The Gaels dream team will be riding in Africa again this year. The destination this is Mozambique. Many of you will realise Mozambique is on the other side of Africa from Namibia, where my XT250 is stored. In fact its 2,167km away, but I'm meeting Simon in Lesotho, so it'll be a bit further and of course I'll be riding the bike back to Namibia afterwards. We plan to visit Lesotho and Eswatini en route to Mozambique and then spend a couple of weeks in the ex Portuguese colony, mainly along the coast.
I hadn't planned to go back again this year but the prospect of riding again with Simon and to a new country for me, was too tempting and November fits both our diaries. I'll leave Simon to cover the various options he investigated, before choosing how and where he was going to find a bike to ride, but he has got one and that's all that matters
It was simpler for me, even if I was going to have a long ride across southern Africa. First I had to contact the gentleman who stores my bike and arrange for it to be made ready. He'll carry out an oil and filter change and give it a general check over. I believe the tyres should last the trip and hopefully nothing else major is needed. The bike is stored near the airport and I'll be picked up on arrival and hope to ride away that same day. This is the first time I've collected this bike from storage, so it will be interesting to see how it all works, both for the bike and for me.
I left my riding gear, tools and spares with the bike, so shouldn't have to take too much down with me. At least not the 2 x 25kg cases I took last time. When I left the bike into store in February, I also remembered to lay out the tools and equipment that were staying with the bike and took photos. I got caught out the first time I stored my little Suzuki, without noting what I'd left with it and 6 months later couldn't clearly remember what was with the bike. I think that's why I ended up with 3 swiss army knives on that trip, much to Simon's amusement. The Namibian climate is very dry, so I hope everything has survived well after the 8 months of storage.
My starting point is of course Windhoek and the outgoing route will be to ride directly south. I'm very familiar with this route so hope to make good time. I'll then enter South Africa and traverse east through Upington, Kimberly and Bloemfontein. This is a part of SA I'm not familiar with, so looking forward to breaking new ground. There won't be time for sightseeing though, as these will be long days in the saddle, because I aim to hook up with Simon in Lesotho, four days after leaving Windhoek. I'm delighted at the chance of visiting Lesotho again. Its a delightful place were horses and and donkeys are still widely used as transport.
In my earlier travels in southern Africa I considered visiting Mozambique but there were stories about problems at borders, corrupt police and of course terrorism in the North. That combination was enough to persuade me to travel via Zambia and Malawi on my way to Tanzania. Some of these issue are still true about Mozambique but there is a lot more information available to prepare in advance and I'm not travelling on my own.
One good source of information is the DriveMoz section on Facebook which is run by South Africans. Many South Africans visit Mozambique, particularly in their summer and the DriveMoz information is targeted at them. I don't think its unfair to say that some South Africans are nervous about venturing outside their borders and this is reflected in the concerns raised in DriveMoz. However DriveMoz is a good source of information and has been helpful to us in planning and preparing for this trip.
It seems clear that your documentation needs to be correct and comprehensive, both at the border and if stopped by the police on the road. For the vehicle this means registration papers, 3rd party insurance etc. For the visa, copies of our passports, proof of accommodation in Mozambique, a copy of our bank accounts and proof of your return flight etc. Vaccination papers are needed showing full covid jabs and also yellow fever certificates. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list but gives you a flavour of how thorough the police and customs can be. We'll see how the reality compares when we get there. What we'll also learned is that speed limits are closely policed. One useful facility DriveMoz offers, is to have Mozambique phone SIMs available to us in SA and these are ready for us to collect before going to the border.
Not long now before we leave and it's getting exciting. Looking forward to seeing how the little XT250 has faired during its time in storage.
Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk
I hadn't planned to go back again this year but the prospect of riding again with Simon and to a new country for me, was too tempting and November fits both our diaries. I'll leave Simon to cover the various options he investigated, before choosing how and where he was going to find a bike to ride, but he has got one and that's all that matters
It was simpler for me, even if I was going to have a long ride across southern Africa. First I had to contact the gentleman who stores my bike and arrange for it to be made ready. He'll carry out an oil and filter change and give it a general check over. I believe the tyres should last the trip and hopefully nothing else major is needed. The bike is stored near the airport and I'll be picked up on arrival and hope to ride away that same day. This is the first time I've collected this bike from storage, so it will be interesting to see how it all works, both for the bike and for me.
I left my riding gear, tools and spares with the bike, so shouldn't have to take too much down with me. At least not the 2 x 25kg cases I took last time. When I left the bike into store in February, I also remembered to lay out the tools and equipment that were staying with the bike and took photos. I got caught out the first time I stored my little Suzuki, without noting what I'd left with it and 6 months later couldn't clearly remember what was with the bike. I think that's why I ended up with 3 swiss army knives on that trip, much to Simon's amusement. The Namibian climate is very dry, so I hope everything has survived well after the 8 months of storage.
My starting point is of course Windhoek and the outgoing route will be to ride directly south. I'm very familiar with this route so hope to make good time. I'll then enter South Africa and traverse east through Upington, Kimberly and Bloemfontein. This is a part of SA I'm not familiar with, so looking forward to breaking new ground. There won't be time for sightseeing though, as these will be long days in the saddle, because I aim to hook up with Simon in Lesotho, four days after leaving Windhoek. I'm delighted at the chance of visiting Lesotho again. Its a delightful place were horses and and donkeys are still widely used as transport.
In my earlier travels in southern Africa I considered visiting Mozambique but there were stories about problems at borders, corrupt police and of course terrorism in the North. That combination was enough to persuade me to travel via Zambia and Malawi on my way to Tanzania. Some of these issue are still true about Mozambique but there is a lot more information available to prepare in advance and I'm not travelling on my own.
One good source of information is the DriveMoz section on Facebook which is run by South Africans. Many South Africans visit Mozambique, particularly in their summer and the DriveMoz information is targeted at them. I don't think its unfair to say that some South Africans are nervous about venturing outside their borders and this is reflected in the concerns raised in DriveMoz. However DriveMoz is a good source of information and has been helpful to us in planning and preparing for this trip.
It seems clear that your documentation needs to be correct and comprehensive, both at the border and if stopped by the police on the road. For the vehicle this means registration papers, 3rd party insurance etc. For the visa, copies of our passports, proof of accommodation in Mozambique, a copy of our bank accounts and proof of your return flight etc. Vaccination papers are needed showing full covid jabs and also yellow fever certificates. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list but gives you a flavour of how thorough the police and customs can be. We'll see how the reality compares when we get there. What we'll also learned is that speed limits are closely policed. One useful facility DriveMoz offers, is to have Mozambique phone SIMs available to us in SA and these are ready for us to collect before going to the border.
Not long now before we leave and it's getting exciting. Looking forward to seeing how the little XT250 has faired during its time in storage.
Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk
Have a safe journey the two of you. 
