At the outset of my trip heading from the United Kingdom to South Africa, the classic motorbike route of London to Cape Town, I was pretty green to adventures (and on some level I suppose I still am).  That said, after 5 months and 23,000km I’ve learnt a couple of things.  Some things I got right from the outset, sometimes by luck, and some things I desperately wish I’d learnt sooner.

Here is your opportunity to learn from my mistakes and wins, without having to do it the hard way of traversing multiple African countries to figure it out.  I am also sure all of it translates to other continents too, so it’s still useful to have a read if you are planning an upcoming trip in the near future.  Let’s start with the wins!

The Wins:

A Multi-Tool:  I thought it would be handy to have a quick go-to tool for motorbike repair, with pliers and a knife at a minimum; my reasoning being they alone would be worth their weight in gold for odd jobs along the way.  Over 160+ days on the road, there has barely been a single day I haven’t reached for it.

The multi-tool in action, helping fix one of our Honda motorbikes.

The knife prepares our dinner around the camp stove most evenings, or even when we rent an apartment that doesn’t have kitchen cutlery!

The pliers have been used to cut old wire, to clean my carburetor at the side of the road more times than I wish it had, and even the tin opener and file have seen use.  Its an old, no name multi-tool that I don’t even recall how and where it arrived into my life, (though I suspect my late dad had something to do with it) but now I struggle to envisage any type of replacement.

Its just so blooming handy that I reach for it even to do tasks that it perhaps isn’t best used for, like using the flat screwdriver to tighten the Japanese industrial screws on my Honda motorcycle!

Spare Straps:  I didn’t know how many straps I would need to hold my luggage on the bike, but what I did know is that if one got stolen, damaged or lost, I’d be frustrated trying to hold luggage on my lap whilst steering and controlling the bike.

Straps holding my Top Box in place, pictured somewhere on the road from London to Cape Town.

I packed a spare rok-strap (basically a Gucci bungee tie) and a couple of self-tightening straps – safely secured and waiting patiently for their turn to help in some way or another.

When our luggage system failed on the terribly bumpy roads of the Diama crossing from Mauritania to Senegal, the self-tightening straps sprang into action to provide emergency containment… though such is the success I still haven’t replaced them some 16,000km later!

When my carburetor was blocked in Point-Noire, just 1km from the hotel another strap was used as a tow rope from Lauren’s bike to mine, and when my top box decided to become a Bluetooth luggage item on the notoriously pot-holed roads of Angola the final rok-strap, and a self-tightening one, now keep the box and bike in harmony once more!

I suspect it’ll stay that way until my arrival in SA!

Intercoms:  This is often thought of as a motorbike specific item I admit, however if you are planning to travel in any method, solo or not this is a god-send.

Most intercom systems now, regardless of brand, will mesh together meaning whether you meet someone on the road and travel for an hour or day, or whether like me you’re travelling with your better half, then these are great.  They help with those all-important small details, like calling out yet another pothole to avoid, or even a stray snake, it is far easier than waving arms and fingers around which almost always ends in the other rider not understanding.

An Intercom is Always a Win When Riding in Africa

Spend a few bucks and get a system that works and I promise it’ll make the boring stretches, the demanding routes, or even the intense city onslaughts that await that little bit more pleasant when its shared.

Water Filter:  I picked up one of these being conscious of the plastic waste that dominates our world now, which will soon be clear in whichever country you travel, but also because I was not wanting to drink water of unknown quality.  Both problems easily solved with a simple filter.

Lauren filtering water from a tap in Morocco.

There are lots of options on the market, some operate via gravity however we chose the Grayl bottle.

A reusable water filter that can take out 99.9% of harmful bacteria, which not only gives us confidence to drink from almost any source, but also makes you feel good doing it knowing that perhaps just a couple less plastic bottles are ending up in nature because of it.

…and now we come to the mistakes…

The Mistakes:

A Fan:  Clambering into a poorly ventilated tent in the midst of rainy season in the tropical regions of Africa has led to far too many nights to count of being hot, uncomfortable, sweaty and of course then a poor nights sleep because of it.

A small rechargeable fan (or even better two) to dangle from the roof of the tent to provide a small relief from the outer conditions would have been a god send.  In fact we purchased one cheaply from a typical everything in one supermarket shop in Cote D’Ivoire, however it failed fairly quickly.  Those few glorious nights of makeshift AC that provided just enough cool airflow on the skin for 15 minutes at a time were the sweet memories. They are just as useful in embassies or at immigration that obviously make you wait in the sweltering heat causing you to be the envy of all onlookers.

When I next get chance for Amazon deliveries or a decent store, I’m buying more!

Salt & Pepper:  So many foods throughout this African adventure have been far from our typical meals.  Avocado, sweetcorn and tomato ketchup sandwiches (honestly far better than it sounds) by the road side, or omelette for breakfast for the umpteenth time.

When cooking for ourselves, food can always be improved with the humble salt and pepper.

Our simple cooking kit for the ride from London to Cape Town.

The beauty is that salt and pepper can be bought almost anywhere, but don’t underestimate the cost!

Sometimes it would represent a tank of fuel in the bike such was the price!

Bring some from home and avoid the inevitable slightly underwhelming foods, elevating them just that few percent.  It may be over simplistic but honestly, I wish we had been carrying it since the start, and in good quantity!

Bug Zapper of Death!  Hearing the unmistakable electric zap and crackle from Alex, our motorbike travelling friend, kill the mozzies next to us in his tent, whilst being slowly driven to insanity with them feasting upon us inside our own, was enough to cement this decision for me.

It’s a luxury, unnecessary for the most part but whenever we have been around Alex, and it has been a lot on this trip, sharing apartments or camping spaces, our envy has come out in force whenever his “executioner” has come out to play.

You can use long clothing, deet, mosquito nets or a myriad of other defence layers to protect yourselves from bugs and beasties, but they invariably always seem to penetrate every line of defence.  They do say the best form of defence is attack!

Overpacking:  This final one may be slightly hypocritical against the above but we didn’t get chance to test our luggage systems before the big day.

The first ride we did, was with our equipment as we pulled away in the pitch black early hours of a December morning heading for the Euro-Tunnel to cross from England to France.  Truthfully we should have done what I’ve heard numerous times from other travellers and can now confirm to be true, take everything out and evaluate what you truly need!

I have trainers I wear once every month or so.  Clothes which haven’t seen the light of day since Morocco, and a few other sundry items that are all adding to the chaos and making our lives that little bit more difficult.

It limits space for when we want to stock up on food and water supplies, and we are stuck in the predicament of not wanting to throw away or gift the items because of their inherent cost, but being frustrated of travelling with them because they aren’t being used frequently enough.

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I hope that with at least one of the items on these lists, there is something useful.

I believe the proverb is a wise man learns from his own mistakes, an even wiser one learns from others.

Get out there on your own adventure, whether it’s to the next town or on the next trans-continental trip, take risks, do something new, and enjoy the wonderful world we live in.

(This article was written by Tom Gould, a Guest Writer for The Africa Rally; to get in touch about joining our team of Guest Writers, or taking part in one of our events, please email the HQ Team on info@africarally.com)