IDMVFISS

(RIP) maverick · Mar 12, 2008

A trip I did with some mates last year October and only getting around posting it now so please keep that in mind. The ride report is written by three of us so you might see repeat pictures of things but certainly different commentary of each The trip was named "IDMVFISS" which basically originated from one guy trying to explain to his wife that we will be perfectly safe in the desert and the end result him shouting " we are going to be In the Middle of F%ckall in Soft Sand" translated from Afrikaans our mother tongue So hold on tight and enjoy......

So about a year or so ago Lootch aproached me with this idea of riding through Kaokoland in Namibia with bikes, I thought for a long long time about the whole idea and said yeah man why not after a few seconds!

Now I knew absolutely nothing about Namibia except that it was north west of South-Africa and my Dad fought the terrs in the 80's on the Namibian and Angolan border. Ohh and of course there is like a massive sand dune there where alot of blokes go every year with kwats and bikes to go and play over easter with that oke from bark essay Simon Vourie.

My dream riding specifically a GS airhead through some remote part has hunted me over the past few years and even more so the fact that I nearly started accepting the fact that it might only stay a nice dream for time to come. Certain aspects of my life has been gone from good to really bad career and financially wise yet it took me a split second with not a penny on my name to say YES YES YES I am going on this trip.

Immediately had to look at a picture that inspired me every single time I looked in awe at it

The above picture can be found on www.hpn.de and is of legendary rider Raymound Loizeaux (18 Paris-Dakar participant). I often wondered how it must feel riding in such an environment with the immense feeling of space and tranquility around you yet being more than likely at the mercy of nature at all time due to the unforseen things that could possibly happen to you travelling offroad into the unknown. It makes you feel alive and adrenalin pumping through your vains the mere thought of not being subject to the rules set out by politicians or authority. Out in nature the reality is that their rules and ideas mean nothing and it is you and mother nature trying to smooth things over and not getting hurt by your ignorance of how the rules of nature dictates your every day irregardless of endless planning.

I must of posted the following pictures over the last four years probably hundreds of times

Truth be told it is the only pictures I had of my R80GS in South-Africa, this is the bike thats been haunting my offroad travelling dreams for ages and nearly sold it at some stage just to get rid of the cause of my pain. Luckilly I came to my senses and decided to go with the flow.

This bike was yet to cause me endless worries before our trip started details of which I will get into later. As for planning first thing first was telling my wife about the trip. It went something like this..."Hey babes Lootch and some guys are planning this ride through Namibia in a years time and we going to just do gravel roads what do you think about it?" She said yeah you have been dreaming of a trip like this for a long time why not. At that point I again realised how fortunate I was marrying this girl, all within reason of course but then again I must point out that most of us men don't need any sensible reason to do things to start with.

As for planning I am pretty crap with things like that and more or less try and sort it out as I go along and hope the issues sort themselves out along the way. Fortenunately the rest of the crew was more organised about things and I sort of caught up as things happened the last month before departure. Around end May this year I got a very nice job offer and certainly things were looking up again in the Maverick household and at least the worry of doing the whole trip on my credit card vanished as time went on. I have set myself a budget of R10k excluding the return flight between London and Windhoek. This budget would of been more than enough had I not gone out spending money on some odd stuff some of what I used and certain items I did not.

Three weeks before the trip I packed all my stuff to take out in the garage

Basic things that had to go was proving more and more diffucult to get packed into a bag and weighing under the 23kg's the airlines impose on you.

1. Boots
2. Jacket and Trousers
3. Gloves
4. Self inflating matress
5. Stove
6. Tank Bag
7. Handle bar guards
8. Spare tubes
9. Tyre levers, Leatherman + odd tools and emergency spares (which at the best of times you would not get in Namibia any way)
10. Knee, elbow guards
11. GPS
12. Chest Protector
13. Camera Tripod
14. Dixie and Coffee mug
15. Clothes, socks + comfy shoes
16. Toothbrush, shower gel, suncream, mosquito stuff etc etc
17. Head torch

I bought a spare GPS for my little brother back in SA which also went as backup with some critical waypoints we might need. Fortunately we found our way around thanks to Doubleoseven and the local Namibian Uncle's knowledge.

Besides all the above stuff I ordered an enduro style bum bag from kelly enduro products in Austrialia for tools and stuff to carry on me whilst riding. As things worked out I carried this bag for the first two days and that was the end of it. It will however be very usefull in the future when we don't have the luxury of backup but do try to use new things before a big trip as you might end up throwing it into the first bin if it starts irritating you.

A month before the trip was about to kick off checked with my father in law whether the paperwork was sorted for the bike....errrrr paperwork? Now at this point I was unaware that the bike was going through the borders of Botswana and Namibia as my lack of concentration on the planning part as mentioned before was not exactly what is should of been. Frantically started asking several people as well as wild dog members for help, info and expierences they could share. At that point it seemed that when you take a bike across the Namibian border you need the registration documents, proof of ownership and it must be at least roadworthy.

Now out of those three requirements I had so far the bike.

I was having visions of not going on the trip or even worse arriving in Nam and being greeted by my friends and sad faces telling me the bike could not get through. DoubleOseven made a few calls to BMW as well and the pressure was on for them to sort the paperwork out. Finally we managed to get a copy of the registration document and Neels(father in law) signed paperwork giving us all permission to ride and transport the bike through borders. I got in contact with Michnus and he also explained that if the bike is in a van or on a trailer there should not be any problems. We decided to take the chance and had a friend in Joburg keep his DR600 ready in case of emergency as backup. It is only sheer determination of my friends that made the big GS arrive in Nam and eventually back to SA, they were not to be stopped or convinced otherwise by nobody. I realised there is no pulling out when Lootch told me even if they all had to club in and buy a bike I AM GOING ON THIS TRIP. As things worked out I do wonder if there was not times he wished they rather did buy something else.....lighter perphaps.

The Thursday before my departure I got the call from Nam....the eagle has landed. I recall thinking it might be past lunchtime but I might as well walk over to the pub and go down a pint of lager! The excitement was now uncontrolable and a life long dream was now reality.

The Friday at work was busy and by 15:40 my boss just looked at me and said go, is words was not even cold when the door slammed behind my back. If it was not for the bike boots I was wearing and dragging 28kg's of luggage with me would of ran down the street. Taxi to Blackfriars Bridge about a mile away - £6.00, train ticket to Gatwick - £8.00, flight to Windhoek - £575......about to have the expierence of a lifetime with the bestest ever friends - PRICELESS!!

I have never met Nambabwe except for the numerous emails we have been sending in the run up to the trip. We have our own group email set up as IDMFVISS and kept contact for the last couple of months via these means. He said he it would be easy to spot him as he was the one with the beautifull babe on his arm at the airport. True to his word I spotted him immediately booking his luggage in at Gatwick with his beautifull 3 year old girl on his arm. Now whether this was planned or not somehow I ended up as in flight entertainment for Alissa whilst Mr Nambabwe was sleeping like there is no tomorrow. By 2:00 I was knackered and drawn numerous pictures of animals, built paper planes, listened to some songs and generally being at the mercy of this little three year old who's energy seemed to go on for ever. I suggested it is way past her bedtime and was prompty met by she will sleep when I am asleep. Luckilly I managed to pretend long enough for her to climb onto her daddy who was now stretched over two seats snoring and go to sleep.

Some quick introduction to the IDMFVISS crew

We start out with the errr expierenced guys

Now for those foreign to South-Africa/Namibia all of us who did this trip is Afrikaans speaking this english is not our mother tongue, very odd you must think reading this fine ride report in your mother tongue. We will be using words like Oom - Uncle (we call anybody older than us out of respect and some odd thing taught by our parents as we grew up) So Uncle Andries will be refered to Oom Andries or Oom A, same for Oom Gert and Oom Hendrik.

Here we go

Oom Andries (Lootch's dad)

Oom Gert (Nambabwe's dad)

Oom Hendrik (Nambabwe's uncle...errr for real his dads brother)

Lootch

DoubleOSeven

Brakenjan on the left and Maverick on the right

DoubleOSeven met us at the airport and Nambabwe's parents went off with him. I was awestruck by the immediate beauty of Namibia and the space around us was awesome. We reached Lootch's abode and finally the time has come for me to be reunited with my baby!

Who's your daddy!?!

I spend the best part of Saturday fitting footpegs, brushguards, GPS wires, Oil sensor and adjusting things to my liking. As it was only 30 minutes to sundown we decided to have a quick shakedown run.

This was very interesting as the idling on the GS was so high that I ended up overcooking it through two turns on the gravel ending up in the bushes. Luckilly Brakejan brought a screwdriver along and quickly adjusted the idling to a safer level. We drove up and down the hills and even though it was only 45 minutes or so it was great being out and on the bikes.

The evening we had a lekker braai and beers and you could just see everybody was keen to go to sleep early so we can start our trip. I think eventually got to bed around 12:30 and slept like a baby.

(RIP) maverick · Mar 12, 2008

IDMFVISS - Lootch's view

This part was written by Lootch.....

IN DIE MIDDEL VAN FOKKOL IN SAGTE SAND (In the middle of f-all in soft sand)

This all started almost two years ago. Brakenjan and I (Lootch) have been riding together since our days at varsity, and especially since the dawn of the internet and the resulting ride reports we’ve been longing to do a major trip. Then we read Metaljockey’s report of their trip through Kaokoland and we became even more desperate to do a similar trip. Shortly after that we read Kamanya’s report and in those first couple of lines we found a way to get this trip on the road: “The most important thing is to set a date – and then tell everyone.” So we did. The first people we told were Maverick, Nambabwe and Doubleoseven. It took absolutely no effort to convince them – and the enthusiasm stayed at that level all through the trip.

I could write a book just about the planning stage which involved getting kit, bikes, numerous trips to the 4th floor bathroom etc. but that’s probably best left for another thread.

Oh, you might be wondering about the name for the trip. It happened something like this… The first hurdle we all had to cross was to convince the wives that it would be a good idea. My wife wasn’t too worried but the timing of the trip was likely to interfere with our family planning schedule. Fortunately, due to some perseverance and dedication that was not an issue. The only other condition she set was that we would not do Van Zyl’s Pass. Doubleoseven and Brakenjan did not have it all that easy. Doubleoseven’s wife is a doctor who used to deal with motorcyclists who’d been involved in accidents on a regular basis. I still don’t know exactly how he managed to convince her but somehow he did – thanks Dr B! Maverick and Nambabwe’s wives were only too glad to get them out of the house. Brakenjan’s wife’s main concern was that we would be riding in a very remote area and, should anything happen, it would be very difficult to get medical help. Befitting the lawyer that he is, he came up with the only possible reply “Yes, but if we fall it’ll be in soft sand so we won’t get hurt”. Hence “In die middel van fokkol in sagte sand” or “In the middle of F-all in soft sand.”

The other thing we decided early on is that this trip would be about the ride and therefore we did not want anything like overloaded bikes to interfere with that. Also, mindful of the fact that we’re all relative noobs (Nambabwe had never been off-road before this trip) it was decided to take along a support vehicle (or 3 as it turns out!). At the end of the report I’ll post how this arrangement turned out.

I will fast forward now to a week before the trip. I was in Windhoek and had agreed to buy a KLR from a guy there. I knew the bike needed a bit of work done to it so I had him deliver the bike to my dad’s place eight weeks before the trip was due to start. My dad then took the bike to the dealer and told him to get it sorted for the trip. To cut a long story short, they didn’t. They didn’t even tell me about all the faults they’d discovered. They gave the bike back with a virtually nonexistent front brake (nearly killed me) and without any oil in the forks. Here’s what I drained out of both forks..

I had that front end apart so many times I can now do it blindfolded..

Then, instead of spending the week with my family I spent almost all of it fixing the bike myself. I even had Maverick strip some parts off my KLR in London as there would be no way that the local dealers could have the parts in time. It also turns out that the fork sliders which were supposed to be new were anything but and the one especially was no longer straight by a long shot. Fortunately it was still smooth so, with no other choice apart from buying a new bike (which wasn’t an option) I had to do the trip with this bike. I took along extra fork oil and spare fork seals in case I had to change those mid trip. I had to do a lot of things on the bike which I’d never done before and with no expert (read Maverick) to help it was very frustrating at times. To be honest, the evening before the trip I was 5 minutes away from smashing the bike to pieces with a hammer (Uncle H had to take the hammer from me) and doing the trip in one of the support vehicles. As it turns out, my bike ran faultlessly despite some serious abuse and because the owner couldn’t sort out the paperwork in time I rented the bike from him for a nominal fee. Small consolation.

Do these look like new sliders to you?

Nambabwe and Doubleoseven had bought new bikes for the trip – Nambabwe an 08 KLR and Doubleoseven an 07 KLR. Maverick was on his 20 year old R80GS (actually a 100GS) and in doing so fulfilled a long cherished dream of doing a major trip on that bike. Brakenjan returned from the USofA two weeks before the trip and then had to find a bike. After some hard negotiating he bought a spotless KTM 640 Adventure with about 4,500km on the clock with crash bars and panniers. He also fitted a Scott steering damper and proper knobblies. That bike looked awesome!

Doubleoseven and I had done similar things to our KLRs. We’d fitted handlebar risers (I also fitted higher handlebars), proper hand guards, proper bash plate, SW Motech crash bars, radiator guards, pegs, rear master cylinder guards and brackets to slightly lower the pegs and, very importantly, also move them back by about 2.5cm. We fitted Dunlop D606 knobblies and ultra heavy duty tubes. Loads of bolts were also replaced with HT bolts and Loctite was applied liberally. Still didn’t stop some of the bolts coming loose…

Doubleoseven’s noble steed. Who says the KLR’s not a handsome bike?

New peg and bracket

Our other major problem was paperwork for the bikes – especially the GS. Again, to cut a long story short, we managed to get all the bikes in and out of Namibia without any problems. Doubleoseven and Brakenjan hired a trailer and brought their bikes and the GS from Johannesburg.

Nambabwe and Maverick arrived in Windhoek from Dallas and London respectively the Saturday morning.(Nambabwe adds: Air Namibia has a convenient night flight from Gatwick directly to Windhoek and British Airways brings you straight from Dallas to Gatwick in the morning, even with a luggage transfer agreement with Air Namibia. So you can spend the whole the day visiting a place like Brighton by train and have your kid throw half the pebbles on the beach into the ocean; we called it "Shrinking the Island". A note for flying through British Airports though: you can bring as much hand luggage as you can possibly carry, but THOU SHALL LEAVE with one piece per person only!). We were due to leave for Henties Bay on the west coast on the Sunday and the trip would start on the Monday. That left us with precious little time to sort out the bikes but we did.

The bikes crammed into my dad’s garage.

Quite a novel way of fitting a hand guard. Trying to get your leg over Maverick?

Nambabwe had to go to his dad’s farm so could not join us for the first test ride. Ready to roll.

I took them on some small roads through the Khomas Hochland mountains which surrounds Windhoek. I tell you, if I were to live there you’d never see me except if you too spend all your free time in the mountains. Talk about Dual Sport paradise. We went through all sorts of terrain ranging from a short sandy riverbed to steep hill climbs with rocks and loose gravel – a good preparation for what was to come. The only problem which reared its head was the GS which was idling wwaaayyy too fast. Strangely enough it was the KTM which came to the rescue with the right tools. That’s what shakedown runs are for..

The KTM looking quite handsome in the setting sun.

The following day we left for Henties Bay. Just outside Windhoek the GS nearly came off the trailer. Not a good way to start the trip! We met Nambabwe, his dad (Uncle G) and his uncle (Uncle H) in a town 70km north of Windhoek called Okahandja. That was when Nambabwe first saw the bike he would be riding on the trip. We loaded his bike onto the trailer and set off for Henties. For some strange reason most of the main roads in Namibia run through the least scenic part of the country. Fortunately things change when you get off the main roads, and with 35,000km gravel roads, most of them in a very good condition, this is dual sport paradise. We passed loads of sports bikes which were either returning from a breakfast run to the coast or a rally.

Finally we hit the gravel just outside Usakos (D1918) and stopped to once again make sure that the bikes were tied down properly as this road could get very rough.

The mood changed – or was it just mine? We would be riding this road again tomorrow, but this time on bikes. All of a sudden the condition of the road became quite important. Fortunately the road was in a reasonable condition. We met two guys on F650’s and stopped for a quick chat.

This is probably the fastest the KTM travelled the entire trip!

Just kidding, Brakenjan almost literally rode the wheels off it. More on that later.

Finally we got to Henties and headed straight for the nearest pub to watch South Africa beat whoever in one of the World Cup games. It’s not as if I’m not interested but simply a case of the excitement about the trip overshadowing all other things.

That night we fitted knobblies to my bike and Nambabwe wired a video camera to his bike and fitted pegs and a bash plate to his KLR. Maverick’s mate had sent some knobblies for the GS. Unfortunately the front was knackered (it wouldn’t seat) and the rears were 18inchers in stead of 17inchers. That meant that the “most knobbly” tyre we had for the GS was the standard Dunlops which came off Doubleoseven’s KLR. Not the ideal tyre for this trip or bike as we would later find out…

Nambabwe’s KLR being prepped.

To be continued..

(RIP) maverick · Mar 13, 2008

IDMFVISS - Day 1

Written by Lootch

Day 1

Planned route: Henties Bay to the Brandberg via the Spitzkoppe
Estimated distance: 210km
Actual Route: Henties Bay – Spitzkoppe – Omaruru River
Actual distance covered: 160km

At this stage I should probably introduce the motley crew.

From left to right we have Lootch, Uncle A (Lootch’s dad), Nambabwe, Uncle H (Nambabwe’s uncle), Doubleoseven, Brakenjan, Uncle G (Nambabwe’s dad) and Maverick.

The area we’ll be riding is the north western part of Namibia which includes an area called Damaraland and Kaokoland.

Day 1 got off to a slow start as it took much longer to load the vehicles than expected and we eventually left about 2½ hours later than planned. Now might also be a good time to mention that only one of the 10 days turned out as planned and that was the rest day at Epupa. No biggy, as we never considered the planned route the be all and end all. As long as we had a good day’s riding I was happy.

The starting line-up.

The first stretch was 90km back the way we came the previous day. The road was quite good but the going was still slow as everybody tried to get used to the feel of gravel again. It had literally been years since I’ve done any high speed gravel riding and Nambabwe had never ridden his bike or gravel before so we took it easy. We stopped frequently to give advice (blind leading the blind?) and to share experiences. It helps if you know that the guy you’ve been watching and thinking “he looks alright” also feels as if the bike’s about slide from underneath him as that hopefully means that you’re alright. Crossing the bit between the tracks (the “middelmannetjie) is quite scary but once I start to apply the theoretical knowledge of weight on the pegs and positive throttle it gets much better. By the end of the day it was hard to imagine how this lovely piece of road could’ve felt scary at all.

A couple of pics of that first stretch.

Maverick coming through on the GS.

I’ve driven this road loads of times but somehow the Namib desert is much more beautiful when viewed from two wheels..

That picture is enough to inspire a poem. If only I was a poet… That’s the small Spitzkoppe in the background.

Lootch and Nambabwe coming through.

Doubleoseven and Brakenjan

We reached the turnoff for the Spitzkoppe around lunchtime and pulled over for lunch. Lunch consisted of some sandwiches with ham and cheese. Obviously we did not go thirsty either…

Now, there’s a story behind this cheese. Someone asked the question “What do you call something that’s yellow and barks?” Answer: A guard cheese or “wagkaas” in Afrikaans. Somehow that was really funny and it stuck.

Some more shots

This is the Spitzkoppe. I’ve always found them quite impressive but in the 30+ years we’ve been driving past them we’ve never gone to take a closer look. Big mistake!

Getting closer. I’m starting to realise that this piece of rock is slightly bigger than I’d expected.. The gravel is also much looser and at times quite corrugated. Not nice. It would be nothing compared to what we endured later on in the trip.

We hit our first real sandy stretches of the trip. It’s a bit unnerving to say the least.

That’s one solid piece of rock in the background.

A nice arty shot… Unfortunately that’s where that camelback stayed…

The road winds its way round the back of the Spitzkoppe before turning north.

Man, KTM could use this pic in their brochures. Nice one Doubleoseven!

Some close formation riding.

This is the rear or the Spitzkoppe with the Erongo Mountains in the distance.

The road then turns into a very interesting 2-track road which has it all. Nice hard stretches with some seriously sandy bits in between and the odd rocky sections as well. I’m starting to enjoy this although the sand is still scaring me. I’m not yet fast enough in the sand and somehow end up riding with my front wheel pointing in all sorts of weird directions with me still riding in an almost straight line – until the front finally grips and the bike tries to throw you off. This makes sticking to the tracks a rather exhausting, not to mention hair raising experience. But slowly I start to get more comfortable on the pegs and manage to push myself to ride just that little bit above my comfort zone and things start to get much easier. In fact, I’m really starting to have a lot of fun. We also had to watch out for big holes in the road. There were even more off the track which meant we had to stick to the tracks. Hard work for these noobs.

Taking to the sand like ducks to water – feet paddling wildly!

The sand is starting to take its toll on Nambabwe.

I don’t know who fell how many times in this stretch of road. Some were just unlucky to have a camera pointed at them when it happened.

Then Brakenjan remembered that he’d left his Camelback on the pole. This is quite serious as it contained a large amount of money as well as his passport. Uncle H decides that it would be quickest if they go back using the hire vehicle he was driving – what’s that saying again ? “The only true off-road vehicle is a hire vehicle”. Let’s just say Toyota trucks are bloody tough and Uncle H knows how to drive!

While waiting for them we had to amuse ourselves. I climbed a hill to take some photos while the rest had some fun with the “kettie”. Sorry, I don’t know what it’s called in English.

The hero’s triumphant return! I could’ve sworn Brakenjan was shaking a bit. Don’t know whether it was because he was so relieved at getting his Camelback back with everything still inside or whether it had anything to do with Uncle H’s driving.

We realised that there’s no way we’d reach the Brandberg (Burning Mountain) that day so decided to see if we could make it to the Omaruru River. The pace hots up a bit and again I’m having the time of my life. Even the sand is getting much easier. At one stage I hear a loud “clack” and stop to see what it was. Don’t know what it was but I did find that the two lock nuts on the right swingarm had come off – yes I know, I didn’t lock them when I changed the tires the previous evening. I found a bit off an old hand guard to use as a substitute which was still working fine by the end of the trip.

We reached the Omaruru River late afternoon. The decent into the river is an awesome piece of road – slightly rocky, windy and quite technical for us at that stage.

The last bit before you get to the riverbed proper is through some nasty deep, loose sand. I started on the pegs but didn’t carry enough speed so had to paddle my way through. Doubleoseven came off and had to get Brakenjan to lift the bike as his legs were pinned down. Maverick also didn’t quite make it and again was unfortunate enough to have the moment captured on “film”.

What then followed was an awesome stretch of riverbed. The sand wasn’t too loose although it did have a couple of nasty spots and some unexpected banks. I almost crashed into a big hole. It looked like it might’ve been dug by the desert elephants looking for water but as far as I know they don’t come as far south as that. The most awesome bit though was the high rock faces flanking the riverbeds. I’ll let the photos do the talking.

That little dot is Maverick on the GS. Truly awe inspiring – not Maverick, the rocks!.

Maverick’s starting to get the hang of this sand riding malarkey. Shortly after this he dropped the bike and I offered to ride it the last bit. Oh my goodness!! This is a seriously heavy piece of machinery. With the almost full tank that thing must’ve weighed the best part of 250kg. More on my impressions on the bike at a later stage.

Lootch giving the KLR some stick. (Note from Nambabwe: Standing like this is also how Lootch did more than a third of the whole trip!)

Doubleoseven looking very cool!

We found an absolute idyllic spot a bit further down the river. What wasn’t brilliant was the fact that the country was enveloped in a freak cold spell – enough for some areas to get a light dusting of snow! It didn’t snow where we were but the night-time temperatures must’ve dropped to freezing at least. Of course I did not come prepared as the last time I camped in this area it really was in the middle of winter and it wasn’t cold at all. Man, that coffee tasted good the following morning.

Some final thoughts on my bike. It performed really well. The speeds weren’t that high so the suspension wasn’t bottoming out too often and there’s enough power to keep me occupied. I was also really glad that I’d fitted the raised bars and the foot pegs and bracket as this made standing up much easier. The crash bars and radiator guards also provided real peace of mind – fortunately they did not (yet) have to prove themselves.

(RIP) maverick · Mar 13, 2008

Day One

After a morning of last minute checks and packing all vechiles we finally get going. A quick stop to fill up with fuel and this is where it was quite interesting looking at the attendents face when I filled the 43 liter tank with about 38 liters.

We decide to take a quick departure shot from Henties and line up

Shortly after this Oom G arrives and we finally get the show on the road after all the planning, anticipation and excitement our adventure started!

We head back towards Spitzkoppe and the first section of salt road lure you in a false sense of security untill it suddenly stops and you on the real gravel roads with sand patches that surprise you from time to time when you least expect it.

Lootch arriving in the distance

We stop about 20 km's outside of Henties awaiting the rest of the crew and eventually I decide to turn around and go and check where Namabawe and the bakkies dissapeared too.

I rode all the way back to Henties only to find the bakkies and Nambabwe just leaving, it seemed like there was some a misundertanding about who had to pick up some last minute supplies for lunch.

We get back on the road and as nearly none of us had extreme expierence riding on gravel for long periods of time we stop every 30 minutes to share the excitement and adrenaline of near mishaps we encountered along the way. It is ridicilous how hyped up you get about the smallest little expierence in Africa after being so long away on the mud island.

The GS performs unbelievable on these roads and the 1000cc rumbles under me and as I am cruising along smiling from ear to ear in my helmet.

DoubleOSeven arriving after I flagged them down and asked them to do a drive past for some more photo's

I had great fun taking pictures of all my buddies on their bikes this trip and this was only the beginning.

DoubleOSeven and myself wait for about ten minutes and he then decides to push on and see where Brakenjan drove off to in the distance

Had to take a quick pic of the only two bikes that had ZA stickers on all the time

DoubleOSeven riding off in the heat mirage, this sequence of pics is certainly some of my favourites of day one

Looking back into the distance I see some dustclouds arriving

Oom Gert first on the scene

Followed by Lootch and Nambabwe

Now this was Nambabwe's first real offroad ride on a motorcycle as most of his expierence was on road. He took it easy and and just settled in gently at his own pace

It is on this same stretch of road where I was introduced to the concept of "Death Grip" Now for those not familiar with this term let me explain. You cruising along admiring the view at 80 to 100km/h and thinking how awesome and fortunante it is spending time on a bike in mother nature. In steps Mr Sand Monster and your handlebars slap from side to side and you are rapidly drifting off the road and all hell breaks loose in your helmet thinking "I am going to F%^K&*N DIE!!" It is at this stage where your hands turn into vice grips and that term you can prise these handlebars from my dead body comes to mind. Unfortenately this is the wrong thing to do and by merely relaxing and giving the bike a good amount of throttle it will pull itself out of trouble. In reality this tactic was as frequent as father xmas as it came and went when you least expected or needed it. Some days you were in the flow other days you could not settle down and by the end of the day it took everybody to take things twice out of your hands as your grip was firmly stuck on whatever you picked up.

We arrive at the Spitzkoppe turnoff and yet another kodak moment

The KTM looking very comfortable in the elements

Brakenjan and DoubleOSeven

I kept on looking at the GS everytime we stopped as if it was a dream and not really happening

DoubleOSeven's interpretation of a Spitzkop

Right boys the loot is in them far hills

Jip Brakenjan right there, KTM owes me big bucks for this photoshoot

Who would of thought a week ago that this bike would be standing here not being on the road or any proper paperwork!

Brakenjan with his "kyk my terug" goggles

Just after the turnoff we stop next to the road for lunch, Oom Andries with a lekker cold one in the hand look on as lunch is prepared

The bikes neatly lined up in a row

The Engel freezer was filled with precious icecold drinks and certainly was one of the most used items on the trip besides the bikes and bakkies

The Bushbaby trailer is amazing with the stuff you can store in it, next bike trip I do Mrs Maverick will be following with the backup and trailer for sure!

Oom Hendrik and Oom Gert not taking any chances with their ice and quickly fill up their glasses with a nice whisky

Lunch consisted of some cheese + ham and bread, followed by a few pieces of biltong

DoubleOSeven checks his GPS to estimate how far we still have to travel for the day

I must be honest never been a big KLR fan but my mind was certainly changed on this trip, it is an awesome machine and can take a good bashing. Once you have broken off the licenceplate it looks pretty mean as well

Good thing I did not take any luggage on the GS as well just looking at all the personall gear that was dragged along

The hungry vultures circling the biltong table

What really amazed me was the fact that we were boiling and sweating yet the Namibiers was wearing jumpers

We pack up and head out towards Spitzkoppe

(RIP) maverick · Mar 13, 2008

We have a nice ride towards Spitzkoppe and Nambabwe arriving on the scene

Brakenjan chatting up the locals, can't take these boys anywhere nice!

The rock formations of the Spitzkoppe is really worth while stopping for if you in the area

Of course we took some photos with bikes in the picture as well!

I have been at Ayers Rock and trust me this aint it

Ideally you would want to spend the last hour before sunset at these rock formations taking in the colour changes and taking photo's

We leave Spitzkoppe behind and start heading in the direction of Brandberg. The road changes into single tracks and gone is the nice wide gravel roads. All off a sudden we have to negiotiate rocky sections, sandy sections and big holes. The whole game changes just as you get used to one set of rules mother nature throws another interesting surprise at you

After a while we stop for a drink break with Spitzkoppe in the background

It is at this point after nearly two hours riding that Brakenjan realises he forgot his camelback with wallet + passport at the entrance gate by the Spitzkoppe, he suggest turning around and riding back on his own but Oom Hendrik knowing this part of the world very well advise the two of them head back in the bakkie.

I think at this point Lootch had more confidence that the KLR would actually make the whole trip

Unaware of whats going on I have found the only tree and decide to take the opertunity to take some random shots of the GS in the middle of nowhere. This was the only tree for miles around.

Of course if you leave a man long enough he all of a sudden thinks he has turned into a professional photographer

and another angle

Shifting the focus a bit

It did not take long before the rest of the gang realised where the only shade is

Quick photo pose so I can also be in the picture

DoubleOSeven

It is such a beatifull country with vast landscapes and colours that keep you interested all the time

Oom Gert pulls out a kettie and we do some target practice on a tin, needless to say no tin was hurt in the making of this photograph and pretty safe with most of our shooting. Think Nambabwe had a hit and that was it.

We waited for an hour or so on the return of Brakenjan and Oom Hendrik

After alot of speculation regarding the safety of the contents of his camelback they arrive back

Brakenjan was very fortunate that the guard at the gate spotted us riding off and took his camelback into the hut and kept it safe hoping that we will return to collect it. Even more lucky so that the time of day was nearly the end of their working shift and he waited a bit longer to see if someone would not come back for the bag.

(RIP) maverick · Mar 13, 2008

The afternoon takes an interesting turn as the single tracks starts to turn sandy and a couple of big holes makes for my first fall for the trip. I was gunning along at a nice pace trying to keep in the tracks with the handlebars kicking from side to side. Thius is unfamiliar for me as the moment I get that under control the rear comes out from side to side and eventually end up in the bushes after every turn. Gathering a nice pace down a straight line the next moment I spot a hole the size of the bike ahead of me, grab a hand full of brakes and literally as the front went into the hole I came to a stop and went flying to the side. Instead of taking a picture I jumped up and picked the bike up without thinking

Who would expect anything dodgy on a nice road like this

or this

Picking up nice speed again and as I turn the corner down this road the sand was ridicilous and the bike needless to say all over the road. The front decided to cross over the middle and boom another fall!

Luckilly in times like these you have friends that will do the honour of taking the pic before helping you get the bike up again, thanks DoubleOSeven

Nambabwe had a cunning plan and gave the road a wide birth through the bushes...not entirely planned I think but hey

His body gesture says it all, sand can be alot of fun but it certainly is hard work!

Now Lootch aproached and he must of thought...."Maverick, camera in hand, smiling.......errrr something is up" I think me waving him in like nothing was wrong might have given the oppertunity away to see the man swimming in the sand.

Ooopppppsssssss where is that back wheel going..........

All of a sudden the road drops into the Omaruru River and a spectacular view from the top of the cliff, Brakenjan going past and down the drop.

Oom Andries arrived shortly after our quick photo stop and informed us they suggest we start looking for a place to camp as the sun is about to go down

Myself and Lootch take a quick few photo's before heading down the river

I tried to distract myself from the battle of getting the GS through the thick river sand, as this trip evolved sand was evidently going to be my errrr downfall? These beautifull rock formations is a good enough excuse for me to get my mind off the sand monster

You would think the speed Brakenjan went flying past the surface is not that bad

followe closely by Lootch giving the KLR a good old throttle

Ahhhh isn't she purty

Thats alot of rock.

DoubleOSeven coming past and proofing that not only BMW riders can stand on their footpegs

I got on my pegs as well and found it slightly more interesting to ride in the sand and nearly manage to stay on top for another 500 meters.

By now I was really exhuasted and think dropped 5 times for the day. The dropping is easy the picking up ain't as the GS ways in a good 240 odd kg's + whatever amount of fuel I had in the 43Liter tank! Lootch kindly offered to give it a try and we swapped bikes. This is where I realised that weight on a bike certainly makes a massive difference depending on the terrain you riding on. The KLR just floated over the sand and Lootch being 6'7" compared to my 5'10" frame made his bike setup perfect for my riding style. Everything was just the right height and place.

We found a nice stop about 7 km's down the river and the spirits was high and everybody smiling of one of the best days we have had on bikes ever.....little did we know this would only get better!

Now tell me this is two guys who did not enjoy their day out in Nam

This spot was nice and secluded out of the wind protected by the rock face behind us

Brakenjan getting his priorities right getting his boots off first

Oom Andries decided not to waste any time and got his tent up before the sun set down on us

Life in Africa is great and when you reflect back on the day looking at the sun going down you have to ask yourself......what is for dinner

Out comes the braai frame

Fire going, beer in hand

Looking at this picture of Lootch's dad I am quite pleased to say it was good to see someone over 60 having as much fun as us half his age. Inspirational stuff these old guys, I hope to be equally as insightfull, interesting and on the go when I reach retirement one day!

The boys listening to some of the stories and suggestions for our trip forward which we did every night to make sure everybody got what they came for in Namibia

As for that dinner......Eland Corden Bleu + Veggies

This is Maverick and I survived day one in Namibia....

Rob Farmer · Mar 14, 2008

Great Stuff. Nice write up and pictures :clap

(RIP) maverick · Mar 14, 2008

Thanks Rob, more to come.......

(RIP) maverick · Mar 14, 2008

Day 2

Lootch67

Day 2
Planned route: Omaruru Riverbed to Twyfelfontein
Estimated distance: about 180km
Real route: Omaruru Riverbed to Leeupas
Distance: 134km

Man was I glad when it was time to wake up. I was half frozen and really looking forward to that coffee. Had the coffee and then Maverick and I climbed up some rocks to take photos of the sunrise.

Hiehiehie…

We had to retrace our steps up the riverbed for about 5 kilometres. It was quite cold and the sand was nice and compact. Everyone was glad to be back on the bikes and decided to just give it that little bit more. The result was that every single one of us had the rides of our lives as we thundered up the river. We covered that 5 kilometres in 7 minutes. It was truly awesome.

Here’s the riders regrouping at the exit of the riverbed. Those helmets were hiding huge grins.

At this point I’d like to explain a term we used throughout the trip. It’s a term described by some psychologist (Brakenjan what’s the name of the guy?) and it describes perfectly that level you reach when riding when it’s just you and the machine in perfect harmony. He refers to it as “Flow” and the definition is something along the lines of:
- A challenge requiring skill and concentration
- Clear goals
- Immediate feedback
- Involvement without exertion
- The sense of self disappears
- Time comes to a standstill

We were all definitely in the “Flow” that morning. But the truly amasing bit is that we were about to have an even better ride! The road out of the river is uphill and sandy. Again, since we’ve just proved that we laugh in the face of the sand monster it was an absolute breeze.

The rest of the road is quite hard with the odd sand patches or small rivers. There were the odd bumps and dips to make things interesting. We were all riding at silly speeds by our standards and having the rides of our lives. Here are a couple of pics of that stretch of road.

Doubleoseven congratulates Maverick after he had some major airtime with the big GS.

The man was in love with his bike and was it not for the hot exhaust things might’ve turned really nasty.

Doubleoseven comes flying past. The man was riding like a pro – as smooth as can be.

We reach the main road leading to Uis (C35) and wait for the backup vehicles. That’s the face of a man who’d just had the perfect ride on the perfect bike. Ironically this exact spot would be of great significance to this man and machine on our return journey.

The main road to Uis is in a very good condition. In stark contrast to yesterday’s big gravel road we were not hanging about. We stopped at Uis to fill up and buy some supplies which included a blanket for me. The plan now was to join the Ugab river at a point north of the Brandberg and then ride down it for about 60km and exit in the Divorce Pass which would take us past the Doros crater and on to Twyfelfontein where we planned to spend the night.

Heading straight for the Brandberg. This road was bad. Really loose gravel and heavy corrugations. Fortunately it was over quite quickly.

By now it was getting really hot. When we got to the Ugab I was not at all convinced that this would be as easy as this morning’s ride. I was right. It was bloody tough with the sand extremely loose and deep. Maverick, Nambabwe and I tried to keep to the edge of the river in the hope that we’d find slightly firmer ground but without much success. We picked up bikes a couple of times especially the “whale” as the GS had now become known none too affectionately.

Trust me, the going was really tough.

Look at that sand.

After another couple of falls Maverick gladly agreed to swap bikes. This turned out to be a bit of a watershed for me as the only thought going through my head when I got on the GS was “I am not going to fall, I’m not going to fall”. Well, I near as dammit did a couple of times, but once I got the old girl to start planing I started to have some fun even though it required about 20-30% more effort than the KLR. To do this I had to ride about 15-20km/h faster than I used to be comfortable with. Also, not standing was simply not an option as the bike bucked and weaved so much that it threatened to throw me clear a couple of times. This did however highlight the fact that it’s much easier to control the bike with your legs – they are much stronger than your arms after all. With the bike not set up for someone of my stature (6’7” or 2.03m) standing was not the easiest thing to do as I had to bend over quite far to reach the bars which left me feeling like I’m about to go for a dive over the bars. Only one cure for that and that is to keep the throttle pinned. One thing I again realised is that there’s simply “no replacement for displacement”. The torque coming from that 1000cc engine was simply awesome. Although the bike has quite tall gear ratios you really just have to get the bike moving and then slip it into second gear and let the torque pull you through absolutely everything. That bike also has the slickest BMW gearbox I’ve ever operated.

About 10km down the river we stopped to have lunch. Now this is the stage where I really appreciated the support vehicles as there were plenty of cold beers and drinks available. Together with some more sandwiches with guard cheeses and some Boerewors (sausages) we prepared over the coals we were all soon feeling much better. Unfortunately not quite good enough to tackle the remaining 50km to Divorce Pass so it was decided that we’d take a shortcut to Twyfelfontein. Another reason for this was that we’d just passed some really fresh elephant tracks and we really did not want to get caught in this river with an irritated elephant.

Doubleoseven taking control of the food.

There were loads of birds, the most attractive of which is this horn bill.

Not quite sure what happened here. I think Doubleoseven wanted me to demonstrate just how I rode the GS. Or did he want me to play leap frog?

The road rose steadily onto a plateau with an excellent view of the Brandberg. The road was OK – a bit rocky but not too bad.

At the top of this plateau we were met with the most awesome sight – a canyon in the middle of nowhere with the Brandberg as a spectacular backdrop. It’s moments like these that make you fall in love with Namibia all over again.

We also saw some fairy circles in the distance but did not go closer to investigate as we would be seeing plenty more later on. Did I mention that very little worked out the way we planned?

The road then got progressively sandier. I was having a right old battle with the whale as I was starting to tire so had to sit down more than I would’ve preferred. This highlighted my biggest problem with the GS – the short distance between peg and seat. This meant I had to get up from a crouching position in stead of a seating position – it felt like a cruel version of Star Jumps. After a while I had real trouble getting up in time for the sandy bits. In the meanwhile Maverick, who was right behind me, was running a serious risk of crashing because he couldn’t stop laughing.

Can’t help but wonder what the story behind this building is.

Then we came upon this dune. Doubleoseven and Brakenjan had made it to the top so I decided to give it a go. I felt a bit sorry for the poor whale as I gunned the old girl up the dune, eventually coming to a stop about 15m from the top. I’ve seldom been so chuffed with myself as at that particular moment. I knew I would’ve easily made it to the top had the bike been fitted with proper knobblies. Also, due to the fact that the bike was so heavy and the terrain so rocky we had to run the tyres at quite high pressure – 1.8. Still, I’ve just had the third “ride of my life” in a single day.

Now imagine my disappointment when Doubleoseven announced that we would have to go back down again to try an alternate route as the way ahead was some really thick sand and he did not think the support vehicle towing the trailer would get up that dune. I turned around and then discovered that there’s one aspect of sand riding which I’ve not yet mastered – riding downhill especially with the bike’s front wheel really digging in. By the time I reached the bottom I was shattered. Maverick also tried his best to get to the top of the dune with the KLR but managed to get just a little stuck very near the top.

I rested for a short while then took the alternative route, fully expecting Doubleoseven and Brakenjan to be right behind me. They never came down that dune... Uncle G with the trailer followed right behind me with Maverick and Nambabwe behind him. I had very little energy left in me and found the going really though. This is the one moment on the trip where I really wished I started on that fitness regime I had planned before the trip. A bit further we found a firm spot and Uncle G suggested he goes ahead to scout the road so we don’t have to retrace our steps again. He disappeared behind the dune just as Brakenjan and Doubleoseven decided to continue on the original path. I couldn’t help but feel a bit miffed as they really did not have that far to go to get to terra firma again – this of course was impossible to see from the top of the dune. In what turned out to be quite poetic Brakenjan had his maiden fall – literally in the middle of f-all in soft sand as he promised his wife more than a year ago in Central Park.

On the other side of this sand you can see the white specs which are the other two support vehicles.

We waited at this spot for ages. It turns out that the trailer got stuck and it took a Herculean effort to recover it. Poor Brakenjan and Doubleoseven worked their butts off to get the trailer out by pushing, pulling and even lifting the thing while it was being winched out.

Eventually Uncle H and Uncle A arrived in the other truck to lead the way. It’s a good thing they did as the track disappears completely in the mountain and without them leading the way we would probably have turned around and looked for an alternate route. This particular route was quite hazardous as it winds it way along the side of the mountain with very little space and a deadly drop off.

We reached the rest of the group…..

and then discovered that there’s no sign of Maverick. Flipping heck!!!! In the truck and chased down the mountain again fully expecting to find a skid mark going over the edge. Fortunately we found him where the trailer had become stuck. He’d dropped the bike and with no energy to lift the bike on his own was waiting for us. Can’t blame the man – we barely had enough energy between the two of us to lift the bike.

Eventually the group was all together again and we enjoyed a well deserved drink and rest.

We realised that Twyfelfontein was simply not going to happen that day and, given the time of day and all the excitement of the past couple of hours, decided to find a place to set up camp. Of course the first bit of road was once again a killer with plenty of sand but almost reckless application of the throttle and stern warnings shouted at the whale somehow managed to keep her upright. After that initial stretch followed a rather rocky bit before we found a fabulous spot to set up camp.

What more could one want than a spot like this, a decent steak on the coals, a cold drink in your hand and the best company you could possibly wish for. Cheers boys!

(RIP) maverick · Mar 14, 2008

Sunrise - Day 2

I wake up feeling semi refreshed and parts of my body hurting of the day before, it was freezing during the night and woke up firsty riddled with pain of cramps in both legs. Not wanting to scream of the pain and wake Lootch up in the process I was just rolling around from side to side thinking this is not right!!

Innitially I climbed into my sleeping bag with just a short and t-shirt, woke up with my jacket lining and beanie added which for some bizzare reason I packed for the trip in NAMIBIA!?! It must of hit around zero degrees last night. I recall waking up in the early hours of the morning hearing footsteps, I am a very light sleeper of nature and can't believe that everybody snores right through this. Are we being robbed? It is so cold that I hardly have the energy to get out of my sleeping bag to check, think to myself should I shout "Hey you outside!! Oom Hendrik has a 9mm and he will shoot you to hell, Oom Hendrik if that is you don't shoot it is me....." before I realise that nobody would be stupid enough to rob us here and it must be one of our group walking around for whatever reason. As it turned out it was Oom Hendrik taking a walk through the campsite.

I get out of the tent and see our fire is still smouldering and quickly drag some smaller pieces of wood closer. What is it with living in Africa and fire? If there is wood and a remote chance of flame we want to burn it. Throw any piece of meat in the equation and we have a quick braai(bbq) as well.

First things first and grabbed my camera climbing up the rocks behind our camp site. Promised myself this trip will make sure I witness as many sunrises and sunsets possible. Looking down the campsite has come alive and by now the fire seem to be the first port of call....or in the case of Brakenjan maybe not - spade + bog roll = lekker boskak (nice field crap)

The first rays of sun starts looming over the canyon walls

Brakenjan gets a friendly wave from us on the rocks, he now knows it is all on film

The suns rays light up the rocks around us in the riverbed and the colours of everything changes by the minute

Myself and Lootch climb down and have a look at what lies ahead for the morning, this riverbed will be first on the list

Lootch grabbing some more pictures

The rental bakkie and Oom Hendrik's tent

I hope we have many more oppertunities like this to camp for free in the future expierencing the nature in it's purest form.

The bikes look ready for business this morning

Nambabwe's KLR 2008, will it be as "mint" after the trip....gentleman place your bets

Surprisingly at this point all the bikes still have number plates including Lootch's KLR

Ahhhhh what a happy family of bikes together

I have turned the GS into a clothing hanger and surprised all the bits is still there after my off's yesterday. Today is going to be great and the spirits is high!

We pack up camp and make sure we leave the place exactly like we found it with no rubbish , food or plastic left behind. Luckilly we are all extremely touchy about litter and the whole trip can't say any of us forgot, threw or left any litter in Namibia.

Gentleman start your engines, my heart is racing and a bit nervous about getting out of the riverbed with the GS. Yesterday afternoon proof to be quite a challenge with the big old whale. I decide to just wack the throttle open and hang on for dear life as the 1000cc groans under me waving through the sand like a crazed rabbie bitten bull high on grass. Every time the river turns the struggle to change direction gets interesting as I criss cross the river like a mad man, Lootch did try and ride behind me but realised that he is going to be killed in the process with my eradic change of position in the river and the only place I am going to is forward - fast!

We reach the end of river bed and I am shaking, exhilarated and happy to be alive. Looking around me all I see is smiles and the sound of laughter. That was awesome to say the least. I look down at my GPS that was reset just before we took off. We have just covered 7 km's in 5 minutes!! As far as excitement goes if we had to stop here and chill out for the rest of the day I would of been a happy man just having expierenced such a short thrill.

Lootch smiling

Nambabwe shaking the dust out of his goggles

Brakenjan smiling

DoubleOSeven probably asking if we can do it faster next time

We have a small section left uphill to get out of the river sand onto firm earth but now we are ready for anything

I have defeated the sand monster finally and feel great!!!

As we reach the top of the river bed we are met with this open plain

The moment I looked into the distance Cat Stevens song "Miles to nowhere" came into my head so here we go

Miles from nowhere
I guess I'll take my time
Oh yeah, to reach there

Look up at the mountain
I have to climb
Oh yeah, to reach there.

Lord my body has been a good friend
But I won't need it when I reach the end

Miles from nowhere
Guess I'll take my time
Oh yeah, to reach there

I creep through the valleys
And I grope through the woods
'cause I know when I find it my honey
It's gonna make me feel good

I love everything
So don't it make you feel sad
'cause I'll drink to you, my baby
I'll think to that, I'll think to that.

Miles from nowhere
Not a soul in sight
Oh yeah, but it's alright

I have my freedom
I can make my own rules
Oh yeah, the ones that I choose

Lord my body has been a good friend
But I won't need it when I reach the end

Miles from nowhere
Guess I'll take my time
Oh yeah, to reach there.

The compulsary drive by shots, DoubleOSeven

Brakenjan

Lootch

Nambabwe

The road from the riverbed took us straight to the main road towards Uis, it was near perfect conditions with nice single tracks and just the right amount of sand and stone to give it a hand full of throttle and still be in control. There was the odd dip in the road and I managed to get some airtime with the whale. This in itself was more scary than cool and again put me on a new high for the morning.

Awaiting the arrival of the crew at the Uis road, wonder how that big wheel tyre would do in the rough bits. Lootch joining the main road.

We all had camelbacks of some sort with us except Nambabwe, he opted for the drink from your buddies bag. I had my water pouch in the rear of my jacket as there is a H2O compartment but this put severe strain on my already buggered lower back. So stuck that in my tankbag as well. The heat these water pouches would reach just being exposed to the sun even concealed was scary. Some coffee + sugar + mug and you would have something near drinkable. I really struggled to get the hot water down and opted for the cold stuff on the bakkies. This option would make for interesting conversation later on the same day. DoubleOSeven sucking....

Looking down the road and that feeling of WOW there is absolutely farkoll around is ever present

Looking back however you are met by the happy faces of your friends swapping airtime stories and near death expierences in the last 30 minutes.

This man loving his KTM ever and ever more, this is also the moment we decided to swap bikes for a while and I had the pleasure for this first time of my life having a ride on a KTM. My verdict is what an awesome well balanced bike, the fact that Brakenjan had the steering damper fitted made this bike an absolute pleasure to ride. Brakenjan had a good run to Uis on the GS but seemed happy that we changed bikes again.

Lootch enquiring why we stick to our ordinary day jobs if we can rather do this....reality check time coming in fast and hard

We reach Uis and refuel with a quick short visit to help the local OK reach their budgets this month. As all of us have been on different continents the last few years it is still nice walking into the all familiar type shops and enjoying things like appletizer, fruit and chutney chips and the odd sweetie. I have a relaxing sit watching the local people go by, of course the damn paparazi is always around.

Lootch and Brakenjan enjoying something cold from the store fridge, should of send a postcard from the red box and see if it got home before we did.

Seems red is the all new black for this year

Brandberg, yep we were supposed to camp there last night so at least we getting closer if there is signs around

One fine GS

One pimped up KLR

One sexy looking Katie

Nambabwe's 2008 showroom KLR standing only the lonely in the sun

DoubleOSeven and Brakenjan discussing serious business, should we have boerewors for lunch or should we have ham and cheese sarnies.....boerewors it is then

I would not want to be a poor donkey in this heat, obviously they don't belong to Shrek

Everybody refueled and ready to take the road towards Brandberg

Of course before we could leave we had to take good care of our hands but luckilly nobody knows about that...

Shit or maybe they do now.....I think in the 12 days riding through Namibia went through two sticks of lipice as the heat made sure it gets to you whether your exposed to it or not.

The road towards the turnoff for Brandberg was equally as smooth and nice as the Uis road and got a chance to really wind the GS up and with DoubleOSeven ahead had to certainly cruise at fair old speed to catch up with him ahead. The rest of the guys were behind and on their way so gave me another kodak oppertunity

The T-junction we just came from, the nice thing about Namibia is it does not matter whether you turn left or right the road is going to be offroad heaven if that is what you came for.

Lootch and Brakenjan arrives just in time as I get my camera ready

Not getting his knee down this occasion then

and the KTM comes flying down the main strip

and he realises ohhhh noooo they have gone that way

Steeringdamper off, brakes on....turn turn turn!!

Someone lost their canopy in the middle of nowhere

And Brandberg finally in sight

There is loads of lodge accomodation available through out Nam so if you decide to take a break from riverbeds and rocky ground the option is always there for some posh treatment

Looking at the nobblies on the KLR sure wonder how and if this would of made a big difference on the handling of the GS, suppose I will have to go back and check.

The road to Khorixas seems so inviting, but that will have to wait for another day. Besides I don't know what language the local Khorxasans speak

The road towards Brandberg was not bad compared to the morning stuff we did, then all of a sudden someone goes and throw a river bed into the story!! Out of nowhere a sandmonster grabs me by the nuts and before I know it lying face down in the sand.

I struggle through some heavy thick sections and then Oom Hendrik recommend we try riding on the bank of the river. Now looking at this picture all seems fine, in reality it was not and the only difference with that and the riverbed is you now had rocks, trees and sand to negiotiate instead of just thick sand.

After another fall or two as this time I stopped counting Lootch offers to ride the GS again, he seems to manage so much better and without looking to eager I nearly run up and hug KLR. At least there is enough energy to snap another picture before we move on.

As it is mid day we decide to stop for lunch and find shelter under some big trees. The KTM was parked well away from the other bikes and must of had a bit of a temper tantrum not wanting to play with it's friends.

They all play nicely together..

Looks dodgy so I won't ask.......

As we get a fire going to braai the boerewors and prepare lunch the birds aproach the party and pose for some shots

Now at this point Oom Hendrik raises his concern about the Elephants in the riverbed, at the rate we are going some of us will be able to make a quick dash for cover in the event of Mr Big Ears losing his temper coming across this little tiny things making noise in his home, some of us however riding big whaly bikes might not be so fortunate and never really fancied leaving this world being trampled by an Elephant. So we decide to head out of the riverbed and follow the road towards Verbrande Berg

Someone better go speak some kind words in Katies ears....

As we get out of the riverbed we suddenly come across this awesome valley overlooking Brandberg, Lootch snapping away

The Nissan arriving in the distance

I think Brakenjan was eager to get going and with the heat now certainly getting on and off the bikes started to be hard work as well

DoubleOSeven is that a ballet pose?

Amazing how the scenery can change so suddenly from beautifull to awesome

A more manly pose from DoubleOSeven

The support vechiles arrive and we all make a dash for the fridge

Going down there might be a bit of a bumpy ride for the KLR

The road ahead seems like it is turning rocky which I personally like, should of spotted the sand dunes in the distance

My bestest new friend, KLR

A couple of km's down the road all of the sudden we hit sand dunes, I am actually enjoying this now as the KLR is much lighter in comparison to the GS and manage to stay on top. Lootch is riding the GS hard and fast to stay afloat and seems to manage ok. There is a couple of times where the GS buck and weave in front of me where I think there is no possible way he is going to stay on top yet he manages to recover it in spectacular fashion Dakar riders can only dream of.

Brakenjan and DoubleOSeven have reached the top of a sand dune and stopped. Lootch manages to get nearly to the top only to be informed we have to find an alternative route as the 4x4's might not make it through. I shoot up the hill only to be thrown out of the track and eventually the KLR runs out of power and sinks

It only takes a small bit of throttle to dig outself deeper and eventually myself and DoubleOSeven manages to walk it out of the deep sand to firmer ground.

I turn around and head down the hill again and we take the split in the road. At this point the Nissan has driven all the way up and DoubleOSeven and Brakenjan takes this as a heads up to go ahead. We reach the top of the dune only about 500 meters down from where they were overlooking a steep drop down a cliff. Oom Gert and Hendrik decide to go ahead and ask us to wait before we go anywhere so they can see whether there is a better road out. This is where I realise that I am totally rehydrated and the heat is making me feel so tired that I can hardly move from the little shade the bike provide. I take my boots off and just lie on the ground waiting. My throat is dry and my waterbag in the Nissan, not very clever. Lootch's water supply is also finished and the three of us sit, walk and crawl around the little shade trying to figure out why the rest of the crew is taking so long. We can see them in the distance but have agreed from day one if someone asks us to wait we do so untill they come back. What seemed like forever eventually saw the return of Oom Andries and Oom Hendrik luckilly with liters and liters of ice cold water. I drink out of the bottle like it is the last bit left on earth and water have never tasted so great in my life.

The trailer got stuck on the other side and it took a good team effort to get it out of the thick sand again. Luckilly they have found a slightly better road to cross the little valley ahead of us.

We take off and the sand is now so hot and soft that it is near impossible to get your feet on the pegs. I lose the front wheel and trap my leg in an akward position to the rear of the bike. Luckilly Lootch spot me going down and he help me get the bike off out of the trapped position. It is only 5 minutes since we had water and I am thirsty again!! The heat has taken its's toll on me and I struggle to just get on the bike and paddle through the sand.

We get to a rocky section and immediately I feel a bit better, only to strike another sand pit and as I wave Lootch and Nambabwe through went exactly 5 meters forward before losing the front again in spectacular fashion. This time they had to ride hard to get up the hill so no time to look back. The bike has fallen down on a slope with the handlebars on the bottom of the slope. I try to swing it around to pick it up but after a few tries realise there just ain't any reserves left for me to lift it. I take my helmet off and start pondering about how the dakar riders do this for days on end, they certainly get big respect from me doing what they do in the dunes.

Luckilly Lootch realise there is something wrong and they come back with the bakkie, we both struggle to pick the bike up and I manage to ride it up to the hill without further incidents.

The moment I got my helmet off collapsed in the nearest shade I can find, totally totally exhausted

Everybody have cold drink and we discuss whether to push on further or start looking for a place to camp as the day is nearing it's end again

DoubleOSeven joins me in the trailer shade and share their expierence of getting the trailer unstuck and Brakenjan's first off for the trip

We find a nice secluded spot not far from our dunes and settle down for the night

Lootch and Brakenjan is on food duty and I think they have their work cut out as there is alot of hungry tired faces to feed tonight

Mmmmmm steak and potatoes......followed by a nice cold beer and whisky as nightcap

It is at this point where we somehow ended up on rugby talk and how if a internation team loses the manager has to get the blame and be sacked immediately. Brakenjan points out that this is a clear example of the Scapegoat Mechanism written by René Girard the french philosopher....a small extract

If two individuals desire the same thing, there will soon be a third, then a fourth. This process quickly snowballs. Since from the beginning the desire is aroused by the other (and not by the object) the object is soon forgotten and the mimetic conflict transforms into a general antagonism. At this stage of the crisis the antagonists will no longer imitate each other's desires for an object, but each other's antagonism. They wanted to share the same object, but now they want to destroy the same enemy. So, a paroxysm of violence would tend to focus on an arbitrary victim and a unanimous antipathy would, mimetically, grow against him. The brutal elimination of the victim would reduce the appetite for violence that possessed everyone a moment before, and leaves the group suddenly appeased and calm. The victim lies before the group, appearing simultaneously as the origin of the crisis and as the one responsible for this miracle of renewed peace. He becomes sacred, that is to say the bearer of the prodigious power of defusing the crisis and bringing peace back.

We listen attentively to his story

Brakenjan at this point put it all in perspective that somebody has to get the blame whether he is responsible or not, in afrikaans there is a nice saying for this "iemand moet kak" translating into "someone's going to shit" This was now of course taken to the next level and iemand did kak every single day from there on for the duration of the trip

Something I learned the hard way on day two was never ever go without water into the desert and where you can get lots of water to drink hydrate as much as possible. The rest of the trip I not once made this mistake again as a simple thing like not having enough water and being in extreme heat could of caused some serious problems not only for myself but for the rest of the guys had it affected me in a bad way.

We went to sleep with some new thoughts of our iternary and realised sticking to a schedule in Africa might not be the easiest thing to do.

This is Maverick and remember the desert is dry and unlike a Savanah you can't drink it.

(RIP) maverick · Mar 19, 2008

IDMFVISS - Day 3

Written by Nambabwe

Day 3: Making progress...

Planned route: Leeupas - Opuwo
Estimated distance: about 370km
Real route: Leeupas - Ongongo Springs
Distance: 263km

Day 3 to me (Nambabwe) had some of the most fun during the whole trip. It started with great scenery, building road, a fellow rider missed a turn-off, getting some miles on better than sand roadway, plenty of wildlife spotted and at the end riding through some water, always something precious to a Namibian-born like me!

So first we had breakfast with a gorgeous view of Brandberg and a tent that almost got away due to a light breeze. We cleaned the chains and decided to send Uncle H in front, to scout the bad spots out. Within two minutes the radio burst came through: "Lion tracks, lion tracks, hurry up!" What does that mean, take cover or let's go get them? Of course, beautiful footprints in the sand but no sight of the animal king.

[quote author=nambabwe link=topic=12145.msg182693#msg182693 date=1196132967]
But our worries about lion tracking was soon forgotten when Uncle H showed as the little pass we need to ascend. Since some of us had a little different route the previous day, this was not too bad, but we had great concern for the 4x4's who would be on 2 wheels (the diagonal ones) most of the time. It was basically a very steep hill with either big holes or just huge loose rocks everywhere. At some points we had people helping the bikes out of the holes while the rider's feet were wildly dangling in the air. (Yes I know they have to be on the pegs, but I am a newbie and make mistakes!) Maverick at some point avoided a rock in the road and found a nice parking spot in the hillside as the picture shows,TI(B rode by and had one thought only: "It can't be easier going THAT way!"

The next picture taken gives some idea about the incline of the road, but you really have to be there to feel the pain:

So we had to take the gloves off, and walk down most of the pass to pick out all the little annoying rocks in the road and fill the big holes up with huge flat rocks to get the other two 4x4's and trailer to the top. We probably spent a good hour here building road. Uncle A at some point tried to drive straight up the dune where we slept, but with no success. So what do you call a pass that is not on a map filled with predator tracks and has no name yet? LEEUPAS or LION PASS!

What can beat this view of the highest mountain in Namibia?

So there was no down from the hill, and we were straight back in the sand. One would dig a bike in, another would stop to help and then the helper would be stuck...thank you for the 4x4 crew, always helping the last stuck one.

I decided at this point, never been in sand apart from the last 2 days, that the two riders in front is doing some magic to avoid getting stuck, and that I need that magic too. So I pulled the KLR out of the road and just started riding faster and faster, crisscrossing goat tracks, some other roads that merge and diverge from the main and even big holes that animals dug. But since the sand was soft, luckily no damage to the rims! So at 60km an hour I found that I could even cross the main track with a breeze, but man, when I put the bike back in the track, I death grip the handles and hop from the left to the right like a ping pong ball. So the road became my compass to show direction only!

So we pass the valleys and the Damara kraal's and try to catch up with Uncle H, who clearly was having his own fun breaking Toyota speed limits. He knew we don't do sand well and choose which way at a split by taking the harder road even if it took us in quite the opposite direction. So here I need to talk about the benefit and drawback of having a GPS system.

If you take a look on a satellite photo of the off-road tracks we spent the last 3 or 4 hours of the previous day on, you'll see that there is quite a nice bypass through the sand to the east of all the trouble we had. At most 20 minutes versus 3 hours. But would we have had so much fun almost dehydrating, rescuing the trailer, riding by that 50 feet cliff, get a fall from Brakenjan and camp in that little cove in the mountains, not even talking about the Leeupas / Lion pass experience earlier this morning? I vote that not having all the info, gave us an unforgettable experience...but now, the GPS is not riding in front any more and we are going east in a riverbed that is getting worse and worse, even 007 had a fall. During the ride (and maybe cause I fell right behind 007, looking for a place to stop before hitting him) I would have loved to know for sure that the "planned" road is the other way from a GPS. But when stopped and saw a road on the map that might get us back on our main plan to go north (the way original plan was to sleep at Opuwo tonight, and at the current pace we are still 3 days away from there). So where is this road, because right now we are just riding from the left side to the right side up a riverbed with almost no sign of even being on a track? (Looking at the map later showed that the road is so bad here, it runs on both sides of the riverbed, so neither side is getting used much at all). So a few decided to go track hunting and sure, we found the most beautiful track going up in a valley that we have ever seen. If it was not for the elephants and water a week later, this would be voted the most beautiful ride of the trip. So there, a vote for GPS guidance; it showed us a great place that hardly anybody ever will see.

So at the top the road kept going and going...

We had an arrangement that when the road splits, you make sure the person behind you see which way the first ones are going, but sometimes, especially in sand, your eyes and brain is focussed on the more immediate threat, so when you do 50 clicks in thick sand, and reach an open gate at the Goedgenoeg ("Good enough") ranch, you take the invitation and GO! So a fellow comrade did not see the last man showing that we are turn left before the gate and had to be fetched.

Shortly after the road turned rough again, hard surface with little dry creeks crossing, some places rocks and other places just pebbles...but the scenery was awesome! A huge red mountain appeared in front of us and also some 20 galloping zebras. I had to stop and take a picture of the world famous Welwitschia mirabilis plant that is considered a living fossil, some being more than a 1000 years old. It actually has only two leaves, and due to its slow growth, is also considered endangered.

Nambabwe, riding up the hill between the red mountain and the one that hosts the Burnt Mountain:

Just in the middle of nowhere of this redish mountain, it looks like someone lit a match and tried to turn the mountain into ashes, it is called "Burnt Mountain":

These, not so important looking rocks (above), in the corner of a small mountain are the canvas to the beautiful Bushmen art (below):

So from Burnt Mountain we got on a real road that is actually on a real map and decided to head over to Twyfelfontein for lunch. The stay in this lodge is so popular, that it is fully booked for the next 5 years. Because they only serve buffet for lunch, we decided to have a very cold beer in this beautiful bar and eat our lunch snacks and biltong in the parking lot.

Above and below are shots from the bar and the whole restaurant building.

Right after lunch someone told us to take the road that goes by the airfield and save miles, yeah right, anybody will take one look at the map and see that it is almost the same distance, but the road that we did not take is marked, and thus maintained, and you won't get lost in some mechanic's scrap yard by that airfield if you did not take the turn off!

However, soon we were on the "highway" and the miles rolled by. For the first time, it was really hot, so much that the Land Cruiser had trouble pulling the trailer. With a slight wind from behind, thus no cooling in the front, the famous 7 mile pass (photo below) was not helping. We had to turn the Land Cruiser around and threw some extra water into the cooler and fan from the front. The trailer also transferred to our zippy Toyota shortly after.

The bikes had no problem riding through the pass so we kept the clicks clicking. Only once saw our lead GPS rider and that was at the departure of the pass...

So why does South Africa have the worst gravel roads in the world and Namibia some of the best in Africa? They, SA, built all the roads in Namibia, and left them the graders!!!

So when you as a biker (fresh from an off-road in the desert) see a grader, you are happy, but that is only if he is coming your way! If you catch up to one, you'll have the trouble to pass him in the dust (and he could push you off the road, which almost happened the next day to a few of us) and now you have a crappy road coming (which is why the grader is there!)

So what do you do when you sweat a lot and don't vent your feet at all...take a look, nuff said!

The next picture always reminds me of the story of the tortoise and the hare? Do you think the hare also had sweaty feet and motocross boots on to force a rest like we did?

Fuel at Palmwag...well, we are skipping the worries about what happens when you are actually a foreigner in the country you were born in, because you only have a Texas or British motorcycle driver's license, and the policeman at the veterinary control gate wants to see your AAA (AA in Africa) translation of it, which you don't have...call us for the numerous possible options, and no, bribing is not one of them. So back to the fuel, remarkably the price of fuel is somehow controlled and in this part of the world cost the same regardless of the demand or the distance to deliver it from the entry port.

Did anyone notice the missing number plate? He was not the only one, just wait a few days, or hours.

The mountains in the distance amazed me every time:

So we left Palmwag in a rush, the road was good and we were eager to get some miles behind us. Just as I got on the road, I swerved for 2 goats and within seconds was almost run over by a gemsbok (oryx), I already had my foot and hand out to transfer from bike to antelope (and then most likely into the boat to meet the Greek God Hades). Some witnesses to this complained later about the lack of road kill for dinner.

As said, the road was good, so good that some people discussed the differences between clock speed and GPS speed...doesn't that difference only show up notably AFTER 160km/h, wink, wink.

No, that was not the same missing number plate! (I claim that was from wind sheer)

While we waited for Maverick to patch a wheel, Brakenjan went ahead a bit to look for another turn off to the springs, because the road signs here was not helping. The video camera on Nambabwe's bike, recording every second of the way is also shown.

So we turned off the main road and followed a very dusty track along a water pipe for a few miles. At Ongongo Springs, a spring's water drops down a small waterfall (20 feet?) with a great swimming hole underneath and then flow down in a little stream, which you need to cross to get to the camp sites. All in the canyon right next to the waterfall. Can you imagine how running water is appreciated after 3 days of sand, dust and desert? Judge for yourself after peeking at a KLR's air filter:

Here are the 4x4's coming through the little stream after the bikes slipped and slided on the slippery rocks in the water.

The waterfall is right behind those rocks in the canyon:

And hidden behind that rock in the middle:

Next time we would bring family to enjoy the romantic sunsets:

Or the little lanterns lighted for us to get to the toilets and showers:

(RIP) maverick · Mar 19, 2008

Day 3 cont....

Leeupas (Lionpass)

What a beautifull morning, the sun is shining blue skies around slight chill in the air...wait wait wait for it nope the chill is gone. Had a good nights sleep and have a beautifull view of the Brandberg whilst having a boskak (field dump) downwind from the river. Some coffee + home baked rusks, cornflakes and as much water as I can force down to start the day. We pack up camp and start wandering towards the bikes standing a good 100 meters away from the camp taking photos

These three bikes decided to stick together over night

Lootch's KLR is looking better now without the numberplate and the actual holder hanging no there on one bolt added to the mean looking factor as we call it in Afrikaans - houding.

As the sun creeps higher and higher the colours bounce off the mountains and rockformations around us, it's like a theather of light playing in sequence with the all familiar african sounds of birds and bugs. The KTM and DoubleOSeven's bikes was parked just a few meters away from ours but you can see these boys know their stuff setting up scenes for photo's.

So big red whale what have you got installed for Maverick today? Going to play nicely and let me stay on top.....pretty please?

You would normally think little sandy tracks like these are no problem, they can get very hard quickly if the sand monster lurks awaiting it's next victim

Oom Gert shouts that we ready to go and get out of there before it's to hot, as I walk past his tent wonder if that is going to stay there and point out that maybe that should be packed as well. Luckilly Brakkenjan and Nambabwe comes to the rescue and quickly get it folded up and stored. Something worth while mentioning is that the heat in Namibia is very strange, one minute you will be standing there thinking this is great and the next moment it's like a sauna and you don't know whether to sit/stand or lie down in the shade if you can find any. So the quicker you are packed and hydrated then lastly you start putting kit on prefferably right by or on the bike

DoubleOSeven quickly checking all his stuff is ready for the day's riding, I shout at him pointing to the camera

Yeah ok fine that pose will do dude, very nice and hope those muscles last the whole day Arnold

Brakenjan fully composed and looking his normal calm cool and collective, this riding around in Nam is like a walk in the park. A fekin huge park with wonderfull surprises if you ask me!

Lootch also smiling this morning, obviously he forgot how tired he was yesterday man handling the whale

Nambabwe ready for todays ride and think after yesterday's riding he got the hang of this offroading stuff. This man I must add is the only one in our company who proved that you do not need to stand on your pegs ever...yes EVER! He did 99.5% of our trip sitting down. The other 0.5% he tried standing up after a suggestion from us on the first day but soon decided it is not the way to go for him. Full honours dude, I have no idea how you managed to stay on more than me in some sections not standing up!

Right and then there is me, not worried more pondering whether I should just ride with my cap instead of a helmet....nahhhh bad idea

We all get started and I fire the GS up......ohhhh mamma that sound of the boxer barking through the silencer is just awesome!! What happened in the next 20 minutes is just the strangest thing ever. Oom Hendrik goes off first with DoubleOSeven and Brakenjan following close behind. Myself, Lootch and Namababwe take a little longer to get started and take off a minute or two later. The first 200 meters is fine and next thing there is this rocks and huge climb, mmmmm I think to myself this is going to be interesting. Now strangely enough my sand riding sucks to say the least but then again I can ride over rocks the whole day long for some bizzare reason. As I turn the corner I see Oom Hendrik pushing and trying to get DoubleOSeven's KLR over a rock and Brakenjan is also stuck between a rock and a hard place so to speak. Trying not to lose any speed climbing over the rocks I shout at Oom Hendrik not to worry about me and try to stand aside. I rip the throttle open on the GS and the 1000CC twin plug engine roar under me like a crazed gorilla possesed to get at the top of the highest tree and let go. The front wheel bounce and fly up into the air as I get on the pegs and hit 2nd gear keeping the power up. The GS torque is awesome and the bike rolls over the obstacles like it is hardly there with me hanging on for dear life. I decide not to stop and look back and half way up get thrown out of the "path" into the side cliff but manage to stay on top. Now I struggle to stop as my hand has turned swapped into deathgrip mode and there is no off button, dodge and dive trying not to hit big rocks manage to stop the bike laughing hystericaly in my helmet. Bloody hell what a start to the morning. My heart is racing and the sweat is already streaming down my body. I decide to stop there and help the other boys on their way up as my confidence to do the rest is good enough to make it easy to the top. Lootch comes through and before I shout at him not to stop but he does. A little push on the rear of his bike with him winding the KLR and he gets to the top easy. As Nambabwe, DoubleOSeven and Brakenjan comes through I stand close to the path shouting "give it gas, GIVE IT GAS!!!" The all make it to the top and I start the GS up and pick a line to get me out of trouble into the path onwards and upwards.

Looking back down from the top we can now clearly see the sand dunes we crossed yesterday

Namababwe takes a walk down the hill to help rolling some rocks into holes so the bakkies can make it up the hill

Brakenjan not entirely sure whether he just liked what he had to do or more amazed that he is still in one piece wacking the KTM up on the hill. A fall on this rocky surface could work out pretty costly if you don't have crashbars or the right protection

Ahhhh another photo shoot.....isn't life great? We have bikes, heat, cameras and the best friends ever to share the expierence with - AWESOME

Lootch taking a quick drink to fill up the reserves

Oom Hendrik comes up the hill with the Hilux bakkie, nothing like a rental as they say

As all of the vechiles get to the top we head out again and we back on single tracks and then we hit sandy patches again. All is fine and so far so good but the sand is getting harder and more difficult to ride. It is not long before I proudly claim another piece of Namibia as my own (if only I could get all these patches together would make a nice farm)

Lootch come up to me and say they have found lion tracks, great guess who is going to be lunch. I have seen discovery and know in the animal world it is survival of the fittest. Damn guess who is the weakest link....me, right Loooooooooottttttccccccccchhhhhhhhh!!! How would you like another oppertunity to ride this fabulous german engineered machine today? Ok I did not say that as Lootch realised after a while I am not there anymore and came back to swap bikes. This day was going to be a hard day, not for me or Lootch but for the GS. Lootch got on that bike and if it was the Dakar it was a stage win for the man from the start no question! Today he was 100% in the "Flow". As I tried to keep up with him riding the crap out of the KLR I saw the GS being banked into single track corners criss crossing from side to side taking each turn as it was the most beautifull tarred road he has ever travelled on. It was fantastic to see what the GS could really do if you had the confidence opening the throttle and let it run where it wants to. I have had several good rides in my life but hopefully one day will enjoy a similar offroad sand track ride which looked to me like pure biking Nirvana.

Every couple of miles we stopped for some more photo's and this rock face ran along the road for many miles going up and down and thought it made a good setting for the GS...again

Lootch quickly just having a sit on his KLR trying to remember what it felt like. I was having alot of fun on the KLR as well and somehow managed to stay on top for the rest of the day without further hair raising butt clenching moments

Eventually we stopped and Oom Hendrik suggested we might want to see where this neverending track is taking us too. DoubleOSeven, Brakenjan and Oom Hendrik took a drive into the bushes and radio'd back ahead that there is a nice single track going into the direction where we actually should be going too. Little bit more sand and riverbed and then finally onto hard packed single track again

Lootch, Brakenjan and DoubleOSeven was ahead of us and took some nice pics of me and Nambabwe aproaching the little hill ahead

The track was twisting and turning going up and down some rocky sections but just enough to keep you excited and enough to not make you go to fast and bending front rims. All of a sudden this sight was ahead and again the ever changing scenery in Namibia amazed me.

We get to a split in the road and DoubleOSeven suggest we go to the right according to the GPS. We take a quick water break and I snap away at the colorfull scenery around me

Personally I feel you can stick the GS anywhere and the photo will always be perfect.......for me.

The copper colour of the ridge in the background blending in with the yellow and brown of the surrounding fields

The Marushin helmet belongs to my father-in-law and as the trip went on realised it is taking some serious abuse and maybe just maybe it would of been worth buying something cheaper to trash on the trip. I cleaned the helmet after the trip and told him will replace it when I visit again with a new one, he was quite upset saying that you can't replace something that's got all the attitude it deserves - lucky me. The KLR crashbars certainly was worth every penny.

Imagine you had to get up every day and ride roads like these.....must be horrible....not

Lootch and Nambabwe wait for the backup to arrive whilst I head out to set the camera up for some more shots ahead

Nambabwe arriving on the scene first, sitting of course

Lootch right behind him decided to opt for the standing position

As we turn the first corner we overlook this valley with the Burnt Mountain on the left

Amazingly the numberplate holder is still hangin on the bike....must try harder

We dip down into the valley and find Brakenjan and DoubleOSeven hiding under a bush in the shade, the temperature has shot up and it must be near 40 degrees. As the backup arrive we decide to go have lunch at a lodge nearby. We are back on big scraped roads and the pace has picked up drastically from this morning's ride as we cruise along. We arrive at the lodge and of course park our bikes exactly on the spot where it says no parking. This must of pissed someone off in the lodge as our arrival is not really met with friendly please come in type of faces from certain staff. It is however nice and cool in the bar area as we take a seat and order some drinks

Looking out from the lodge bar at the vast landscape outside

The guest rooms hidden between the rocks and blends in well with the thatched roofs

The entrance to the lodge is these massive rocks, not sure if they are in their natural position or placed like this by the same okes who did stone henge?

It is 40 degrees outside and a lovely cool temperature under that thatch roof. We enquire about having a nice big lunch but the restauranteur is rather brisk in his offer of a buffet at $120 per head or not having anything at all. We got the feeling that bikers was not really that welcome there and decided to head out outside snacking on some food and then head out for a long run to Ongongo Springs for a massive supper.

Me trying to push the rocks around a bit

Lootch also doing his impression of strong man, sadly neither of us could remotely budge these rocks

Imagine sitting in that riding around at the heat of the day looking for animals on safari, not sure if that is the way to do it

Might go back with Mrs Maverick although will be hard for me to support someone with a kak attitude towards laughing friendly dirty bikers

We had to cover a fair distance for the afternoon and at least now the road was pure smoothish gravel ahead and you can easily cruise along at a nice speed taking in the surroundings. I suppose you can go really do this same road fairly quickly by doing 140km/h plus but taking into account that we are on holiday and the amount of wild animals on the road it is sometimes wise to rather slow down and enjoy what is happening around you. My comfort zone was doing around 100 to 110km/h but most of the times was doing around 80 to 90 km/h and had less stress certainly spotting alot more instead of racing past everything. Just earlier the day I was trying to keep up with DoubleOSeven and Brakenjan, they managed to lose me along the way and I was now riding way beyond a cruising speed on the KLR getting into the swing of things. It was going so well that I never saw either of them standing next to the road where we had to take another route to our destination. It took Brakenjan a fair few minutes and miles to catch up with me as I kept on riding faster and harder thinking they must be just over the next hill. I eventually slowed down thinking maybe I should wait for Lootch and Nambabwe and was about to get off my bike when Brakenjan stopped next to me. Thank goodness you stopped dude I thought we going to empty our tanks trying to catch you again! We turned around and headed back to the split at a similar speed flying through the bushes, I was now also entering the zone of "Flow"

As we travelled along we headed up the seven mile pass and even the wind was hot now

Looking down from the top into the distance, had a quick water break and took off again

You have to wonder what is the criteria for someone to get to a place in the middle of nowhere and make it their home. Is water enough to make this decision?

Miles and miles of heaven ahead. We fill up at Palmwag and I was about to pull away when the petrol attendent pointed at my flat wheel. We only had another 100 km's or so to cover and as I refuse to ride at night decided to pump the wheel and push on. As it worked out I had to stop every 30 miles waiting for the bakkie with the compressor and pump it as hard as possible. This seemed to work although not recommended unless you sure it is a slow puncture.

As the afternoon goes past and the sun slowly makes it way across the sky we cross several different areas ranging from flat with nothing to hilly with everything and you can't help to fall in love with Africa all over again.

We eventually arrive at Ongongo Springs and the thought of having a swim and water over me was rushing through my brain.

Brakenjan taking his wet boots off after his little incident coming through the stream.....errrmm sorry that very deep deep river crossing

It did not take long for us to make the call between unpacking the kit or taking a swim, all of us went straigt to the spring and cooled down in the crystal clear water. By now the sun is setting rapidly and the camera is on duty

As the sun goes down over the camp there is a nice relaxed feeling falling over us, I am sure it is the calm quailities of water soothing the soul of the tired bodies.

The bikes all parked up for the night nicely in a row.

That shelter will be where DoubleOSeven and Brakenjan sleep tonight

Nambabwe with the sun setting in the background, think I had my camera settings wrong....not entirely the picture that was in my viewfinder at that point

DoubleOSeven content and refreshed after the swim

As the chefs on duty prepare dinner I get working on the puncture replacing the inner tube, now where does this part go?

Couple of minutes and some help from Lootch the wheel is back on and ready for the next day

I can't quite remember what we had for dinner but I know it was good and there was even vegetables and rice, the long day in the saddle made the beer and whisky go down so nicely and we sat around the fire looking at the bright open sky above us with millions of starts.......

This is Maverick and a Lion missed a great opertunity on day three catching a Stormer supporter

(RIP) maverick · Mar 19, 2008

IDMFVISS - day 3 cont..

Written by Lootch

Day 3 - It's not supposed to be able to do that!

Despite, or perhaps because of yesterday’s experience I was a bit apprehensive about today’s riding. It started good enough with a, shall we say “interesting” pass to get up. The only mistake I made was not to wait until everybody had reached the top or was out of the way before starting the climb. This meant I had to stop at a really awkward spot but with a little push from Maverick I got going again without too much effort, but it would’ve been nice to have done the climb in one go. Building the road for the 4x4s was hard work. I’m really glad we did it first thing in the morning because it would’ve taken twice as long if we had to do it at midday.

As we crested the pass I saw the miles and miles of red sand and my heart sank in my boots. But, I was on the KLR so things were much easier than yesterday although my legs were killing me. The sand was not too bad at first but what made it interesting was that there were loads of rocks in the sand which you had to watch out for. Not too bad though and I soon started to find my “flow”. Then we came upon this dune. It wasn’t very high but the sand was quite thick. I gunned the KLR and it started floating over the sand rather nicely. I didn’t want to stop to see how Maverick and Nambabwe was doing as I was really having a lovely ride. I tried to stay out of the tracks but you do run more of a risk hitting holes or rocks. Fortunately I managed to pick a line which had no rocks or holes. Which is good, as I was flying by then especially going down the dune. Going up and down the dune is probably about 2.5km.

I got to the hard bit where Brakenjan and Doubleoseven were waiting.

My heart sank in my boots when I turned around and saw no sign of Maverick or Nambabwe. I decided to wait a while to see if they appear. I wasn’t too worried as there were two support vehicles to help if need be. After a while we saw what I believe was a lion almost on the crest of the dune. Now I was seriously worried as we had no way of warning them as Oom Hendrik had gone ahead and riding at the lion did not seem like the best of ideas. So we waited till the lion disappeared – fortunately it wasn’t walking in the direction I was expecting them to come from and then saddled up again to go warn them. This time the ride was even better as I just stuck to my previous tracks. Made it there in record time just in time to help a beached whale. Maverick and I swapped bikes. The word “lion” was enough to silence any protest and seemed to put some proper fire in both Maverick and Nambabwe as we raced down the dunes. I was amazed at how the GS glided over the sand when up to speed. This is really fun!

For the next couple of miles I rode in front and there was simply nothing that could break my flow. Like Maverick said I was banking the GS round corners at serious speed and generally having the ride of my life. See, there I go again – fourth “ride of my life” in two days! I was so absorbed by the riding that I only learned of the issues with the routes when I read Maverick and Nambabwe’s posts. All I did was waited for someone to point out the direction we should be going and I’d grab the GS by the ear and off we went. This was really what this trip was all about for me – having the ride of my life through terrain which used to scare the cr@p out of me, except it turned out even better as I was doing it on a bike which by all (my?) rational standards should not be capable of these sorts of things.

Me and my new favourite toy.

The rest of the ride to Twyfelfontein was awesome. It has to be some of the best scenery anywhere in the world. I do believe that Damaraland is actually more beautiful than Kaokoland.

Nambabwe approaching

Judging by the smell these two have been dead for a while..

Drinks at Twyfelfontein was lovely. It was absolutely boiling outside so the litres of cold water and beer (not litres!) went down a treat. We wanted to have lunch in their restaurant but since the only served a Buffet we thought it would take too much time as the idea of a buffet luch is to show a decent profit. By the way, rumour has it that Twyfelfontein Lodge is fully booked for the next five years.

Then came what was for me the biggest surprise of the trip. I was expecting the road north to Palmwag to be very boring but in stead it was one of the most beautiful roads I’ve ever been on with loads of mountains and the odd pass. It’s so good to be so pleasantly surprised by the country you thought you knew.

Nambabwe, Maverick and Brakenjan approaching. Man, pics like these awaken the “wanderlust” in me.

Again I marvelled at the GS. It’s difficult to imagine that there could be a better machine with which to spend day in day out on big gravel roads. We were to learn later that this statement should be somewhat qualified…. I did misjudge one bend outside Twyfelfontein and ended up going for an unplanned off-road excursion. It happened while I wasn’t concentrating like I should’ve and got caught out by the bend. The funny thing is that I did manage to slow down to such an extent that by the time I hit the sand wall to go off the road I had to accelerate to get through. Which means I was quite slow enough to go in whatever direction I wanted to. Duh!!

Maverick cruising

The only thing that was by now seriously starting to bother me was my feet. They’ve been really hurting since before Twyfelfontein. I thought it was because I’d spent so much time on the pegs but now that I was sitting down all the time it was getting even worse. Eventually I stopped to take of my boots to see what was wrong. Man, was I in for a surprise. I could literally peel the skin from my feet without too much effort.

Maverick and Nambabwe stopped and took the chance to get some rest while we waited for my feet to dry and for the support vehicle for some dry socks.

Maverick and I swapped bikes again. Which is just as well since I can now claim that it’s his riding which caused the slow puncture. Fortunately we managed to reach Ongongo Springs without having to do a roadside repair. I say fortunately as the support vehicle had the pump, but more importantly also the beer!

Ongongo Springs was great. The camp is lovely and the water fantastic, even though the little water crossing can be a bit treacherous – as Brakenjan found out. Maverick and I changed the tyre and I cleaned my air filter for a change. Amazing how dirty it gets and also what a difference it makes when the bike can breathe again.

Maverick, we had lamb chops that night and you’re right – it was a meal fit for a king!

Keith Chapman · Mar 19, 2008

Dirk, superb write-up. I have done a few trips round Namibia, but always by 4X4, and always fancied a 2 wheel trip though there are some places where 2 wheels are not allowed, unless you want to be fast food for lions

, SWMBO sister lived in windhoek for 5 years, we used her 4X4 and used her as our guide. it is a lovely country with lovely people. Thanks for bringing back some good memories

(RIP) maverick · Mar 19, 2008

Keith Chapman said:
Dirk, superb write-up. I have done a few trips round Namibia, but always by 4X4, and always fancied a 2 wheel trip though there are some places where 2 wheels are not allowed, unless you want to be fast food for lions, SWMBO sister lived in windhoek for 5 years, we used her 4X4 and used her as our guide. it is a lovely country with lovely people. Thanks for bringing back some good memories

Hi Keith,

Was the first time I visited Namibia and was so smitten with the country could actually pack up and move there now

The ten days out in the sticks certainly brought us back to basics again which was awesome :beer:

Still more to follow so enjoy and hopefully you will spot some familiar places

(RIP) maverick · Jul 21, 2008

Written by Lootch

Day 4
Planned route: Ongongo Springs - Opuwo - Epupa Falls
Distance: 332km

Today started the same as every other day with some basic maintenance being done. Mostly it required only the lubing of chains but checks included tyre pressure, oil and other fluid levels, chain tightness and just a general check to see how many bolts we’ve lost. My steering head nut had worked itself loose completely on one occasion. An industrial amount of Loctite soon put an end to that. We usually cleaned the air filters the previous evening to allow them to dry overnight.

I was in some way dreading today as it would be a long stint in the saddle made even longer by the fact that we should’ve been 115km further north. But it promised to be an easy ride with big gravel roads all the way. Well the roads were big and they were gravel but I sure as hell did not find them easy. It all started well with the 11km stretch to the turnoff which would take us straight north through the Joubert Mountains. I was in front for a change and savouring the chance of not riding in anyone’s dust. Speeds were high by previous days’ standards but the road was in excellent condition. Why I thus decided to stop to photograph everybody as they came flying past I wouldn’t know. Again the rock formations were quite fascinating.

About 10km after the turnoff for Opuwo I lost my “flow” (refer Day 2 for a definition). I’d just gone over a slight crest when the road suddenly turned to the right quite sharply (this was to be a very regular occurrence) further compounded by quite loose gravel and an off-camber. I had a right old battle to stop myself target fixating on the big trees lining the side of the road, not to mention the massive boulder right on the edge of the road I was heading for. See, no target fixation whatsoever! Somehow I made the turn but I was shaken. I decided to turn back to warn the others. I was too late to warn Maverick but fortunately he made it (not without some serious butt clenching) but got a hell of a fright when he suddenly saw me heading the wrong way. And that’s where I lost my flow. RIP…

The rest of the road through the Joubert Mountains were mostly in a valley with loads of turns - most off-camber on loose gravel. Somehow I could not get myself to re-apply everything I’d done the previous day and every stomach churning bend seemed to compound my misery. There was one other spot which had me almost wetting myself when the road turned to that lovely powdery dust which is probably about 20cm deep with a bad surface underneath except you can’t anticipate anything.

Some pics from that road. I’m pretty glad they’ve tarred this hill as it’s really steep. I started it at about 120km/h (75mph) in 5th and was down to 3rd gear when I got to the top. Awesome view from there though.

View from the top off the pass.

Maverick riding off into the distance. Mind the blind crest and 70degree bend though. This was a main feature of all the main roads in Kaokoland and is the cause of most accident involving tourists in Namibia as they generally ride too fast and don’t anticipate the roads turning so sharply. Be warned!

Gotta love a 432mm lense..

Brakenjan and Doubleoseven swapped bikes for a while. Apparently Doubleoseven had to pry Brakenjan’s hands from the KLR.

At least this road ended with a good surface and no bends and I tried to see if I could catch up on my “flow” which had obviously hitched a ride on one of the faster riders. I think I caught glimpses of it.

Nambabwe approaching the turnoff to Opuwo. Sorry mate, I did promise to add the huge dust cloud but my Photoshop seems to be playing up

.

Maverick couldn’t decide whether this is part of someone’s ATTGATT from an era gone by or a bed pan. I vote the latter.

The rest of the road to Opuwo was pretty good fun with loads of dips which had the suspension bottoming out at times. I was starting to feel mildly optimistic about the rest of the day’s riding. We filled up at Opuwo and again stocked up on some supplies. I have to admit Opuwo is probably one of my least favourite places I’ve ever been to as it’s pretty dirty and very dusty especially since the town was hit by the one dust storm after another when we were there. We stopped for lunch about 5km outside of town with those not on kitchen duty taking the opportunity to chill out properly.

Uncle A describing a close encounter of some sort.

I know there’s space next to you but I’m quite happy standing thank you very much Doubleoseven.

The 180km to Epupa was almost as frustrating as the morning’s ride. There weren’t that many off-camber bends but the gravel was VERY loose. It was really like riding on marbles. I’ve never ridden anything so loose and was not enjoying it one bit. I came round this one really tight right-hand bend trying my best to stay on the road. I was right on the edge of the road when I looked up (yes I know that’s part of the reason I found myself in this predicament) and saw Nambabwe parked right in front of me. I managed to avoid him without any problems and then I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was a big red whale appearing out of the bushes! Jip, Maverick had decided that it would be better to take the long way round. In his defence, this is the bend and the gravel and those KLR tyres on the Beemer really don’t inspire much confidence in these conditions.

That’s the face of a very relieved man.

We went through loads of small dry rivers which caused the KLRs and BM to bottom out from time to time. I got major air time going out of one and made a mental note to remember this one as we would be returning the same way two days later. My mind’s not what it used to be...

The road took us past Epembe and on to Okongwati. I was hoping that things would improve once we’re past Okongwati (no idea why Okongwati) but sadly that was not to be the case. In fact, I almost lost it in the first bend going out of Okongwati. The road then became a mixed bag of pretty good surfaces which would change very suddenly to really rocky bits which required that you slowed down considerably. I think this is where I dinged my rim. And so it continued. We stopped at this huge “Kremetart” tree.

Nambabwe was pretty gatvol (fed up) by then.

Maverick too if I were to hazard a guess.

The 08 KLR had two rather irritating habits. Neither the fuel cap nor the oil cap would seal properly. Not good enough Kawasaki!

Funny thing happened earlier on. Well it was funny at the time but it actually highlighted the reason why we stopped every so often and waited for the whole group to catch up or at least get confirmation that every one is still sunny side up. Doubleoseven was again leading the way and he pulled over to allow the rest of the group to catch up. Somehow he dropped the bike when he got off and due to a combination of tiredness, being fed up, and wanting to play a trick on Brakenjan he decided to just lay there and wait for Brakenjan to “discover” him. (I’d played a similar trick on Brakenjan when we were at varsity and would’ve seriously advised Doubleoseven against it but I was bringing up the rear so I guess he had to find out the hard way..…) Anyway, things backfired spectacularly as Brakenjan did not even see him. To make matters worse he was trying to catch up with Doubleoseven to tell him that it was high time they stopped to allow everyone to catch up. And so Doubleoseven had to play catch up big time. At least it prepared him for something similar later on in the trip.

Just after this tree the road improves greatly. At one stage it winds its way between a couple of koppies (small hills) with the surface that lovely balance of being just grippy enough yet not so much that it takes all the fun out of the odd skid. See, I was getting within touching distance of my flow.

We came across a grader. Unfortunately it was going in the same direction we were which meant it was really tricky to pass him. Maverick lost a sole off one of his boots when the grader forced him into a sandbank.

Doubleoseven stopped to inspect his other passion.

Finally you crest a hill and are met with the most glorious of sights – the Kunene River which means an end to the day’s ride, a refreshing swim, a couple of cold beers and decent grub.

We certainly wasted no time in getting in the river, even though it was strictly speaking unsafe to swim where we did. There are crocodiles in the Kunene and while we were sitting on some rocks looking back at the river bank we saw what we though might’ve been a crocodile’s den.

That night Maverick and Brakenjan made one of the best potjies (stews) and potbrood (bread prepared in a pot on the coals) I’ve ever tasted. Man, having all these support vehicles with us certainly had its advantages.

(RIP) maverick · Jul 21, 2008

Day Four

Written by Maverick

Day Four

After a good nights sleep and actually feeling very refreshed this morning woke up early.
Myself and Oom Gert got up about the same time and we tried to be as quiet as possible of course not to wake up the others......

Got the MSR stoves fired up for some coffee. Of course not everybody was feeling like starting the day early but not long before the rest of the camp crept out of bed and wandering towards the whistling of the coffee pot.

As normal we had some breakfeast and started packing up all our stuff. I moved the GS and faced it ready do go with the early morning sun shining on it's dust powder covered exterior, could do with a wash and wax.

The building on the top of the little cliff is available for tourist visiting the area. Not sure how much it cost but they certainly must have a spectacular view. Unfortenately I was to lazy to climb up there to check for myself......next time

The chain gang cleaned and lubed their bikes as today we had a long 330km but relatively easy ride in the saddle, I have never travelled that far in one day on dirt so should be another exciting first for me. As everthing is nearly packed I decide to go have a quick swim as even though it is still before 8:00 the heat is already taking it's toll.

The little footpath from the tent camp towards the spring

It is lush and green and I can just imagine sitting down under the tree at the heat of the day enjoying a few cold beers doing absolutely nothing, ok maybe if you could be bothered walk a further 3 meters and take a swim

At some point in time there must be some serious water coming from somewhere or has someone placed this drift wood here for show

The little waterfall makes for a good power shower and the water is just warm enough to make it enjoyable even this early in the morning

Crystal clear spring water, we were told there is tortoises in the pool but did not see any sadly

The cliffs surounding the springs makes it a really nice enclosure

Kitted, camp clean and clear we head out and must say have a good feeling about today even though we have to make up some serious km's to enjoy a rest day tomorrow. We headed for the turnoff towards the Joubert Mountains and for a change the roads was nice and smooth. Lootch was out in front and giving the KLR some gas. I was just getting into the swing of things coming around a bend seeying Lootch heading the other way, normally would think nothing of it but decided to throttle down a bit and as I come over this little crest realise there is big trouble ahead! My mind goes into overdrive and feel like my GPS sometimes going offroute recalculate....offroute recalculate.....offroute recalculate.....go the other way you IDIOT!!! The camber is sloping heavily towards the left and the road is turning....yep heavily towards the right, fukin hell just made that barely! I take a deep breath and go into the next corner expierencing a similar feeling this time cursing myself for being stupid and slow down. I get to a nice straight stretch and stop to take some pics and gather my thoughts.

Ahhh finally somebody aproaching, as the bike gets nearer I realise it is the KLR of DoubleOSeven but sporting Brakenjan on it

The the orange KTM arrives and again the pilot has now changed from Brakenjan to DoubleOSeven, they decided to swap bikes for a while as it is a good long stretch to ride something you not used to

As we ride through this beautifull valley with it's akward twist and turns providing some interesting phrases maybe not repeatable in front of your parents I come around this corner and look onto this massive hill with tar!?! As I reach the top DoubleOSeven and Brakenjan is already there taking pics

Lootch arriving shortly and we both just nod and agree that the last few km's was awesome yet terrifying enough to make you rather walk your bike around corners than riding it!

Brakenjan admiring the awesome view from the top

Down below the Nissan and Namabawe aproaching

The view the other way with Nambabwe finding a spot to park

We take a couple of pics drink some water and I set out asking Lootch to take a few snaps with me in the distance. Do yourself a favour when on a trip like this and make sure everybody take some sort of camera irregardless how good or cheap it is. Make time to stop and take pictures of scenery, your friends and odd crap that has no relevance to the story. It is so nice to relay your thoughts afterwards and looking at photo's even nicer enjoying the trip again on a spiritual level

I stopped after about 20km's waiting for the next person to arrive and of course got bored and took some more pictures of bike on long road....

Handlebars of bike on long road etc etc etc

Lootch taking a quick water break and we look back to see if the rest is aproaching but after about 5 minutes decide to push on. We arrive at the T-junction towards Opuwo and wait there for the back up vehicles and Nambabwe

Nambabwe's light in the distance coming on fast

I think he is trying to break a land speed record.....

Stop stop stop there is nothing that way dude!!

Right I was not really being honest there looking into the direction where he was heading, alot more of that open stretched roads where the rest came from

We arrive at Opuwo and stop at the local supermarket to get some fresh bread and a few basic supplies for lunch. There is not much going on in Opuwo and we find a bit of shade in the main market palce lying on the ground chatting and observing the locals, and they chatting and observing us. Something that really was a pleasant change was that most of the locals were friendly, smiling and very intrigued by all the clothing and gadgets we had on the bikes. We were offered some local curios but promised to buy some on our return in a few days as it would be senseless to carry even more stuff with us.

We find a nice spot just off the road outside Opuwo and stop for lunch.

DoubleOSeven having another cold one to try and beat the heat. There hasn't been any rain around here so the trees are only starting to show signs of new green leaves but offer enough shade to get out of the blazing sun

Both these two golden oldies can tell you many a wise tale of long forgoten trips in the past, I prefer to ride the red on though

Realising that the sheer weight of the GS is what makes it so diffucult to handle in the sand it was put on a strict diet of Sprite Zero

A all to familiar site where ever we stopped, shoes off and if we stay longer than 10 minutes bike kit off. It might sound like to much effort but just so much easier if you dressed in shorts + t-shirt

Bet ya Lootch can't hold his Stomach in for more than 10 seconds........1 2 3 ......

Not sure if the little bit of shade is going to keep that coke cool

We have a nice lunch and set off to do the rest of the km's towards the Kunene river on the Angolan border, the afternoon takes us through a variety of gravel roads and we are introduced to marble like gravel. This creates a feeling where your bike basically travels in completely the oposite way you would like it to go. I came through a long sweeping corner nothing serious or fancy and then halfway through realised the bike is heading straight offroad. As my deathgrip took over and tried to steer away from the side eventually took the straightest line right into the rough. By now I was all to familiar with this practise and gently steered my bike around and over bolders, trees and holes untill I came to a standstill about 100 meters from the road. As if this was my inteneded route rode slowly back to the road where Nambabwe was now looking at me with a very confused expression of WTF are you doing? We stopped for a water break and discussed this newly discovered gravel phenomenon constructed from bags full of marbles. Again no big damage to the big GS and I do apologise for the now slightly re-directed trees you will find on your way through Namibia.

Speaking about trees, not exactly your average bonzai is it?

To put it into perspective that small little man trying to get your attention is me in front of this big old Kremetart or better known as the Baobab tree

Nambabwe by now wondering how much further we have to go to sit down and have that promised day of rest

As we get closer to the Kunene the land changes into a different colour of red and bush, there is even the odd cloud in the sky for a change - haven't seen those since we left the UK a couple of days ago

We encounter a grader about 40 km's outside of Epupa and after a kilometer or so I see a gap to get past the grader through the twisty sandy roads. I blow my horn to attract the attention of the driver but as I get right next to it he comes right over and push into a big sandbank. This however is filled with some rocks and as I try to keep the bike upright manage to rip the sole right off from one of my boots. Luckilly did not drop or went further into the rough as that could of ended up in disaster. I catch up with the grader again down the road and this time manage to get past him without being killed. I don't think he saw or heard me over the noise of the grader and as I am in holiday mode decide against it to do the usual swearing or showing obscene hand gestures towards him. We cath up with DoubleOSeven and Brakenjan further down the road next to an airstrip and are nearly pulled into a let's see who's bike is the fastest down the landing strip scenario. DoubleOSeven is a keen flyer and we all speculate how cool it would be to fly around the area for a day. Well actually I hate flying with a passion and would of gladly taken pictures of them taking off into the air before retiring to my camp chair with a beer in the shade.

Finally we come over a hill and met with this awesome valley with the kunene river and green tree's with lots and lots of shade. This will be our rest place for a day and we intend to do as little as possible for as long as possible. Whilst getting our camp up a snake falls out of the tree right in the middle of Brakenjan and DoubleOSeven's tent and not sure who went in different directions faster. With lots of laughter and carefully inspection of the sky above us we proceed, flying snakes who would of guessed!

We went down to the river and swam across to the rocks just a few meters away from the falls each sitting there in the cool water enjoying a beer. There was a group of bikers from Holland that kept trying to tell us that it is dangerous to swim so close to the rocks and there is a risk of crocodiles.

As it was rather close to the rocks we hoped that crocks would not come this far down even though we were looking what could easily been a croc's den not far from us on the side of the river. As for being to close to the falls you would need to cross a fair few rocks to be remotely close to danger with the river being low at the moment. It was not long before some young locals jumped in the water and a few tourist decided to crash our spot so we headed back towards camp.

Myself and DoubleOSeven on chef duty and we prepare a potjie (stew made in black cast iron pot) and potbrood (bread baked in a cast iron pot on the fire). I must admit that the chances of ever repeating this meal would be very difficult as it was fit for a king and the ingredients a perfect harmony of flavours. As with these one off special dishes you always forget what was put in it and therefor can only hope to make something remotely the same again. The warm bread went down a treat with butter melting and dripping of the sides of it. Beer and a very nice whisky with ice was enough to make the evening perfect before we all silently dissapeared one by one falling asleep.

This is Maverick having fun on day 4 and can the kid who lost his marbles on the gravel road please go and pick it up, it's a freakin hazard for us bikers!

(RIP) maverick · Jul 21, 2008

Day 5

Written by Lootch

Day 5 – Rest day at Epupa Falls

This has to be one of the most relaxing days ever. It was spent doing a bit of washing, updating the diaries, calling home (there’s a cell phone mast about 150m from the camp), swimming, going for walks along the river etc.

Maverick updating the diary, Nambabwe fixing the video camera, me enjoying the company.

The uncles

Brakenjan all domesticated.

That’s Angola on the other side.

The camp, Epupa Falls Campsite, is really nice with warm water and proper toilets. It doesn’t have electricity, but that’s not really a problem. The camp is underneath some palm trees – the Makalani palm. It has a hard round “fruit” which tastes quite nice. Or maybe that’s just how it tasted when I was still as boarding school. We used to buy the stuff for 5c a piece. That’s in the days when petrol wasn’t even R1 per litre. Mmm, just realised that was a rip-off! Good thing it takes you about three days to finish one.

Makalani Palm fruit.

Shower

The falls, which is actually a series of small falls. The river wasn’t very high as it was at the end of the dry season, but I’d love to see it when it’s in flood.

These Kremetart trees grow in the most amazing places

The main fall

Probably my favourite photo of the trip – nice one Nambabwe!

Nambabwe and Doubleoseven found a very nice secluded beach….

Some lizards in the trees by our tents. The blue and orange one is the male and the brown one the female.

In the afternoon I was itching for a ride. The others were still saddle sore from the previous day so I decided to go on my own. That’s when I realised how big a “safety net” we have on the trip with the support vehicles and by simply riding in a group. It was a bit sobering and I decided after about 45 minutes that I’m not quite ready for this. Don’t know why it bothered me then especially since I used to spend days in the mountains around Stellenbosch on my own without ever worrying about “what if?”. Ignorance is bliss hey…

The others went for a ride in one of the support vehicles in order to charge the battery (and because they were too lazy to put their kit on). Apparently they saw some monkeys. Decide for yourself which is which.

Some local flora.

This part of the world at sun set is absolutely awesome.

That night we had “ribbetjie” for dinner. Couldn’t help but think of Metaljockey and co eating the goat when they were here. Following his advice we also stayed away from the Copperband… Fortunately he didn’t say anything about the beer, whiskey etc.

(RIP) maverick · Jul 21, 2008

Restday...

Written by Maverick

Ahhhhhhhhhhh what a day we have planned ahead, today we going to do absolutely nothing. Now generally if you have miles and miles of dirt you can go and play on you would think why are we just hanging about. Well after a couple of days of various levels of dirt riding and new expieriences for us noobie offroad riders you just have to take a break and enjoy some of Nabibia's nature on the Kunene river. DoubleOSeven tracking me down in my tent, luckilly I am quick on the draw and shoot him first

Looking around the camp this morning everything is so peacefull and quiet

Everyone has found themselves a chair and cold drink overlooking the mighty Kunene river flowing past

Some of us decide to do washing and getting rid of the last week's dust and dirt out of our kit. I opted for the quick wash, rinse and dry method on a line extended from our tent to one of the trees

Our little table looking rather empty this morning after last nights feast

The two KLR's looking much better after shedding those pounds lurking in the number plates

Nambabwe's 2008 KLR looking not so new anymore

The sleek and slim KTM looking greatfrom any angle, one thing is to be said for katooms they do look the part when it comes to enduro

I bought a notebook to do a daily journal of our travels and expierence. As things turned out every night after our meal and the odd drink by the time you attempt putting pen to paper you are just to tired getting down the basics. So today I was attempting to catch up with the past week. As with all things the moment you try to do something short and sweet you end up trying to recap on every single expierence. So after writing day one I turned my attention to the cold beer next to me and realised this writing thing ain't gonna happen today. As things turned out it did not happen at all after that day either. Ohh well always next time

DoubleOSeven sporting a nice chafing bruise from his boots

Brakenjan finishing his washing and must say seems like he has done this before....alot

Lootch spotted some colourfull lizards that was quite happy to sit quietly on the tree whilst snapping away

The female with less colour in her cheeks

At some point in the day Lootch suggested we take the bikes out for a ride, I think the the general response he got was very vague looks and mmmm's and ahhhhhsss about already having a beer and it could be rather dangerous out there on a bike etc etc. He however made us proud by going out for about 40 minutes before coming to his senses and returned cracking open another beer.

Later the afternoon Oom Gert, Nambabwe and myself jumped in the Landcruiser for a quick drive to charge the battery and see what is further up the river.

We drove past and through the small village of Epupa and the late afternoon sun brought out the colour in the mountains around us

There is a lodge just further up the river and in combination with the camps we were in certainly no shortage to stay next to the river

Just behind those rocks in the foreground is the falls, that is the spot we used yesterday afternoon chilling out with a beer in the water, of course we did the same today again throwing caution in the wind regarding the crocs that share the river

We drove to the top of the hill overlooking Epupa Falls and the locals have started building some tourist attractions to generate some income, this little mud hut with general goods used by the local tribes

A simple lifestyle seems so the way to go sometimes

Not sure whether I would be happy sleeping in the air though

How great would it be to come back in 20 years and see these trees have grown the size of the Baobabs we have seen on our way to Epupa

Some introduction the the local community and their quest to generate some income from tourism

Imagine having to wake up in this valley looking at the vibrant mountains around you every day

The river splitting up in several little waterfalls going down in the valley, Angola just across the river...next conquest?

The kunene albeit being a bit dry at the moment always running with water

As I looked at the angolan mountains had to wonder whether my father who served in the army had the same appreciation for the views as myself now 30 odd years later

Some more local builds depicting the rural life style in these areas

Wish these would grow around Essex where I live

As we visited late afternoon there was nobody there to tell us the actual usage of these little mud huts on stilts. More than likely place to put food out of the way of wild animals

Maybe the English football team should find their roots again with a nice bootcamp on this hardcore pitch

More local architecture, amazing what you can do if you only left with the basics of nature

We travelled into the veld and found some remains of previous huts

and the odd animal kraal now slightly derilict of age and wear

The plants and trees here is certainly of the tough variety because anything not remotely robust against the dry and heat

Then again with all the water flowing through the valley there certainly is hope for everything

As we drive around just absorbing the sights and sounds of this fantastic country totall oblivious from all the choas we endure in our so called first world

Heading back on the little gravel road with the sun setting in the distance

Amazing where there is a remote sign of water there is always animals

Closer down towards the river with its lush green banks

A landy all the way from cape town

We spot a few monkeys and give them chase through the trees, the river this side might not be a good option to swim as the chances being croc food is pretty good

The cheeky monkeys now sit and watch us cautiously

Obviously this donkey is certainly not suffering from food deprivation

A river runs through it

Nambabwe standing way to close for comfort to the edge of the river

Wonder if that little island in the river is for sale, could have a nice retreat hidden between the trees

Heading back towards camp

Local huts and homes all shapes and sizes

A rather simple life that most city dwellers can't comprehend

Even in this simplistic life style you can always spot the inviduality of people over the world. Humans need to put their stamp on something to make it feel like their own

Maybe in a couple of years this little community will grow so much that this sign is acompanied by a school crossing sign or even worse a traffic signal, for the sanity and goodwill of the world I hope they can enjoy the freedom and lifestyle for many years to come irregardless of their conseption of struggling

Back to the campsite

As we get off the landcruiser the other guys get on the back of Oom Hendrik's bakkie as he spotted some deer along the road earlier and wanted to see if they are still there. Now normally you would think the chances of them being there is about zero but not to miss out on anything we all jump on

The sun is now setting rapidly

Again the colours change from minute to minute

As luck would have it we saw the two little deer running across the road and Lootch tried to capture a shot of them

Oom Hendrik walking back towards the bakkie and feeling very happy that we managed to trek the little deer down again.

Well boys and girls this is Maverick enjoying a great day off at Epupa Falls on the border of Namibia and Angola. I can't think of any other place I would rather be right this moment!

(RIP) maverick · Jul 21, 2008

Day 6

Written by Lootch

Day 6 – Epupa Falls to Otjihende

Day 6 started really early. It felt wrong to start the bikes when the rest of the camp was still asleep but we had a lot of ground to cover. I was expecting to see the true Kaokoland today – the one without the big gravel roads. But first we had to cover the 180km back to Opuwo. I was dreading this a bit as I did not enjoy the road the first time round but it helps when you’re fresh. The first bit is the best part of the road and in the cool morning air it was even more special. The road was even better than I remembered because of the lower temperatures and I was riding my heart out. There was no doubt that I had been properly reunited with my flow.

I can’t imagine that there’s a better way to start the day than with roads like these.

Just don’t overcook it…

For some people the lasting impression of Kaokoland is the people, and especially the women in their traditional wear. Maybe I’ve seen that too many times because, for me, what represents Kaokoland best today are these two road signs. As long as you know that these signs never lie and act on it you’ll be fine.

It’s probably an indication of my whole attitude towards this trip which was to have the ride of my life and see some of the most awesome places in the world with the best travel companions. I only realised after the trip that I did not take a singe picture of an Ovahimba women in traditional wear. Part of this was that you have to pay them and I wasn’t that desperate for a photo. Reading this back it sounds a bit selfish. Too bad.

The road to Opuwo was this time round an absolute joy. Gone was the fear of riding on the marble-like surface. In fact I cruised at probably the highest average speed of the whole trip apart from the last few kilometres to Henties. Now, remember I said that my memory’s not what it used to be? Remember the small rivers and the major airtime I got? Well, I did too but somehow did not make the connection when I saw the warning signs. The recommended speed at which to take this particular rivulet is 30km/h and being on a KLR with stock suspension it’s quite a safe guide for this particular river as both the entrance and exit is very steep. Because of this the riverbed had been lined with concrete. Anyway, I managed to slow down a bit but still went flying in into the river at 90km/h. I landed in the middle of the river with the bike bottoming out completely and squirming underneath me and before the suspension had time to recover I hit the exit with an almighty bang and then MAJOR airtime and another massive thud as I landed with the suspension again bottoming out completely. My first thought was “Bugger that was close” and then I remembered someone’s signature “KLR – flies like a bird, lands like a piano.” Very true. This was my closest call of the trip and I can only imagine what would’ve happened had I come off. Quite sobering.

The rest of the road to Opuwo was uneventful.

About 40km before Opuwo I had to switch to reserve but instead of slowing down I decided to maintain my speed and see how far I can go on reserve while travelling at 120km/h. As it turns out I reached Opuwo without any problems unlike Nambabwe who had to refuel. In general the 08 KLR’s fuel consumption was worse than the 07 KLR’s. We refuelled and bought some more supplies as this would be the last time we’d see a shop for some time. Opuwo had still not improved but at least there weren’t that many dust storms this early in the morning.

Then came my biggest disappointment of the trip. We took the road to Otjihende via Etanga. Last time we did this road in ’94 in 4x4s it took us two days to get to Etanga. OK, we weren’t in a rush but still. Here’s a picture I found on the web which shows what the road looked like back then – this was the good bit. Now, the first 60 odd kilometres are wide gravel roads.

Still, we had some fun, especially when the road decided to turn into this really fine powder and you end up in ruts you can’t see hitting rocks you can’t see either and all this at speed. Maverick and Nambabwe had a very close call, nearly taking out some kids who had rushed to the side of the road to either watch the spectacle of bikers falling or to come and beg.

Lootch coming through

Maverick

Brakenjan did not stick around for this photo shoot and took off at speed. As it was time for lunch I decided to try to catch him. Yeah I know, KLR catching a KTM640 – what was I thinking?? At least it was a fabulous ride as the road gets much smaller after this. It also get’s very twisty as it winds its way over one hill after the other.

I finally caught up with Brakenjan just before Etanga – after he stopped. We waited for the rest of the group and the support vehicles.

This guy did not like being disturbed.

Uncle H said that there’s a really nice spot outside Etanga in a riverbed. He was right. This is one of the advantages of travelling with someone who’s been there a couple of times.

Those of you who know the area might be thinking that we’re on our way to the infamous Van Zyl’s Pass and you’d be right. You would also be right in being completely horrified at the thought of noobs like us tackling that pass. But, we met a tour operator the previous day at Epupa who told us about a new pass which would be do-able with a VW Golf. He was a bit vague about the exact turn-off except that it’s “just before Van Zyl’s Pass starts” and evaded the question of whether he’d done the pass with his 2-wheel drive minibus. But, we were keen not to take the long way round to the Marienfluss and even more keen to be able to report that there’s now a new road to replace Van Zyl’s Pass. This would have a significant influence on the rest of our trip…

Anyway, at Etanga Kaokoland, as I remember it, started proper. The road turned into ungraded 2-track with loads of sandy and rocky patches with thorn bushes lining the road. I was still in the flow and loving every moment of this.

I was especially enjoying the sandy bits – particularly after the GS this KLR felt like it was made for the stuff. Moments which I would’ve described as almost death defying on Day 1 were now just great fun. I found myself wondering whether life could get any better and sitting here typing this I have to conclude that, sadly, the answer is “no”.

We found a nice spot in a big riverbed just before Van Zyl’s Pass. I did not yet feel like pitching camp so decided to go play in the river. The sand was really quite sticky and for the first time I felt myself whishing for just a little bit more power – or a better power to weight ratio.

Uncle H wasn’t very keen on this spot as it was by a watering hole and he was worried about the animal and human traffic. There was however no way we were moving. Anyway, where would you go? This was the last place to camp before the pass. Later that afternoon Uncle H and I went for a drive to see if we could find this Golf pass. We found the road exactly where the tour guide said it would be and even though I wouldn’t tackle it with a Golf the road did seem in a good condition although it didn’t look like it had seen a lot of traffic. We drove down the road for about 3 kilometres before we turned back to tell everyone the good news. That night we went to sleep all excited at the prospect of riding the new pass the following day.

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