Advise if you want to do a trip into Africa

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schalk vd merwe

Race Dog
Joined
Dec 19, 2011
Messages
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Location
Johannesburg
Bike
Yamaha XT660
Having done an 13 350km trip into Africa here are some advice of what to do and take along

1/ Get a Carnet de passages for every country you are traveling to.

2/Get a Visa in your own country for every country you are traveling to that require a Visa.

3/Put a new chain on your bike with 2 new sprockets before you leave and service the bike.

4/ Put new brake pads on before leaving and take at least 1 spare set along an especially if you are going to travel on muddy roads. Also take two spare air filters and one oil filter along.

5/Always be polite at the border post control points and don’t use the runners, they will rip you off.

6/ Don’t change money with money changers and rather draw their local currency at the ATM’s. Always have a bit of American Dollars with you as it is accepted every where.

7/ Get a Visa debit card if you are traveling through Africa even if your bank only have Master card. Also get about 3 cards and hide them in different places on the bike in case you lose one.

8/ Always have food and water for one or two days with you in case you get stuck or have to sleep in the veld.

9/ If you are going to travel a lot of dirt or off road then take a set of knobblies along on top of your luggage.

10/ Take the necessary tools along.

11/ Try and get a manual with all the part numbers onto your smart phone in case you have to phone your dealer to courier you some parts. You won’t find parts for your bike in Africa.

12/ Buy a sim card for your cell phone in every country in order to stay in contact with your family, remember they think you are doing something extremely dangerous although it is much more dangerous in South Africa. Some sim cards work in three countries but you cannot top up in one of the other countries.

13/Allow enough rest days and don’t do like we have done to ride 39 days out of 42.

14/ Don’t overload your bike (we had about 40 kg of luggage each) allow space for weight shifting to the back in case you hit sand.

15/ Practice to ride off the road at the speed you are going to travel beforehand as you are going to be pushed off the road from the front in certain countries.

16/ Get up early every morning and try to shave every day to keep up the discipline.

17/ Get all the necessary vaccinations beforehand. Take something along for Malaria. Also take something for a stomach bug.

18/Make a inventory of all your luggage and make a copy to for every border crossing and have it stamped by customs, that way they don’t make you unpack every time.

19/Take a good mattress and pillow along, proper sleep is important on a long trip. I found the self-inflating mattress and a feather pillow the best. The pillow can be squashed into a small bundle.

20/Google Shoprite Africa before you go and make print outs of where their shops are in Africa, You will find decent food there similar to the ones in RSA.

21/ Google all the embassies to the countries where you are going to and make print outs as that can help you in many a difficult situation.

22/ don’t take expensive cameras along, they will get damaged. A small digital is good enough.

23/Try and not ride at night in Africa.

24/Take Loctite along for bolts that come loose all the time.

25/Take a shifting spanner along to bend strait brake and gear levers after some falls.

26/ Cool down shocks on bad roads after about 50 KMs or so.

27/Take the best GPS maps along as well as the A4 size Africa Road Atlas by Map Studio as well as a big map of Africa on one page. You need all 3.

28/Petrol can 5 liters per bike or long range tank.

29/ Female stockings (sykous) to pour your Africa petrol through.

30/Soft luggage if there is a change that you are going to fall off. Hard luggage is very nice but tends to break legs. (I know the Vendors are going to get on my case but it is my opinion.)

31/Take AGATT along

32/Apart from your normal license get an international license

33/ If you feel the prices are a rip off, bargain until you are happy.

34/ Enjoy your trip and be friendly to the people of Africa they always are very friendly and helpful.
Don’ t just take but also give back by answering all their questions as you are like an astronaut to them doing this trip and they can only dream about. Be patient it is Africa.

For more info read my RR under: >Ride Reports>Long Tours>Africa trip to the Equator and back in 40 days. I will also attend a braai anywhere in Johannesburg free of charge or anywhere in the country if you buy the ticket to give some advice on a similar trip. Just PM me. You are also welcome to post ideas if you have done a similar trip. Questions are also welcome.Thanks Schalk vd Merwe
 

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