Right Around Africa

Please bare with me - I need to give through a lot of info in my initial post, so it might contain quite a bit of writing.

To start off: The intro ---->

I am launching on Sat 7 April '12, from Cape Agulhas, to ride around Africa. I'd like to know if any members that are in Cape Town would like to ride out with me on the first day? Or maybe even the first leg of the trip up to Namibia? I'll be following the N7 up to the Namibian border. All are very welcome and I'd love it if you could join me.

Sat, 7 April '12, Cape Agulhas @ 10:00 am. Please let me know if you'd be interested.  

I did introduce myself, so will just give the rundown of who I am and what I'm doing again here:

My name is Jolandie Rust. Everyone knows me as Jo.

I currently live in the City of Gold. Good old Jozi.
I'm an adventurer at heart and will be launching (or rather re-launching) on a little adventure in a few weeks time.  

I started out on a bicycle, pedaling all over the place. The BIG dream has always been to be the first woman to ride all the way around Africa, solo. After years of planning I finally got to launch from Cape Town, last year April. (2011) I made it to Northern Angola, where 4 young inebriated, French speaking fellas decided to relieve me of my bike and most of my gear. By way of flinging around their machetes and knives.

So now I'm starting over again and putting a bit more muscle into it. By way of a BMW Dakar.  
I have a Kawasaki KLR 650. Though it's engine seized at 5000 km's. It's currently being fixed. I was going to make my merry way around Africa on that, but have decided on a different approach. Hence the Dakar.  

My launch date is set for 7 April '12, from Cape Agulhas. From here I will make my way up the West Coast of Africa, entering Namibia first, then Angola, DRC, Congo, Gabon etc etc.
I will be traveling through 33 African countries, covering a total distance of almost 40 000 kilometers over 11/12 months.

Amongst some of the things I will be doing on the trip will be promoting women in motorcycling and road safety as FIM-Africa (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) ambassador. I will be taking part in two rallies in Morocco in October. The rallies will serve as preparation for the Dakar Rally 2014.

So yeh, that's me. Big dreams, big goals...bit of a crazy nut.  

Looking forward to sharing my experiences. I'm sure there are bound to be some interesting ones.  

My website: www.jorust.com

How this RR will be structured --->

This report will be structured - 'country specific'. There will be a table beneath. This table will contain country specific reports and the pages you will find them on. I'll update the table as I go along. Just to make it a little easier to find info and more structured.

Country specific page layout can be found below[color]

The Route:

South Africa --- (Page 1 - 4)
Namibia --- (Page 5  )
Angola --- (Page 7 - 9)
DRC
Congo --- (Page 10 - 12)
Gabon --- (Page 14 - 16)
Cameroon --- (Page 16)
Nigeria --- (Page 16 - 17)
Benin --- (Page 17)
Togo --- (Page 17)
Ghana --- (Page 17)
Ivory Coast --- (Page 17 - 20)
Mali --- (Page 20 - 28)
Senegal --- (Page 28)
Mauritania --- (Page 28)
Morocco --- (Page 30 - 55 )

GPS Route log on page 47 & 48 - SA to Morocco

Spain  --- (Page 55 - 56)
France  --- (Page 56)
Italy  --- (Page 56)
Algeria
Tunisia  --- (Page 58)
Libya
Egypt
Sudan
Ethiopia
Kenya
Tanzania
Mozambique
South Africa

The Mileage:

Approximately 40 000 kilometers.

The timeline:

Approximately 10 - 12 months



So....I look forward to sharing my journey with you all. Feel free to contact me at any time. Please bare in mind that I will be disappearing into the bundus at times and won't always be able to reply right away. But I'll do my best to keep you all updated and post regular updates on where I'm at and what's happening. Please visit my website for more info. www.jorust.com

:thumleft: :ricky: :thumleft: :ricky: :thumleft: :ricky: :thumleft: :ricky:

I left home (Johannesburg) on Sunday morning (1st of April ’12), around 10:00am. I had planned on leaving earlier, but then we all know that everything doesn’t always go according to plan. By midnight on the evening before I left, I was still busy packing my gear. The garage looked like an Iraqi war zone. All the gear, tools and clothes that I will need to carry with me for the next ten months strewn all over the place. Trying to make it all fit into my panniers and two dry bags proved to be quite a challenge.



I eventually hit the sack around 1:00 am. Up again at 6:00am, frantically running between the garage and the house, shoving in the last few items I may have missed and trying to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything.



All packed and ready to go, I push the bike out of the garage for the last time. I wave farewell to my home and push off onto the road. Destination: Cape Town. This is the “trip – before – the – trip”. I have now traveled the road between Johannesburg and Cape Town by bicycle, car, truck, airplane and motorbike! Needless to say, I know this road all too well. But it’s a different experience every time.



From home I ride to the Zenex Garage on Beyers Naude, near the N1 highway. Here, a few friends are waiting to see me off. (Including a few WD members). I’m filled with excitement when I see them as I pull into the filling station. I’m happy to have friends around me. I’m very blessed to have some amazing people in my life. We take photos and have a last chat, and then I’m off. Antoinette follows me out on her scooter. At least I have someone riding out a few kilometers with me. About ten kilometers down the road we give each other a nod of the head, and I roll back the throttle.



I sleep over in Colesberg at Sunset Chalets. Owned by WD member Jean (Nimmo) and his wife Charene. Jean offered to sponsor my night’s stay in Colesberg. Lovely couple! They welcomed me like an old friend. Made me feel right at home! I was pretty exhausted after the day’s excitement, so had an early night after some chatter and eating Charene’s delicious food!



Day two’s destination: Worcester!! Piet’s place. (Piet Coke)
Now I had been in contact with a few of the Worcester forum members. Friendly bunch! But I was really looking forward to meeting them all! The official farewell is only happening this Friday (6 April), but a few members couldn’t wait till then and decided to pop in to come say hello. We had a wonderful evening, chatting away, laughing, telling stories, making bets(don’t ask)….I remember eventually getting to bed close to 7:00am on Tuesday morning!! (Welcome to Worcester!!!) LoL




I packed in a few hours’ sleep and then headed to Andries (V-Strom), where Piet, Andries and I had to do some rewiring on the bike. They were a great help and we had everything sorted in no time. After we sorted out the wiring, I hit the road for Cape Town. (I still have a few things to sort out). Tony (Moondog), organized for my bike’s Neck Bearings to be replaced at Atlantic Motorrad (Foreshore) when I got down here. Mine were shot. (Well, the bike’s that is). So I took the bike in this morning. Then it was off to have a few last minute stickers printed. Spent 5 hours at the printers. Awesome people!! They spent 5 hours with me, redesigning the stickers I wanted printed (as I didn’t have the graphics with me) and didn’t even charge me for labor!! Wow.



And then when I got back to Bo-Kaap (Where I’m staying with a friend in Cpt), I discovered that, somewhere along the line, someone put an envelope in my tank bag with some money in it.  I have NO idea who it was. It nearly had me in tears. (Thank you anonymous!!!!) All the kindness that surrounds me is just overwhelming!!

So, tomorrow I have to head back into town to have the tracker on my bike checked and then it’s back to Worcester for the farewell on Friday!!  :ricky:  :ricky: :ricky:

Wow! Sterkte.

:happy1:

Faaaaaaaark! Looks awesome :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:go fot it :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

This is sure to be one of the Best RR ever :thumleft: :thumleft:

Big Respect for you Jo. May you be truly Blessed with the most wonderful time of your life, as you embark on this truly EPIC Journey.

It really is AWSOME to be able to follow your dream. Will also be Gr8 to be able to track you, via your website.

Will be following this RR & eagerly looking forward to all the Gr8 photos & stories, as you travel.

All the Best of Luck Jo. Safe riding & Enjoy every minute of every km you travel :thumleft: :thumleft:

:salut: :salut: :salut: :salut: :salut: :salut:

alles van die beste.kyk agter jouself. :thumleft: :thumleft:

Hey Jo,

There are many that share the dream but few that could step into the shoes. Your solo trip around Africa is awe inspiring. People like Charlie and Ewan made an adventure of crossing Africa, but we all know what kind of backup they had. Doing this on your own suggests you have big brass one's or the elevator doesn't quite make it to the top floor. How that describes you, we're all about to find out. :ricky:

I've ordered my supply of popcorn :thumleft:

Roll camera :laughing4:

popcorn ...ltoo lazy to find pic and sub is just so over subscribed

Sterkte en enjoy!!  Ek sien uit daarna om jou trippie te volg!

bon voyage Jo. 

Jo, we have a place Tented Camp in the Tankwa on the R355 and you are most welcome to stay over there if it is on your way. We have fuel there if you are worried about the distance. Just let me know if you are interested so I can arrange.
Also we are doing a trip from Cairo 2 Cape starting in Alex on the 1st of May. We are coming down on the eastern side basically the same route you are planning. You can follow us on Cairo2Cape2012.
Lastly, I do bike trips in Nam, Bots and SA with people from all over the world. Maybe after you have finished your trip, you can come and do some guiding for us, if you can still face a bike then.
You can contact me on [email protected]

any one know where Jo is putting the tracker in .I would like to go say hi

Henk - I'll be in contact  :thumleft:

Jeff - Greenpoint, today. Not sure of the address though. PM me your contact details.  :ricky:

jeff said:

any one know where Jo is putting the tracker in .I would like to go say hi

Click to expand...

3 convenience centre
18 montague drive
Montague gardens
Ct

Around 12pm :thumleft:

White Rhino said:

jeff said:

any one know where Jo is putting the tracker in .I would like to go say hi

Click to expand...

3 convenience centre
18 montague drive
Montague gardens
Ct

Around 12pm :thumleft:

Click to expand...

Thanks Rainer!!  :thumleft:

Go Jo and may the Gods of the road be with you  :thumleft:

Hey Jo, best of luck on your travels. May it be a journey of "geskiedkundige perporsies"  :thumleft:

Adventure is worthwhile in itself - Emelia Earhart

Ek begin wonder wie is meer opgewonde oor die trip.  

Alle sterkte en voorspoed word jou toegewens.  :thumleft:

Holding thumbs :thumleft: :thumleft:

Good luck for the trip of a lifetime :ricky:

Hi Jo ,,wens jou 'n veilige rit toe en alle sterkte  :thumleft: :thumleft: