2 Jameson brothers and an orphan - Kubu Island and beyond..

[popipants]

Lots of people have PM'ed me for the track.
Find it attached

 

[popipants]

Day 6 + 7:
Distance: 512 km
Destination: Marnitz Mini Town Lodge (S23 09.896 E28 12.815)

All good things come to an end…So it was time for us to head back home. The plan for the day was to get at close the border as we can.
Leaving the Island

On our way out I stopped to take some pictures.  I was about 100 meters behind Fun and Herman. After putting my camera away I saw Fun pull away across the pan but Herman stayed behind. WTF?!? After all we’ve been through he should have known I frequently stay behind to take pictures. When I got close to him I notices he was not waiting for me at all….he decide to pass some 4x4 tracks on the outside; the pans side!!!  I was greeted with mud flaying everywhere and the KTM moving forward inch by inch. After some “peddling” the big KTM finally emerged from the other side.

Just a last reminded that you can never get to comfortable with the pans.

We were fortunate again and the scrapped road continued to tar.
We made such good time that we decided to cross the border at Martins drift and sleep just on the other side. After a quick and efficient border crossing we set off to find some accommodation.
We weren’t in the mood to camp so we were looking for a lodge of some kind.
We found a couple at reasonable prices ones but none had any food. We ate bully beef the previous night and were in no mood for freeze dried food and water. So we kept searching…

Then we found Marnitz Mini Town Lodge. What an awesome find. Accommodation was cheap and clean. And they had a pub. They are only 30 km from Martins drift. We promptly booked in and headed for the pub. Fun and I had some Zamelek’s and Herman some coke. We watched some cricket with the manager and ordered dinner…and what a dinner. The best food I’ve had in month!!!
And I’m not kidding. It was great.

After dinner Herman left to go and have a shower. Fun and I stayed behind in the bar and discovered they had Jameson!!!  We had couple  :ricky: :ricky: :ricky:. Then we solved the whole of SA’s political problem, then we had some more, then we solved Botswana’s political problem. Just before the conversation turned KTM vs BMW we decided to bed….

Our accommodation for the night.

MAN I’m missing this bike already!!!  :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( What a beauty!!

The next morning we left for home.
What a trip. What started as a dream of riding on the pans turned into an awesome adventure?
We’ve already had some discussions and it looks like the next Jameson brothers (and an orphan of course!!) instalment might be Northern Namibia. 
I had some reservations about new people joining us on this trip. 

But to be honest riding with Herman was an awesome experience. He adapted to our trip dynamics very well and would always be welcome on future Jameson Brother tours!

To be continued….


P.s If anybody’s seen a KTM rider sitting alone at a bar somewhere sipping Irish finest. Let us know…..Were still seem to be missing a Jameson brother!!!

 

[Chrisl]

I will read this again!! :thumleft:
Thanks Popi and Kie.
You make us dream :biggrin:

 

[Oetie]

Thanks guys  :thumleft:

 

[SandMan]

Nice one guys!!! We will be shooting up ther for a jaunt next month before the rains start.

We tried to cross directly from Kubu to Kokonje across the pan once....when the bikes sank to the swingarms we decide to head for the edge again, hehe.
They say it can't be done and that the pan just stays too wet in the middle, even after years of no rain. Maybe oneday I'll try on the 520 instead.

Thanks for the RR, really cool read!

 

[Lootch67]

Excellent RR!!

 

[funacide]

Nice one guys!!! We will be shooting up ther for a jaunt next month before the rains start.

We tried to cross directly from Kubu to Kokonje across the pan once....when the bikes sank to the swingarms we decide to head for the edge again, hehe.
They say it can't be done and that the pan just stays too wet in the middle, even after years of no rain. Maybe oneday I'll try on the 520 instead.

Thanks for the RR, really cool read!

What time of year was that when you tried to cross?

We did see water from the top of Kukonje Island directly towards Kubu (Westerly Direction) what seemed to be about 10 km's away

 

[Plothond]

P.s If anybody’s seen a KTM rider sitting alone at a bar somewhere sipping Irish finest. Let us know…..Were still seem to be missing a Jameson brother!!!

It's ok Son  :mwink: :biggrin:  I'll be back !!!!!!!!

(Actually it was not Irish but Scottish  ... you know what they say: When in Rome ......)
But we are back in reality now

 

[Buzzlightyear]

Thanks popfunperd :thumleft:

 

[Schalk]

Thanks for the report guys. This is what I hoped for when we did a trip to Kubu in April,or tried.Cant believe it is the same place 3 months later.Must have been the wettest year ever.
Ride report on it coming in the next 2 days.

 

[SandMan]

Nice one guys!!! We will be shooting up ther for a jaunt next month before the rains start.

We tried to cross directly from Kubu to Kokonje across the pan once....when the bikes sank to the swingarms we decide to head for the edge again, hehe.
They say it can't be done and that the pan just stays too wet in the middle, even after years of no rain. Maybe oneday I'll try on the 520 instead.

Thanks for the RR, really cool read!

What time of year was that when you tried to cross?

We did see water from the top of Kukonje Island directly towards Kubu (Westerly Direction) what seemed to be about 10 km's away

It was in August and it was also after a couple of dry years. Yet when u get further in the crust breaks and u start sinking. When we noticed that we were sinking we  just kept the throttle going and did these huge gradual U turns. We had a good laugh after but it did get the heart pumping.
And then back closer to the edge its bone dry and we went thru this powdery stuff which makes a huge amount of dust.

 

[throttle jockey]

Awsome hope to go one day on two wheels. :ricky:

 

[Ronin]

Leke RR  :thumleft:

 

[BlueBull2007]

Nice RR, thanks for sharing. Spent part of our honeymoon out there, so the pictures brought back memories. :love6:

Sandman is too right about those pans, if you get stuck in them youre in a real situation. I heard a unimog tried to cross them once and got stuck, they had to strip it down and carry it off piece by piece.

As soon as you break through you have to do a huge u turn and hope and pray you can keep your speed up. I suppose on a big bike you would be in similar dwang if you got stuck and were unable to paddle effectively.

 

[Spore]

Sooo lekker - ek het die kyk-weer knoppie op die forum gekry!! Hou aan fotos neem poppiepants!! :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[Ou Ryperd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmjaPSjnqh0

 

[Lem]

Deel van my droom destination trip.

well done manne.

ai daai 1150 GSA lyk darem at home op daar op die panne.