Gael back in Africa.

There are times here, like sitting in the local Italian restaurant, or in the well appointed workshop, where it can feel very European. However, walking around you get reminded you are on a different continent. Like when you hear the taxis tooting their horns. This to alert pedestrians that they don't really want to walk, particularly when there is an empty taxi just passing. Some things you'll see that are a bit more shocking, like in the photo below. This on my walk from the Italian to my apartment. The loop you see is steel cable, and its about the height of my throat. Its a good deterrent against having too many beers in the Italian, before walking home.

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As informative as that was I'm really looking forward, as you undoubtedly are, to you getting on the road

Great read so far, Jim. Looking forward to the rest!

I have to remind my self and those readers who may be impatient, that this is a bigger project than riding sound Africa taking pretty pictures for a trip report. Buying a bike remotely in Africa, having it rigged out as an adventure bike, and then getting it registered in the name of a non national, is a challenge that's defeated many, including Itchy herself. The long term aim is to have a bike here, and because its in my name it can be stored indefinatly. Each African country limits the time you can keep a foreign bike, often 3, and sometimes 6 months.

Having a bike here means I, and hopefully others, can pop down and explore these southern Africa countries. They are English speaking, have easy border crossings and beautiful scenery and wildlife. Progress has in fact been swift so far, with considerable help from Yamaha Windhoek and a string of others, working in the background helping on registration. I do tend to write in some detail, as reading others reports encouraged me to try my hand. So in that vein, I'll continue.

Today the focus switched to registration of the bike in my name. It had already been established that this was not allowed in Windhoek, so my advisers suggested trying to get approval in another town. They picked Rehoboth, as a likely candidate. I needed to have a copy of my passport but also one of the entry stamp. These copies had to be signed by the police. In addition I needed a willing resident to let me use their address and contact phone number. So all this came together this morning and I headed south to Rehoboth. I've ridden this road before on the 125, once with Simon and his wife Kit as pillion, trying out the R1150GS after the work done by BMW Windhoek. This was my first proper ride on the XT250. It had a great riding position, quite upright and pulls along quiet well. We exceeded, 70mph(legally) with a bit of a following wind. I could feel the effect of the lowering of the front, as it was a bit unstable above 60mph(100km/ph). I agreed with Tommy, we'd back them off a bit tomorrow to improve stability.



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The scenery just south of Windhoek is worth taking in and I love these long stretches of straight Namibian roads. The warthog warning sign brought a smile, but sadly no live ones this time.

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I decided to use the Rehoboth police station for the signatures and this was done immediately without question. Then I went on to the registration office which was a sleepy place, reminding me of telegraph offices in old western movies and my arrival disturbed the peace. There was some surprise that I'd come this way to get registered, why not in Windhoek. In the end they acquiesced and I was pointed at a form. I was then photographed, twice, then finger and thumb printed. There was some discussion about how Ireland was pronounced and what a person from Ireland was called, but all in good humour. I felt we were cooking on gas. And so it proved, and I left as the last customer before lunch, with approval that I was a suitable person to own a vehicle in Namibia. A big step forward, as this was seen as the most difficult step in the process.

The ride back was more leisurely, taking in the surroundings and stopping for lunch myself. The trees were decked with weaver bird nests and may be that of the Red-headed weaver. The tree above the picnicking stop had massive thorns not an ideal place to park a motorbike

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There were clear signs that the rains had caused some sprouting.

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Can you spot the first baboons of the trip in the undergrowth? As another storm brewed it was time to head back to the city.

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Drumacoon Lad. said:

I have to remind my self and those readers who may be impatient, that this is a bigger project than riding sound Africa taking pretty pictures for a trip report. Buying a bike remotely in Africa, having it rigged out as an adventure bike, and then getting it registered in the name of a non national, is a challenge that's defeated many, including Itchy herself. The long term aim is to have a bike here, and because its in my name it can be stored indefinatly. Each African country limits the time you can keep a foreign bike, often 3, and sometimes 6 months.

Click to expand...

Aha. Finally, the penny drops for me. I had a nagging in the back of my head that I was missing something and the above stops the nagging. Hmm food for thought. Thank you.

Those look like acacia thorns. You're right to be wary!

Jim. Great progress and glad to see you on the road again!

Drumacoon Lad. said:

Don't you just love it when your draft text disappears...

So today started with me popping down to see that the bike was still there, safe under it's cover. It's not in a locked carpark but has a guard sitting next to it, 24 hours. It benefited from the cover too, as there clearly had been heavy rain during the night. My first task was to meet the previous owner for a handover of bike documents and for me to pay the monies for insurance etc. When they left the cafe, I had a relaxing cooked fried breakfast, how civilised!

Now I don't normally post a picture of a urinal but coming across one full of ice cubes, was a new and puzzling experience.View attachment 522219

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Click to expand...

Excellent, liking the thread and good luck with the trip, a true adventure (again) in Africa.

The ice thing is fairly common and cheap for any bar / hotel as they have ice machines… took me right back to Tanzania, where the South African manager did exactly this in the (then) newly opened Holiday Inn. Late 1990’s I think.

The ice melts slowly and provides a constant flow of clean water through the urinal, so it doesn’t smell. Very neat solution (if you have an ice machine!).

...and if you have a urinal!

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Thanks for the comments guys and I'm glad my explanation yesterday was helpful. My plan is to get on the road as quickly as possible but the main short term goal is to get registration. Yesterday's update was coloured by some frustration at the failure of my backup phone, the one that generates a WiFi hopspot for my main phone. However frustrations are part of these trips and they may at times leak into my updates. Today, however the phone issue is less frustration but more a short term problem to solve. Am working on it while I remain here in Windhoek.

I did use the time today, mounting the panniers and tank bag on the bike. It's looking more ready for the road now.



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Also from a higher vantage point in a different apartment, I noticed some neighbours across the road. These are Village Wever bird nests(or maybe these are their cousins, City Weaver birds. They weave these nests to deter predators, as they are difficult to reach. Anyway, there they are, pretty birds and make good balcony viewing.

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The saga of the phone went on till mid afternoon. I'd been into the shop so often, I think the guy may name his next child after me and be able to fund a university education. Having a secondary phone, to generate a WiFi hotspot for my main phone, is rather vital on these trips. Anyway the guy and his colleagues "in the lab" sorted it in the end.

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I got news today that I was invited tomorrow to an "MOT" of the bike, as the next part of the registration process. So a nice bright start for the test at 07:30. With this in mind I took the bike over to Yamaha for a last check of lights etc. While there, Tommy dropped the forks a little, to improve high speed stability. He did this by loosing off the clamps to a pinch, then using a tyre lever, levered each side down. It took about a minute each side. I've been admiring the collection of bolts all week, but it is quite something.

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Getting back home I started to rig the bike for the road. This meant filling the panniers, stashing waterproofs and filling the TT petrol can. I'd picked up some plastic tubing at the hardware shop and it allowed a syphon from the main tank as shown. How is it that starting the syphon, always results in mouthful of petrol?

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This is one of the filled panniers, containing the things you never want to use, tyre levers, electric pump, hand pump, patches, first aid kit, trickle charger, Lateral Flow Test kits, etc. For a bit of security and as a deterrent, mainly here in Central Windhoek, it has a Kriga security strap.

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Lastly, the bike has acquired its first sticker. Not for me to claim that I circumnavigated Africa, but as a conversation piece and as I joined in, for some of this great trip, thanks Simon.

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