STHEMBISO Mthembu of Amanzimtoti has just returned to South Africa after embarking on an epic 13 650km trip across Africa on his motorcycle.
He left on November 19, 2023, and returned on January 16, having ridden through 10 countries. His journey took him through Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Also read: If you ride a bicycle or a motorcycle, take note
“Four wheels move the body, but two wheels move the soul. Africa is such a beautiful continent, and there was a lot to experience and take in. I wish I had taken along more devices to capture every moment accordingly,” said Sthembiso.
He said he developed a love of motorcycles while still young after seeing his older brothers with their bikes. He is a member of the Durban Nite Riders Club. While people across all the countries he went through were friendly, he said most of them were surprised to see a South African man riding solo without any accompanying backup.
“The people they mostly see riding through their villages and towns are tourists from overseas. They also liked my BMW R1250GS bike which was huge compared to their day-to-day scooters,” he said.
He never experienced any mechanical problems with the bike and found it a comfortable ride. Each country had its own unique experience, and Sthembiso said communication was effortless in the southern African countries that have English as one of the official languages. In Burundi and Mozambique, that was not the case as both countries have French and Portuguese respectively as official languages.
Sthembiso budgeted R130 000 for the trip, which took care of visas, food, accommodation and fuel. He could have returned sooner had he not rested for two weeks in Tanzania. He said he did not have any bad experiences besides getting stuck in the mud one rainy day in Burundi. The villagers helped him push the bike for about 2km to a solid road where he was able to ride again.
“My trip coincided with the rainy season, and that is the only drawback about the trip that I remember,” he said.
For anyone who would like to take a trip through African countries, Sthembiso’s advice is, “Take as many recording devices as you can because the experience needs to be recorded. I made the mistake of relying on my phone to take pictures, but I soon realised I should at least have taken a Go-Pro along. If you can afford a drone camera, take it along,” he said.
He added that he considers the trip as a warm-up for the next trip he wants to take. Although he has not set the date yet, he wants to ride to Egypt soon.
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