Bilene - Paradise or What!!!

[Bomber11]

Paradise or what!!!





Our annual Easter bike trip was finalised for Bilene in Mozambique over the manufactured long weekend of the 21 to 24 March. The intention was to travel by tar into Mozambique, head off-road via Moambe to Magube, rejoin the EN1 which makes its way up from Maputo, travel to Macia and turn left to the beautiful lagoons of Bilene. As all our previous trips were brilliant yet quite energy sapping, we had consensus that this one would be based solely on relaxation with some eating and drinking thrown in for fun because we can. Initially the group included Husamarine KTM 950 and Amelis KTM 690 but due to health, family commitments and various other ‘soft’ reasons, our group was reduced to four and once again made up solely of BMW‘s.

 

[Mr Zog]

I am sub-frikken-scribed!!!!!  :thumleft:

 

[Bomber11]

The plan was to sleep over in Komatipoort on the evening of the 20th March to be bright and early at the infamous Lebombo border post.
Early morning start.


Fuel fill-up before the infamous Lebombo Border Post.


The usual congestion of people and traffic at the Border Post.




As Bushboy planned on spending a few leisurely days in Swaziland prior to the trip, (celebrating an important family milestone),  Fellagain made arrangements to meet him in the Mountain Kingdom and together they would head for the overnight accommodation (Elephant Walk Retreat) on the banks of the Crocodile River.

 

[Bushboy]

I want to know more!!!! :drif:

 

[Draadwerk]

Please continue. Cant wait... I live in Nelspruit and go deepsea fishing in Mozambique a few times a year whenever I can get away...so, I am en route with you.

 

[Rodlau]

Bilene is paradise.  First went there in 1955 with my folks.  The fishing in the Lagoon was fantastic.  Been back many times, the last time to Bilene was to Villa n Banga.  I took the whole family for a week.  A paradise if you have young kids. 

 

[Dirty Des]

Where did you guys stay in Beline?

Friends of mine own Praai Do Sol, spent New Year with them.

The sugar mill you rode past at Xinavane was my home for 2 years........

 

[SchalkL]

Where did you guys stay in Beline?

Friends of mine own Praai Do Sol, spent New Year with them.

The sugar mill you rode past at Xinavane was my home for 2 years........

Des, please make an effort to do more postings!
I just know that one day when I stare at you avatar it's gonna go all the way....... :snorting: :snorting:

 

[Bomber11]

Their route became very demanding due to a huge covering of mist which restricted visibility to only a few meters. With the mist, rain and high mountains, some serious chilly weather came along which made them thankful for modern motorcycle grip technology.



The remaining group members namely Zugger and Bomber11 had to firstly cram in a half-day’s work (what a shit boss) before been able to leave for Komatipoort around 1pm. Their main concern was riding at night between the two Kruger Park Gates of Male lane and Crocodile Bridge as the area was well known for various forms of wildlife which frequently stray onto the road after dark.



Fortunately that wasn’t a factor as they arrived well before the star came out to play. The awesome serenity brought about by the wild environment was just the relaxed start the trip required.



With the river, the stars, the insects, the fire and a few serious refreshments, the wonderful camaraderie quickly developed into a pleasant evening of reminiscing as we were all past pupils (learners) at the same school in Pretoria.

 

[Heimer]

Heimer has enabled notification of this topic  8)

 

[Bomber11]

As we approached the Lebombo Border Post, a kilometre long queue of cars, taxi’s, buses and trucks greeted us, Bushboy somehow convinced a ‘traffic office ’ that we should be allowed to ride to the  to the front of the row. Some serious ugly looks from irritated occupants of stationery vehicles watched the four bikes heading to the border riding on the wrong side of the road. The S A side of the Customs was a breeze while the Mozambique “ Officials” were totally incompetent to say the least. With age comes the inevitable eyesight problems, so filling out vehicle permits in a hot, crowded and smelly room with the forms in Portuguese did not make for a pleasant experience.

Fortunately before too long all was forgotten as we cruised the forty odd kilometres to the Toll gate, shortly thereafter we turned off to Moambe. We made our way through the badly maintained small town then turned left over a well constructed bridge leading to the gravel road to Sabie.




It felt great to be on the dirt again and our progress through changing landscapes to Sabie was swift and uneventful.  Just outside the town we stopped at a roadside shop to have our first taste of the local beverages.



Fellagain on a roll.


2M you beauty

 

[Bomber11]

The road to Magube was slightly more challenging than earlier with the surface varying continuously from hard pack, to small stones, to newly graded gravel with sand heaps and of course the dreaded thick sand.

Bomber11 at his most relaxed


Zugger taking-in the moment


Bushbaby ready for more refreshments.


Well Fellagain decided that he was on an adventure so to keep his name alive and bailed off with amazing grace and plenty of style.

A careful Fellagain after a big one



Stopping at Magube to mix with the locals and enjoy their  hospitality.

 

[Bomber11]

The stop and go waiting area to cross the long bridge outside Magube which features a single lane road but also incorporating a disused railway track. 



The tar road now heads east through beautiful sugarcane fields where neatly dressed workers wonder along the main road hopefully it’s during their lunch break. On this particular day we observed a crop-spraying light aircraft making wonderful low-level manoeuvres above the vast green fields which stretched out into the distance.

The main road from Maputo joins as we head off to Macia which is a fairly big town by Mozambique standards, a right turn and with incredible excitement we ride the remaining 30 long kilometers to the beautiful sight of the lagoon of Bilene.

As a young lad of thirteen, some 39 years ago, my memories of our family holidays in San Martino was flooded with happiness and the wonderful carefree existence.

Still paradise after all these years


Late afternoon stroll on the white beach

 

[Bomber11]

Our accommodation

 

[Heimer]

Lazy and lucky. Me overcome with envy

 

[landieman]

very cool,hope to do a moz trip soon

 

[FellAgain]

Geez Bomber I’m impressed.  On our trip, conversation often turned to the old and famous institution of Clapham High School due to all of us being old boys.  These conversations never really included memories of what we learned of an academic nature but rather the sport and adventures in the streets of Queenswood.  I’m pleased to see that an English teacher had an affect on you somewhere during the six or seven years you spent in high school.  .  Well done and I’m looking forward to more.

 

[Bomber11]

A touch of Africa







Early morning gathering of directors before the daily board meeting to discuss the day’s events.





Fresh local prawns for dinner




Walk into town

 

[Bomber11]

We decided to head off into town to buy some rations without Fellagain as his injuries were more serious than initially thought.



The town turned out to be short of supplies so we decided to head off to Macia where selection and variety of supplies  should be more interesting. As a firm believer in ATGATT, we somehow broke all the rules by riding in casual clothes, obviously caught up in the spirit of adventure by the cloudless skies and the beautiful scenery.  In Macia we stopped for fuel as the local pumps in Bilene seemed quite ancient and therefore we presumed that the petrol wasn’t too fresh.

At the filling station an interesting local pulled up on his 1980’s 50cc Yamaha RD in immaculate condition, he really enjoyed the celebrity status when the guys took some pics of him.



My memory of that area recalls that Xai-Xai was very popular with the deep sea fisherman and as youngsters we had never ventured that far north. When I saw the sign stating Xai-Xai  60km away, we quickly had consensus to travel the road and see the place for ourselves.  With no ATGATT nor any puncture repair kit (we only planned to travel the 1km into Bilene) we hit the tar road to Xai-Xai. The road was in perfect condition but progress was rather slow as we adhered to all the warning to keep to the speed limits in Mozambique. Many small villages are scattered along the road where the speed is restricted to 60kmp/h.

Main beach in Xai-Xai







On the way back to Macia, we just had to stop for a local brew at Sun City for some YS KOUE BIER.

 

[Geotraveller]

Awesome.