Hi Johan, I just came from Zambia last week. We stayed next to the Vic falls in the Zambezi Sun (AVANI). What a place - the scenery is astonishing. I went on a day long extreme white water rafting trip on the Zambezi - besides motorcycling this was one of the best experiences I've ever had - 33km's down the Zambezi river with 25 rapids (large) and it is a guarantee that you will fall into the river - in some place we drifted up to 400meters down river before we were picked up onto the raft - great fun. We saw crocodiles next to the river and although we didn't see them the guide told us that there were also hippos. The road from SA via Botswana to Zambia (if you want to sidestep Zimbabwe) is very good - people drive up with there cars - no 4Wheel bakkies needed.
Hi Revert, we tried not to do much more than 800km per a, so we started on Thursday afternoon and stayed at Bosveld skerm (B&B) about 30km from the Martins Drift border post on a farm. That was quite good and not at all expensive (330pp incl breakfast). Next we camped at the iconic Nata Lodge (around 200pp). They have a pool which we made use of. The plan was to rather sleep at Elephant Sands but that would involve a 1.5km sandy Jeep track while trying to avoid elephants! We decided against that since we are not that proficient on sand and the bikes were heavy. Next day we rode the 300 odd km to Vic falls and stayed at the Vic Falls Rest Camp which is ok - nothing special and at 260pp rather expensive. On Saturday we rode back to Francis town and stayed over at Woodlands Stop Over just outside the town. This is a very neat and clean facility with shop and swimming pool. Definitely worth it at 120pp. It involves a 6km goodish dirt road which necessitated us deflating our wheels somewhat. Sunday we rode home and arrived in Pretoria just as it was getting dark.
In Nata on our way back we decided to visit the Wimpy. Now this must be the worst Wimpy on the globe! They could not serve us anything, not even chips. We eventually sipped a fruit juice (the only one they had was guava) without ice. Apart from that we had excellent service everywhere. Not all garages had 95 octane fuel and my friend had to spend some time finding the right juice for his bike. There were many road blocks (veterinary - disease control) but they simply waved us through except for one or two where we had to step on a mat. Temperatures were a problem with the mercury rising to 38 degrees on Saturday. So winter is best unless you are not scared by extreme heat. Malaria also becomes a problem in summer. Hope that helps. There are other options though. We chose these and were happy. All of the facilities we stayed at had the option of chalets though some were fully booked.
Vic falls is ridiculously expensive at R50 a beer and R250 for a steak. SO it makes sense to rather return to Kasane and sleep there. That also reduces the distance back to Francis town and since the border crossing was then done the previous evening, the traveling can be much more relaxed.
Awesome trip johan. Well I am leaving with a bunch of mates on Friday. +/- 1200 km over 3 days. Day 1 Durban to Jozini dam. Inland route not the freeway. Back roads. Day 2 Jozini to Newcastle. Via all back roads Day 3 Newcastle to Durban via greytown
Hi Marty, when you say back roads, do you mean dirt or is it still paved? I'm asking cause I've never seen the NC as a dirt-orientated bike. But maybe I'm wrong. If it is dirt, what tyres and tyre pressure are you on?
