Botswana: a water and mosquito affair……
- Thread starter Schalk
- Start date
when I close my eyes, the smell of honey mixed with goat Sh!t and wrotten skins. All of that to get away from those farking "pompas" as the locals call them.Tenrider
Pack Dog
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2010
- Messages
- 113
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- Location
- Dinokeng game reserve/ Saudi Arabia
- Bike
- Yamaha XT 660 Z
Thanks for sharing. We will be following a similar route in November on a Tenere 660 and a new KLR. So lessons learned take plenty of Mozzi spray, mosquito/fly head net and fit pontoons or stay away from the pans. Now just waiting for the rest of the story. Tuned in. :thumleft:
Schalk
Pack Dog
Day 5
Konyn is out of his tent early to take care of business. The mozzy’s is as bad as ever. I decide to stay in. It is fun to crush the black blanket of Mosquitoes from inside my safe den between the tent and fly sheet. Besides my bruised ribcage and tired body I don’t fancy the soaked boots and pants.
Our view is over a huge pan.
Avontier and Euclid arrive early, hastened by the rotten smell and fleas.
We hear Krazy Kubu move across the pans.
I’m glad to hear he is alive.
Sounds like he is getting closer sometimes.
An hour later he is dead quiet.
We will unpack the 2 640”s and will try and follow his tracks. The 2 fat sisters will wait at the edge of the water and marsh. This is the hard part, as the Mozzy’s don’t leave you.
We follow his tracks around the water mass and got stuck where Euclid did the night before. I get of and start pushing the Bike, walking the dog in 1st gear. I realize that it is impossible to get through the marsh like this and turn the bike’s nose towards the tracks, walking and struggling through knee deep water sometimes.
After about 400m I reach the river (the road) again. I cross and get to a grassy island where I stop and look for konyn. He got seriously stuck in the beginning, and turned around.
There is no way out for me and decides to continue in the tracks. The tracks now are a river and are 100% water all the time. I realize again that staying right in the track and taking my chances with the depth of the water is the only way. Luckily the water is clear and I see the car tracks under water .this helps with those wipe outs. I’m concerned as I see Krazy Kubu’s tracks nowhere, but have to make it to Kubu Island. After 7 Km’s I reached the final pans and could see Kubu Island rising. Awesome place. No, tracks, no person, nothing…
I started my journey back, Right at the end I decided to stay in the tracks. The water is extremely deep, but I keep going. The bike sometimes goes thru patches with water up to the bottom part of the tank, but I keep going. I’m amazed at the abilities of the 640.
If it dies here there will be now way that I will be able to get it going or pushed out of the water, as there is no end to it.
I see Konyn in knee deep water cheering me on, and know that I made it back to where they are waiting.
It is now 11 am .The sun is hot, I’m exhausted already, we have no idea where Krazy Kubu is and the F…king mozzy’s take all the fun out of it.
We decided the Avontier which is more experienced will take the other 640. So, me and Avontier were off on a search party.
We walk the first hour, helmets on (Mozzy’s), wet boots and wet pants, basically dehydrated. The only way we could figure the tracks out in the marsh, and the tall grass, and the bikes needed to be pushed all the time. As soon as we get his tracks going somewhere, it disappears again. We get of the bikes and circle again.
Finally his tracks reach some pans again, and we find where he camped last night. It is on a little gravel bar, the only semi-dry spot around.
I now see that he started his bike this morning and continued east, totally the wrong way. He could be going for days in this direction and not find anything.
Me and Avontier push on thru the pans. Most of the time walking and pushing the bikes.
By now we are both mad and swearing at Krazy Kubu, WTF was he thinking?
At least the tracking job is easy. Avontier gets in the groove and I have to ride hard to stay in touch with him. I’m now really concerned. We will soon run out of Petrol, water (clean and not salty) and energy, and KK’s tracks just keep on going east. We reach some grassy spots later, where we struggle to follow his tracks again. On foot we continue again, back to the bikes, east again……
Konyn is out of his tent early to take care of business. The mozzy’s is as bad as ever. I decide to stay in. It is fun to crush the black blanket of Mosquitoes from inside my safe den between the tent and fly sheet. Besides my bruised ribcage and tired body I don’t fancy the soaked boots and pants.
Our view is over a huge pan.
Avontier and Euclid arrive early, hastened by the rotten smell and fleas.
We hear Krazy Kubu move across the pans.
I’m glad to hear he is alive.
Sounds like he is getting closer sometimes.
An hour later he is dead quiet.
We will unpack the 2 640”s and will try and follow his tracks. The 2 fat sisters will wait at the edge of the water and marsh. This is the hard part, as the Mozzy’s don’t leave you.
We follow his tracks around the water mass and got stuck where Euclid did the night before. I get of and start pushing the Bike, walking the dog in 1st gear. I realize that it is impossible to get through the marsh like this and turn the bike’s nose towards the tracks, walking and struggling through knee deep water sometimes.
After about 400m I reach the river (the road) again. I cross and get to a grassy island where I stop and look for konyn. He got seriously stuck in the beginning, and turned around.
There is no way out for me and decides to continue in the tracks. The tracks now are a river and are 100% water all the time. I realize again that staying right in the track and taking my chances with the depth of the water is the only way. Luckily the water is clear and I see the car tracks under water .this helps with those wipe outs. I’m concerned as I see Krazy Kubu’s tracks nowhere, but have to make it to Kubu Island. After 7 Km’s I reached the final pans and could see Kubu Island rising. Awesome place. No, tracks, no person, nothing…
I started my journey back, Right at the end I decided to stay in the tracks. The water is extremely deep, but I keep going. The bike sometimes goes thru patches with water up to the bottom part of the tank, but I keep going. I’m amazed at the abilities of the 640.
If it dies here there will be now way that I will be able to get it going or pushed out of the water, as there is no end to it.
I see Konyn in knee deep water cheering me on, and know that I made it back to where they are waiting.
It is now 11 am .The sun is hot, I’m exhausted already, we have no idea where Krazy Kubu is and the F…king mozzy’s take all the fun out of it.
We decided the Avontier which is more experienced will take the other 640. So, me and Avontier were off on a search party.
We walk the first hour, helmets on (Mozzy’s), wet boots and wet pants, basically dehydrated. The only way we could figure the tracks out in the marsh, and the tall grass, and the bikes needed to be pushed all the time. As soon as we get his tracks going somewhere, it disappears again. We get of the bikes and circle again.
Finally his tracks reach some pans again, and we find where he camped last night. It is on a little gravel bar, the only semi-dry spot around.
I now see that he started his bike this morning and continued east, totally the wrong way. He could be going for days in this direction and not find anything.
Me and Avontier push on thru the pans. Most of the time walking and pushing the bikes.
By now we are both mad and swearing at Krazy Kubu, WTF was he thinking?
At least the tracking job is easy. Avontier gets in the groove and I have to ride hard to stay in touch with him. I’m now really concerned. We will soon run out of Petrol, water (clean and not salty) and energy, and KK’s tracks just keep on going east. We reach some grassy spots later, where we struggle to follow his tracks again. On foot we continue again, back to the bikes, east again……
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CAR6850
Race Dog
Lekr storie :thumleft:
Huggels
Race Dog
Awesome
I actually find this quite worrying.
Being out in the middle of nowhere by yourself and not knowing where you're going can be pretty dangerous.
Being out in the middle of nowhere by yourself and not knowing where you're going can be pretty dangerous.
Adventure rider for life!
Race Dog
SJOE DIS BAIE NICE
Schalk
Pack Dog
We reach a fence line .This will be his and our savior.
He turned left, back north east. We follow the fence line for a few Km’s. The riding now is much easier and we at least cover some ground. Until we reach a manned gate. The guard says yes, one man on a bike passed here this morning, around 9 am. He went through the gate, towards Nata, on his own. We are relieved, and mad.
We realized that this is the Tswagong veterinary gate, and if we turn south a few Km’s we will be back to where Konyn and Euclid is waiting for us.
Did I mention that the mosquitoes were eating us alive? We had enough. A lost member, tired and aggravated, we decided to take the road to Nata, following Krazy Kubu.
The road to Nata was nice. Beautiful scenery. Nice to be able to open up the bikes again, and not mud and water all the time, just sometimes.
We stop under a lonely Camel thorn to take pictures.
Avontier a little late on the departure opens up the 990.
The bike bottoms and his side pannier hit the wall. It rips it of and threw Avontier and bike over the “middelmannetjie" across the road into the grass. He manages to stay on top, and get to a standstill about 50metres from the first impact.
The rest of the ride is uneventfull, with a beautiful winding road through Mopani’s the last 50km.Euclid is now at home on his 990 and handles it with ease chasing all the way.
Right at dark we entered Nata. My Bike empty, just made it.
We were elated to see Krazy Kubu. He waited at the garage. His hand is swollen and looks battered. He checked as all in at the first lodge.
Here is his story:
After trying and reach Kubu the night before (as we planned) he realized that he is alone. We were all riding our own challenge. When he realized Euclid turned around, it was too late. With the much lighter 400 cc he managed to stay on top of the bike. He went around the big water and thus kept too much left. At nightfall he realized that he would not be able to retrace and was out of energy. In the meantime we have stopped also not being able to clear the marsh.
He was alone, and made camp on the gravel bar.
Like I mentioned before the Mozzy’s makes you crazy.
After pitching his tent and throwing all his gear in, he retires. His finger was swollen. He had no food for the whole day. The whole inside of the tent was wet and full of mosquitos. Trying to crush all the mozzy’s against the roof of the tent he tore the air vent. Mozzy’s swarm in. He had plaster available and tried and patched it up. He dropped his Leatherman (because of the dumb broken finger) and stabbed a whole in his little mattress.
What a night he had.
We later learned that he fractured his finger at 2 places, a bad one. It will take 10 months to recover, and has a tough time doing surgery every day.
Me and Krazy Kubu had some words, but we were both just relieved to know all are OK.
A great steak, shower and of course refreshing drinks capped the night.
And believe it or not, no Pompas!
Konyn got to bed late at night. We unpacked our panniers as everything has been wet for 3 days now. The smell was bad. Tried to dry stuff out.
We stayed until we overstayed our welcome.
From here we took the long road down to Palapye, Euclid and Avontier being very patient on the throttle. Their bikes gave almost 20km/liter on this stretch. Along the way we eat Botswana food.
We overnight in Palapye. Another great overnight stay.
Next day we took dirt roads towards the Tswapong hills. Nice roads all over. At Letsheng we decide not to cross the hills, as it looked quite steep. We decided to return with the plastics and explore. Around 2 pm we crossed the Limpopo back home. Sadly.
Aftermath:
-Krazy Kubu got him a new 690, just waiting for the finger to recover. He has help to put his gloves on everyday and them straps the fingers together.
He also promised to stay with the group.
- I have my utmost respect for Avontier and Euclid to fight the big monsters through that mess. Euclid didn’t have a choice, but Avontier did it to punish himself. What a friend.
- My 640 ADV is well maintained and in great condition. It has 32000km on the clock. It has never skipped a beat. It is purposefully build. Its air box sits high and unbelievable ability to handle serious off-road condition. Rocks, weight, mud, water…, just bring it on.
It is a legend, keep your bike. It will be long before there will be a bike built like this again. No modifications needed. If the vibrations bother you, buy a Gold wing and stay on the tar.
-We had 5 bikes. From the smallest KTM adventure bike to the biggest. Everybody did the same trip, same roads. It doesn’t matter what you ride, just get out and RIDE!
Lastly:
Don’t underestimate the value of a head net and bug suit!
Till later
Kwagga-sakkie
He turned left, back north east. We follow the fence line for a few Km’s. The riding now is much easier and we at least cover some ground. Until we reach a manned gate. The guard says yes, one man on a bike passed here this morning, around 9 am. He went through the gate, towards Nata, on his own. We are relieved, and mad.
We realized that this is the Tswagong veterinary gate, and if we turn south a few Km’s we will be back to where Konyn and Euclid is waiting for us.
Did I mention that the mosquitoes were eating us alive? We had enough. A lost member, tired and aggravated, we decided to take the road to Nata, following Krazy Kubu.
The road to Nata was nice. Beautiful scenery. Nice to be able to open up the bikes again, and not mud and water all the time, just sometimes.
We stop under a lonely Camel thorn to take pictures.
Avontier a little late on the departure opens up the 990.
The bike bottoms and his side pannier hit the wall. It rips it of and threw Avontier and bike over the “middelmannetjie" across the road into the grass. He manages to stay on top, and get to a standstill about 50metres from the first impact.
The rest of the ride is uneventfull, with a beautiful winding road through Mopani’s the last 50km.Euclid is now at home on his 990 and handles it with ease chasing all the way.
Right at dark we entered Nata. My Bike empty, just made it.
We were elated to see Krazy Kubu. He waited at the garage. His hand is swollen and looks battered. He checked as all in at the first lodge.
Here is his story:
After trying and reach Kubu the night before (as we planned) he realized that he is alone. We were all riding our own challenge. When he realized Euclid turned around, it was too late. With the much lighter 400 cc he managed to stay on top of the bike. He went around the big water and thus kept too much left. At nightfall he realized that he would not be able to retrace and was out of energy. In the meantime we have stopped also not being able to clear the marsh.
He was alone, and made camp on the gravel bar.
Like I mentioned before the Mozzy’s makes you crazy.
After pitching his tent and throwing all his gear in, he retires. His finger was swollen. He had no food for the whole day. The whole inside of the tent was wet and full of mosquitos. Trying to crush all the mozzy’s against the roof of the tent he tore the air vent. Mozzy’s swarm in. He had plaster available and tried and patched it up. He dropped his Leatherman (because of the dumb broken finger) and stabbed a whole in his little mattress.
What a night he had.
We later learned that he fractured his finger at 2 places, a bad one. It will take 10 months to recover, and has a tough time doing surgery every day.
Me and Krazy Kubu had some words, but we were both just relieved to know all are OK.
A great steak, shower and of course refreshing drinks capped the night.
And believe it or not, no Pompas!
Konyn got to bed late at night. We unpacked our panniers as everything has been wet for 3 days now. The smell was bad. Tried to dry stuff out.
We stayed until we overstayed our welcome.
From here we took the long road down to Palapye, Euclid and Avontier being very patient on the throttle. Their bikes gave almost 20km/liter on this stretch. Along the way we eat Botswana food.
We overnight in Palapye. Another great overnight stay.
Next day we took dirt roads towards the Tswapong hills. Nice roads all over. At Letsheng we decide not to cross the hills, as it looked quite steep. We decided to return with the plastics and explore. Around 2 pm we crossed the Limpopo back home. Sadly.
Aftermath:
-Krazy Kubu got him a new 690, just waiting for the finger to recover. He has help to put his gloves on everyday and them straps the fingers together.
He also promised to stay with the group.
- I have my utmost respect for Avontier and Euclid to fight the big monsters through that mess. Euclid didn’t have a choice, but Avontier did it to punish himself. What a friend.
- My 640 ADV is well maintained and in great condition. It has 32000km on the clock. It has never skipped a beat. It is purposefully build. Its air box sits high and unbelievable ability to handle serious off-road condition. Rocks, weight, mud, water…, just bring it on.
It is a legend, keep your bike. It will be long before there will be a bike built like this again. No modifications needed. If the vibrations bother you, buy a Gold wing and stay on the tar.
-We had 5 bikes. From the smallest KTM adventure bike to the biggest. Everybody did the same trip, same roads. It doesn’t matter what you ride, just get out and RIDE!
Lastly:
Don’t underestimate the value of a head net and bug suit!
Till later
Kwagga-sakkie
CAR6850
Race Dog
Lekr kwagga, hulle maak julle met groot balle daar in die Limpopo :thumleft:
michnus
Bachelor Dog
faaaarking stunning report KS thanks for posting. :thumleft:
growweblaar
Race Dog
Awesome, kwagga :thumleft:
You know there are less mozzies in the dry season.......... :mwink:
You know there are less mozzies in the dry season.......... :mwink:
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