have to join tours):

RSA: Cape Town, Garden Route, Richtersveld
Namibia: Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei, Epupa Falls, Caprivi
Botswana: go first to Maun then look for tours into Chobe and Moremi
Zimbabwe: Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe
Zambia: McBrides Camp, Kafue, Kasanka
Tanzania: Lakeshore Lodge, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Mafia Island,
Kenya: Saiwa, Lake Turkana (west), Meru, Nairobi.

I hope this helps.

Thanks yeah I have a fairly good idea in my mind of the route and the stops on the way, I’ve lived and travelled throughout the region. My post was deliberately vague as I’m open to interest, but agree it may be less helpful that way.

The general route idea is this (the stops on the Google maps are mainly to get the route roughly right and not the actual stops):

https://goo.gl/maps/Y7nwqGaTVtpfwFVb7

Hi: a few thoughts - the route looks good, and...

I suggest heading into West Zambia - the new Chinese-built roads are excellent - you could go to Liuwa Plains then Kafue, then Lusaka.

Another suggestion is to go from Mbeya to Lakeshore Lodge then north to Kigoma and on to Rwanda - more new roads, and Lakeshore is a jewel.

From Jinja take the road around the north of Mount Elgon - also newly tarred and giving access to beautiful country as you head into Kenya.

Prior to Eldoret go to Barnley's near Kitale for a day or two.

kenia
 

hi
I have the same planes to ship my bike to kenia and drive south.
pn: jo.ammerer@gmx.at
rg
johann

Do you prefer tarred roads or are gravel roads ok? If yes, instead of taking the N7 from Cape Town north rather take the dirt road east of the Cederberg Mts. Very rewarding.
Same further north: Instead of crossing the border to NAM at Vioolsdrif, take the piste via Eksteenfontein just south of the Richtersveld, cross via ferry to NAM at Sendelingsdrif and ride along the Fish River canyon. Then along the Naukluft Park, Sesriem, Solitaer, Spitzkoppe and later to Etosha. Enquire at the gate for Game Drives.
When crossing to BOT rather go along the Caprivi Strip to Katima Mulilo to enter BOT.


The main road from CT to Windhoek is a bore....