Swaziland and Mocambique tour 26/12/2007 till 31/12/2007

[iep_kruger]

Day 1:
It was yet again another bleak and overcast morning ,,,(funny???),,,but i love riding in rainy/overcast weather as it warrants wearing all my riding gear with the protection,,,,so i leave my house at 08h00 and  send the legend AT to the east riding to avoid all tollgates but keeping the N4 on my righthand side,,,arrive in Middelburg for breakfast at Wimpy and then its off towards Belfast somewhere where i duly ran out of road as my road stopped at a farm,,,so quick double back for 3 kms and i was on the hiway,,,missed the tollgates which was great,,,at Millys garage just before Machadodorp turn off i pull in for a map checking,,,,the manager immediately walks up to me as he is a AT fan and starts telling me stuff and asking about consumption,,,so we chat and he directs me towards Swaziland,,,,i saddle up and haul myself to Machadodorp and goin through this quaint town i head for Badplaas which is a great and scenic road,,,,every corner new scenery that takes your breath away,,,the legend purrs and its me and the wind and the wide open spaces,,,,so we crank it through the corners and i just love to accelerate the AT up a uphill,,,always astounded by its power and its torque,,,love the sound of the thumping exhaust pipe,,,this is life and we can ride till the sunset,,,,anyway quick left turn towards Baberton and here the clouds starts clearing and the sun hits you,,,i zip open my jacket, loosen my sleeves so that the wind can rush through my clothes,,,,my new helmet has a flip up visor which i can adjust allowing some air on my face,,,i stop outside Barberton, throw in some petrol and make some phone calls as im not sure if my cell works in Swaziland,,,From Baberton i ride 10 kms tar and then it opens up in ground road for the next 42 kms to the border post Josefsdal,,,,dont u just love those Sappi dirt roads through the endless forests,,,,also to make it even nicer is the constant road works which just adds to  the fun,,,,,lots of unprotected sweeps over high cliffs and you play the throttle around the corners feeling your back wheel drift a bit,,,what a thrill,,,,anywasy the road ends much to soon and your at the borderpost,,Josefsdal,,a little hut on either side of a fence and everybody is waiting for you,,,no queues, no fusses no people,,,just a formality,,,i meet some german tourists and enquire as to the road i want to take through Swaziland,,,according to my map its a dirt road but the tourist assure me its tarred,,,its 15h00 and i'm through the border after paying a R80 road tax ,,,my plan was to sleep at Piggs Peak hotel in the bush somewhere,,,i ride 18km of thick dense forest road with one control stop and much to soon i'm at Piggs Peak,,,,,this aint fair,,,its 16h00 and i still wanna ride,,,,so guess what,,,i do ,,,i tackle the  MR1 road towards JeppesReef and turn right about 6kms from the border post,,,i follow what is now a super hiway MR6 all the way to Tshaneni passing through Bhalekane,,,i constantly am riding on the back door of a rain storm,,,the roads are soaked and when i start feeling the rain i back off the AT and just stay behind it,,,,then its onto MR24 and at Mhlume i pull of wait for the rain to move on,,,have a coke or two and chat to people asking where to and where from questions,,,,the rain moves on and i follow till Tambankulu arriving at the Mbuluzi  Reserve at one minute before 6h00,,,they about to close the gate and i arrive and eager game rangers assist me and i pay R50 to stay one nite in the reserve in the tent camp,,,they assure me there aint no Big 5 and tell me i'm by the way the only person in the whole reserve,,,doesnt matter to me and i set of to my campsite, seeing several blou wildebeest, impala, zebras and kudu's,,,i arrive and each camp has a bhoma around it and i pick one,,,start unpacking and then its thunder and lightning everyware,,,no lekker weather for  camping in a tent,,,so, seeing im the only person in the whole game reserve i drag my stuff and roll out my mattress and stuff to the ablution block and set up camp inside the ablution block,,,theres even enough place for my bike,,,,its pumping with rain and lightning outside but im high and dry,,,,i celebrate with coke and a shot of OBS, making a fire in the"DONKIE" that will supply me with hot water,,,i haul out my packets of noodles and  mug foods and decide to make several packets of one minute noodles , some pizza mug food and throwing in some portugeese sardines ,,,,lekker comfort food , nice and warm and cosy and i prepare a bed and blow up my matress,,,after a luxuriously hot shower i spray myself with insect repellent and get to sleep,,,,waking up a lot through the nite because of the lightning and thunder outside as well as some bats which tried to dung over me but just missing me,,,i could hear the wet blotches falling on the floor near me,,,,but i sleep and at 5 o clock i make some rooibos tee and pack the AT,,,,,i ride through the veld and see several animals again but its very muddy and i nearly fall over at times

 

[iep_kruger]

stats for Day 1:
Kms travelled  570 kms
Stopping time 2 h 47 mins
Travelling time 7 h 8 mins
Ave speed 57,7 kms/h

 

[IceCreamMan]

keep it coming  ;D

 

[iep_kruger]

Day 2:

Im 5 kms from Lomahasha/Namaacha border post and its a great ride through puddles of mud and washed away roads and debris,,,,the start of another day of great riding,,,,i fill up with petrol as the petrol is cheaper in Swaziland than RSA,,,lekkerrrr,,,again through the border with no problem,,,i buy 3rd party insurance and all the paperwork,,,i see i have Swaziland cell coverage and again i make some phone calls not knowing what my status will be in Moz,,,,i have a friend and his wife who asked that i help them through from the border till Barra lodge in Inhambane,,,they are both on Kawas, he a 650 klx and she a 500 kle,,,the plan is i meet them otherside the second tollgate as they slept over at Nelspruit at family and leaving their car and trailer behind,,,the other people in the party are also divers and we arrange to meet at the tollgate closest to Maputo at 11h00,,,its early and i ride leasurely into Maputo stopping along the way for a very very hot prego steak and my first 2M cerveja,,,ok, ok,,,i know its still morning but the chillie was hot,,ok???,,,,i have Moz cellphone  coverage and i phone to hear where the rest of my party only to hear they are still kuiering and shopping at RSA side,,,we make a new time of 15h00 and i decide to sit at the sea and take in the sea,,,,,but Maputo is always for me like a cesspool,,,i love Moz but i hate Maputo as its reminds me of Zaravejo or some war torn country,,,but i go to the polaris hotel, have a coffee and then its off to Holiday Inn at the beach which are the only 2 decents spots in Maputo,,,the rest is a cacophony of noises,sounds, poverty and chaos,,,the roads are non existance and the traffic is bad and uncontrollable with taxis doiing what taxis do best,,,,cvause chaos,,,everywhere there are cars broken down, some stuck in knee deep potholes in the main street nogaal,,,i forget to take pictures,,, i sit at the beach side restaurant drinking 2M draught until 14h00 and decide to go back and wait for my rest of my party at the tollgate,,,i get there and wait and wait and wait getting more the moer in knowing we are supposed to be at Bilene tonite and its 4 hours away still,,,eventually they arrive at 18h00 and we fight our way through the chaos traffic towards Marracuene where i thought we'd sleep over seeing i dont want to ride at nite,,,one misses all the scenery and besides its dangerous,,,,im irratated but they are happy and keen and enjoying every minute,,,,they ask to continue as i already arranged accomodation at a fisherman friend of mine in Bilene and the other people in the car are there already,,,so we push through with several near escapes with faulty trucks and cars,,,luckily the road is good and the weather ok,,,,we travel through some road blocks and stop at towns  for something to eat,,,we end up eating pao and coke, which is great anyway,,,,,we arrive at Bilene at 23h00 and pitch up our tents and set up camp while sipping whiskey and water,,,,i heard some funny noises from my bike which could be my new helmet which catches the wind  differently as my other one,,,,so all through the nite i ignore the sounds and we sleep like logs,,,i wake at 5h00 and i start stripping my side covers as the sound seems to come from my front sprocket,,,im dreading i've broken a sprocket tooth but all seems well and i lubricate my chain and set the tension,,,my rest of my party wake up and we meet the rest of the gang at a beach side cafe,,again going for chillie prego and 2M ,,,i actually have coffee but my comrades all go for the ice cold beer,,,,which really isnt a bad idea and i have 2 beers at 8h00 in the morning,,,,we leave together and while twisyting through town we loose the other 2 bikers,,,we turn back,,,look everywhere and decide they are ahead and we leave Bilene  at 09h00
stats for the day:
kms travelled 296 kms
stopping time 2 h 31 mins
travelling time 5h 03 mins
ave speed 39.1 km/h

 

[iep_kruger]

dAY 3,,,,,BACKSIDE SORE DAY

i lead the cars through great roads but littered with big trucks and busses packed another storey high on its roofs with baggage,,,and on top of it are goats tied to the baggage to their legs,,,,,i love it and its lekker on a bike but the car battle to pass the trucks as the roads are unpredictable and even more so the drivers,,,we decide to hang back and just enjoy the scenery,,,,all along the roads the kids are selling food and stuff ,,,i reward them with sweets and waves ,,,its about 60 kms till we turn off for XAI Xai,,,as we enter Xai Xai we meet up with the Kawas,,,,we decide to have lunch at the beach,,,this time i have salad while the rest of the party go for peri peri galinha's and more 2M's,,,,the sea is lovely and the day is clearing up lovely,,,,everybody just lazes in the sun,,, we leave as we still need to make Inhambane today and already the hours have dwindled,,,but who cares,,,we're having fun,,,,

 

[iep_kruger]

so after a rest at Xai Xai and a quick promise to myself that i will stay over one nite there on my way back we hit the "nightmare road from hell,,,,from here the next 51 kms will be hell,,,a road riddled with impatient trucks, buses and potholes the size to park vw beetles in,,,,,its lekker with a bike and i enjoy swishing and snaking through the treacherous holes,,,,i measure one, jip its knee deep ,,,while the bikes are having fun the cars are having a nightmare and u realise one bad move and you'll break down with no help and chance of rescue,,,this is africa and the local drivers know it and they just push you off the road and claim the road,,,at some stages we are riding 3 cars abreast, one on the dirt on the left side, one on the dirt side on the right and one in the middle,,,,then someone comes thundering from the front and its a mad scramble to who goes where,,,,but yes, its fun,,,,it might be white knuckle driving but at least its an adventure and every obstacle passed we celebrate and feel good,,,,if it was easy then everybody would come,,,that we dont want,,,,it must be terrible and challenging, thats why we came,,,im having fun and constantly stopping to take photos of my bug eyed friends following me,still reeling in shock and amazement,,,the kids along the road  put up a show by throwing sand pretending to fill the potholes in exchange for sweets and or money,,,i oblige with sweets and waves,,,,the pace is slow and the road and challenges never end,,,just when u think u've seen it all another even bigger one pops up,,,,but we preserveer and at Chindenguele the road gets better,,,but actually this is worse for the roadf is no longer constantly buggered but u have strecthes of good tar and intermediate spots with potholes,,,this aint good because you just relax and speed up when pothole jumps up and swallows your car,,,,the bikes are fine and we show the cars behind us when potholes appear,,,,its 47km  to Quisisica which is my fav stopping spot,,,the road is high and you look down on some sea lakes below and we all stop and have photo breaks and drink 2M again,,,this time its in 450ml dumpy bottles and no longer in cans like down in the south,,,you cant really buy lot of beers as they have a system where u have to hand in empties before getting equally full beers again,,,so nowhere are there empty bottles or cans or containers as everything is recycleable,,,,one doesnt see litter along the roads because of this,,,,so from now on you gotta drink your beer and hand the bottle back,,,no problem,,,,we stay some time at the road and my backside is really sore,,,3 days in the saddle has taken its toll,,,,i strip to my shorts and tshirt and catch some tan while riding, my protection gear all rolled up and thank goodness my kids aint there as i preach ATGATT (all the gear all the time) to them constantly,,,my next stop is Ponta Zavora which is another fav spot for me,,,,it reminds me of Kariba with a sea and tree stumps sticking out,,,,thereafter another 50 kms to Inhambane,,,,

 

[iep_kruger]

we kuier much too long partly because our backsides are still sore and we start feeling better and mount the steeds for the last stretch,,,,too many kms left and too little time,,,just once id like to arrive at my destination and set up camp and then have a sundowner,,,but naaay, my diver friends have already got a place to sleep and poor me hasn't,,,,i decide id get there, get drunk at the bar and let them decide where i sleep,,,good idea, know it worked before,,,,so we push and at 19h00 we enter the district of Inhambane and  its main road,,,defnitely a bustling place and the roads are littered with double can 4x4 all bearing GP and RSA number plates,,,,at Babelaas bar which is the turnoff to Tofu (where i hoped to stay a day or two) and  straight on is the sand road to Barra Lodge the divers retreat,,,,my friends ask i stay with them and its an easy decision anyway,,,i love Barra Lodge and its restaurant over the sea in amongst the cocunut plantation is like heaven,,,so i trail behind picking up tents and lost stuff falling off from the kawas ahead of me,,,,some one falls in the thick sand and we help her up, the one kawa is cooking, dunno why but its 300 metres to the lodge and i push on straight for the bar,,,,i park and yet obnve again to the utter amazement to everyone else inside i stumble in asking for 2 savanahs at a time till i say stop,,,my friends book in and i stand fast on the corner of the bar,,,,luckily i had a helmet with me because i must admit i did once again look rather tattered and neanderthal but who cares,,,,nobody makes eye contact with me and i hear people whispering behind my back,,,,wjhat de hell,,,i made it yet again,,,,,
my friends arrive to say there is a mix up with the bookings and can i club in for the luxury bungalow ,,,after 6 quick savanahs i eagerley hand over cash,,,,everybody else showers and changes ,,,, so we all meet again and we order food and eat,,,afterwards the whole of hatfield students arrive and they have a party of note in the bar,,,i decide nor to scare the kids and then only do i take my ass out of the bar and unpack my stuff from my bike and stash it because tonite i sleep in a real bed,,,,,i leave my bike at the bar as the sands too thick and im in no mood for work,,,i wanna sleep....quick whiskey and coke (what de hell) and i sleep like a log until 9 the next morning,,,,wow!!!!!!! what a day,,,i buy a huge pineapple and whip up some fruit and sliced mangoes and pineapples and banans for my friends and we eat on the beach,,,,today i greet them as they are staying another week,,,my job here is now done,,,,,,now i am on my own and yet again its me and the thunder legend AT,,,,
stats for previous day:
kms travelled 411 kms
stopping time 3h 36 mins
travel time 6h 33 mins
ave speed 50,3 km/h

 

[iep_kruger]

day 4:

what an amazing day,,,who would guess what this day would bring,,,its one of these days that you'll always remember till after the altzheimers step in,,,,but lets start at the beginning,,,i greet my new  friends from the last 2 days  and its me and the mighty legend and the open road again,,,i hear steppingwolf playing "heading for the hiway" in my mind and life is great,,,i ride through the sandy parts without a helmet and think how everythings looks like a vietcong movies,,,,vietnam with its palms and sand ,,,at the city centre i don my helmet and decide to visit a thousand year ago baseball friend of mine that stays in Gunjatta bay,,,so instead of turning to Tofu i bear through Inhambane and at Jangama i turn left towards Panedane and Guinjatta bay,,,verybody warned me of the bad sand roads but hell who can stop me or the legend ,,,i mean we have to push on,,,guinjata bay is 29 kms and the first 20 are great sandy roads with lekker huge potholes but im loving it and lifes a gas man,,,,,somewhere i decide its time for a cerveja's,,,a "muito frio" one and the first roadside spaza shop/tavern i pull in only to be greeted by a landrover playing "crosby , stills and nash" music ,,,,and then it happens,,,the impossible,,,,one of those days that u could never plan,,,i walk into the bar with 3 people from hatfield pta who i dont know and an elderry couple from botswana going back home,,,,we cheer and greet loudly and i immediately join the group,,,its obvious they have been drinking somewhat and i eagerly catch up,,,,and thats when it hits you,,,we are so very much totally different from each other and no way in hell could we ever meet but today at this god forsaken place we meet and click and bind through music and beer,,,,all else doesnt matter,,,we stay and listen through everybodies version of what we think is the best song ever made,,,from rolling stones ,  zz top, jimi hendrix, metallica and ending at just jinger we bridge the age group,,,the older couple had seen these people live and i grew up with them and somehow these teenagers had it in mp3 form,,,so we drink and embrace the day and each other,,,i  find out one guy works in iraq , the other that drinks like a fish is actually allergic to alcohol but what the hell and the older guy has run 15 comrades , 11 more than me,,,so  we bond and make friends and time stands still until we finish drinking all the beer in the bar,,,we decide to leave and the youngsters invite me to stay with them in Pandane,,,its another 6 kms to Guinjata and i leave yet again filled with happiness beyond my dreams and the next 3 kms is no problem,,,and then its when the sand monster grabs me big time,,,alll i need to do is do 1 km over thick sand and this takes me nearly an hour thanks to all the piccanins pushing me while im churning sand with the bike,,,but i make it and thank goodness its over,,,i jump up in the sky of joy as i've beaten the sand monster,,,i  ask around for my friend and i get directions,,,i walk there and find him having lunch,,,we chat and reminence about our baseball days but after a while i notice i aint getting invited and because of my pride i dont ask and decide to join my new buddies in Pandane instead,,,,its only 3 kms through sand and thats where the problem lies,,,,,

 

[iep_kruger]

how bad can sand be????? i've just survived several kms and it wasnt that bad,,,so i leave the safety of Guinjata and over the hill to Pandane where the world biggest sand monsters live and they swallow me up boots and all,,,,i resort to churning the sand and paddling with my legs ,,,i can only do 10 metres at a time before im exhausted as my bike is one of the heaviest bikes and weighs 200kg and im packed,,,im wearing shorts and paddling with my legs and the sand gets in everywhere and i mean everywhere,,,,after 2 kms im nearly crying and thats where you realise how did you get here,,,its just as far back as its forward,,,,u decide ure not turning back and forward is the only way to go,,,in the mean time my legs are bleeding from paddling in the sand and where my legs touch my saddle,,,,how can such a great day become a complete and utter disaster,,,u hate yourself,,,u hate that u drank too much,, u hate your friend for not inviting youy to sleep over and yet you have to go forward at all costs,,,it takes me nearly 4 nours to do the 3 kms and exhausted i arrive at the camp,,,the camp is full and i cant find my friends,,,,despondant i  sit at the entrance with the rain starting to come down,,,what next???? the camp lady sees me and gives me a spot to pitch my tent up in the dunes,,,without cost,,,i gratefully accept,,,,my legs are stff and bleeding,,,my spirit is gone and i hate this place,,,i hate that it rains and that the dunes are so huge and the sand so unforgiving,,,anyway i pitch a tent in the rain and sip OBS  and coke in my tent,,,,im truly buggered,,,but then i start asking around and they have a bar???? its only 2 kms down the beach and so what,,,,i decide to go,,,,upon which i arrive at the most wonderfull place in the whole wide world,,,there are lights and music and boere are dancing langarm to stamp stamp music,,,they have booze and a menu and all of the sudden the rains feels great again,,,i order a jack and soda, lotsa ice,,,,then 2 quick 2M and i buy a packet of cigarettes and start smoking for some idiot reason but it makes me feel good,,,,i saunter to the restaurant and order the strongest prawns peri peri they can muster,,,tonite we dine,,,tonite i wil show a platefull of crustaceous a thing or two,,,another dues 2M beers and my plate arrives with prawns heaped up and an onimous bowl of red stuff as well,,,,so i layer it with sauce and in stead of eating each one i actually layer each prawn in periperi sauce and then suck it off taking the shells off and putting the skinned prawns on a heap,,,,later i will douse all the unshelled prawns again with chillie and then really eat,,,so like a lion i play with my food and eventually fini9sh it as well as this bowl of chillie,,,but wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!,,,is it hot,,,woooo hooooo,,,its the hottest i ever had,,,luckily 2M wil douse it even if only for a minute and i try to kill the fire,,,tommorrow when i go to the toilets im gonna suffer ,,,again!!,,,but thats tommorrow,,,,i walk back up the dunes to my tent and end up smoking away the mozzies and smearing myself with repellent as at this time i've defnitely got malaria,,,maybe chillie and 2M will help,,,,i sleep and wake up several times with the rain pounding down in buckets,,,,i sleep,,,,more is nogga dag

 

[IceCreamMan]

awesome man , whilst i dont comprehend it all ,i like the style....

 

[iep_kruger]

day whatever,,,,here things start becoming fuzzy,,,,ive decided to go back and not go through the elephant reserve near maputo and to rather suprise my family and be there on new years eve,,,,i didnt use the gps as it was raining constantly but all is not lost,,,the rain had compacted the sand monster through the nite and riding back to the main road is a cinch and a joll,,,also a huge relieve as i wasnt looking forward to anymore paddling and the blisters and scabs on my leg insides neither,,,,i ride again with the sound of "all along the watch tower" blaring in my head while i look like what looks like vietnam country,,,,i get to the tar road without a problem and push the AT back home,,,,its raining cats and dogs and then it clears and its sunshine,,,i ride with my waterproof jacket but only shorts and then i get soaked and then the sun dries me off again,,,,the road is very busy and the going is slow,,,im aiming to sleep over at XAI Xai and its not easy ,,,,but i push on,,,,,getting wet one minute and being soaked the next,,,but the AT never misses a beat and always responsive to my righthand,,,,what an amazing machine,,,,what a friend

i forget to take photos and dont do any GPS track recordings because already my cellphone isnt working due to all of the water....i ride the whole day,,,only stopping for petrol and some coke along the way,,,,i manage to push through to Palmeira somewhere where i pull of along a quaint looking lake in the middle of a plantation and find another south african who invites me for a braai with chops and salads and i offer to pay him back in 2M'S,,,,we spend the nite sitting around the fire and reminiscenting about our families in RSA,,,theres no cellphone coverage and i wake up sleeping till 9 the next morning,,,,then  i pack again and greet my new friends and head for the main road again,,,,

 

[iep_kruger]

day last:

its voet in die hoek time and instead of touring back past swaziland like i wanted i decide enough is enough and besides its the last day of 2007,,,i push and stay on the dreadfull hiway and face the wrath of each tollgate that makes no sense to me whatso ever,,,dis mos transvaal,,,kark en betaal boet,,,welcome back,,,i travel my already sore backside totally beyond the pain barrier and even getting of the bike is painfull,,,at the tollgates i cry trying to get the money out and redressing again and then driving through causing every 4x4 double cab to hoot at me for being so slow,,,i consider jumping some like i've done going to Lesotho but too many cops and too little time to get back home,,,i duly arrive home at 17h00 after riding 1276 kms in two days,,,im knackered and fall in the pool staying there for an hour,,,,,im home and then the remorse hits me again,,,,i did leave part of me in moz again and even though im having Romans pizza tonite i wil rather sit underneath a tree boiling 2min noodles mixed with mussels and sardines with a pot ful of steaming sweet rooibos tee,,,,its then that you realise already how you gonna miss these 6 last days,,,,but then,,,there will be more days??? of course there will be,,,i believe botswana is next,,,the legend and the lone rider (err sorrie lone rider) wants to see whats beyond that border and what awaits me at the next turn,,,ive decided i dont always want to be a lone rider and hopefully some WD somewhere will join me,,,,i've opted for "blazes" offer for botswana in the mean time,,,its time soon again to ride

thank you legend for choosing me as your rider,,,its always be my  pleasure

 

[Ratel]

Nice :thumright:

 

[stevgh0]

I love these local reports!

jou gat was lam, i can only imagine, and i would love to do the same trip you did, i would however take abit longer ( around 10 days to cover everything at a slow pace)

Unfortunately it would be only me and the gf since my tjommies are all 4 wheeled bound and scared of having their ass lam.


f-en MOFFIES

 

[iep_kruger]

nobody but nobody forces me to do something tough,,,the problem is i volunteer much too easily,,,,so ja boet,,,when we going???

im going to botswana this week,,,only 3 days in botswana alas,,,i also want to do south west africa trip sometime and by then i'll have my chuck norris status,,,he he,,,,my biggest dream is the trip to kilimandjaro,,,at this moment,,,but watch this space

but thats the best part of riding adventure biking is you re-invent yourself and what seened to be impossible  gets pushed further and further,,,once you've done a trip like that you learn a lot about yourself and every trip opens the door for the next

the answer is that every obstacle on your way actually becomes a blessing and makes your experience even more richer,,,boring and normal is for those other guys,,,we choose not to be middle of the road,,,a grey person,,,its all in your attitude

so if uwanna ask questions or want me to ride with,,,ask???,,,

who knows tommorrow you and gf can be chuck norris..he he