Southern Africa on a Honda CTX200 Bushlander

[Flouw]

have you concidered using WAZE?

that way you can share your location, and we will know if you are still moving or stuck in a ditch

there is another GPS app, ill get info and pass it on. we used it in fact to track a stolen phone till 6 meter from the bastad

 

[TechnomadicJim]

have you concidered using WAZE?

that way you can share your location, and we will know if you are still moving or stuck in a ditch

there is another GPS app, ill get info and pass it on. we used it in fact to track a stolen phone till 6 meter from the bastad

I have yes and I do use it when I'm in Europe. Its great for routing around traffic. I wanted an offline mapping solution for here in Africa so I went with OSMAnd. It actually has a built in plugin for syndicating out your location and some other stats so I wrote some code that plugs it into my little website here :

https://www.whereisjames.com

At the bottom you will see an embedded Google Map with my location and below that some extra stats like when it was last updated, my current speed, altitude etc... When I'm using OSMAnd to navigate it updates the website every 5 minutes.

I've attached a screenshot of my website.

 

[YamaV]

have you concidered using WAZE?

that way you can share your location, and we will know if you are still moving or stuck in a ditch

there is another GPS app, ill get info and pass it on. we used it in fact to track a stolen phone till 6 meter from the bastad

I have yes and I do use it when I'm in Europe. Its great for routing around traffic. I wanted an offline mapping solution for here in Africa so I went with OSMAnd. It actually has a built in plugin for syndicating out your location and some other stats so I wrote some code that plugs it into my little website here :

https://www.whereisjames.com

At the bottom you will see an embedded Google Map with my location and below that some extra stats like when it was last updated, my current speed, altitude etc... When I'm using OSMAnd to navigate it updates the website every 5 minutes.

I've attached a screenshot of my website.

Nice work  :thumleft:

I see you're in Tsumeb now  :deal:
What route did you take from Windhoek and where are you heading now?

 

[1Up4Adv]

Hi Jim

Glad to see you are on the move again.  If you recall we met at Desert Sky at Christmas.  I was rising the LT and heading off back to Jo'burg  while you were planning on heading north  .

How did the trip up north go?  Did you head via Outjo as we had discussed or take another route?  Look forward to more of your RR.

Take care and don't forget to keep the shiny side up

Cheers
Chris

 

[TechnomadicJim]

Nice work  :thumleft:

I see you're in Tsumeb now  :deal:
What route did you take from Windhoek and where are you heading now?

Hey Vian! Thanks Yes I'm in Tsumeb trying to get a tour into Etosha. Not sure if I'm going to make it tomorrow.

Hi Jim

Glad to see you are on the move again.  If you recall we met at Desert Sky at Christmas.  I was rising the LT and heading off back to Jo'burg  while you were planning on heading north  .

How did the trip up north go?  Did you head via Outjo as we had discussed or take another route?  Look forward to more of your RR.

Take care and don't forget to keep the shiny side up

Cheers
Chris

Hey Chris!

Of course I recall It was great hanging out with you over the new year. I actually chose to go to Waterberg instead as it was a bit closer and has a nice NWR camp site. The shiny side is still up although I did have a few issues I will mention in my update below.

James

---

KM's so far ~8000.

So after an awesome time riding around Brandberg I wasn't quite ready to head to Swakopmund for Christmas so I took the D1930 past Spitzkoppe to Usakos where I stayed at the Namib Oasis Farm Stall campsite. The food here is quite good but the camp site is right next to the main B2 road and bearing in mind all the people travelling from Windhoek to Swakpopmund I didn't get too much sleep :/ I decided to just head back to Swakop early (on the gravel D1918 of course!) via Henties Bay and pop in to Spitzkoppe.

I should have just camped at Spitzkoppe. Pretty neat place



I think it was only about 20 NAD for a day pass. They let the bike in for free which was nice. I think it was perhaps because I was English and the guy on the gate was a BIG (Chelsea) football fan.





Surprising to find a rock pool in all this heat.



I took the gravel road (D1918) as usual instead of the boring (B2) tar into Henties Bay and then south to Swakopmond. I tried to book into the Desert Sky Backpackers early but they were full and my Christmas booking didn't start until a couple of days later. I stayed at Skeleton Beach Backpackers for a few days and then came back.

I perhaps shouldn't have taken a long break for Christmas in Swakopmund as my Visa expires on the 21st although I imagine a lot of places close up shop so perhaps it was for the best. Some of the Christmas "highlights" include spending Christmas eve trying to sleep in a dorm that someone has puked all over, learning of a fellow dorm occupant doing a runner without paying their bill and getting arrested by the cops (with an expired visa) and generally avoiding very wasted annoying people. heh.

I ate a lot of fish while there and my favourite resturant was the Fish Deli. I must have eaten there over a dozen times! Also worthy of a mention is the Brauhaus where I had an obligatory Stiefel



So on the 3rd I set off for Windhoek along the C28. It really is a cracking road and you can really appreciate the slow change from parched desert to lush greenery. You see the plants slowly appear and get bigger the further you drive. Awesome. It really felt great to be on the road again!







I did have some problems though. I hit a particularly large pot hole at speed and bottomed out the bike which in turn ripped some of the plastic from under the mud guard. It wasn't helped by the fact my extra 10L fuel can was full. There's no petrol stations on the C28 and the CTX only has a 8.6 litre tank. I cable tied the plastic back into place and emptied 7 litres into my tank which helped but the tyre was not scuffing against the exhaust when the suspension was compressed. I took it pretty easy on the bumps for the rest of the journey. The problem was figured out when I got the service later...



chrisL mentioned a visit to the old German building :

Jim 40kms before Windhoek on the righthandside is an old German house/fort.
Do yourself a favour and go walk through it.
The German soldiers of war that drank too much at their outposts were sent there to dry
out so to speak. :eek7:
Beautiful building. :thumleft:

I would probably have just driven past if he hadn't mentioned it. I do like wandering around old buildings. Thanks Chris!



I also took some video which I will hopefully get the time to edit together soon.



I arrived same and sound in Windhoek and stayed at the Chameleon Backpackers over the weekend ready for my 8k service on Monday 6th.

 

[TechnomadicJim]

So I took the bike into Honda Windhoek and explained a few of the issues I wanted looking at and was told no problem come back at 2pm. Its quite exciting knowing the bike was going for some TLC. It deserves it after all the abuse I've been giving it in Namibia. The mechanics there seemed very helpful and knowledgeable so I was happy to leave it in their capable hands.

Apparently the spark plug was a bit loose! Can't say I checked it but it did get replaced in Luderitz by the mechanic there. Perhaps he didn't tighten it enough or it vibrated loose. Also the oil was in a bad way apparently but I had it replaced 3k's ago in Luderitz too. Guess I should change it even more often then! I'm now carrying 1.5 litres of castrol 10/40 which they supplied me with and I will change after 2k's.

The main issue with the bike that was causing the back tyre to scuff the exhaust was the fact that one of my back plates was missing. I noticed it was missing after the service in Honda Upington 4.5k's ago! It may have vibrated off but they did adjust the chain then and I wonder if it was perhaps forgotten to be put back on !?! Anyway this combined with hitting the pothole combined with the fact I have a fat E07 on the back cased the scuffing of the exhaust. They bodged a plate together for me and even put a spacer where the exhaust attaches to the frame giving some more room. Good stuff! I wasn't sure that the plate was important when I noticed it was missing and presumed not. I now know!

They also said my air filter was dry implying it wasn't soaked in oiled properly at the last service. I'm not sure myself but on the other hand oil doesn't evaporate as far as I know! Thinking back on it I remember not being that impressed with the mechanics at Honda Upington. I kinda got a bad feeling. Then again I can't be sure these issues were definitely their fault. I bought a spare air filter like we mentioned before and another spark plug. All good.

I forgot to mention before that while on my way to Twyfelfontein I lost my tool kit off the back of the bike So I replaced my tool kit in Cymot Windhoek.

Next I headed up to Waterberg National Park on the C/D roads and guess what ? I lost my toolkit AGAIN! FFS! So annoying.

Anyway I arrived in Waterberg and immediately saw lots of wild life. These little fellows popped out of their hole to have a look at their new neighbour. Not sure what they are. Meerkats ?



Camp all setup. I decided to go for the simple hammock without tarp setup today. Only takes about 5 minutes.



Next I took a dip in the pool. Nice!



The next day I hiked to the top. Nice view :





Then some of the shorter trails around the camp.



I got to within about 5 metres of this female klipspringer i think ?


Very cool.



In the afternoon I went on a 4 hour game drive and saw my first Giraffe along with plenty of other game.



The next day I headed down the D2512 towards Tsumeb. Its a really nice quiet gravel road with lush greenery with lots of farms and gates to pass through.



Just outside Grootfontein is the worlds largest meteorite. Just watch your head!



I had to pop by and see it. Very cool!





Now I'm up to date and staying in Mousebird Backpackers.  I like Tsumeb. Its a really nice chilled out town with a couple of good cafe's and lots of greenery. I was hoping to meet up with some other travellers and hitch a lift into Etosha but I'm the only one here! An Austrian turned up earlier and talked about getting a taxi in for a day trip but I will probably just hit the road tomorrow morning. Not sure exactly where I will head but probably towards Oshakati and camp somewhere for a day and start making my way East towards the Caprivi. I could go direct to Rundu but its a long boring road apparently. Any thoughts ?

 

[troos]

Howdee Jim

Saw your thread starting up on HU  :hello2:

I've now read your report on the WD forum, and I'll be following you with eargerness

Drive save!

 

[thruxton88]

Great report Jim! Extremely helpful and inspiring!

I will be following a similiar path in April. I am dreading the TRN process, but can you let me know what address and evidence did you provide for your proof of residence? I am going to be staying at hostels. I am an American citizen if that makes a difference.

Thanks,
Zo

 

[TechnomadicJim]

Howdee Jim

Saw your thread starting up on HU  :hello2:

I've now read your report on the WD forum, and I'll be following you with eargerness

Drive save!

Great I decided to share there too. May as well as I'm putting all this effort into documenting the trip. Might be of use and interesting to others. Speaking of driving safe I left the B2 highway yesterday and 2 seconds later a car pulled into the B2 and straight into an oncoming car. I prefer riding the minor gravel and dirt roads. Much safer!

Great report Jim! Extremely helpful and inspiring!

I will be following a similiar path in April. I am dreading the TRN process, but can you let me know what address and evidence did you provide for your proof of residence? I am going to be staying at hostels. I am an American citizen if that makes a difference.

Thanks,
Zo

Great Welcome! I have since learned the application for a TRN can be much easier. Essentially you shouldn't apply for it in Joberg or Cape Town as they are too big. Do it in a smaller traffic office somewhere other than a big city and chances are you will have it done there and then! As for proof or residence I just asked a friend (thanks Lynda!) to write down that I was staying with them and sign it with their SA ID number. I don't actually have residence just the normal tourist visa but this didn't seem to matter. if you have any problems just try a different traffic office until you are successful. Once you have the TRN your good to own a vehicle in SA for the rest of your life AFAIK. Any more advice you need just say the word

---

KM's so far 9400

Leaving Tsumeb I drove north and after about 20 km's I came across Otjikoto Lake. Its estimates to be over 142 meters deep!



The retreating Germans chucked their guns and a "mysterious safe" into the lake.



A very boring drive for about 230 km's up the B2 highway took me to Ondangwa where I setup my hammock camp at Ondangwa Rest Camp.



I was snoozing in my hammock when 3 noisy bikes drove in next to my camp. Meet Thomas (Germany), Florian (Austria) and the famous "deaf biker" Istvan (Romania). Very cool guys to hang out with for the evening!



By coincidence these guys met Mat and Jaap on the KTM 990's in northern Africa but decided to come down the west coast (Mat and Jaap took the easy coast).



The next day I said farewell to the guys and headed on a day trip exploring the local area off away from the B2. Lots of small villages and people just staring as I rode past on my bike. I don't think they see many bikers up here.

Where am I ?



Tomorrow I'm going to head east towards Rundu along the Angolan border. I'm not sure if I will camp on the way and make it in 2 days or just go for the whole 460 km's in one go. Even with my 10 litre jerry can on the side I think I'm going to need to take a few more litres just in case. AFAIK there's no petrol on this road. Should be an interesting day!

---

Side note regarding my new GPS tracking I mentioned where you can track my exact position and speed / altitude etc... There was a bug causing it not to update. Now fixed it shows my location properly. Updates every 5 minutes. Im interested to know if anyone uses it :

https://www.whereisjames.com/#gps

 

[Man from Nam]

Nice trip report TechnomadicJim.
Sorry we missed you when you passed through Windhoek.
Enjoy the Caprivi, it is very nice. When in Divundu stay at Nunda Lodge and make sure you do a sundown cruise on the Okavango.

 

[oldmannorman]

You living a dream for some of us. Enjoy and keep it rolling.

 

[thruxton88]

I think I may be able to manage to find a letter *fingers crossed*. If not, I guess I can try to see if someone at the hostel would be willing too. If you know of anyone who would be willing to help out or has heard of a hostel doing this, please let me know!

Have you heard of any locations in particular that have processed them quickly?

Also, depending if our plans sync, I would be interested in buying the bike from you when you are done. I will be climbing Kilimanjaro/possibly zanzibar with some friends first week of April. I may fly into the SA first just to get the paper started. Lets stay in touch.

Keep it real,
Zo

 

[pietas]

Looking good. See you in Rundu now (according to your gps position)

 

[Keirider]

Hi there TechnomadicJim,
Great RR. I was in he army around Oshivello also did a stint at a a place called Wenela close to Katima Mulilo  in the Caprivi on the Zambezi river. Very pretty.

I noticed you have not mentioned tyres in your RR are still on the same set you started on. If so that is pretty amazing

 

[1Up4Adv]

Hi Jim

You seem to be making good progress and it is a pity you could not cadge a lift into Etosha.  Anyway these things happen and it is possibly a good reason to return to Namibia

The first photograph is not meerkats but Banded Mongoose(Mungos mungo) and the other is a of a Damara Dik-dik sometimes aka Kirk's Dik-dik Madoqua kirkii) It appears to be female as only the male has very short horns - 7.5cm long.  I hope this helps with your animal ID.

Before you actually enter the Caprivi proper there is / was a magic campsite on the Kavango River close to the rapids called Popa Falls (close to the village Bagani).  If it is still there well worth a call in and a few days R & R.

Enjoy :thumleft:

 

[wolfandzebra]

Great trip report. Thanks for sharing. We're starting a trip in just over a month, and will use some of the tips and tricks you mention - esp the GPS plugin to update a website.
We looked into spot and delorme insight as solutions to let people know where we are, but there were too many instances of devices failing. And once the expectation is set for an update every 3 days (or whatever you decide) and then it just stops if the device dies... well, that will cause far more panic amongst the family and friends than a manually updated solution, with the expectation that we will update when we can.

Anyway, happy riding, we'll be following the adventure, and returning to the trip report for details when we arrive in South Africa late in 2014.  :thumleft:

 

[TechnomadicJim]

So I have had my first major problem of the trip

I'm in Katima Mulilo right in the north east of Namibia on the Caprivi strip. I changed my oil today and tightened the sump plug too much and snapped off the outer collar that holds the rubber ring in. Its now dripping a drop of oil every 2 seconds. Damn it! So annoyed with myself.

Here's the collar that snapped off :



Here's what is should look like only snapped :



Here's the rubber ring exposed dripping oil :





The sump plug was really tight when I undone it so when I noticed what seemed like a spot of oil after having run the engine for a few minutes I presumed I hadn't tightened it enough then SNAP!

Its a Saturday evening here so nothing will be open until Monday and my visa expires on Tuesday. So I have to act quickly. I have several options as I see it :

Ideally I need a replacement so I will try and find one here in Katima. There is at least one decent mechanics here. Failing that I will see if it can be repaired and perhaps have one shipped somewhere from Windhoek Honda which is AFAIK the closest honda dealership to me. I can't get there because of my visa expiring on Tuesday.

Visa-wise I'm close to the border so I can cross even with a broken bike. Perhaps go to Livingstone which I think is the biggest city closest to me and therefore most likely to have a part or possibly be my shipping address for a shipment from Windhoek. Its not ideal as I wanted to go to Botswana first.

Perhaps I should just cross into Botswana and try and get to Maun and hole up there until I can get the part sent... It would allow me to then continue on my original planned route at least.

Any ideas or suggestions welcome!

 

[woody1]

Sometimes some PRATLEY STEEL GLUE will work until you get  a replacement.  Wash it good with degreaser and try the glue.
Find a farmer.. they should have some pratley steel glue  :imaposer:

Hope you come right.

 

[Flouw]

Find a nice big washer. Looks like there is somewhat of a collar left. Fit washer. The broken piece. And then O-ring. Get some gasket maker. Glue everything up. And get to the next service station for next oil change. And buy a extra sump plug as i advised in the begining of the trip. A broken or lost plug can mean you srfander in middle of nowhere. Last but not least.
My dad use to have a champaign cork in his cubbyhole. He used it as a gearbox plug one day. Im sure a wine bottle cork will work aswell.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

 

[TechnomadicJim]

Thank you both for the advice. I'm going to go to the local mechanics / spares shop tomorrow and hopefully pick up a replacement. One of the many reasons I chose the CTX was because its such a common and standard (GY6) engine. I'm hoping I shouldn't have too much difficulty replacing it.

Sometimes some PRATLEY STEEL GLUE will work until you get  a replacement.  Wash it good with degreaser and try the glue.
Find a farmer.. they should have some pratley steel glue  :imaposer:

Hope you come right.

I did manage to pick some of this up but I held off using it yet because as it stands I do have a bit of a seal and its not leaking too much at the moment. If I keep the oil topped up I think I might be able to make it to somewhere I can get a replacement plug or at least get one sent.

It seems to depend on the oil temperature but its dripping anything from every 3 - 15 seconds. Even in the last 20 hours or so my oil level is about 50% between min and max level's (it was at max before) and I've been driving around town a bit to test how much it leaks.

I spoke to my dad this morning and he raised a very good point. By undoing the sump plug and trying to repair it I may well make the problem worse. Its better to add to the seal as it stands. I can only lesson the amount of oil dripping out.

Find a nice big washer. Looks like there is somewhat of a collar left. Fit washer. The broken piece. And then O-ring. Get some gasket maker. Glue everything up. And get to the next service station for next oil change. And buy a extra sump plug as i advised in the begining of the trip. A broken or lost plug can mean you srfander in middle of nowhere. Last but not least.
My dad use to have a champaign cork in his cubbyhole. He used it as a gearbox plug one day. Im sure a wine bottle cork will work aswell.

The washer idea might be another idea too if the putty didn't hold. I'm going to pick up some gasket maker tomorrow and try and improve the seal I have. Now I wish I had bought a spare but to be fair if I had taken everything everyone had advised I would have most of a spare bike. I'm still learning and your previous advice is well appreciated now

My plan (after seeing what I can at the local mechanics / spares shop in Katima) is to still head to Divundu (Popa falls) tomorrow and try and cross the border there. I will load up with an extra litre of oil and cross my finger's I don't leak a litre and a half of oil during the 320 km's.