Not just another motorcycle riding day in Botswana

I’d forgotten how it felt to be on an absolute high. The feeling of excitement, the rush of adrenaline! I had that feeling when I started traveling the world on a motorcycle 2,5 years ago. And for a long time, I had that same feeling again and again when I entered a new country. But lately, motorcycle adventure travel has become the new normal to me. Riding all day, getting lost in the African bush, and arriving at a new destination, it has become a daily routine, just like others have their regular day in the office. 

Some people enjoy daily routines, I don’t. I like to be out of my comfort zone. I strongly believe that being out of your comfort zone pushes you to reach new heights. You will do things you never thought you’d be able to. It worried me, what if adventure traveling had become my new comfort zone? 

And then something unexpected happened in Botswana…

That day, I had planned to ride towards the Makhadikhadi salt pans. There were some famous big and old baobab trees to see, and I wanted to film these beauties. 

When I stopped on my way there to fly the drone for an impression of my surroundings, I suddenly saw a biker appear out of nowhere. He was even more surprised to see me than I was to see him. He kept on looking over his shoulder and in a matter of seconds, another biker and then a third biker popped up. ‘What are you doing here’, they exclaimed. The riders were all from Botswana and rode on their bikes all the time in this area, but they had never bumped into other riders before. Especially not here. 

It took me a few seconds before I realized that one of the riders was in fact James Alexander - who raced the Dakar Rally in 2020 in Saudi Arabia. I knew about this extremely impressive Dakar race. He entered the rally in the Malle Moto class and managed to finish the Dakar rally. I’d seen footage of him riding alone in the Saudi desert in the darkest hours of the night, when he was trying to finish the stage. What are the odds of running into this legend somewhere on a random track in Botswana! 

They told me they were riding to Kubu Island, a small rocky island full of baobab trees, surrounded by the Makhadikhadi salt flats. Kubu Island was already on my list to visit, but not today. The three guys were riding with another rider who was still in Gweta, together with their backup vehicle. ‘Why don’t you ride back to Gweta, put your luggage on the backup vehicle and join us to Kubu’, they said. 

Being a solo traveller, I wasn’t too stoked about riding in a group and having a backup vehicle nearby. But, riding with Dakar legend James Alexander on the salt-flats of Botswana, that was something I didn’t want to miss out on either!! 

And so I ploughed my way through thick sand, back to Gweta. My luggage was put in the backup vehicle and they loaded another ‘bedroll’ for me to sleep on at Kubu Island. There is no accommodation over there, so we were going camping. I set off with the fourth rider, Mark, and two vehicles. In a race against the clock to arrive at the same time on the island as the three previous riders I met earlier. It was an absolute nightmare. We kept on losing each other on the tracks, and one of the vehicles got a flat tyre to top it all off. I was either eating dust from the vehicle in front of me, or I was on my own, trying to find tyre tracks because I didn’t know where I was suppose to go. That is why I like to travel on my own, I kept thinking to myself. 

When we finally met up with the other riders at the saltpan, the sun was almost gone and it was still an hour to Kubu island. We decided to set up camp and ride to Kubu the next morning. This time, we were riding together. Now I wanted to try and keep up with James Alexander and his mates! My 250cc Savannah was of no match to a real Dakar bike though, nor were my riding skills! But that didn’t matter much. For the first time in a long time, I noticed that I was pushing all my limits. Not just the limits of my motorcycle, but also my mental and physical limits. Knowing there were riders in front of me and riders behind me, who were trying to catch up was an entire different feeling from riding alone with a fully loaded motorcycle! 

Then and there I knew it. This is what I want to do, I want to enter a Rally. It doesn’t have to be Dakar, which after all is the mother of all rallies. I just want to compete in a small rally one day. Learn how to read a roadbook, navigate through difficult terrain and push myself, and my bike to the limit. 

But for now, it will have some more regular days in the office, doing adventure motorcycle travel. And in the meantime, I will be preparing for my first rally!!