Day 9 - part 6(pictures from this episode can be viewed in higher resolution here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmhwPdbH)
When we emerged from the Hoanib canyon onto the open plain we had about 25 km to go - last 10 km on D3707. There is a random free standing gate at the end/beginning of the canyons with little hut to the side and information table with fees one is supposed to pay for the permit when passing through. On my prior trips I just rode through as there was noone there, but this time two guys came rushing out the the hut when I stopped at the gate. Justin was already about 100 meters or so past the gate - he stopped at the gate, but noboty came out, so just pushed on keen to get to Sesfontein and off the bike asap.
I paid R200 (R100 per person - nothing for vehicle as they had only 4x4s specified so I argued my way out of it) for both of us and we were off again. No sure what is the permit for - if I remember correctly for Sesfontein conservancy and as far as I know payment of this permit doesn't bear any validity in the Palmwag conservancy we just came out of (or rather northernmost border of which we followed in Hoanib), but I paid without raising any questions as I was keen to leave good impression of bikers. It probably is not going to beat Wilderness Safaris, but I believe every little thing may help to keep the area open for bikes as long as possible.
The landscape on the plains was quite different to the canyons with dramatic clouds overhead (very unusual here) and strong wind blowing dust around, which made for eerie and yet stunning scenery:
Justin posing with giraffe in the background. Perspective makes him look much bigger than he really is, the otherworldly googles making him very personable fiting right into the Mad Max like scenery:
We had about 10 km to go to the D3707, last 5 or so of big fesh fesh plain with tracks running all over the bush looking for best place to avoid the annoying sand. I have lost Justin in the bush somewhere there and when I came to D3707, he was nowhere to be seen. I assumed he just hit the road and gunned it to Sesfontein to get off the bike, so i set-off as well, but when I arived in town, he was nowhere to be seen. Eventually he arived after me - he had a bit of hard time in the fesh fesh and I have overtaken him on one of the alternative tracks. We have stopped at the shop to get some drinks and restock on condensed milk and then rode down the road to Sesfontein Fort. Bertie was already there and got each of us our own room, with airconditioning and such. Good stuff!
This thing was chasing me for few km and I even got a bit worried as it looked pretty powerful, so I opened up and outrun it eventually:
Justin having a hard time in fesh fesh:
Sesfontein shop with the usual suspects:
And reminder of what Sesfontein Fort looks like:
We have spend the afternoon with some high intensity sleeping and chilling in the pool. In the evenining we reconvened for dinner where Justin asked me what are the last two days about. I knew what is coming, but didn't see a point to sugar coat it and gave him realistic picture. While there was still one of the highlights left - Valley of Desolation, the truth was that he has seen already very similar scenery on the first day north of Brandberg, as our track that day run in places parallel to that track only km or 2 apart. And seeing that his hand pain doesn't allow him to enjoy the scenery much anway, there was no point to try to extend his agony. I think his mind was made up already anyway and he decided to join Bertie next day and bail out on the dirt highways back to Uis. I will finish the planned route on my own.
As I've said few times already, I didn't envisage this ending and it was a bit sad as I do consider this the absolute best riding one can get literally anywhere on this planet and they were not able to enjoy it to the end. But it was what it was and there was no point dwelling on it. We had a good ride together, and until they got caught up by the exhaustion snowball and carpal tunnel ailment they both seemed to really enjoy the trip. Even though they weren't to finish the whole route, I dare to say they still managed to ride more juicy and intense tracks than almost anybody I have seen riding up here in many years I have been following this place. So at the end of the day, they still had great trip and I will be leaving with good memories.
With that sorted, I have spent way too much time on wifi annoying people on the 'Adventurise 500' thread by posting some pretty images of 500s in Kaokoland and got to bed only at about 1 am.