Makgadigadi Pans, Botswana

Last Friday morning 8 of us left with a weekend ride to Kubu Island on the Makgadigadi Pans in Botswana. We didn’t have any backup vehicle, so we had to load our bikes with all the food and water that we were going to need for three days.

What a ride it was! On Friday night we bushcamped out in the wilds. On Saturday we crossed the bone-dry Ntwetwe Pan on the Makgadigadi. Then, on Saturday night a heavy shower of rain turned the dry pans into a slippery disaster. All of us kept crashing and two friends hurt themselves that they couldn’t complete the ride out of the pans. Africa lent a helping hand and with a pickup they were taken to a local hospital. However, good news: They are fine.

I once again shared and enjoyed the camaraderie shared by fellow bikers and good friends.

01 late friday afternoon where we buschcamped in the kalahari desert

02 deep sandy tracks cut into the sand by the heavy bikes

03 eight bikers in the endless empty spaces

04 the sun set on seven happy male and one female biker

05 early morning and we chatted idly into the new day

06 our own doc klr at the beginning of the 86 km sandy stretch to the ntwetwe pan

07 the sand bit and down went one of many riders

08 there was always a biker nearby to help getting the bike up

09 and again

10 at the southern verge of the ntwetwe pan

11 what an amazing sight to cross the pan blind only on gps readings

12 my bike laden with the famous yellow bag ( 🙂 )

13 reaching kubu island late on saturday

14 sunday morning with a relaxed start into the day not knowing what mother nature had in store for us after the heavy downpour of the previous evening

15 mud slippery soapy mud

16 my buddy neil took this photograph of me

17 francois after a heavy crash

18 diederik on the right helped jacques back onto his bike

19 jacques with his foot trapped underneath his bike in a water filled spoor

20 sunday late afternoon with a cold coke after a hot days riding and sliding first through mud and then deep sand