Cape Town to Victoria Falls.

[melody]

I've recently returned from a fantastic trip with friends.

The initial plan was to set off from Cape Town, up to Johannesburg, cross into Botswana, through to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe then up to the Victoria Falls. From there we intended to then cross into Zambia and follow Lake Kariba before dropping back into Harare, Zimbabwe then on to Mutare in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. We would then drop back into South Africa via Beitbridge and make our way back to Cape Town.

It didn't work like that. Within days of setting off we realised we had set ourselves a massive challenge and we didn't have enough time to go through all the places we wanted to. So we cut out Zambia and the Eastern Highlands for a later date, and travelled from Cape Town to Victoria Falls and back over 15 days. We did just under 7000km, travelling on a mixture of gravel and tarred roads.

It really was a brilliant trip and I wish we could have had more time to do it within. We stopped over in guest houses and hotels along the way, finding accommodation as we went along, which made it fun as every evening the race was on to find somewhere for the night.

We travelled from CT to J'burg over two days, mostly on the N1 and on the way back we did it over one week. Prior to this trip, I'd only ever done a few km on gravel on the tour I did last year. This time round, we did loads of gravel roads and I loved it!!. I had no training. It was just a case of a getting on with it.

There was five of us. I was on a lowered 650GS, Bruce, Jerry and Joerg were on 1200s and Jurgen on his 1200 Adventure.

The bikes

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The riders

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[G]

Lucky git as ever.

[the_lone_wolf]

V. Cool

SA is one of the most beautiful countries I've ever visited, the folks have strong links and we've been over with them a few times - would love to do London to Cape Town

[Mej]

V. Cool
would love to do London to Cape Town

+1 that would be epic.

Sound like you had a good trip. looks wicked.

would love to see more pics. :)

[Quiff Wichard]

gosh Mel you really travelling the world. you doin ace aint ya- espesh after that off and now you riding around like Dr Rich and the Lone Wolf. you be with bloomin Ewan Mcregor next

when was this though? cos when we met up at Bala a while back you had short hair..

[melody]

We set off from Cape Town at 0930 on a Saturday morning. At this point Jerry hadn't joined us as he flew in to J'burg from Spain. On the first day we did 770km and spent the night in a lovely guest house just outside of Colesburg. Getting to the guest house was my first taste of gravel and how I panicked. It was only a kilometre or so.

I came round a corner, saw a muddy patch across my path and immediately stopped.

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After much persuasion, I closed my eyes, held my breath and rode across. I stalled as soon as I got across to the other side.

I look back on it now and I can't believe I worried about it. We later travelled on much worse gravel roads.

The guest house was a lovely place, converted stables.

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Joerg in his stable.:)
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The next morning, it was another early start for the 650km to Johannesburg.

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Just after passing Bloemfontein we noticed a long queue of traffic up ahead. We filtered to the front only to stumble onto the most horrific RTA I have ever witnessed. A multi vehicle pile up involving an HGV, a caravan, a lorry and a couple of other cars. It had obviously only just happened and was very surreal. I wish I could unsee what I saw. It certainly put a damper on our spirits for the rest of the day.

We carried on and stopped stopped in Kroonstad for refreshments and fuel


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Road works along the way. At least we could always make our way to the front of the queue.

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[melody]

We stopped at this church to take in the magnificence of the architecture.

This became a recurring theme on the trip, stopping to take pictures of churches.

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[the_lone_wolf]

Those bikes look awfully clean, they better get dirtier as the story goes on...;)

[melody]

gosh Mel you really travelling the world. you doin ace aint ya- espesh after that off and now you riding around like Dr Rich and the Lone Wolf. you be with bloomin Ewan Mcregor next

when was this though? cos when we met up at Bala a while back you had short hair..

Just last month.


Those bikes look awfully clean, they better get dirtier as the story goes on...;)

They did.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm23/tsitsim/356.jpg

[the_lone_wolf]

They did.

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/funny-pictures-caterpillar-makes-tv-reference.jpg

[melody]

We made it to Cape Town completely exhausted. I slept like a baby that night and it was another early start the following morning.

The plan was to make it into Botswana and spend a night there beofre crossing into Zimbabwe.

Setting off from Melville, J'burg.

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Stopped for lunch at an Irish pub in Thabazimbi.

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Some shots from my helmet camera as we left our lunch stop. We had realised we wouldn't make it into Botswana that day so we were heading for Lephalale, a small town close to the border.
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Checking we all had enough fuel to make it to Lephalale which was about 100km away.
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We made it to Lephalale, fuelled up and asked some locals about accommodation options. First place we went to look at was a bit dodgy so we went on to the next suggestion.
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We struck it lucky with this place. Lovely, lovely place and a massive discount to boot. :D


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The next morning we set off early once again. We had two border posts to get through and we needed to be in Bulawayo before night nightfall.
So a quick breakfast later, we set off for Groblers Bridge border post.

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We didn't anticipate the three and a half hour wait at the border. We'd hope we'd be through within an hour. The customs officials on th Botswana side were so rude and unhelpful and were ever so slow. There was a long queue of traders crossing back into Botswana from SA who had to declare every single item they had and so we too were held up. Most annoying. No amount of bribery and flattery worked.:rolleyes:
So we had to simply sit around and wait our turn.


Boredom at the border.

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Then at last we were free to enter Botswana.

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Bye bye border

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[missyburd]

Smashing photos Mel! You look amazing, you world hopper you :-D

So do you own that beamer now then? Or was it just on loan? And did you have to apply for a million visas? Can't wait to catch up with ya :D


By the way, I'm heading over Castleford way tomorrow, don't suppose you'd be about?

[Speedy Claire]

Great pics Mel and glad you had a lovely time :D

[Bluepete]

Mel, you are a very, very lucky lady!

That pic of you in front of the border crossing sign says it all. Huge smile, looking good.

More pics please.

Pete ;)

[hindle8907]

kool pics ;) looks amazing

[Geodude]

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm23/tsitsim/072.jpg


What a great place to ride, i'll have to do somthing like that one day. Whats the sign mean, No ferrero roche? :)

[melody]

Smashing photos Mel! You look amazing, you world hopper you :-D

So do you own that beamer now then? Or was it just on loan? And did you have to apply for a million visas? Can't wait to catch up with ya :D


By the way, I'm heading over Castleford way tomorrow, don't suppose you'd be about?

Thanks Maria.

I didn't need any visas, but these are easily obtainable at the border if needed.

Looking forward to catching up with you too.

What a great place to ride, i'll have to do somthing like that one day. Whats the sign mean, No ferrero roche? :)

LOL. Not sure but I think it means 'no street hawkers'

kool pics ;) looks amazing

Thanks. It is an amazing place to ride through.

Mel, you are a very, very lucky lady!

That pic of you in front of the border crossing sign says it all. Huge smile, looking good.

More pics please.

Pete ;)

Thanks Pete.

More pictures coming up.

Great pics Mel and glad you had a lovely time :D

Thanks Claire. I did have a really lovely time.

[melody]

We entered Botswana about 12.30, had a quick bite and made our way to Francistown in order to get to Plumtree border post. We used the main road that runs between Gaborone and Francistown, all completely tarred.

Fuel stop. Bruce was the only one that had managed to get some Pulas so we were all able to fill up our tanks.

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I set up my helmet camera here as there wouldn't be time to stop for photos.

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Veterinary services control point. We passed through quite a few of these.

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Approaching Francistown at about 15.10 hrs. We still had another 100km to get to the border. The sun sets by 18.00 and we certainly didn't fancy riding in the dark.

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Police road block just outside Francistown.
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Then mad dash to the border.

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We made it to the border at 16.30.

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The customs officials in Zimbabwe were fantastic. We were all done and dusted within the hour and were free to enter Zimbabwe, land of my birth. :smt041:smt041:smt041 It was 17.30 and Bulawayo was 120km away. We still needed to find accommodation. Or we could all just turn up at my mum's house and give her a most delightful shock.

[Richie]

Good grief girl, you've been busy yet again.
:0) Very cool trip.

[Bluefish]

looks brill melody, can't wait for the rest.

[dizzyblonde]

Yeah yeah, none of us are jealous are we, specially me, ooo nooo, I'm perfectly happy not riding:rolleyes:


Great pics Mel, good time by the looks again, lucky sod:D
Catch up soon, promise.

[melody]

We raced into Bulawayo with the sun setting behind us. At one point I looked down at the speedometre -180km/hr!! :smt018

We arrived in the dark. Street lighting is not brilliant and we managed to get separated. Jurgen and I together, Bruce and Jerry together and Joerg on his own. After much ado, dodging large potholes, swearing and going the wrong way down one way streets we finally re united at Banff Lodge. Thankfully they were able to accommodate us. I'd have slept in the dog house if they'd said other wise. We were all so tired, hungry and and my nerves were well and truly jangled.

Nothing a hot bath, a hot meal and a good night's sleep couldn't sort.


We decided we would have a rest day today and head for the Falls the following morning. After breakfast he went into town and we all made sure we had local mobile phone SIM cards. The previous night's drama had been made worse by the fact we didn't all have roaming facilities on our mobile networks.

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Quick visit to the local Art Gallery which was a WiFi hotspot and a quick walk around the city.

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Street scenes around Bulawayo
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I'd called my mum earlier and we all headed over to hers for some home cooked lunch.

My sister, very keen for a go on a bike went pillion with Gerry.

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The long arm of the law promptly caught up with her for riding without a helmet.

[melody]

Late afternoon we headed for the Matopos national park, about 40km outside Bulawayo.

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Watching the sunset over the Matopos is brilliant.

[Bibio]

wow that brings back some vague memories, thanks melody. looks like you had a great time.

[garynortheast]

Fantastic pics and story. Makes me want to pack up and set off straight away! Is there any more to come?

[appollo1]

fantastic pics

that big smile on your face lets us see you had a great time

[Richie]

many many fantastic photos there T.
but This so far is my fav..
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm23/tsitsim/139.jpg

[Tim in Belgium]

Loving the World's View shot, keep them coming!

[melody]

Thanks for the comments and sorry it's taking so long. Not much spare time on my hands at the moment.

Day 6 and we leave Bulawayo for Victoria Falls.

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We left around 0930 for the 500km journey. It was boiling hot. 36 celcius.

Leaving Bulawayo.

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The road to Victoria Falls is pretty boring and straight. The Eastern Highlands is where the twisties are.

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Passed through a couple of police stops. We never had any hassle from the police at all. They were fascinated by the bikes.

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We encountered a herd of cattle with a very nervous calf. Jurgen and I managed to get past as the herd was still deciding whether or not cross. Joerg, who was behind me was not so lucky at the calf bounded straight into his path and there was no avoiding it. Thankfully Joerg managed to keep the bike upright after wobbling about as he collided with the calf.
The calf walked away too, without any obvious injury.

Stopped to inspect Joerg's bike. No apparent damage.

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Stopped for fuel and refreshments in Lupane, a rural village.

These chicken buses as we call them bring back many fond memories. If you want a real taste of Africa, you have to ride on one of these.

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Three young brothers on an errand to collect fire wood.


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We stopped for lunch in a town called Hwange, home to the Hwange National Park. I was so hoping we'd spot some elephants along the way as often happens around Hwange, but we weren't so lucky.
On their way back to Bulawayo, Jerry and Bruce struck gold as a whole herd of elephant crossed the road right before their very eyes. Jealous!!

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We had lunch at Baobab Hotel with spectacular views over Hwange.

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We arrived at Victoria Falls around 1530. It was great to be able to get off the bikes as it was so hot and humid. The view from the terrace of the Victoria Falls Hotel is simply stunning.

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The following day was spent enjoying the experience of being in Victoria Falls. in a moment of madness, I signed up for the bungi jump. In fact, I signed up for the combo, a bungi jump, gorge swing and zip line!

On the bridge, between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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The jump. It's a 111m drop.

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The gorge swing. Twice I got to the edge and just couldn't take the plunge. I found it harder to jump feet first than head first. Fortunately for me, one of the the guides volunteered to go tandem with me.

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The zip line.

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In the afternoon we went to see the Falls. No white water rafting this time as the water levels were far too high. It's not the best time to see the Falls as the visibility is very reduced due to spray.

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Jerry and Bruce went off for a bit of fishing.

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The rest of us had a lazy afternoon. I needed it to settle my stomach, still queasy from the jump.

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In the evening we all went off on a sunset river cruise.

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A beautiful African sunset.

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[squirrel_hunter]

Cool pics. Loving the on board/ helmet cam shots. What setup did you use?

[melody]

Cool pics. Loving the on board/ helmet cam shots. What setup did you use?

I had it set to take a photo every 2 seconds. You can also set it to take photos every 5 seconds or to take video footage.

[Luckypants]

The jump. It's a 111m drop.

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You are mad! No freaking way would I do that!

[G]

I would not fancy landing in that torrent with my ankles tied up.

Infact I wouldnt fancy jumping regardless.

[Tim in Belgium]

More great pics :thumbsup:

[Richie]

Bloody fantastic photos... I've a new Favourite now.
:0)

[melody]

You are mad! No freaking way would I do that!

LOL. It's not too bad. You just cross your fingers and jump.:smt045

Having said that though I'm not sure I could do it again.

I would not fancy landing in that torrent with my ankles tied up.

Infact I wouldnt fancy jumping regardless.

Good job I didn't land in the water. I can barely swim.:)

[missyburd]

Amazing pics Mel, you managed to fit so much in! And the photos of that jump are great, brave lass :D

[anna]

Your sense of adventure is amazing, truely inspirational photos there!!

[Lozzo]

Wow, I'm dead jealous. What a fantastic landscape and culture to explore. You're one lucky and semi-nuts/brave lady. Great photos you got there.

[Nobbylad]

As usual, I am in complete awe of your fantastic trips :(

[Tara]

fantastic Photos Mel :D

[melody]

Thanks guys for your comments.

Day 8. saturday.

Today the group split into two. When making plans for the trip, there'd had been some confusion and Jerry had only planned on being on tour for a little over a week and had made other plans. So Jerry and Bruce needed to be back in Cape Town by the Tuesday. They would have about 900km to do that day as they were going back to Bulawayo and on to Beitbridge border then into Musina, SA. The rest of us had a week to get back to Cape Town as Joerg's return flight was the following Sunday. We would head back to Bulawayo and spend the night there and make our way to the border the following day.

We waved Bruce and Jerry off at about 07.30 We received a text a couple of hours later warning us of a police speed trap just outside of town. They'd been nabbed doing 100km in a 60km zone. $20 fine.

We set off a couple of hours later, riding ever so slowly out of town. There was no speed trap to be seen and we let our guard down. About 200km later, just in time, I spotted the over zealous police officer with his radar gun and managed to screech to a more acceptable speed. Jurgen who was riding ahead of me was not so lucky and was slapped with a fine too.

We had a good ride back. Nothing much to report.


Good bye Victoria Falls. Till next time.

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We passed through many villages. Not quite like we know them over here.

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We met these two young boys at a petrol stop on our way to VF. Abraham and Patrick. My heart went out to them. They were trying to raise school fees for the following school term by selling these carvings. They bought the carvings from a market close by then they'd sell them at the petrol station, obviously with a mark up.

What struck us all was how polite and well mannered they were. They spoke English fluently (it is the official language in Zimbabwe) and were obviously very intelligent. They desparately wanted to be back at school the following term. They were genuinely interested in us and our travels and never asked for anything. If they were given a chance at an education, they would make something of themselves. I used to teach in a rural school and I was always moved to tears by the challenges the kids had to overcome just to able to come to school. In Zimbabwe, education is not free, and is therefore a privilege not a right. Most people will grab the chance with both hands.

Abraham and Patrick's school fees for the term was R100, a paltry £8 or so. There are three school terms in a year.

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My lasting image of these two, is of bare foot Patrick waving us good bye with the biggest smile on his face as he devoured the ice cream cone we'd bought him.

We made it back to Bulawayo in good time. I was exhausted and my limbs were aching from all that jumping I'd done. We spent the night in Nesbitt Castle, a really lovely gothic style accommodation.

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If you're ever in Bulawayo, i'd definitely recommend at least one night here.

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Next day we crossed the border without incident and headed for a lovely highland town of Tzaneen. Here we ecountered the first rain of the trip. It was really interesting the way the weather changed. We'd left Zimbabwe in the middle of a heat wave and through a blazing hot Musina. I thought I'd pass out a couple of times, it was that hot. As soon as we started up into the mountains, the temperature dropped and the rain was upon. Fortunately we made it up the relentlessly winding roads to our guesthouse just before the heavens really opened up.

The next morning we set off for the Mpumalanga province. We intended to pass through God's Window, a scenic splendour so called for its panoramic view of the Lowveld. However, it was raining so much, there'd be no chance of seeing much so we abandoned that plan and took a more direct route to the town of Dullstroom where we intednded to spend the night.

By the time we arrived in Dullstroom, the rain had cleared off and it was bright and sunny once again.

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After lunch, it was time for me to have a quick lesson in off road riding. We planned on riding gravel for most of the way to Cape Town. We found a stretch of gravel road and I had my 'lesson'.

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Twenty minutes later, lesson over, it was back onto tar and off to find accommodation.

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We turned off into an estate that advertised accommodation. It turned out to be a private estate.

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At the gates we had to assure security that we were not a bunch of rowdy bikers that intended to ride around the estate and make a nuisance of ourselves. After taking our details we were allowed through.

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The scenery was stunning with lots of hairpin bends.

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They were able to offer us accommodation and we spent the rest of the day enjoying the views.

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[dizzyblonde]

My goodness, she jumped off a cliff!!!!! Never catch me doing that lady I'm scared of heights.
Those roads are very differing, some make ours look pothole free, then some look so perfect we're jealous.

Great pics as always Mel. :-)

[melody]

Great pics as always Mel. :-)

Thanks DB.

The staff at this hotel all wore kilts (the owners are Scottish) which I found hilarious

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It was really cold. Enough to have a big roaring fire. Absolute bilss!

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Next morning we headed for the Drakensburg mountains in KwaZulu Natal province. Again, we did a mixture of gravel and tar.

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We made it to Montusi Mountain Lodge just in time to watch the sun set.

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[melody]

The following morning we left the Drakensberg and travelled into the Free State, passing through the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. Again, the scenery here is amazing. the National Park lies at the base of the Maluti Mountain Range of Lesotho. It's breathtaking.

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We stopped for lunch in Wepener, a town on the Lesotho border . We parked up close to a school and were immediately mobbed by some very excited kids.

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[melody]

This is so time consuming, so will hurry through the rest.

We spent the night in a town called Lady Grey. The guesthouse had alpacas roaming round the garden.

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We arrived before the sun set so went up Joubert's Pass, only a stone throw away from the guest house. I went pillion as I wasn't feeling too confident. In hind sight, following the next day's events, I realised I would have managed just fine on my own bike.

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Next day we set off for Balfour. The first half of the day was the best off road riding and I was in my element.

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The landscape was fantastic.

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That afternoon I took on the biggest challenge of the trip and failed miserably. We decided to take the R351 from Sada to Buxton. This is a pretty run down, hardly used gravel road that goes through the Katberg mountains and the aptly named Devil's Bellows Nek. It's certainly only for experienced off roaders!There was hardly any 'road' to see, just huge rocks, boulders big ruts in the road and lots of foliage slap bang in the middle of the road. No way would a four wheeled vehicle make it through. It was so serene, with only the mountain horses watching us.

I managed about half way before we got to a really tricky bit and the back wheel slipped from under me and down I went, bashing my left hip against a rock. Ouch!! At this point it was cold, wet and windy and I'd had enough and just wanted a hot bath and some food. So I decided to carry on despite the pain in my leg. Not for long though, as about 2km on, again the back slipped from under me and I fell over on the same side, bashing my hip against some rocks again. Double ouch!! After much sobbing and being a big girl's blouse I knew there was no way I could carry on. I had excruciating pain down my left side and I could barely weight bear. So we decided we would leave my bike and I'd ride pillion with Jurgen to the guesthouse which was about 30 km away. Then Joerg would ride pillion with Jurgen to fetch my bike. A lot of messing about but there was no way I would have been able to ride. Just being pillion was agony enough.

But all's well that ends well and all three bikes made it to the guesthouse safely and I over dosed on co codamol and diclofenac.

[scooby]

What a fantastic trip . fab photo's and no doubt a fantastic experience....well done Mel :thumbsup:

[melody]

What a fantastic trip . fab photo's and no doubt a fantastic experience....well done Mel :thumbsup:

Thanks scooby.

That night we had a heavy thunderstorm. Not that I noticed it much, I was that knocked out.

Next morning, Day 14, Friday, we were up early ready for De Rust, a little village about 35km outside of Oudtshoorn. Thanks to co codamol, diclofenac, a long soak in a hot bath and much tlc, my leg was good enough to carry on. We were about 900km from Cape Town and we could have had the bike recovered but I was determined to complete the ride.

Breakfast in Waylands Country Guesthouse

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We didn't get to De Rust that day. The heavy rains meant the roads were impassable.

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We did about 20km before we decided to turn back. The roads were so slippy and my heart was in my mouth the whole time. I knew it was just a matter of time before I fell again.

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It rained some more that morning and on the way back we hit a really muddy patch. I gave up and walked this bit.

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Surprisingly I made it back without dropping the bike. :)

Back at the guest house we came up with plan B. Joerg had to get out of Balfour as he had a flight to catch on Sunday afternoon and we were still about 900km from Cape Town. So Peter, our host lent us his truck. Joerg's bike was loaded onto it and Joerg and Jurgen set off for Fort Beaufort. The plan was to drop off Joerg in Fort Beaufort and he would then make his own way to Cape Town. Jurgen would bring the truck back to the guest house and we would leave the following morning.

I spent the afternoon playing with Una, the our host's Rhodesian ridgeback.

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Jurgen was back mid afternoon, by which time the rain had stopped and the roads were starting to dry up so we decided to head out as well. There were still some really muddy bits on the way out so my bike was loaded on to the truck and Peter, our host drove us up to the Mpofu Game Reserve, while Jurgen followed on his bike. We then rode through the game reserve on to Fort Beaufort, then on to Adelaide where we re united with Joerg.

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They have rhinos in this game reserve, but I didn't care. Riding through the reserve was the quickest way to get us off the gravel and on to tarred roads. I was whooping with joy when we finally got to Fort beaufort and onto tarred roads!!

[melody]

Day 15, we were up early heading for De Rust.

More gravel roads.

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Tortoise ahead.

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I wasn't expecting her to be so heavy! Lifted her off the road and into the bushes.

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On to Willowmore for lunch stop.

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Then on to tar. :)

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We stopped in Willowmore for lunch, then on to De Rust for the night.

The next day, day 16, we were up at the crack of dawn for the final leg of our journey. we set off at 06.45 and it was 5 degrees celcius. :smt120
We legged it to Cape Town and go there in time to get Joerg to the airport for his flight home to Germany.

Somerset West, about 30 minutes from Cape Town.

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I spent the next few days relaxing and enjoying the sights of Cape Town. As much as I had enjoyed the ride it was lovely to be able to park up the bikes and revert to four wheels. . . till next time.


The End.

[Iansv II]

Amazing Melody, thanks so much for sharing your experience :smt109

[Jdubya]

Nice one Mel! The last few days of your ride; De Rust, Fort Beaufort, then on to Oudtshoorn; are all my old stomping grounds. Seeing your photos bring back a lot of memories.
I spent a lot of time at Mpofu in the early/mid 90's and back then a room would cost you about £40 for the week self-catering. Now you'd be lucky to get a room there for less than £1000 per night!

[missyburd]

Absolutely fantastic Mel! Love the Ridgeback pic, you've really done the breed justice there with the ridge in the foreground!

So when do you plan to run your own private tours Mel? YC and I are VERY interested :D

[hindle8907]

really cool, pictures are amazing.

[melody]

Thanks guys.

Nice one Mel! The last few days of your ride; De Rust, Fort Beaufort, then on to Oudtshoorn; are all my old stomping grounds. Seeing your photos bring back a lot of memories.
I spent a lot of time at Mpofu in the early/mid 90's and back then a room would cost you about £40 for the week self-catering. Now you'd be lucky to get a room there for less than £1000 per night!

A beautiful part of the country. I absolutely love Oudtshoorn!!



So when do you plan to run your own private tours Mel? YC and I are VERY interested :D

I'm pretty flexible. Just say when. :D Or you could join a group for next April? :D

[Jayneflakes]

Thank you for sharing your photos, truly inspirational.

One day, I would love to undertake a trip like this, seeing this though I am full of admiration for you. :D

[dill89]

V. Cool

SA is one of the most beautiful countries I've ever visited, the folks have strong links and we've been over with them a few times - would love to do London to Cape Town

I'll start from Belfast and meet you in London for that trip ;)