It was cold at 5:00am that Thursday morning when we met on the Western outskirts of Johannesburg en-route to the adventure we’d been planning for the previous 4 months. An hour later when we stopped for our first smoke break it was still cold and some of the guys were still shivering when they climbed back onto their machines for the next stretch.
Seven
BMW 1150 GS’s in various guises, two back-up 4 wheel drives and one trailer
carrying enough jerry cans and water tanks to keep us comfortable for our time.
In all 11 guys heading for the Makgadikgadi salt pans smack in the middle of
Botswana – more specifically Kubu Island, an outcrop of rock and Baobab trees
on Sowa Pan. I’ve been running self drive 4X4 tours through Botswana and
Namibia for many years, but this was a new idea. Could we get the heavy
machines through the thick sands we’d have to cross before reaching the pans?
Would the logistics we’d put in place support the group? How deep would we be
able to penetrate the pans before the surface broke into mud? Would any of the
bikes be damaged by the conditions? These were some of the questions we
pondered while trying to not think of the cold.
The
coffee stop at Thabazimbi was too long and by the time we arrived at the border
5 hours had already passed. Riding motorcycles into Botswana was not an
everyday occurrence and the border officials were somewhat flustered, but an
hour later we were on the road again. Winter jackets and gloves were soon
discarded as a result of 30-degree temperatures.
The
roads were good apart from the occasional donkey or goat, and a sense of
freedom mixed with nervous anticipation prevailed. A quick stop in the last
town to pick up our meat supplies and we were on the road again. We were to
spend our first night in the Rhino Sanctuary and after stern warnings about “no
game driving on the bikes” we set off for the chalets. I had been here 6 weeks
previously in a 4X4 and the track then was fairly firm. What I saw ahead of me
was not. Thick beach sand 10 – 15cm thick was waiting. Tyre pressures were
reduced and the next 1.5km took 1 hour for the last of the bikes to complete.
It was just the right wake-up for us!
A
couple of us changed from road tyres to knobblies, others fiddled with this and
that but before long we were all sitting round the fire beer in one hand chops
and wors in the other, unwinding after a long day on the road.
The
next morning dished up a short stretch of tar before the fun began. At the end
of the tar road we stopped to fuel up the machines, set tyre pressures and
swallow a cold coke. The next stretch was pure hell! Corrugated road, dust,
people, dust, swerving minibuses, dust, donkeys, dust, more corrugations and
more dust, but it did end – thankfully.
Kubu Island was 50km away, and only 23km of that was on pans. The rest
of it was a variety of sand, thick sand, and firm dirt but it wasn’t as bad as
we expected. The riders toiled and sweated, but the GS’s relished the challenge
of beating the soft sand. 2 hours later all machines were through and the pans
beckoned. When we reached the pan edge the hardships were quickly forgotten and
replaced with elation. The surface crunched as the tyres sped over the bubbles
of sand and salt and the dust trails hung suspended in the midday heat for
kilometers behind us. The massive antique Baobab trees welcomed us with much
sought after shade and the obligatory team photos were taken. There are no
facilities at Kubu other than long drop toilets, but the site was clean, shady
and well away from other campers.
Later
that afternoon we set off for out rides. Four of us set out toward the Southern
Islands while the other three headed Southeast, determined to reach the mid
point. Just as the sun set these three returned on only two GS’s. One had got
stuck, up to it’s sump in mud and more manpower was needed to pull it out. Reluctantly we decided it was far safer to
leave the machine where it was till morning than risk getting ourselves lost or
stuck again elsewhere. The chicken was bubbling away slowly in it’s pot on the
coals while the boys settled into the social routine. Stories and jokes
continued until the flames died, but stomachs were full and the stories
continued. I’ll never be able to look at a World War 2 bomber in the same way again!
After
coffee the next morning we set of on the recovery mission. Recovery straps,
spades, jerry cans for ballast. What we saw had us rolling in laughter. The GS
was dead straight, upright being held only by the mud around it. Getting it out
was easy, the cleaning afterward wasn’t!
Later that afternoon we headed northeast, riding dead straight for over
30 minutes, some of it a high speeds, at other times slowing to take in the
awesome surrounds. Eventually we could see nothing other than white surface and
blue sky. For 360º there was nothing but white and blue. No rock, no tree, no
grass – nothing for as far as the eye could see. We almost got ourselves stuck
on the way back. Taking what we thought would be a safe route we suddenly found
ourselves in the wet, the back knobblies throwing mud, and the Remus pipes
bellowing at the extra exertion, but the two thumping pots (and a little good
luck) pulled us through. A couple of hours later when we crawled back into camp
the sigh of relief was rather loud. Absolutely magnificent riding! Possibly the
best ever!
Sadly,
Sunday morning saw us packing up heading toward Francistown, but not before one
last pans ride. The air was crisp, and the dust drifted away quickly giving us
a good opportunity to open the throttles for the last time. The sand was
tackled with far more enthusiasm and we sailed though it. At the tar we pulled over to bid farewell.
Pumped the tyres while enjoying a brunch….
The
bikes were magnificent. Over the 5 days we covered 2300km with some it being
very hard riding, and over difficult terrain. We carried spares and equipment
for almost any eventuality, from punctures to holed tappet covers, but despite
this, we had not one iota of trouble (not even a puncture) with the GS’s
Costs were relatively low. The back-up vehicles carried all the riders gear as well as food, water, drinks and camping equipment of all those that participated. The next tour is schedule for late November. Contact Marc on +27 83 229 9670
Dates
for next tour 20 Nov to 24 Nov