Technical

20,000 kilometers in Africa on a motorcycle, writing stories and taking photos and videos for publications on the internet and in print requires some seriously interesting gear. While I wanted to have the good stuff, I did not want to be in a position to feel anxious about loosing a piece of equipment that was ‘too expensive.’ The choices were a compromise between buying the best stuff out there and equipment that made sense- it did the job and it was affordable, compact and lightweight. While I wanted to have the good stuff, I did not want to be in a position to feel anxious about loosing a piece of equipment that was ‘too expensive.’ The choices were a compromise between buying the best stuff out there and equipment that made sense- it did the job and it was affordable, compact and lightweight.

Choosing a motorcycle was probably the most important and complicated amongst the list of things needed. I owned a Yamaha XT-600 in San Francisco and three 350 Royal Enfields for trips in India. Now, I felt that “my dues were paid,” I was ready to graduate to “Saxon bikes,” either a German BWM or an Austrian KTM. The KTM 640 LC Adventure, was a lighter, more maneuverable off road bike. The BMW 650GS Dakar was another option and that was a heavier bike that handled itself better on roads then off. I actually never rode any of these bikes, and relied on people that did. I contacted three KTM 640 LC bike sellers in Johannesburg area. The communication is great and I hope to have my bike ready around December 1.

There is some good reading about people traveling across continents on bikes. “Adventure Motorcycling Handbook” by Chris Scott gives a great general outline of the preparations involved in getting such a project off the ground. If you want to be inspired read “Jupiter’s Travels,” and “Dreaming of Jupiter“ by Ted Simon. Simon first zigzagged the six continents in four years in 1970s. At the age of 69, the amazing globetrotter did it again and inspired another generation of motorcycle riders all over again.

Lonely Planet Guides are my choice. I have three of them for the trip: for Southern Africa, Western Africa and Africa - all 1,186 pages of it. It is seven pounds of information and I am thinking of forwarding a couple of these to a post restate address.

GPS maps for most of Africa aren’t very useful, at east yet. While many trans Africa travelers swear by Michelin maps, I decided to try a bit of variety. I found a website site that sold thousands of maps, all you needed was to specify a country or region and voila. I purchased the smallest scale maps available for each country, usually 1-1.2 million. The French Africa is covered well by International Travel Maps and Institut Geographique National. German map makers are close behind with Reise, Harms Verlag, and my favorite Nelles for their accuracy easy to read graphics. I ended up with 16 maps overall.

As I wanted to shoot both still photos and videos, the task wasn’t easy. What decided it was the weight and ability to capture stereo sound. Not too many compact cameras can capture stereo sound and none of then can support an external mike thou. In the end I’ve decided on a PowerShot SX20 IS, for its compactness, sharpness, and stereo capabilities.

The Eepc Laptop has a solid state hard drive, a seven hour battery life and should be able to take some rough handling. You could even take half-decent still photos and shoot video with this thing. The 16 gig, 2G I-phone, bought jail-broken, can accept a cellular chip from anywhere. I downloaded audio books, pod casts, 600 songs, applications for facebook, currency conversion, dictionaries, games, etc. The content should keep me busy, organized and entertained on the ride.

I am a news junkie and love to stay on top of what is going on around the world. This becomes especially important as I will travel through Central and North Africa. Coups, floods and riots cause borders to be closed and areas turning from unpredictable to dangerous. One way to stay alert is by listening to BBC and RFI. Tecsun DR-920, a compact and inexpensive Chinese made short wave world receiver radio does the job.

Casio triple sensor tough solar has a compass and depth gage. I’ve windsurfed with it, free dived with it to 95 feet with it, sailed with it, now the watch has a chance to prove itself on dry land. 

GPS:

Garmin Nuvi 205 GPS with maps downloaded from www.tracks4africa.co.za On top of its great maps, I can find out how close is it to the nearest petrol station, where is the nearest hotel or restaurant and the device even alerts me of “crime areas” and “cattle crossings

Tent:

Vario 23 by North Face is just right… at least for solo crossing Africa on a motorcycle. I learned to pitch it in 12 minutes and fold it in 11. The cay is to always dry it thou before putting it away. This is the forst tent I bought, as I used to camp “under the stars.” Africa with its insects and Malaria was an obvious choice for getting this 2 kilo tent.

Sleeping Bag:

The kilo bag by North Face is lightweight and I manage to stuff it onto a  tiny compression bag. The goose down is its key to the comfort.