Botswana 2011

Africa? Africa!

 

For the occasion of turning 40 and because of our mid-life lingering crisis, three friends decided to embark on a large motorcycle trip. The decision was made to go to Botswana. Why there? Not really clear. In hindsight, it turned out to be a good choice. Botswana, compared to its neighbors, turned out to be a peaceful, beautiful country, easy to navigate, and populated by simple and beautiful people—on the outside and on the inside.

 

The initial plan was to circle the entire country, crossing various terrains—deserts, savannas, jungles, and endless asphalt. Later, it was decided to add a small detour into Zimbabwe to visit Victoria Falls—one of the most impressive waterfalls in the world. The route planning was done usingGoogle Earth. A great software that allows you to see the planned route, which helped us mentally prepare for the terrain we would encounter. A total of about 3,000 km was planned for around 12 days of riding. Relaxing.

 

Despite our extensive experience with off-road motorcycles, we hadn't ridden in almost a decade. It was a great pleasure to return to South Tel Aviv for a shopping spree for riding gear. Some of it was bought there and some from online stores. The low price makes the minimal effort of clicking and typing worth it...

 

The choice was made to rent BMW motorcycles, the F800GS and R1200GS models, which we rented online through a small company called SAMA Tours. The company is family-owned and operated, located at their home in a quiet suburb of Pretoria, South Africa. They maintain motorcycles that are either new or up to two years old, so we didn't worry about maintenance. We received excellent family-like service, including accommodations for the first and last night of the trip, as well as transportation from and to Johannesburg airport. At our request, the motorcycles were equipped with off-road tires (Continental TKC-80) instead of the road tires they come with originally. Highly recommended.

 

No visa is required for Botswana. You just need to obtain an international driver's license from M.M.S.I.(not really necessary, but it's good to have it in your wallet), book a direct flight to Johannesburg (the simplest, cheapest, and shortest option), pack all your gear, and pray that we don't have to pay too much for excess baggage. It is recommended to make copies of all documents, as well as a "tip" wallet—a simple wallet with $50 inside, an expired license, and a picture of a child who isn’t yours (but should look somewhat similar).

 

Every day's route was recorded using navigation software fromMotionXrunning on the iPhone, and at the end of each day, it was uploaded to this website via FTP. This allowed family members to track our progress. Below is the map of Botswana, showing the entire trip route, along with a map of Israel for comparison.