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What do you need for camping? Comfortable Table and Chair

If you will do what we are doing now (living in a tent) I suppose we know what do you need for camping? 🙂 Not only a tent an other important thing is comfortable table and chair.

Travel around the world takes 5-6 years. We will be on the road, sit all day on the motorcycle and sleep in the tent. We must make happy our self in the journey.

I suppose that we never think to have comfortable chairs if we would be on the road a couple of months and then turn back a house.

In the beginning we had Outad chairs. We were looking comfort when we sit, also price to find something cheap. Other important thing it must be light and take less space when you collect it. It wasn’t so small to fit one of our motorcycle bags but we were ok to carry them on the back sit. 🙂

Can watch our video to set up the tent and enjoy to live in a tent: ALL AROUND THE WORLD TRAVEL CAMP



Outad chairs are comfortable but not for long term so not for us because we use them a lot. In the morning for breakfast, on the road for long break, in the night to stretch our legs and have dinner, stay at a camping spot more than a few days means you use almost all day a chair. So, the chair had a problem in three months. After six months later it was broken from where we can set up the sticks to sit.

We also buy a table from Gran Canyon brand, which is cheap, light and can use long time. It has only one problem, so low. When we sit on the ground fine but not when sitting on the chair.

End of the day, we paid less money for them but we couldn’t use long time. We wanted to have similar chairs again. This moment we were looking for quality and brand’s help center/customer service. Because after pay a lot of money if something happened we want to connect easily with the company. We bought Helinox chair and tables.

Our chairs are Helinox Zeros. It is so light and pack size is small. Also, they are comfortable. We have been using them for the last 5 months and we are happy to have it.

Our table is again from Helinox. We bought Helinox hard top table. We use our laptop sometimes on it so, nice to have hardtop. We don’t have problem to put mugs on it but could be great if they have mug holder. The table is high enough to eat but when use laptop I can say sometimes “why does is it not high five cm. more?” 🙂

After five moths, we are happy to have them and still they look like new even if we used every day a few hours. Some days 15 hours 🙂

What do you need camping? Other important thing is a tent.

GS

January 23, 2018
Big Agnes: Tent for hiking, motorcycle camping, backpacking..

We are travel around the world by motorcycles, sometimes go to hiking or trekking and living in a tent, so definitely we need a tent for hiking, backpacking and motorcycle camping which must ultralight also so much comfortable; Big Agnes, Copper Spur HV UL3 “mtnGLO” tent is our choose for all.

I was using a Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL2 tent more than three years and still was good. The problem, the tent was two persons tent because I was solo women backpacker why could I buy a tent bigger than this? 🙂

Now, We have large size mattress and we want to put our motorcycle gears inside to tent as well. How can we fit in? We like Big Agnes so, we didn’t search any other companies, just we focus the Big Agnes website to find a tent which can be a good match for our journey.

Our video to set up the tent and enjoy to live in a tent: ALL AROUND THE WORLD TRAVEL CAMP



We decided to have Copper Spur HV UL3 after our tent experience on the road because;

-Two persons traveling and the tent have one exit; never work! Because we always disturb each other when we were going out or in. We must have two exits to make life easy.

-We like to go hiking and trekking for a couple of days. So we are backpackers at that moment. We like to have light back. We must have ultra light tent for hiking and backpacking to be happy. 🙂

-We love to be on the beach but we can’t carry an umbrella. Freestanding tent can help for it. Just use outside and have a shadow.

-We are on the road all the time. Sometimes we hit the rain for a long time and no place to go around. Again we use freestanding to sit under and wait a little till the shower stops. 🙂

-For a while, we don’t need a tent to use in the wintertime where we will ride. More we need to be happy when sleep 30-35 degrees. Of course, we need a good rain protection so we don’t wake up in a lake with all our stuff. So we need to have a three-season tent for a long time.

-What we have in our tent when we go to sleep? Our L size mattress, sleeping bags, pillows, electronics, helmets, some clothes, sometimes our motorcycles gears and of course two people in it. Great idea to have 3-persons tent right!

-Sometimes we can spend all day in the tent because of cold or rain. We need to sit inside, read a book, watch movie etc. if the tent is a little high it can help a lot. And if it gives a feeling that we have space around us it can be so great.

-Another important thing for us how many pockets the tent has inside and easily we can use a tent collector. When we put little things in one pocket we must dig middle of the night what we look for.

-This was extra, more a luxury thing; “mtnGLO” 🙂 It is our home so we can have a light in it. When we were looking on the Big Agnes page where we saw GLO system, which has light. We always hang on our head light top of the tent. Most of the time, it was falling down because of the wind. We knew that have a light system in the tent it cost us more money. On the other hand we have been living in tent and mostly likely we will keep continuing this for a while so we use it many years. We stay 98% of our travel in a tent so nice to have more comfort.

Big Agnes, Copper Spur HV UL3 “mtnGLO” tent

And we bought Copper Spur HV UL3 “mtnGLO” on the end of July 2017. We were in South Africa at the moment. It was rain, wind and cold because of wintertime. Not that much tourist around therefore rent a studio; entertainment house from “airbnb “ was 20 USD per day. Good opportunity for us to stay a little in a house after one year. 🙂

We have started to use tent in September. We slept in our new tent until now, 100 days in four months. The temperature was around 12 to 35 degrees. We had bad time with wind also with rain. (The rain is crazy in Africa, especially in the rain season. Like a shower and doesn’t stop when start.) We are really happy what we choose to live. We got use to our new house very fast. 🙂

GS

January 20, 2018
Live in a tent full time and feel it is a home | Traveling Nomad

Before start travel around the world by motorcycles we were living in a nice house, which we sold to have money for our journey of life so, traveling nomad and living in a tent full time and feels it is a home.

We will be on the road five maybe six years until we find our home where we want to live. Stay in hotels can be great costs but a lot of money if the daily budget is fifty US dollars for two people everything include. We can make it if we stay in a tent. So, it means, “We must live in a tent!” In the beginning it was scary especially for him. 🙂

Think about it: You never stay in a tent before or go to camp. Okay, you went a couple of time some festival and stayed in a festival tent. Now, you are talking about to live in a tent for five or six years. How can be possible to find a comfort similar a home comfort?

I was traveling in South America and spending most of my time in a tent. I was solo women backpacker and felt freedom when I went to bush camping. 🙂 So, I have a little experience how I can live in a tent. But I wasn’t hundred % sure how can be for two persons and feel a tent is our home.

Before keep continue to read you can watch our funny video to how we have learned live in a tent full time 🙂

We must find a way to make really happy our self to live in a tent full time and feel it at home when traveling nomad. So, we made a list separately. What do we like to the in the home? Which thing we can skip? What we must have with us?

After that we decided: What do we not skip when we live in a tent full time?

-I like to cook a lot. I was going restaurant rarely. Now, we are going to world trip, we must cook well to be healthy and also enjoy.

-We need to sleep well after ride motorcycle all day.

-He likes to lay down and read book sometimes.

– Who can skip a chair or table in their home? Need to sit, eat, use computer…etc.

-Our tent need to be comfortable and look like a little big so we can feel that we are not in a small room and have no space to move.

-I am fine with instant coffee because I got use to it. But he loves to drink coffee with fresh coffee beans. This can be hard because we cannot do that on the road. 🙂

-Watch a movie. Who doesn’t like to do that sometimes? We must have something comfortable to watch a movie and enjoy.

-Also, if we stuck inside the tent because of rain, cold or wind what can we do inside, lay-down all day? No way for both of us!

-If we go to bush / wild camp we need to shower as well. I suppose we can’t live without shower more than a week. We will see on the road.

We made it! CAPETOCAPE

Which kind of list were we making together? We travel with motorcycles. How many kilos can we carry? Because our list was about how to feel comfortable in our new house. We need living room furniture’s, nice sofa and dinning stuff. We must have very comfortable bed and sheet. Buy kitchen stuff to make dessert, salad, food…etc. Also have a coffee machine!

End of the day, we searched a lot and figure out to make our tent like a home and live inside. Really, we go to a hotel after long time stay in bush camps or have a crazy rain and cold. Funny thing, we always miss our bed and home, our tent, after a couple days. Because we love our lifestyle, which is living in our little tent.

I suppose some photo would help to explain it our life in a tent;

If we stuck to tent we can still enjoy eating and working.

We can watch movie like in a cinema. 🙂

We can sleep well in a nice bed.

We can cook almost everything. (Just we don’t have oven yet to make a pizza :))

He can lay down anytime outside to read book our sleep.

We can also enjoy with coffee.

Sometimes, we need our own bathroom to shower. 🙂

So, a journey of life to travel around the world by motorcycle and live in tent… 🙂 It is amazing feeling to be honest!

GS

January 16, 2018
Travel around Zambia

We were planning to go to Livingstone from the Zimbabwe part of the Victoria Falls but we couldn’t get the Kaza visa, we had only Zimbabwean visa, which was single entry. So, we travel in Zimbabwe to see how the country looks like and how people life is. After we entered to Zambia.

Going Lusaka…

We passed into Zambia from the Kariba lake border. And ride trough to Lusaka. We must go there because of the Malawi visa for her. We rode 200 km from the border. Everywhere was green and landscape was nice. But it was so hard to ride inside to city center because of the crazy traffic. We broke all rules to escape from rush hour because it wasn’t fun to wait one hour in the traffic with all our motorcycle gears when it was so hot.

Lusaka is definitely different then other African countries capital cities. First of all clean and it is safe to walk around, we didn’t need to check our back all the time. We stayed in Wanderes Backpacker, which was so close to the Embassies and a big shopping center. And cheap for camping 🙂

To be honest, we didn’t do that much in Lusaka. We were tired after our Zimbabwe journey and all the rain we had. Therefore, we prefer just get relax and enjoy with good Wi-Fi. 🙂

Happy birthday One ROad One World….

Nice to see Mpongwe, North/East of Zambia.

A while ago, we got an invitation from someone who is living in Mpongwe and is building a primary school. Jennifer is from Holland. She was there a long time for a voluntary job and than decided to stay there and help the comity. After that she got married with a Zambian guy, Terry.

Mpongwe wasn’t on our road. We had to go 300 km to the north of Zambia and turn back to Lusaka. On the other hand, we love to see local life, learn a little culture and talk with local people. So, we went there.

It is small village but they have everything there. We were saying that Lusaka is so cheap after Zimbabwe but Mpongwe is cheaper than Lusaka. We set up our tent inside a classroom. The school was going to be open in three weeks so, nobody was there yet. 🙂 We ate dinner with Jenifer and Terry. Of course, we asked many questions to Jenifer about her life, education, culture…etc . We also walked around with her to see around, talk with people and play with kids. It was a really nice experience for us for two days.

After said bye to them, we turned back to Lusaka and stayed at same place again. We made 600 km in 3 days. That’s why we decided to stay two days there to get rest and do some shopping. The Malawi border is than 600 km from Lusaka; we need to go bush camp somewhere. At the same time, if the rain comes a lot there is a possibility to we can’t finish the road in two days. We always want to be sure that we have enough water and food for that.

Really we are going to Malawi!

We packed our motorcycles and hit the road. In the morning it was nice to ride motorcycle but in the afternoon It was hot. Anyway we made 290 km before sunset. We found a spot for bush camping next to the road and we set up the tent and slept well.

Next day, we would ride only 280 km to the border. We came to Chipata and we had only 20 km to the Malawi border. We were putting petrol our tanks and talking at the same time.

GS :“ We are living the county now. But I am thinking we didn’t see that much.”

FS: “ What would like to do more here. We are almost on the border.”

GS: “ Maybe, We can go to Mfuwe and stay around South Luangwa National Park. We don’t need to go inside. We can camp next to the river and see wild life a little more.”

FS: “Are you sure, you want to do that?” He looked to map and told me that we have 130 km more to go there.

GS: I looked the time it was 1.40 pm. “So we don’t need to stay Chipata. Let’s go know Mfuwe.”

We were on the road 6 hour already and made 260 km. Another 130 km means, we made almost 400 km in a day with our Honda CRF 250 L. We have 250 cc so; we don’t go more than 80-90 km per hour. 130 km for us 2,5 hour more ride with crazy sun. He was thinking about me if it’s a good idea to ride more. I told him I can make it. So, we turn to Mfuwe road.

****Normally, if you ride or drive from Lusaka to The North or South Luangwa Natioanl Park you have two option to drive. First one, From Sinda to Kapamba and than Kakumbi (Mfuwe) It is some kind of gravel and dust road but don’t take the road in the rain season. Because road is going really terrible condition. Second option, from Chipata to Kakumbi which is tar road and easy to ride in rain season. Just be careful with potholes.******

Luangwa national park and Mfuwe.

Mfuwe is a small village but you can find basic things to buy. They have a lot of Lodges and camping sites around. We went to Wildlife camping.

The place is next to Luangwa river and you have a good chance to see wild life next to you. Elephants were next to the reception also they passed from our camping side. Hippos and crocodiles were everywhere. Every night we heard lions. 🙂

We don’t go so much national park because they never allow us to go in with our motorcycles. We must pay a lot of money for a safari and enter fee. We already see a lot. So, don’t spend money! But our neighbor in the tent was Forest from the USA and working in Harare, Zimbabwe. He is an international math teacher. He was going to the park and said that we can join him so we only need to pay enter fee, which is 30 USD pppd. It was good deal for us.

We didn’t see leopard but we saw what’s the meaning of a national park. We went to Etosha and Kruger park before. They were so organize with roads, rest side, camping side… etc. Here just jungle. They don’t have fence around as well. If rain season most of the park area is closed. After see the park we saw why, easily. So, if you want to visit the park in the rain season you should be careful with the road.

Luangwa is nice and really big park to visit. Maybe good idea is to be there June to October. Because it is dry season and more chance to see leopards. Because in the rain season the bushes are so high. Maybe, you are passing next to a lion or leopard but you can’t see it. On the other hand, it is so nice to see the park so much green.

After stayed three days in The wildlife camping we turned back to Chipata to go Malawi.

GS

January 13, 2018

Which part of Honda CRF 250L did we change in 85.000 km in the world trip ?

Both of us have been riding Honda CRF 250 L motorcycles and so far we made 85.000 km in 30 months to turn around Europe and Africa continent. We have been doing all maintenance of motorcycles so we would like to share with you which part of CRF 250 L did we change until now.

Most people think 250 cc motorcycle is too small for a world trip especially for Africa continent. We think that it is a good option but you can be right if you want to ride on desert you need more power to go through the loose sands.

You can also check the article about; why we did choose Honda CRF 250 L to travel around the world.

Which part of Honda CRF 250L did we change in 85.000 km in the world trip ?

One is second hand, it was 2.500 km when we bought model 2014, which is from Turkey.

Other Honda CRF 250 was new when we bought it, which is 2016 model and from Holland.

2014 model	2016 model	Which part has Changed	Detail
2.500 km	1.000 km	Engine oil and filter	We didn’t know when they changed last time for the second hand. (in TURKEY)
6.500 km	–	Battery	Battery dead for second hand motorcycle. (in HOLLAND)
10.000 km	6.700 km	Engine oil	(in NORWAY)
14.500	–	Chain and Back sprocket	(in POLAND)
16.500 km	13.400 km	Engine oil and filter	(in HOLLAND)
21.070 km	18.170 km	All Tires, Heidenau K60,	We used original tires, IRC, in Europe. (in TURKEY)
21.070 km	18.170 km	Engine oil	(in TURKEY)
–	18.170 km	Chain	(in TURKEY)
29.300 km	26.200 km	Air filter	(in SENEGAL)
29.300 km	26.200 km	Engine oil and filter	(in SENEGAL)
29.300 km	–	Chain and sprockets	(in SENEGAL)
32.000 km	29.000 km	Break fluid	There was so much dust in it(in MALI)
–	31.100 km	One fork seal	Nigerian roads are terrible (in NIGERIA)
36.300 km	33.200 km	Engine oil	(in CAMEROON)
38.300 km	35.400 km	Rear tires, Michelin T63,	(in GABON)
41.500 km	38.700 km	Engine oil	(in ANGOLA)
41.500 km	38.700 km	Headlight bulb	(in ANGOLA)
–	38.700 km	Sprockets	(in ANGOLA)
47.600 km	45.000 km	All Tires, Mitas EO7,	(in SOUTH AFRICA)
47.600 km	45.000 km	Engine oil and filter	(in SOUTH AFRICA)
47.600 km	45.000 km	Break fluid	There was so much dust in it (in SOUTH AFRICA)
47.600 km	45.000 km	Spark plug	(in SOUTH AFRICA)
53.400 km	50.900 km	Engine oil	(in BOTSWANA)
58.250 km	–	Clutch pad, Engine oil and Engine filter	(in TANZANIA)
–	56.000 km	Engine oil and filter	(in TANZANIA)
–	57.250 km	Battery and Engine oil	(in TANZANIA)
62.500 km	60.300 km	Engine oil	we could find organic oil therefore we changed engine oil every 4.000 km. (in KENYA)
–	63.000 km	Chain	He used the chain total 44.250 km. 🙂 (in ETHIOPIA)

67.100 km	65.100 km	Engine oil	It was organic motorcycle engine oil so we wanted to changed in 4.000 km but we couldn’t find good quality engine oil. (in ETHIOPIA)
–	65.100 km	Clutch pad	(in ETHIOPIA)
68.000 km	66.000 km	We cleaned fuel pumps and fuel filter	Our both motorcycle stopped and didn’t work well again after bought our first petrol in Sudan. We searched everything and than we had to clean pumps and filters. (in SUDAN)
69.000 km	67.000 km	Sprockets, Engine oil and filter, Break fluid, fork oil and seals, Spark plug, air filter. And all tires, (Mitas EO7)	(in TURKEY)
69.00 km	–	Rear break, Chain	Used the chain 40.000 km (in TURKEY)
–	67.000 km	Valve clearance, Fuel pump	(in TURKEY)
–	73.000 km	Rear break	(in TURKEY)
76.000	74.500 km	Engine oil	(in TURKEY)
–	74.500 km	Cam chain tensioner	(in TURKEY) Free changed because of the fabric problem.
83.500	–	Engine oil and filter, Air filter	(in TURKEY)
–	85.100 km	?????????	(in HOLLAND) Motorcycle is in Holland and we are in Turkey therefore we haven’t check yet but could be similar.

*We filled in the km if we changed something on the motorcycle, if there is no number we only changed it on 1 motorcycle.

What we have been learning on the road we always like to share. You can find playlist to watch from our maintenance here :

When our motorcycles arrive Turkey from Sudan with air freight we went Ersoy Moto, where we can work ourselves on the motorcycles. We had checked-up our CRF 250 L motorcycles. Also we cleaned them, it took many hours to clean African dust and dirt because it was stuck every where. 🙂

By the way, we went to Honda service in Cape Town to ask about valve clearance when motorcycles were 47.500 km. They told us everything sounds fine therefore they didn’t open the engine. We opened both motorcycles engine for valve clearance in Turkey. Second hand motorcycle was 69.000 km we measured it but it was not necessary to do so we didn’t.

We always check the mechanic/technical book of Honda CRF 250L to change everything on time but some parts of motorcycle lasted more long than the book is saying or we didn’t have the parts to change.

We haven’t changed his breaks yet because we didn’t need to use our break on the road so much. 🙂 Generally, gas breaks is enough for us in Africa. We had to change mine because rear break had damage.

If you plan a long motorcycle journey like us you should check our other articles about what we carry for fix motorcycles, how much knowledge you need about motorcycle before start to travel , what have been learning on the road to mechanic of motorcycle? …etc for all articles just click 🙂

January 9, 2018

Comesa Vehicle Insurance ( Yellow Card) for East Africa

When traveling in Africa with any vehicle; motorcycle, 4×4, truck etc; You can have one third part vehicle insurance and use it in multiply countries which are Brown insurance (Ecowas) to Western Africa and Yellow Card (Comesa) in Eastern Africa.

Comesa insurance starts from Zimbabwe and you can use until Sudan (include), it’s writing Egypt as well but they won’t except it. The price are changing, it depends how long you want to have it and how many countries you will enter. If your plan more than 3 countries you need to have it for all countries which are Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan.

We applied for the Yellow Card in Lusaka, Zambia. We didn’t get it in Zimbabwe because the prices are way to high there. If you use the Victoria falls border you can easily get the Comesa in Livingstone as well.

Before you get it you must have a Zambian insurance from the company. So you need to try to pass the border without getting any insurance, tell them you will get it in the next city and you will get the Comesa for all East Africa countries. Otherwise you need to pay the local insurance twice as you need to have it from the same company.

We paid for each motorcycle 24.5 USD for the Zambian traffic insurance and than 57 USD for 6 months Comesa to enter all countries. (I am sure there are better deals if you search more).

The Comesa Insurance was with us Zambia to Sudan and nobody ask about it. Only, Malawi border wanted see it. Otherwise, nobody asking if you don’t do anything wrong in the traffic or accident. Her brother travel without Yellow card Egypt to Zimbabwe. He told us only Tanzania when a police stop him they asked it. He passed them with 5 USD. If you ask to us we can recommend to have it is not expensive.

We made a short video for our Africa journey, roads, life… We hope that you like to watch :



FS

January 6, 2018
Zimbabwe and Zambia in one visa (Kaza Visa)

Kaza visa allows you to visit Zimbabwe and Zambia for 30 days with multiple entrees between the two countries in one visa. So you can not leave the countries (for example, form Zambia go to Malawi and than enter Zimbabwe with same Kaza visa is not possible) but if you want to visit daily Kasane, Botswana (to visit Chobe NP) you can use the Kazungula border near to Kasane (from Zimbabwe or Zambia side) to go to Botswana for a day and turn back. The Kaza visa accepts this visit.

Kaza visa costs 50 USD but unfortunately we couldn’t get it because it’s not always available at the border in Kazungula border to Zimbabwe. It was available at the Victoria falls border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Also we asked Kariba border in Zimbabwe when we were going to Zambia for Kaza visa; They told us they don’t give in this border.

Zambia visa and Kaza visa same price. If you want to go to see the Victoria Falls from both sides Livingstone and than Kariba lake and Manapools in Zimbabwe after that Zambia again it is the cheapest way.

Both countries is so nice to travel. If you have more time we can recommend to spend a little more time to discover Zimbabwe also Zambia. If you can get visa it is so easy to travel between to countries also save money. 🙂

We had amazing time in Zimbabwe. If you like to read our Zimbabwe story just click it. Also some tips to Zambia wildlife, you can saty next to one of the national park and enjoy to watch animals.

East africa countries visa details and border crossing & Bribes.

Enjoy your journey in Africa and if you have any question in your mind please ask we would like to help you.

We made a short video about our Zimbabwe and rain season adventure. We hope that you like to watch it :



FS

January 3, 2018
Zimbabwe is such a nice country

I don’t know where I can start to write about our Zimbabwe adventure, which was one of our amazing African journeys to meet culture and have another experience with motorcycle.

Border Crossing

We arrived to Zimbabwe border in Kasane. They said that no “Kaza Visa”. We got a little upset for that but we didn’t have any option more. So, we got single entry 30 days visa after wait 1.5 hours.

Before start to read all details of Zimbabwe you can watch a short video about the journey;

Victoria Falls

We went to see the Victoria falls and stayed a couple of days there in a backpacker area. Which was expensive and not that much space for camping. 10 usd pppn and wifi was 3 usd pppd. It is touristic area what we waited of course it can be expensive.

First time we went to the market we figured out that Zimbabwe is so expensive. First of all, their currency is USD. 1 liter petrol is 1.45 USD, an egg is 0.50 USD, 1 kilo tomato is 3 USD…. etc. Everything was too much for us to stay longer. It was good idea to pass Zambia as soon as possible. But it didn’t happened 😉

As we had a single entree for Zimbabwe only we want to see more!

We were looking the map where we can go, what can we do or see in Zimbabwe. We wanted to turn around the Kariba lake, go to Binga and see a little bit of the local life in Zimbabwe. But we were not sure about the road at that moment we met Mark who has been working in Chizarira national park. So, he knows the road well. After talk with him we decided to go there.

From the Victoria Falls to Binga to Karoi

First 100 km was tar road. Before turn Binga road we went to the last petrol station to have a full tank. We had the information that sometimes Binga run out of petrol. We filled two 5 liters bottles with petrol to take with us. The road is 500 km. We can go 350 km with our tank and rotopax.

We turn the road after 40 km later gravel road and soft sand started. We stopped to talk because the road was look like going nowhere. 😉 both of us knew that we miss the challenge and adventure. We had enough petrol and had enough water for 2 days. So, why not! Let’s do that…

Welcome to the African rain season!

Our plan was to go to Binga first night and find a place to sleep. But, the rain started suddenly like a shower. We were on the gravel road and can’t see very clear in front of us. Therefor, we leaved from the road and went inside the bush until nobody can see us. We opened very quickly our footprint to make some kind of roof for us than we could be safe from the rain. We waited a couple hours but the rain didn’t stop. It was already dark. It was looking like that we couldn’t ride anymore so don’t wait more just set up the tent. Terrible thought, to set up the tent under the rain because we don’t want that the inside gets wet. We got wet but the tent didn’t. Well done to us. 🙂

Finally, the rain stopped around 5 am in the morning. So, let’s get ready to hit the road again. We arrived in Binga and learned that they don’t have petrol. Yes, we had enough petrol to finish the road but any case nice to have 2-3 liters more to make sure we are safe.

We went to the Masuma River Lodge which we heart before from Mark that we can buy petrol from them. The manager was so friendly. We got petrol same price also bought water from them. The weather was so hot and he gave us cold soft drink to refresh. 😉 It was still early morning and we couldn’t ride yesterday. Clever idea to keep continue our road.

Meeting local people

It was our second day but was enough to see how much Zimbabwean people are so friendly who were shaking hands, smiling and every stop they were coming and talking with us.

On the road we saw a lot of village and houses that looked so beautiful, we wanted to go inside to see their life and learn a little about living there and culture.

First we stopped at a place were one woman was living with her 5 children, they showed us around and we talked a little bit with one of the daughters who was speaking a little bit of English. Unfortunately we where not allowed to take any photo’s and we respect them.

We went to another village and got invited with open arms. The people who lived here called the Tonga tribe. They where so proud to show everything around to how they live, what they grow, what they have around…etc. There were 47 people living in this village. The oldest woman was 120 years he told us (we don’t know how long a year is in the Tonga tribe).

Rain again…

As the clouds where getting darker and darker we decided to jump on our motorcycles again and make some more kilometers. This was a nice thought that didn’t work out. After another 10 km it started raining again, we stopped next to the road and opened our footprint again to keep us dry.

We hoped it would stop raining so we can ride a few more hours as it was only 2.30 pm. Unfortunately this didn’t happen, but we couldn’t camp here either! So we packed started the bike and went looking for a better spot which we found in a few kilometers. We set up the tent, put the footprint up again so we could sit dry and cook our dinner. After it got dark the rain stopped and we actually had a nice clear sky to see a lot of stars.

When the sun came up at 5.30 am we woke up and got ready after a good breakfast with pancakes. We started riding 7 am in the morning to see if we can make it to the end of the road. We started to run out of water at this time, so this was our priority to find now. We asked some people on the road where we can find a waterhole to get some water. They all send us the same way and eventually we found a waterhole where I could fill our bottles.

After that we saw another nice houses and went in to meet them. Only one family was living there with 5 kids. They were so friendly. They show their land what they grow there. Also, we saw their kitchen how they can cook and safe their food. Told little kids and than we said bye them.

We skipped to continue the road!

When we came half way there was a turn to the south towards Gokwe on a tar road. We didn’t take it and kept continue our road. We ride about 10 to 15 kilometers but the road got worse and worse. As our water sources are running out we talked a bit and decided to turn back and take the tar road to Gokwe. Because we didn’t sure that we can finish the road in a same day. If the rain comes a lot We could have hard time to ride on the road with mud, sand and gravel.

Stay a local house garden…

We put some air in our tires again and started to fly over the road again, there were some potholes but we are passing them easily sometimes it’s like playing a video game. A while later, our opinion that the road was thinking itself that It is a tar road. 🙂

When sunset started to come we where looking for a place to camp, all we see was people on the road and houses everywhere. Not good at all for us. At 5 pm I said to her let’s just go to a house and ask if we can camp, this is what we did. We asked if we could open our tent for a night on big plot where they are building a church (probably already for many years). The owner was a little bit surprised but was happy to let us open our tent for one night. When we set up our tent the whole family came and visit us, they where all so happy and welcoming we really felt great staying on their plot.

Visiting Chinhoyi Caves

In the morning we paced our tent early and left towards the Chinhoyi caves one of the 7 wonders of Zimbabwe, there was a campsite next to the caves which was again way to expensive but if you stay at the campsite you can go to the caves for only 3 USD which is normally 10 USD. We arrived on a Sunday so it was really crowded with local people at the caves but also at the campsite what they use as a pick nick site during the day. It was nice to see how the locals spent their Sundays using a braai (bbq), listening some music with their friends or family.

Going Kariba Lake

From the caves we went to lake Kariba, before we went there we passed the city Karoi where our normal road would have end and now we needed to get our last petrol there in Zimbabwe. No petrol in Karoi, we went to 5 different petrol stations and nothing to find.

We asked where is the next petrol station, they told us 85 km on our way. Ok, we can make that. When we arrived in the next town where they should have petrol the only station was closed for years, what can we do now? I found a lodge and went there to ask where I could get petrol, they told me in Kariba another 80 km away from here. No way we would make that I told them. There was a lady in the back listening to the conversation and she smiled and told she would help us with a few liters (we only need 2 liters). She filled a jerry can and gave us the petrol we needed. That was lucky! We continued our road to Kariba what turned out to be a very beautiful road, on the way we stopped and made a little movie with our drone from the surroundings. And arrived at Lake Kariba.

Here we found a simple but affordable campsite to stay 5 USD pppn, they had a nice place to sit and with a little view of the lake but more important there were a lot of hippo’s in front of us in the water. We love to see the wildlife. After a while a few zebra’s visit them as well, we had a great time looking all of this. Then sunset came, unfortunately this was not visible from this site. We walked a little bit towards the lake to see it and it was a beautiful sunset, but we needed to keep a eye on the water as well as the hippo’s where there looking what we where doing.

Flat tire.

We woke up early to pass the border as quickly as possible, after breakfast I figured out her tire was flat. Damn, that needs to be repaired. This is the first time we repaired the tire by hand with only our equipment available. I think we did a great job together and after 1,5 hours we where ready to go!

We had changed her inner tube. First time, we were in Gabon a tire repair (some king of shop) shop had a big hole on the inner tube when he were changing the tire. This repair open in Mozambique and we repair again. 2.000 km later again flat tire and the problem was coming again same torn. Therefore, we decided to good idea change the inner tube. We were carrying extra one with us. 🙂

Let’s see what Zambia will bring us 🙂

Would you like to watch Zimbabwe motorcycle trip to see all what you read here.

FS-GS

December 30, 2017
Visa Application in Eastern African Countries
All information about the Visa’s in East Africa Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.

Zambia

We entered Zambia from the Kariba border and paid 50 USD for our visa (Netherlands and Turkey), valid for 30 days and single entry. Multiply entry costs 80 USD.

Better to do, buy the KAZA visa, see our blog for that.

If you only visit the Victoria falls from Zimbabwe the is a daily visa which costs 20 USD.

Prices are for all European passports as well.

We also paid for road and carbon tax. They are expensive for motorcycles.

Malawi

We got our visa’s in advance in Lusaka at the Malawi embassy, apply in the morning and collect in the afternoon.

You need 1 passport photo and a passport copy. Costs of the visa is 75 USD for all European, US, Australia and Turkish passport.

Tanzania

Visa on arrival for Tanzania, costs are 50 USD for all nationalities except US they pay 100 USD. The visa is valid for 90 days and single entree; a multiple entrée visa costs 100 USD for all nationalities including US.

Rwanda

Visa on arrival for Rwanda, costs are 30 USD for almost all nationalities.(Indonesia, Malaise are free we know) The visa is valid for 30 days and single entree; a multiple entrée visa costs 100 USD on the door.

If you visit their website multiple visa price is 60 USD to online apply. They have transit visa for 3 days but same price with single entree, 30 days.

Better to do; buy the East Africa Visa.

Uganda

Apply online and pay online, you print the papers and just go to the border. Costs are 50 USD for all nationalities. The visa is valid for 30 days and single entrée.

Better to do; buy the EATV.

Kenya

Visa on arrival for Kenya, costs are 50 USD for European and Turkish passport. The visa is valid for 30 days and single entrée. A multiple entrée visa costs 100 USD

Better to do; buy the East Africa Visa.

If you are overlander you should check out border crossing and bribe note as well.

Ethiopia

We got our Ethiopian visa in Nairobi (Kenya), it is one of the hardest visa’s to get on our route but I think we got lucky and had a very quick. You need to have a letter of introduction from your embassy, this is because they want you to apply in your home country. But for a lot of people like us this is not possible as we are for a long time on the road.

This is what you need;
- Letter of introduction
- passport copy
- Passport photo
When you apply you need to fill in a paper, they ask for a address in Ethiopia and all your personal details. Also they want to know all countries you visited in Africa and your next destinations.

Costs for the visa are;

1 month 40 USD

3 months 60 USD

6 months 90 USD

The amount you need to pay at the bank, you get the details when you apply in the embassy.

All visa’s are single entree, they didn’t want to give us a multiple entree ( we did ask for it).

We got our visa on the same day!

Note, the visa starts the day you apply!

Sudan

We got our Sudanese visa in Addis Ababa, it went really easy and we got it in 24 hours.

This is what you need for the visa;
- Passport copy
- 2 passport photos
- copy from your Ethiopian visa
- hotel reservation and a contact at the hotel (not from the hotel itself).
The costs are 68 USD (only cash in USD) for a 1 month visa, the is a 14 days transit visa as well but that costs the same.

Note, the visa starts the day you apply!

We made a short video for our Africa journey, roads, life… We hope that you like to watch :



FS
December 27, 2017
Border Crossing, Bribery, Import vehicles in Eastern Africa

Western Africa, Southern Africa and now we are at the last part of Africa (East) in our trip. It is look like that this part will be more expensive than others.

– Zambia

We entered Zambia from Kariba

Passport – they just ask how long you want to stay and they prepare your visa (more details see visa story) .

Import vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about that)

Vehicle insurance – we didn’t buy any insurance at the border but bought it in the Capital Lusaka and took the Comesa insurance here to.

Road- and Carbon tax – We paid 20 usd per motorcycle road tax (paid in usd cash only) and 70 kwacha per motorcycle only payable in local currency (no cards excepted).

Bribery – no money or gifts asked, there is a money exchanger around who you need, his rate is not so bad. When you leave the border you have to pay 30 kwacha community tax per vehicle only local currency cash.

Leaving Zambia

We left Zambia from Chipata

Passport – easy stamp out

Export vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about that)

Bribery – no money or gifts where asked.

(When we were there 1 USD=10 Kwacha)

– Malawi

We entered Malawi from Mchinji

Passport – easy stamp for 30 days

Import vehicle – We used our (Carnet de Passage)

Vehicle insurance – We used our Comesa insurance (see our blog about that)

Road- and Carbon tax – We needed to pay 20 USD road tax for each motorcycle, only payable in USD. You fill in a form after that you pay and with that receipt you will receive a paper that you paid for the road tax. No carbon tax to be paid.

Bribery – no money or gifts where asked.

Leaving Malawi

We left Malawi through border near.

Passport – Our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage.

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

– Tanzania

We entered Malawi at the Kasumulu border.

Passport – We paid for the visa and our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage.

Vehicle insurance – our COMESA insurance is valid here.

Road tax and Carbon tax – No road or carbon tax to be paid (finally).

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

Leaving Tanzania

We left Tanzania through the Rusumo falls border.

Passport – Our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this).

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

– Rwanda

We entered Rwanda at the Rusumo falls border.

Passport – We paid for the visa and our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage.

Vehicle insurance – our COMESA insurance is valid here.

Road tax and Carbon tax – No road or carbon tax to be paid.

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

Leaving Rwanda

We left Rwanda through the Gatuma border.

Passport – Our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this).

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

– Uganda

We entered Uganda at the Katuma border.

Passport – We already paid for the visa and our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this).

Vehicle insurance – our COMESA insurance is valid here.

Road tax and Carbon tax – No road or carbon tax to be paid.

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

Leaving Uganda

We left Uganda through the Malaba border.

Passport – Our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this).

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

– Kenya

We entered Kenya at the Malaba border.

Passport – We had visa already and our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this).

Vehicle insurance – our COMESA insurance is valid here.

Road tax and Carbon tax – No road or carbon tax to be paid.

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

Leaving Kenya

We left Kenya through the Moyale border.

Passport – Our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this). But, we stayed in Kenya more the 14 days so we needed to pay road tax for our motorcycles. We told the custom officer we don’t have any money left and we only stayed longer in Kenya as we got stuck because of riots at the border on Ethiopia side. Eventually we left without paying, lucky us!

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

– Ethiopia

We entered Ethiopia at the Moyale border.

Passport – We had a visa already and our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this). They do want to now your road in Ethiopia, all places you want to visit. Also they write down what valuables you have like a phone, tablet, camera and laptop (they check when you leave).

Vehicle insurance – our COMESA insurance is valid here.

Road tax and Carbon tax – No road or carbon tax to be paid.

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

Leaving Ethiopia

We left Ethiopia through the Metema border.

Passport – Our passports got stamped easy, nothing asked for.

Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this).

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

– Sudan

We entered Sudan at the Metema border.

Passport – We had a visa already and our passports got stamped easy. We needed to pay 606 Sudanese pounds each to register our visa. It turned out to be valid for 2 months instead of 1 month now. When having check points they are only interested in the register part not the visa.

Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this). We arrived on a Friday afternoon, this is the public holiday in Sudan and the general is not always available. They needed to go to his house to stamp our Carnet de Passage (CdP)

Vehicle insurance – our COMESA insurance is valid here.

Road tax and Carbon tax – No road or carbon tax to be paid.

Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.

Leaving Sudan

We left Sudan through Khartoum airport because we had some issue to get a Egypt visa to her in Sudan. 🙁

If you need to leave Sudan airfreight, air cargo you can check the link.

So, time to say goodbye to Africa after 19 months, 48.000 km and 33 countries. Next continent is waiting for us 🙂

We made a short video for our Africa journey, roads, life… We hope that you like to watch :



FS

December 23, 2017