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From Eswatini to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, back to South Africa and then onto Botswana. Breakdowns, sand, spare parts, a big detour and life on the road in Africa…
This travel blog recounts our motorcycle adventure through Africa on our round the world journey. To read more stories from our travels check out Our Adventures
Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana Motorcycle Travel Blog
By Andy Davidson
Mad or Nomad: Round the World Motorcycle Traveller
Eswatini
The border to Eswatini lay ahead. It felt special – like the gateway to the rest of Africa. We crossed one of the friendliest borders in eight years and headed straight for Hlane National Park to spend our evenings sitting by a watering hole, watching sleeping rhinos and jumping on safari drives in search of lions.
The next few days were spent visiting a cultural village to watch a local dance, see how people lived, and squeeze in a few more safaris. Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, is a small country, and after a week we were ready to move on. We were still buzzing about the “rest of Africa” – and Mozambique was next.
The Eswatini Cultural Village at Mantenga Reserve is a living museum that recreates a traditional 19th‑century Swazi homestead.
Here’s some interesting things we learned:
- Men exit first when leaving a hut or homestead, to protect the family in case of danger.
- Grandmothers hold a central role in family life and are shown deep respect.
- Polygamy is permitted — a man may take multiple wives if he can support them.
- Marriage involves cattle: wives are traditionally “bought” with cows as bride price.
- Adultery penalties: if a man commits adultery, he owes five cows to his wife’s family and five to the chief, and may face banishment.
- Inheritance rules: the youngest and oldest children remain at home to take over the homestead; middle children receive cattle and must establish their own households elsewhere.
- Capital punishment: those guilty of murder or witchcraft were blindfolded and told to jump from a mountain top.
- Burial customs: accused witches were not buried, to prevent them from “returning” to haunt the living.
Mozambique
We’d heard plenty of negativity about Mozambique. Fellow overlanders said it wasn’t worth it – just nip in and out if we had to. A few South Africans warned us off entirely. Most of the concerns were about police, corruption, and constant bribing: “If you go, you’ll get stopped – and you’ll be paying.”
It didn’t sound great. But we went anyway.
Our first night was at Henrique and Benilde’s place just outside the capital – two of the kindest guesthouse hosts we’ve ever met. The plan was simple: get to the coast, follow it up to Tofo Beach and Vilankulos, then keep riding north to see where we ended up.
Broken down part one: The ECU
After two nights at Henrique’s place, we got on the bikes ready to ride – and mine wouldn’t start. First time ever. I tried bumping it. Nothing.
Alissa’s started fine, so I swapped her battery into mine – still dead. Put mine in hers – started right up. So it wasn’t the battery. Must be a fuse.
The FI fuse had blown. I popped in a spare, heard the fuel pump prime, hit the switch – and the fuse blew again. Tried more fuses, same result. I checked everywhere for a short and found nothing. I was going to need help. And a multimeter.
Thankfully, a friend of a friend got in touch with his mate Rene the mechanic, who came over with a multi. We went through the whole bike until we found the culprit – the ECU had fried. Swollen and cracked. We swapped in Alissa’s ECU and the bike ran fine.
Henrique called a friend in South Africa. That friend went to a Honda dealership, bought an ECU and put it on a bus headed across the border to Mozambique. Someone else picked it up from the bus stop and brought it to our guesthouse.
Four days later and we were back in business. I took the bike out for an hour-long test ride, switching it off and on repeatedly. Everything worked perfectly.
Broken down part two: The battery
We tried again. Loaded up, said our goodbyes, and headed for Chidenguele Lake. It was our anniversary, so we booked a nice lodge on the water – six hours of riding, police checkpoints, water breaks, and plenty of stops and starts. The bike fired up every time without any delays.
We turned off the main road and hit sand – 10 km of it, getting deeper with every stretch. With four kms left to go, we stopped for a quick break. And of course, my bike wouldn’t start. Here, in the sand and baking sun – exactly where you don’t want to break down.
We stripped the luggage, pushed, and somehow managed to bump start it. In sand. I got it the final four kms to the lodge, which should’ve been enough to recharge. Switched it off and on – completely dead.
Six hours from the capital, now 10kms down a sandy track, and no idea if the ECU had blown again, or if something else had failed, or if the battery had just decided to give up too.
But we had a stroke of luck – the lodge staff had a multimeter. I went through everything again and confirmed it: the battery was completely dead. Swapped in Alissa’s and the bike started.
Then another stroke of luck – the lodge owner stepped in. A very helpful and friendly chap, he had a contact in Maputo who spent the day searching for a similar-sized replacement. He found one and called with the measurements. I measured the dimensions – it would fit.
The guy bought it, put it on a bus, and six hours later it arrived at the village at the start of the sandy track. Someone picked it up and handed it off to a 4×4 heading our way.
Now we’ve got a new battery, everything’s reading fine, and the bike starts like it should.
Time to relax. The bike’s fixed – new ECU, new battery – and we can finally get back to celebrating our anniversary in Mozambique.
Of course, we stayed a few extra days to make up for the ones lost sweating over charging systems, multimeters, and blown parts. It was only fair.
Tofo to Vilankulos
Before we entered Mozambique, we’d been warned: be careful of the police, expect to get stopped, expect bribes. Well, we did get stopped between Tofo and Vilankulos. A lot. But every officer we met was friendly, welcoming, fist bumps, jokes and just checking we were okay.
After our weekend at the lake lodge, we rode out to Tofo Beach, crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, and carried on to Vilankulos.
The sea is crystal clear and warm, the weather’s perfect, and the people are friendly. It felt like the right place to slow down for a few days.
Alissa nearly stepped on a jellyfish, but otherwise, all our worries seemed to melt away.
Broken down part 3: Suspension
We continued north, then crossed west towards Zimbabwe – somehow ending up on one of the worst sections of washboard we’ve seen in years. One and a half hours and 50kms of hard packed, relentless, bone shaking misery.
When we finally hit tarmac, we pulled over for a break and realised something was off with Alissa’s bike. Her feet were flat on the ground, and she’s normally on tiptoes. We checked the suspension: no oil leaks and no blown seals (thankfully). But the rear wasn’t rebounding and was hard to compress. A small crowd gathered. Nothing we could do roadside, so we swapped bikes and kept moving.
We reached Espungabera, the last town before the Zimbabwe border – but the hotel was fully booked. We searched for the second hotel, but it didn’t seem to exist. No other options. We tried the petrol station – no fuel. Same at the next one.
It was late in the day, but we had no choice other than to cross into Zimbabwe. There wasn’t a single other person crossing at either border, but it still took nearly two hours to get through. Now we were in trouble.
A warm welcome to Zimbabwe!
We were in. It was late, we were low on fuel, tired, hungry, one bike had no rear suspension and we had to make it to the next town, Chipinge.
But the road from the border was brutal. The first quarter was sand. The next half was a disaster – broken tarmac, deep sand, construction, and a narrow 50cm strip of road in the middle that oncoming cars fought for. Either side was a steep sandy camber into the bushes. Followed by the final quarter back in even deeper sand.
Night fell. Alissa got back on her bike – she didn’t want to ride mine as it’s much taller, especially not on sand. And with her eyes struggling in the dark (due to her laser eye surgery), we had to slow down even more.
So, there we were: sandy tracks, pitch black, caked in dust, miles from town, late at night… Not how we typically handle borders.
Back to South Africa
We finally found a hotel, showered and ate. Now we had a decision to make on how to get the suspension fixed. There were no options where we were in South Africa. There are no suspension shops in Zimbabwe either. We contacted a friend of a friend who knows his bikes in Zim and he said you have to head back to South Africa. We contacted another mechanic in Zim and he confirmed it.
It would be a shame because we just spent £150 on getting into Zimbabwe and now have to leave. Not to mention the £70 on a new battery and £200 on a new ECU. Might have to not eat for a week.
We sent an email to K-Tech suspension in the UK asking them what we should do…
New plan
From a little motel in Zimbabwe, we fired off an email to K-Tech Suspension in the UK asking about the compression issue. Within minutes, they replied:
“Don’t worry – if you can get to our distributor in Johannesburg, we’ll build a new 46mm Evo heavy-duty shock right now in England and add it to our next shipment. It’ll be there in a few days.”
You can’t beat that level of customer service. So – new plan. We’re detouring back to South Africa.
To be fair, we should’ve serviced the shocks ages ago. The recommended interval is 15,000 kms and we were on 55,000.
Great Zimbabwe
Before heading south, we made time to visit the Great Zimbabwe National Monument – once the heart of a powerful African kingdom between the 11th and 15th centuries.
The ruins are built entirely from granite blocks, stacked without mortar – and still standing. The Great Enclosure features a conical tower and 11-meter-high walls, making it one of the largest ancient structures south of the Sahara.
When the country gained independence in 1980, it was renamed Zimbabwe – after this site. In Shona, it means “House of Stone.”
Back to South Africa
Straight back into classic South African hospitality. Anton messaged to say we were passing near his farm and insisted we come stay.
On our first night, Anton, his brother Peter, and a bunch of their mates threw a massive braai – couldn’t have asked for a better welcome.
We stayed the next day to rest and do an oil change in their yard. Anton took us on a little tour of the area, grabbed burgers, and helped us plot the next leg of the route. He’s a 4×4 tour guide, so he knows the region inside out.
The following night, his friends returned to cook fresh bread on the fire, lamb stew, and homemade cheesecakes.
After spending a few days with Anton, we made our way to Johanesburg for the suspension repair. If you read our South Africa Blog you’ll remember the wonderful Pete and Beth who we stayed with. Well, their son Jon lives with his family close by the suspension shop and they kindly offered to put us up while we had the repairs done.
You can see why we didn’t mind coming back to South Africa. The people are just so hospitable.
A shock to the system
Suspension’s fixed and we’re back on the road. Huge thanks to Justin (a fellow Brit) at Shock Logic in Johannesburg for putting his work on hold and squeezing us in.
And a massive shoutout to K-Tech for the lightning-fast turnaround – building the new shock in the UK and getting it shipped out in days. Mega impressed. The new rear shock and front fork service feel excellent.
We pointed our wheels north out of the big city and made a run for it towards the border. We loved being back here, but we were now behind schedule.
South African hospitality
But South Africa didn’t let us leave without one more act of kindness. And what a brilliant way to wrap up our South Africa ride. We left Johannesburg and headed straight for the Botswana border – and just as we neared it, Tiaan got in touch: “Come stay at our place before you cross!”
Turns out, Tiaan and his wife run a beautiful lodge on their farm and gave us a room for the night. Then we headed over to their house for a braai and a few glasses of red – a fantastic evening with great people, and the perfect last night in South Africa.
We’re going to miss this country – but even more, we’ll miss the amazing people we’ve met along the way.
Botswana
After all the delays – batteries, ECUs, suspension – we decided to make up some miles and push for Namibia. The plan is to loop back into northern Botswana after the Caprivi Strip, but for now it was time to pack up camp and blast through the southern stretch of the country.
Rhino sanctuary
Before we started the long ride through Botswana, we headed to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary for a drive. Seeing these magnificent animals up close… it’s just something we will never get bored off. Have a read of the below drop down on rhinos and the dangers they face.
We hope you like rhinos… because they need all the love they can get. These incredible animals can trace their lineage back over 50 million years… But today, they’re one of the most endangered species on earth.
Poachers kill them to saw off their horns and sell them on the black market primarily in Asia.
There’s high demand there because of dumb myths about how they can be used for medicine… or because they think it’ll give them a better “love life”. (A rhino horn is made of keratin – the same protein in human hair and finger nails).
At the start of the 20th century there were over half a million rhinos, now there are 28,000.
Luckily, poaching is taken really seriously in Africa, with a few countries here giving their rangers and anti-poaching military units authorisation to shoot-to-kill poachers – with minimal accountability.
Have a read of this site: savetherhino.org
To Namibia…
Southern Botswana’s roads are hot, long, empty, and mind-numbingly straight – not ideal for our 300s. We tried dipping off the main road, but it’s sand. Sand, sand, sand…
Most of the good stuff – like Chobe National Park – is up north, so we’re making a dash for Namibia to claw back some time, then we’ll circle back into Botswana from the north later.
This last month has felt like a whirlwind of hard rides and breakdowns. So, we’re fixed on what’s ahead. For now, we’ll keep plodding along this endless tarmac in Botswana until we hit the border and hopefully have a fresh start and better off-road routes in Namibia…
With thanks to…
Thank you Anton and Peter for giving us a place to stay and being amazing people. We had such a blast hanging out.
John and Jo let us stay with them and their family in JB while the bikes were being serviced. Thanks so much for the wonderful evenings, chats and food.
If you’re heading from South Africa to Botswana, we recommend stopping by and staying at Tiann’s beautiful place.
Die Windpomp Bosveld on booking.com
Justin did an excellent job swapping our rear shock over and servicing both front and rears on both motorcycles. A super kind guy and very professional. He really helped us out and got us back on the road fast.
A huge thanks to K-Tech suspension in the UK. We’re constantly impressed by the suspension on our round the world ride – and their customer support.
Read our K-Tech review here: K-Tech Suspension Review
Read more on motorcycle travel in Africa
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If you enjoyed this Africa motorcycle travel blog or have any questions, please post your comments below. We’d love to hear from you.
Wow, what a dream to live! We are planning a trip from Cape Town up to Lusaka and back via Namibia, Caprivi strip, back down through Vic Falls, Zimbabwe (Harare) the crossing into Botswana and down back into SA through Mafikheng into the Northen Cape. We will avoid sand, but will do gravel roads. We are older and on heavy Bikes, I am the Pillion and the “gps”. Our oldest member of the group is 81 and flying in from Nee Zealand. He still lives on two wheels!
Whenever in Cape Town, give us a shout!
Hi Karola, thanks for your message! Sounds like you have an awesome trip and route planned!
Yes, definitely avoid that sand on heavy bikes!
Wow wow wow, 81 and flying in from NZ to ride Africa – now that’s impressive.
Have a brilliant trip and please do report back on here to let us know how it went.
All the best,
Andy