We started at Johannesburg KTM West Dealership and we returned exactly after three weeks to Husqvarna West in Johannesburg.

As planned, we drove up through Botswana to Kubu Island and enjoyed some nice sandy tracks. Visited Kasane and watched elephants and hippos while they are taking a bath in Zambesi River. Made a stopover in Zimbabwe with the famous Victoria falls. Relaxed during a rest day in Zambia as the only guests in a nice Camping lodge. Drove through Namibia and the namib desert. Followed the Oranje River back to South Africa and made a short visit to taste the beauty of Lesotho.

Overall, we had a fantastic time in the southern countries of Africa and enjoyed every moment of our journey. The Bikes were the perfect match for that kind of trip. Restricting the luggage and equipment to a minimum made the fun even bigger. Carrying no food and kitchen equipment with us while riding – sometimes the dinner was limited to two or three cold beers at the camp sites. The famous Husqvarna 701 engine in combination with the OMEGA Fibre Equipment made the tracks really a fun ride.

The only issues we faced were two flat tires. No fuel issues, no technical problems, no critical situations with locals. Especially the people we met on the streets were fantastic and very friendly. One owner of a camp site even opened his private fridge to give us some frozen lamb meat and some cold beers for dinner.

KTM in Bloomfontain helped us changing the back tires after 6000km- We used the MICHELIN Desert Race and it has a fantastic durability and stayed even on the rim without any air pressure in the tube. Saying that we do not recommend to try this.

As always when travelling with a motorcycle you are closer to the people on the street and we made very good new contacts in every country.
As we got closer to our final destination we wanted to see more and made a short stopover in Lesotho.

Conclusions after this trip:

1) Live begins at the end of your comfort zone. Feel that you have to leave the comfort zone. Start with small “micro” adventures and move on. Build your team with members on the same riding level. Go for small teams and share the tasks between all of them. Do not kill yourself in the first riding days on heavy tracks.

2) The less stuff you carry with you, the lighter the bike is – the more fun you can have. The 1290, the 1090 or the 1200GS or all the other famous adventure bikes are amazing but the lighter you bring the weight the more fun you have on tracks and small passages. The OMEGA Rally 701 with reduced luggage made so much fun – we already look for new adventures in other “crazy” countries

3) Equipment is important and you can spend a amazing amount on that. But please invest only one time and reuse the stuff as often as possible. For example two of our tents travel since more then 10 years. And they are still in a good shape. Go for lightweight stuff and restrict what is really needed. In a three weeks trip you have to wash your clothes anyway so two shirts are enough, wear one wash the other one. And don’t make yourself a fool taking stuff with you which is available in the areas you travel. Even in Lesotho you can buy toilet paper and instant coffee 😉

4) DO IT – Wherever you are – TRAVEL!!! The other countries are not as dangerous as all other countries around the world. If you do not do the travel today because you don’t have the time or money – you will never do it. Camping is affordable and when you are six feet under it is too late.

5) A smile sometimes helps more than a bribe. Treat yours the way you would like to be treated and there will be a solution,

The Franconian Offroad Society