Swaziland - Mozambique 4 day tour 1500K's in 4 days

[Herminator]

I have been looking forward to this trip for a long time, and was scared it was going to delayed until next
year as everyone struggled to get leave forms and permissions required from work and home



A compromise was then made and we had to squeeze in everything into 4 days
There was going to be plenty of time in the saddle

My travel companions are non dogs and mainly Enduro riders who also like adventure riding
with one being a Silver roof rider

This was an unforgettable ride for me

The Route


And so we begin

Day1

First we had to meet each other at Secunda at 12h00, then at 13h00 then at 14h00 but luckily
everyone arrived just before 14h30, the ride was on

The Group


From left to right
We have
Wilburt BMW 650 Dakar
Jaco KTM 990
Martin KTM690 Omega
Herminator Yamaha XT660Z
Tobie 2008 BMW 1200GSA
Riaan KTM 690 with extra tanks

 

[Herminator]

Getting ready to roll


A quick stop by Jericho Dam




Day1 was going to be a straight tar affair as we wanted to get to Amsterdam(The town next to Swaziland, not Netherlands)
by nightfall, I can confirm that this Amsterdam does NOT have red light district

And then our ovenight accomodation in Amsterdam, with nice comfortable beds and warm rooms(It was going to be camping from now on)

 

[MINZI]

Come now, get a move on, it has been a couple of hours since your last post.....  eepwall:. Looking forward to this trip as it is one of the trips I still want to do on the bike.  :thumleft:

 

[JACOVV]

:sip:

 

[Draadwerk]

Submarine...

 

[troos]

:sip:

 

[subie]

Ons wag  :ricky:

 

[Herminator]

Day2

Everyone was up at 6 getting ready, the border opens at 8 and we wanted to be there before everyone else
ate some cold pizza with extra garlic (The Aroma filled my Helmet for the whole day )for breakfast

We discussed the water situation the previous night and we decided that we did not have enough, Tobie
has been through northen Swaziland before and said there were no shops or petrol stations.
Make sure you plan your fuel and water correctly for Swaziland and Mozambique

So we headed out to go buy more water and head for the border

It was a little nippy in the morning


Ready to Go.

 

[frans1]

And?  Can't waite for the rest.

Sent from my SM-P605 using Tapatalk

 

[Herminator]

The Border Post at Nerston was a trouble free affair

Just double check your stamps as another group member was given some shit because he was not stamped out properly the last time he travelled through swaziland and keep all the paperwork they give you in one place and on you
Be friendly with the border guards and they will be friendly with you

No Pictures of the border as it was quick

About 10 minutes from the gate you realise you are not in SA anymore



Letting down tire pressures

 

[Herminator]

Swaziland is very pretty and the dirt roads lots of fun to ride
You just have to watch out for goats and cattle roaming everywhere
so its best not to carry a lot of speed so you can brake



Talking about braking,  there are lots of zigzag climbs and drops
going over the various hills.  Stopping a fully loaded bike with a full tank
makes for lots of sliding and locking of rear wheels,  So we kepts the gaps
between riders nice and big

Maguga Dam




Friendly Locals

 

[Slainte Mhaith]

:sip:

 

[Oom Foe-rie]

:sip: Lekker koffiedrink lees ............  :thumleft:

 

[Onetime]

:thumleft:

 

[Herminator]

Temperatures were starting to climb and I was still wearing my longjohns and jackets inner, It was starting to get unpleasant and my mood dropped as the trail was just getting tougher and tougher, I needed out of the warm clothes NOW! I was also pretty hungry by then



Then we stopped, and was told lunch break


Was led up this path to a stream that turned out to be a hot spring
The one side is cold and the other side is bathwater hot, We stripped down to undies
and had a quick splash and something to eat




Feeling refreshed and with a some food in my belly we were on the road again

 

[Herminator]

We found this little shop in the middle of nowhere with ice cold coke
After drinking warm camelback water for hours it went down fantastically




More friendly locals

 

[DirtyTeNeReLess]

:sip:

 

[Herminator]

We were going to do our last push to our camping site at Hlane National Park
We still had a big stretch to cover

We filled up and hit the road


Water Crossing , was told this in not possible in summer because of the high river







But is it Art

 

[Herminator]

About 30k's from Hlane is a Sandy Tweespoor that kept the heart rate up
No pictures as all I was focusing on was keeping the bike right side up, This was also a little
taster for what lied ahead in Mozambique

We got to Hlane just as the Sun was about to set and I was a race to get the tents up
before darkness









It was also time for some KTM repairs, the brake lost a nut somewhere luckily a spare was on hand




We had a lekker braai and then hit the tents early, Tommorow was going to be a LOOOONG DAY

 

[KTMRICK]

sub  :ricky: