Mozambique

SIMBABWE - SOUTH AFRICA PART 1 - SWAZILAND September 28, Entry Simbabwe Now we are entering that country, which we not intended to go to. We heard of a lot bad things about this country as inadequate supply of gas and food partly corrupted police and so on. Anyway we were willing to give this country a chance, and right at the beginning: unfortunately it was not such a very good idea. We only stayed for a week, as pretty soon we were on edge with the existing situation. The trouble already started on the border: no problems to get the visa, US$ 30,00 per person as well as the carnet stamped. Asking the officers, what else has to be done, they told us everything is ok, you can go on. We put on our gear and rolled to the barrier; here they asked us for our insurance for the bike, gasoline taxes (US$ 6,00) as well as road toll (US$ 10,00). After payment we were allowed to pass the barrier, to contract an insurance on the other side of the fence. Here they tried to screw us, because they wanted us to pay US$ 45,00! That really was too much. I (Rita) was willing to depart right away again, but they did not refund us our already paid expenses. We bargained with the insurance agent and finally paid US$ 30,00. That already did not make us to happy. Then we drove towards Mana Pools National Park, where we had planned to meet Beate and Ruediger. The first kilometres we again saw a lot of scorched earth, but also some groups of elephants on the roadside. We planned to shop something to eat in the last village before we enter the national park, there was a kiosk but except some cookies they had nothing to sell. So we had no food. We still had left some chutney, jelly, rice and 4 instant soups - that was it. What a bummer! We only could hope for Beate and Ruediger. Then we started the last kilometres to the entrance of the national park, directly located on the tarred road. We thought to drive about 30 km into the park, but the entrance of the park was the end of bike riding. But the guard knew about us and started to radio the campground. Actually, he tried it, but had no radio reception. We had to wait. We arrived at the entrance at 2:00pm and Beate and Ruediger were awaiting a sign, that we had arrived, to come and pick us up. It was not our day. No radio reception what so ever. We told everybody passing the gate to give notice to the campground reception, that we got stuck and were waiting, waiting, waiting... Finally at 7:00pm we heard “Erwin”, the car from Beate and Ruediger. Relief!! They heard about us at 5:00pm and started right away, but from the campground to the gate there where about 70km bad piste and that takes time. In addition they caught a flat tire. Finally we met each other. We left the “cow” behind close to the entrance gate, well hidden and jumped into the car. It took almost 2 hours again to the campground. We had something to eat, chatted a little bit and went to bed pretty soon. Sadly enough we had to experience that Beate and Ruediger did not have much to eat either, because they had the same experience with the kiosk, we had. Well, we will survive those 2,5 days, we had planned to stay. September 29 - October 01, Mana Pools National Park The first morning we spent on the campground, having a long breakfast babbling and chatting - time flew. The landscape and the view on the river and the mountains in the background was really gorgeous. At last we saw some green again! During the afternoon we started a game-drive, safari. Chri and I where sitting in the back of the car and off we went. We drove around till sunset and furthermore saw nice scenery, hyena, hippos, elephants, impalas, kudus etc… During the night hyenas and hippos ran across the campground which did not bather us to much, as we too, were sleeping in the car. As we indicated to our campground neighbours during the afternoon that we were short on food, they brought us rolls, meat, sausages, tomatoes and a small lettuce for the evening. The next morning they even brought us ham in a can and bread! The children even sacrificed some chocolate for us. That was really sweet! The second day we started early in the morning (6:00 am) with a game-drive, but almost did not see any animals. During the day we bummed around on the camp, tried to brave the heat and did some laundry. In the heat the closes dried very fast. During the afternoon we undertook another tour through the park, saw many elephants and watched a beautiful sundown. On the third day, the last one, we had the last attempt, early in the morning, to see eventually lions, but again except a few buffaloes and impalas we saw no other animal. This day we left the park and drove back to the gate. As Beate and Ruediger had some sales talks concerning their car with a Zimbabwer, we got under way very late and arrived at the gate about 5:00 pm. We received our “cow” again and drove away a few kilometers, turned into the bushes and camped “wild”. This night, too, we slept in the car. During the night suddenly the car started swinging and we felt light vibrations - maybe a small earthquake?! We don´t have any idea, whatsoever. October 02, Tour till Karoi We took up a lot of time during breakfast and then drove the 80 km to Karoi. Here Beate and Ruediger had to buy diesel fuel on the black-market as well as to exchange money. The official exchange rate is 1 US$ = 235 Zim$; the black-market rate 1 US$ = 900 Zim$ ! Then we went shopping, in SPAR you could buy whatever you wanted, considering the black-market exchange rate it was a relatively good price. Even bread we could get without problems. Then we drove to a campground and Beate cooked a very good vegetable hotpot with rice. To celebrate this special day, they successfully sold their car, we had a beer and port wine. October 03, Drive to Lake Robertson Park Today, a lot of driving was indicated. Before we started, we planned to buy some bread; but wherever you asked, no bread available. "No flour" was the answer. Well, we succeeded to get into the internet and managed within one hour to write 2 emails and read 1! Very effective !! Then we drove around the area all day long, after some more failures to buy bread we finally were successful. At last we made it to the park shortly before sunset, and now a discussion started, whether they let us enter or not. Because we only could pay with Zim$, which is obviously not allowed for foreigners. They did not tell that directly, they kept asking us whether we did not have an other currency. We had the feeling they were gouging someone only for US$, because the fee in US$ was a multiple of the entrance fee in domestic currency. After almost never ending discussions we were finally allowed to pay in Zim$ and to pitch our tent. In the meantime it already was dark. Chri and I were annoyed by all these circumstances, that we decided to leave this country as soon as possible. October 04 - 05, Leaving the country No sooner said than done! Now we said good-bye to Beate and Ruediger, who drove to Harare to bring their “Erwin” to the new owner. We wanted to go to South Africa as quickly as possible and decided to take the direct route. During the day we still had to refuel and had spend a lot of money. 1 US$ /liter ? As if! The first offer on the black-market was 5 US$ / litre... Even as we said, we would go further, they did not go down with the price. The next offer was 2 US$ / litre and we refuelled 15 litres. One more reason to leave this country. So we drove to the south, spent one more night and on October 05, exactly one week after our entry, we left the country. On the border we had to pay some more US$ to use the bridge. We met another South African with a BMW (1150GS), who drove within 4 months from South Africa to Ethiopia and back. The first BMW driver we finally met. It is a great pity, that we left this country in such a hurry, but the general situation really does not invite to travel around. +++++ October 05, Entry to South Africa (Part I) The entry formalities were passed quickly. We received a stay permit for 3 month, without expenses. The carnet was stamped and also for the bike we did not have to pay anything. Finally on South African ground! We addressed the first filling station, as our tank was almost empty. Hm, what a benefit! It was easy to draw money and you could easily refill, even to a reasonable price. We then drove into the first town, Musina, and to a campground. We spent the evening chatting with the South African guy and having a beer. He also had a lot to talk about! October 06 - 10, Journey to Pietersburg and Stay We took up a lot of time during breakfast in Musina and drove on this Friday till Pietersburg. On the way we stopped at a filling station, which also offered fast food in the shop and both of us had a veggie burger! Man, that was feast! You are surprised to what a level culinary happiness can shrink! Pietersburg is a typical South African town, nothing spectacular, but there are big shopping malls and about 6:00 pm the sidewalks “get folded up”. We thought to do us a favour and booked into a B&B. We enjoyed a nice shower, had some tea and then drove back downtown to do some shopping. During the ride we suddenly heard a strange noise, as if the tire was rubbing on the frame. We could not see anything and thought it has to be the almost torn down back wheel tire. The evening we spent in bed watching TV and had a real good sleep. The breakfast on Saturday was very good (except “good old” German coarse rye bread). We filled up our tummy, packed and rolled away. Unfortunately the strange noise was still there and we decided to look for a biker garage. There was no BMW garage, well, we took Honda. As it was Saturday, no mechanics where present only a salesman. He inspected the problem area and listened to the noises and meant it is not the tire, but something within the gearbox or the final drive. Well marvelous!! He thought it would be better to wait till Monday and ask a mechanic. We only could agree with that. Thus we were looking again for a place to stay. Pretty soon we found an apartment complex, where we could rent a small flat. Really nice with a bed- and living room, kitchen, bath and even a small garden. Just the right thing for us two! We hurried to shop some good things, as we really could cook again by ourselves. To put some cheese and beer into the fridge, and so on... If we would not have the concern with the “Cow”, it could have been a real relaxing and comfortable time. But we liked it anyway. On Sunday not a lot happened except long sleeping, lazing around, doing the laundry and having a nice meal. The same as being home! On Monday it became interesting, we should be at the Honda garage at 7:30 am. On the way to the garage the noise vanished. Such a bullshit! On time we arrived at Honda. The garage just opened. Anyhow we got introduced to the boss. He inspected the oil of the gearbox and final drive and came to the conclusion: everything ok. And you could´nt hear any noise anymore. Hm, on one hand we did not really like the result, on the other hand we were glad that nothing serious was found. But we ordered a new back tire, which we could pick up the next morning. The rest of the day we stayed in “our” flat, cooking again a tasty meal and having a good wine. Thursday - Chri was driving to the garage and got the new tire. Even this day no bad noises to be heard. The tire was mounted right away and with a new tread profile we could continue our journey. With strong winds we rode towards Krueger National Park respectively Blyde River Canyon. The wind was blowing that hard, that one time it almost overthrew us. We got rather alarmed. The scenery was beautiful, lots of corners and green trees. No burned down fields anymore - that feels good. We did not intend to visit Krueger National Park, as there where many tared roads and everything mega organised. No safari feeling would come up. Besides that we were not in the mood to rent a car. As the wind also brought along many dark clouds, we only drove till Hoedespruit - again a one-horse town. We rented a room in a guesthouse - a good decision, as soon it started raining pretty heavily. Even during the night it did not stop raining and we had a good sleep in a real bed. Once in a while proper beds are quite important for us, because after four (4) months in a tent on camping mats, which start loosing air, the back starts hurting once in a while. October 11 - 13, Blyde River Canyon and ride towards Swaziland Those last two days actually were good: neat and green countryside, curvaceous roadways and lot of things to visit. From Hoedespruit we drove a panorama street along the Canyon. First to a rock formation, the “three round huts”, then further on to “Gods window” and to the “potholes”. In-between those points of interest nice and beautiful landscape to admire. In Graskop we made a short stop, to get something to eat at the Chinese. Hm,Hm... good. Then we rolled along a small street till Pilgrims Rest, where we stayed overnight on a campground. The next day we continued the tour, always passing a nice and hilly countryside. We even drove through coniferous forests, almost like at home. The air was super, it really was fun to ride with open visor of helmet. And suddenly, in the middle of a coniferous forest a sign: Attention hippos! Funny! We then rode via Nelspruit till Malelane - here we looked for a campground. Negative! Thus we again took a B&B, room and breakfast. I (Rita) could have taken this more often, but it would kill our budget. Because those rooms are priced different compared to four years ago; they went up from 100-150 Rand to starting with 380 Rand per night. Too bad! +++++ October 13 - 14, Swaziland Here we only stayed for two days and actually only crossed the country. It is the more interesting alternative to go south. In addition we were curious to see this small state. In a brochure of the ADAC it was described as an original African country. Well, for us it looked like South Africa itself. Although nothing is original anymore… But more comments about this subject an other time, may be at the end of journey. The entry was nice and easy, no big formalities. This day we drove till Ezulwini and were allowed to pitch our tent on the area of a lodge. The next day we continued going south and pretty soon we again had entered South Africa. Leaving Swaziland was as trouble-free as the entry. That trip was ok to get a first impression. But as well you can leave out Swaziland. +++++ October 14 - 16, Ride towards Botswana and leaving South Africa These days were bound to make many kilometres. Going west, we drove past Pretoria, towards the border of Botswana. The first day we made it till Ermelo, a dozy little town. We arrived after 5:00 pm and as it was Saturday, all stores already were closed. Even the big supermarkets! We have to get used again to these facts. Well, we only had an instant soup for supper and spent the night on a private campground. The second day brought us passed Pretoria to a dam. We also could camp here. The scenery is not too exiting, everywhere quite flat and monotonous. Monday we covered the last kilometres to the border. While on this leg we covered the 30,000th (thirty thousand) kilometre of our tour. Gorgeous!! Who thinks we would have horny skin on the back, is wrong, unfortunately. Each additional kilometre actually makes it worse. Meanwhile already after 50 - 100km back and knees start aching. But we have to get along with that. Besides all, we heard that strange noise on the back wheel again, but only for a short time and it was gone again. That this will have a bad end, you can read in our report about Botswana. We jovially crossed the border. Botswana, Namibia and South Africa perform a customs union, therefore it is easy to pass the borders. Neither motorbike nor carnet will be inspected. Very nice, indeed! These days in the north-east of South Africa was a recuperation for us. Partly the same as in Europe, but on the other hand quite different. By all means everything is easier to handle - exactly that was what we needed after visiting Zimbabwe. Now we are feeling fine again and the remaining countries will be attacked with new verve. You can take a look at the pictures - just go to the link at the mainpage.

SIMBABWE - SOUTH AFRICA PART 1 - SWAZILAND

September 28, Entry Simbabwe
Now we are entering that country, which we not intended to go to. We heard of a lot bad things about this country as inadequate supply of gas and food partly corrupted police and so on. Anyway we were willing to give this country a chance, and right at the beginning: unfortunately it was not such a very good idea. We only stayed for a week, as pretty soon we were on edge with the existing situation. The trouble already started on the border: no problems to get the visa, US$ 30,00 per person as well as the carnet stamped. Asking the officers, what else has to be done, they told us everything is ok, you can go on. We put on our gear and rolled to the barrier; here they asked us for our insurance for the bike, gasoline taxes (US$ 6,00) as well as road toll (US$ 10,00). After payment we were allowed to pass the barrier, to contract an insurance on the other side of the fence. Here they tried to screw us, because they wanted us to pay US$ 45,00! That really was too much. I (Rita) was willing to depart right away again, but they did not refund us our already paid expenses. We bargained with the insurance agent and finally paid US$ 30,00. That already did not make us to happy.

Then we drove towards Mana Pools National Park, where we had planned to meet Beate and Ruediger. The first kilometres we again saw a lot of scorched earth, but also some groups of elephants on the roadside. We planned to shop something to eat in the last village before we enter the national park, there was a kiosk but except some cookies they had nothing to sell. So we had no food. We still had left some chutney, jelly, rice and 4 instant soups - that was it. What a bummer! We only could hope for Beate and Ruediger. Then we started the last kilometres to the entrance of the national park, directly located on the tarred road. We thought to drive about 30 km into the park, but the entrance of the park was the end of bike riding. But the guard knew about us and started to radio the campground. Actually, he tried it, but had no radio reception. We had to wait. We arrived at the entrance at 2:00pm and Beate and Ruediger were awaiting a sign, that we had arrived, to come and pick us up. It was not our day. No radio reception what so ever. We told everybody passing the gate to give notice to the campground reception, that we got stuck and were waiting, waiting, waiting... Finally at 7:00pm we heard “Erwin”, the car from Beate and Ruediger. Relief!! They heard about us at 5:00pm and started right away, but from the campground to the gate there where about 70km bad piste and that takes time. In addition they caught a flat tire. Finally we met each other. We left the “cow” behind close to the entrance gate, well hidden and jumped into the car. It took almost 2 hours again to the campground. We had something to eat, chatted a little bit and went to bed pretty soon. Sadly enough we had to experience that Beate and Ruediger did not have much to eat either, because they had the same experience with the kiosk, we had. Well, we will survive those 2,5 days, we had planned to stay.

September 29 - October 01, Mana Pools National Park
The first morning we spent on the campground, having a long breakfast babbling and chatting - time flew. The landscape and the view on the river and the mountains in the background was really gorgeous. At last we saw some green again! During the afternoon we started a game-drive, safari. Chri and I where sitting in the back of the car and off we went. We drove around till sunset and furthermore saw nice scenery, hyena, hippos, elephants, impalas, kudus etc… During the night hyenas and hippos ran across the campground which did not bather us to much, as we too, were sleeping in the car. As we indicated to our campground neighbours during the afternoon that we were short on food, they brought us rolls, meat, sausages, tomatoes and a small lettuce for the evening. The next morning they even brought us ham in a can and bread! The children even sacrificed some chocolate for us. That was really sweet!

The second day we started early in the morning (6:00 am) with a game-drive, but almost did not see any animals. During the day we bummed around on the camp, tried to brave the heat and did some laundry. In the heat the closes dried very fast. During the afternoon we undertook another tour through the park, saw many elephants and watched a beautiful sundown. On the third day, the last one, we had the last attempt, early in the morning, to see eventually lions, but again except a few buffaloes and impalas we saw no other animal. This day we left the park and drove back to the gate. As Beate and Ruediger had some sales talks concerning their car with a Zimbabwer, we got under way very late and arrived at the gate about 5:00 pm. We received our “cow” again and drove away a few kilometers, turned into the bushes and camped “wild”. This night, too, we slept in the car. During the night suddenly the car started swinging and we felt light vibrations - maybe a small earthquake?! We don´t have any idea, whatsoever.

October 02, Tour till Karoi
We took up a lot of time during breakfast and then drove the 80 km to Karoi. Here Beate and Ruediger had to buy diesel fuel on the black-market as well as to exchange money. The official exchange rate is 1 US$ = 235 Zim$; the black-market rate 1 US$ = 900 Zim$ ! Then we went shopping, in SPAR you could buy whatever you wanted, considering the black-market exchange rate it was a relatively good price. Even bread we could get without problems. Then we drove to a campground and Beate cooked a very good vegetable hotpot with rice. To celebrate this special day, they successfully sold their car, we had a beer and port wine.

October 03, Drive to Lake Robertson Park
Today, a lot of driving was indicated. Before we started, we planned to buy some bread; but wherever you asked, no bread available. "No flour" was the answer. Well, we succeeded to get into the internet and managed within one hour to write 2 emails and read 1! Very effective !! Then we drove around the area all day long, after some more failures to buy bread we finally were successful. At last we made it to the park shortly before sunset, and now a discussion started, whether they let us enter or not. Because we only could pay with Zim$, which is obviously not allowed for foreigners. They did not tell that directly, they kept asking us whether we did not have an other currency. We had the feeling they were gouging someone only for US$, because the fee in US$ was a multiple of the entrance fee in domestic currency. After almost never ending discussions we were finally allowed to pay in Zim$ and to pitch our tent. In the meantime it already was dark. Chri and I were annoyed by all these circumstances, that we decided to leave this country as soon as possible.

October 04 - 05, Leaving the country
No sooner said than done! Now we said good-bye to Beate and Ruediger, who drove to Harare to bring their “Erwin” to the new owner. We wanted to go to South Africa as quickly as possible and decided to take the direct route. During the day we still had to refuel and had spend a lot of money. 1 US$ /liter ? As if! The first offer on the black-market was 5 US$ / litre... Even as we said, we would go further, they did not go down with the price. The next offer was 2 US$ / litre and we refuelled 15 litres. One more reason to leave this country. So we drove to the south, spent one more night and on October 05, exactly one week after our entry, we left the country. On the border we had to pay some more US$ to use the bridge.

We met another South African with a BMW (1150GS), who drove within 4 months from South Africa to Ethiopia and back. The first BMW driver we finally met. It is a great pity, that we left this country in such a hurry, but the general situation really does not invite to travel around.

+++++

October 05, Entry to South Africa (Part I)
The entry formalities were passed quickly. We received a stay permit for 3 month, without expenses. The carnet was stamped and also for the bike we did not have to pay anything. Finally on South African ground! We addressed the first filling station, as our tank was almost empty. Hm, what a benefit! It was easy to draw money and you could easily refill, even to a reasonable price. We then drove into the first town, Musina, and to a campground. We spent the evening chatting with the South African guy and having a beer. He also had a lot to talk about!

October 06 - 10, Journey to Pietersburg and Stay
We took up a lot of time during breakfast in Musina and drove on this Friday till Pietersburg. On the way we stopped at a filling station, which also offered fast food in the shop and both of us had a veggie burger! Man, that was feast! You are surprised to what a level culinary happiness can shrink! Pietersburg is a typical South African town, nothing spectacular, but there are big shopping malls and about 6:00 pm the sidewalks “get folded up”. We thought to do us a favour and booked into a B&B. We enjoyed a nice shower, had some tea and then drove back downtown to do some shopping. During the ride we suddenly heard a strange noise, as if the tire was rubbing on the frame. We could not see anything and thought it has to be the almost torn down back wheel tire. The evening we spent in bed watching TV and had a real good sleep.
The breakfast on Saturday was very good (except “good old” German coarse rye bread). We filled up our tummy, packed and rolled away. Unfortunately the strange noise was still there and we decided to look for a biker garage. There was no BMW garage, well, we took Honda. As it was Saturday, no mechanics where present only a salesman. He inspected the problem area and listened to the noises and meant it is not the tire, but something within the gearbox or the final drive. Well marvelous!! He thought it would be better to wait till Monday and ask a mechanic. We only could agree with that. Thus we were looking again for a place to stay. Pretty soon we found an apartment complex, where we could rent a small flat. Really nice with a bed- and living room, kitchen, bath and even a small garden. Just the right thing for us two! We hurried to shop some good things, as we really could cook again by ourselves. To put some cheese and beer into the fridge, and so on... If we would not have the concern with the “Cow”, it could have been a real relaxing and comfortable time. But we liked it anyway. On Sunday not a lot happened except long sleeping, lazing around, doing the laundry and having a nice meal. The same as being home!

On Monday it became interesting, we should be at the Honda garage at 7:30 am. On the way to the garage the noise vanished. Such a bullshit! On time we arrived at Honda. The garage just opened. Anyhow we got introduced to the boss. He inspected the oil of the gearbox and final drive and came to the conclusion: everything ok. And you could´nt hear any noise anymore. Hm, on one hand we did not really like the result, on the other hand we were glad that nothing serious was found. But we ordered a new back tire, which we could pick up the next morning. The rest of the day we stayed in “our” flat, cooking again a tasty meal and having a good wine.

Thursday - Chri was driving to the garage and got the new tire. Even this day no bad noises to be heard. The tire was mounted right away and with a new tread profile we could continue our journey. With strong winds we rode towards Krueger National Park respectively Blyde River Canyon. The wind was blowing that hard, that one time it almost overthrew us. We got rather alarmed. The scenery was beautiful, lots of corners and green trees. No burned down fields anymore - that feels good. We did not intend to visit Krueger National Park, as there where many tared roads and everything mega organised. No safari feeling would come up. Besides that we were not in the mood to rent a car. As the wind also brought along many dark clouds, we only drove till Hoedespruit - again a one-horse town. We rented a room in a guesthouse - a good decision, as soon it started raining pretty heavily. Even during the night it did not stop raining and we had a good sleep in a real bed. Once in a while proper beds are quite important for us, because after four (4) months in a tent on camping mats, which start loosing air, the back starts hurting once in a while.

October 11 - 13, Blyde River Canyon and ride towards Swaziland
Those last two days actually were good: neat and green countryside, curvaceous roadways and lot of things to visit. From Hoedespruit we drove a panorama street along the Canyon. First to a rock formation, the “three round huts”, then further on to “Gods window” and to the “potholes”. In-between those points of interest nice and beautiful landscape to admire. In Graskop we made a short stop, to get something to eat at the Chinese. Hm,Hm... good. Then we rolled along a small street till Pilgrims Rest, where we stayed overnight on a campground.

The next day we continued the tour, always passing a nice and hilly countryside. We even drove through coniferous forests, almost like at home. The air was super, it really was fun to ride with open visor of helmet. And suddenly, in the middle of a coniferous forest a sign: Attention hippos! Funny! We then rode via Nelspruit till Malelane - here we looked for a campground. Negative! Thus we again took a B&B, room and breakfast. I (Rita) could have taken this more often, but it would kill our budget. Because those rooms are priced different compared to four years ago; they went up from 100-150 Rand to starting with 380 Rand per night. Too bad!

+++++

October 13 - 14, Swaziland
Here we only stayed for two days and actually only crossed the country. It is the more interesting alternative to go south. In addition we were curious to see this small state. In a brochure of the ADAC it was described as an original African country. Well, for us it looked like South Africa itself. Although nothing is original anymore… But more comments about this subject an other time, may be at the end of journey. The entry was nice and easy, no big formalities. This day we drove till Ezulwini and were allowed to pitch our tent on the area of a lodge. The next day we continued going south and pretty soon we again had entered South Africa. Leaving Swaziland was as trouble-free as the entry. That trip was ok to get a first impression. But as well you can leave out Swaziland.

+++++

October 14 - 16, Ride towards Botswana and leaving South Africa
These days were bound to make many kilometres. Going west, we drove past Pretoria, towards the border of Botswana. The first day we made it till Ermelo, a dozy little town. We arrived after 5:00 pm and as it was Saturday, all stores already were closed. Even the big supermarkets! We have to get used again to these facts. Well, we only had an instant soup for supper and spent the night on a private campground. The second day brought us passed Pretoria to a dam. We also could camp here. The scenery is not too exiting, everywhere quite flat and monotonous.

Monday we covered the last kilometres to the border. While on this leg we covered the 30,000th (thirty thousand) kilometre of our tour. Gorgeous!! Who thinks we would have horny skin on the back, is wrong, unfortunately. Each additional kilometre actually makes it worse. Meanwhile already after 50 - 100km back and knees start aching. But we have to get along with that. Besides all, we heard that strange noise on the back wheel again, but only for a short time and it was gone again. That this will have a bad end, you can read in our report about Botswana. We jovially crossed the border. Botswana, Namibia and South Africa perform a customs union, therefore it is easy to pass the borders. Neither motorbike nor carnet will be inspected. Very nice, indeed! These days in the north-east of South Africa was a recuperation for us. Partly the same as in Europe, but on the other hand quite different. By all means everything is easier to handle - exactly that was what we needed after visiting Zimbabwe. Now we are feeling fine again and the remaining countries will be attacked with new verve.

You can take a look at the pictures - just go to the link at the mainpage.