Sunday, March 28, 2010

Points of Interest we'd like to see

There are many places to see and things to do and food to try but we have to realistic, sort of. Here are some of the natural sites and cultural sites Rob and I have talked about visiting:

Belize
Mayan ruins at Caracol

Guatemala
Antigua, (UNESCO world heritage site)

Costa Rica
Arenal volcano

Ecuador
Old Town Quito (UNESCO site)

Peru
Los Gorriones orphanage
Colca canyon
Cuzco (UNESCO site)
Machuu Pichu (UNESCO site)
Nasca Lines (UNESCO site)

Brazil
Amazon jungle

Boliva
Death road, Coroico .... again :)
Cochabamba valley

Argentina
Iguazu falls, border of Brazil and Argentina (UNESCO site)

South Africa
Garden route highway along the Indian Ocean
Table Mountain, Cape Town

Namibia
Namib Desert
Fish River Canyon

Botswana
Okavango Delta

Zimbabwe
Victoria Falls (UNESCO site)
Matopos Park

Tanzania
Mt Kilimanjaro
Serengeti
Ngorongoro crater
Zanzibar

Kenya
Masai Mara

Malawi
Chongoni rock art (UNESCO site)

Ethiopia
Gondor
Churches at Lalibela, (UNESCO site)
Lower valley of the Omo, Omo tribe (UNESCO site)

Sudan
Whirling dervishes
Meroe temples (UNESCO site)
Confluence of the White and Blue Nile

Egypt
Valley of the Kings
Pyramids of Giza (UNESCO site)
The White Desert
Khan el-Khalili market Cairo (UNESCO site)

Jordan
Petra (UNESCO site)

Syria
Damascus

Turkey
Blue Mosque
The Grand Bazaar,Istanbul
Pamukkale hot springs

Croatia
Dubrovnik (UNESCO site)

Clothing

The idea here is three changes of clothes, a set on your person, clean set packed away and a dirty set that will be washed later, rotate and repeat as needed. Necessary characteristics are quick dry and versatile. Three pairs of pants that double as shorts by zipping the legs off is better than 3 shorts and 3 pants. Layering is also a must for the colder rides. The Ice Breaker product line offers 100% Merino wool garments which dry quick, are anti microbial (no stink), ideal for layering and are comfortable and yes that means no itchy.



Some other items are quick dry shirts, quick dry under wear and wicking socks. I also have 2 pairs of riding shorts, same thing used by pedal bikers to keep from getting sore spots on their butts. The shorts contain a "chamois" integrated into them. Tilley sun hat to keep from getting skin cancer and Buff head wear for the bad hair daze. Flip flops for the gross showers and hiking boots for exploring ancient ruins. Colour coded organizing bags help keep things "in line". Compression bags to reduce clothing volume. These things act as a zip lock bag and by rolling them up tightly the air is forced out of valves at the opposite end. They work surprisingly well.



Ortlieb and a Seal Line waterproof wide mouth duffles for all the clothing. The Ortlieb is a 90L and the Seal Line is a 75L. Ya, i know, i could pack the kitchen sink in there ... and maybe I will.

Camp Gear

Part of this journey will involve camping to save money, enjoy the outdoors (like being on the bike isn't), and, on the off chance we get lost :), we can bed down pretty much anywhere .... we hope.



North Face Nebula -10 celcius mummy bag. Tried the North Face Kilo which is a 0 degree bag and froze my arse off on Manitoulin Island last year. The tent is a Mountain Hard Wear Hammer Head 2.



The bag packs up nice and small with the compression sack even with the 800+ goose down. Also have a silk bag liner for the cold nights in the Andes.



Another nice feature is the zippered pocket near the bag opening.




More essentials to appease the creature comforts;

Thermarest pad that fits into a sling to provide a very nice chair
first aide kit (complete list to follow)
MSR Dragon Fly stove
MSR water works II filter
Thermarest pillow
10 x 10 tarp for those rainy nights you don't want to be cooped up in the tent
MSR fuel cannisters which tie to the Touratech holder on the back of the Jessie pannier

Not appearing in the photo is the ground pad, Exped down mat 9 pump. AMAZING! Packs up just as small as a Thermorest.

www.exped.com


Other items include:
compass
Petzel head lamp
rope
Swiss army knife
Gerber knife
mosquito netting
metal mug
fork/knife
LED flashlight

Tool Kit

Alot of time went into researching a tool kit for the F800GS and I still have probably missed something. The key, I hear, is once you have assembled the kit, fix the bike with only the tools in that kit before you go on any major trip. That will tell you whether you have chosen the right tools. Weight is another factor, so try to get mutli-functional tools.

Many hours on the internet blogs like ADV Rider as well as talking to Ian at Wolf BMW, Les at Dual Sport Plus and anyone that would listen to my questions. Since Rob's bike is a 1150GS he will need a different tool kit configuration. That's the major downside to having two different bikes on a trip like this, you can't share tools or even split up the tool kit for weight distribution.



In the green canvas tool wrap there is:
Motion Pro Superlite T-6 hex axle tool 17/19/24/22mm with the 17mm sawedd to fit the BMW front axle
3 tire levers
#8 spoke wrench
metric allen key set
Torx allen key set
T55 male Torx socket 3/8" drive
E10 Torx socket 3/8" drive
E12 Torx socket 3/8" drive
13mm socket 3/8" drive
24mm socket 1/2" drive
3/8 to 1/2" adapter
3/8 to 1/4" adapter
3/8" drive
22mm combination wrench
19mm combination wrench
17mm combination wrench
13mm combination wrench
10mm combination wrench
combination screwdriver
small vise grips
needle nose pliers
various tie wraps
small adjustable wrench

The black bag consists of:
4 bike tie down straps for shipping
extra handle for the Jesse pannier
cloths
wire cable
filter wrench/4 crush washers
multi meter

The remaining items are:
D.I.D. chain
AFAM front sprocket. (rear yet to be purchased)
Motion Pro chain breaker and rivoting tool
hand pump siphon
2 oil filters and funnel
gorilla tape, electrical tape, two way tape, velcro
3L synthetic oil
WD40
Motul off road chain lube
Renthal oil chain lube



In the above photo there is:
front TKC80 spare tire
rear TKC80 spare tire
spare rear brake lever
spare clutch lever
spare front brake lever
spare shifter lever
spare front Metzler natural rubber tube
spare rear Metzler natural rubber tube
tire patch kit/valve stems
various nuts/bolts/hose clamps/wires/washers/wire connectors
alarm disc lock with reminder cable



.... and more kit:
booster cables
Mini Foot pump
JB weld
ROK straps
bike cover
Touratech straps
bungee web
2 into 1 aux power adapter