LLTHB
Pack Dog
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2010
- Messages
- 288
- Reaction score
- 66
- Bike
- BMW R1200GS Adventure
Ride Report – Section 2
Trip: Durban to Namibia, Namibia to Durban via Caprivi Strip and Botswana
Bike: 2009 BMW 1200 GS Adventure – “Sylvia” or the “Pig” or the “Donkey”
Accessories: Handle bar raisers, Oil and light guards, Throttle locker – MOST IMPORTANT
Tyres: Metzler Tourance – 2.4 & 2.6 on tar – 1.8 & 1.8 on dirt
Clothing: Santiago Boots, BMW Rally Suit, Richa Summer Gloves
Safety: BMW System 6 Helmet, Leatt Brace, Noise Clipper Ear Plugs
The author of this article is new to Adventure Riding, but has owned bikes since the age of 14, now aged 46 so that makes 32 years of riding. Throw in a few races for Suzuki years back and quite a bit of off road riding, the author admits to being a newbie to this game, but not a total novice.
Certain rules need to be applied when one is a long ride like this, 7000ks planned, but you should always be flexible to what arises around you unless you are on a strict time budget. Rules such as doing your laundry every day, shaving when you can, trying to avoid breaking into a sweat, not riding at night, reducing speed on dirt or in bad riding areas should always be taken into account. But, you can do what you want, you have the right to risk. A fellow biker – Double Diamond – did a solo trip to Namibia last year and all said to him – You are mad to go on your own. I don’t agree – He would still be at home if he didn’t just do it alone. Yes, it is better to go in a small group, no argument – but you show me someone else who wanted to leave Durban when I did, has 3 weeks to ride a bike, wants to stay mainly in chalets with a few nights camping etc etc and certainly I will ride with him. Not many people are lucky enough to take such a long break, certainly I give thanks for all my blessings that allow me to undertake such a trip.
Thursday 11th Feb 2010 – Felix Unite Camp, Noordoewer to Konkiep Lapa Camp, 35ks North of Bethanien on the C14 – Chalet – R140 per person
Hard days riding today, did 460ks, most on dirt. Good dirt though, nothing to complain about. Have now done 2270ks total since leaving Durban. Good breakfast at Felix Unite, good vibe, good place, clean, good people, highly recommended.
Left at 08h30, slack bastard I know, but it was such a mellow morning, the river is right on your doorstep, really cool. The route I wanted to take to Rosh Pinah – the C13 – was closed because of floods. Decided to do the Fish River Canyon instead, haven’t seen if for 12 years or so. Sylvia loved the dirt, tires are maybe a touch soft as the onboard tire pressure warning light is flashing at me all the time. Both are on 1.7bar on the bikes computer system, but my calibrated gauge shows 1.9 bar, happy with that. Took the first part of the C13 to Aussenkeer, then onto the C37 to Fish River Canyon.
And here, Sylvia and I truly bonded when she went all temperamental on me and nearly evicted me for bad riding skills. Right in the Canyon look out, the roads are hard rock and flint. A small 200m section of road was so bad, people have made a small loop road next to the bad area. On the way in I chose the new loop area on the left, got thru no worries. Coming back though, at 40 ks an hour I forgot which section I came in on – Then I DITHERED, then I chose right, then I chose left, then I seriaasly faaaaked up and went straight. Well, Sylvia was up and down, I swear at one stage I was walking next to her, I know I lost the bars twice, pulled out of my hands, I was sitting, then I was standing – And then I decided to climb off and let her go. As I was now in the mindset of abandoning Sylvia I looked for a suitable soft landing spot – And in the rock garden there was no place that looked even remotely soft for landing.
In my working environment we encourage staff to play the “What If Game” all the time. What if we had a fire right now on board – Do you know where the fire extinguishers are? Do you know where the escape routes are? Where is your muster area? Do you know where your life raft is? And so on – All morning in the soft sand areas I had been saying to myself – What if we are going down now, What will you do – And of course the answer is Stand Up, Look Up, Open Up.
So – I am not sure if I was standing or sitting, but I know I made a conscious decision to stay with the bike – I opened up and we got out of there, a few dings on the bash plate, a mirror that vibrated loose, a leaking rear end – No, not Sylvia, me. Actually ended up in being a huge confidence builder!
After that we went on our way to Seeheim. Must also mention that I need Daves help here in Namibia. There are all these overland trucks that all seem to have 18 chicks on board and 2 okes, and the okes seem to be dumb Aussies. You have to be under 25 to join these tours – So this is just up Daves alley. Met a girl from Calgary in Canada – 20 years ago when I lived in the Caymans I had the hots for chick from Calgary in Canada, told this girl all about it – And they seem to know each other. Putting this on Facebook!!!
After Seeheim, tar road to Goageb, the B4 – beware the GPS and the map show petrol in Goageb, nothing, Nada, not even a petrol station any more. A rule in Namibia is to fill up every time you have the chance – even if you just filled up 50ks ago, fill up again. Twice today I have been unable to put petrol in because of power failures and once because of bad info. Fill up when you can, buy cold water when you can. On the road to Seeheim – the C12 – You will see the Canon Roadhouse.
Awesome, must stop, great food, great theme bar, give you ice for your Camelbak, all they can do to help you. As you go into the toilet, there is a stunning photo of a nude bird on the wall, with a box covering, well covering her “box”. This box has a handle, so of course you look around, see no one, make sure you alone, check under the toilet doors, approach the picture and open the little box. Well, a damn air raid klaxon goes off and inside the box is a sign that You just the bar a round!!!
No hiding now, Hitler would have been happy with the damn air raid siren. Man up, walk out with your guilty face, start making excuses, eat your meal and hope the next guy going in is as doff as you are.
Saw some Sprinbok – put on a pronking show for us, nearly hit a shoal of funny looking donkeys, seem to have white and black stripes running down their sides, black mane as well. Close call actually, damn Zebra saw me and bolted right across the road in front of me.
Left the B4 and headed up the C14 to Bethanien, filled up with petrol, headed on another 35ks to stay at the Konkiep Lapa rest camp. OK, this is not 5 star, this is 1 star, but it is a good 1 star, you could bring a girl here no worries, but it is rough. Not en-suite, but good clean ablutions, good clean linen, swimming pool – just so much easier than camping, but at a camping price. Ice cold beer for sale, R9 each, no food though – you must bring your own, but they do have kitchen facilities.
On food, I am eating Back Country Cuisine – a freeze dried MRE ( Meals Ready to Eat). Excellent quality. These guys came to your mom’s house at a Sunday lunch, took your roast leg of lamb with mint, mash and 3 veg – then they freeze dried it – you now add boiling water to the packet for 10 minutes, and that meal re-appears in front of you. You can even taste the mint. Most nights I eat out, but if you have to camp, this is the way to go – no tins, no mess, no fuss. Cape Union and camping shops have it. R70 for a meal for 2 – if there are 2 of you, maybe bulk it up with a side portion of two minute noodles. Loved that girls ride report where she said she had Seafood Platter for 2 – Can of Tuna and a Can of Mussels. Ha, ha. That was awesome.
Tomorrow I am doing the D707, a minor road in the Namib Naukluft Park, on the side of the park actually, am led to believe that the game is prolific, all over the place. Looking forward to it.
A=
Friday 12th Feb 2010 – Day 7 – Sossus Vlei Lodge Desert Camp, Sesriem
Chalet – R710 per person, self catering, but a 4 Star type deal.
Today was hard riding, 100ks to far, gatvol at the end of it. Really was tough, but an excellent ride from all that took place. First up, the Tannie at the Lapa told me of a short cut that they always use – well maybe they use a Bell Jet Ranger Helicopter, certainly they do not use a 270kg bike loaded with 50kilos of gear and even more so, they do not use a motorbike after all the rain we have just had. Every few hundred metres was a wash away, heavy rain leads to flash floods leads to sand on the road.
Now lets talk about how big the BMWs actually are, lets see why – IMHO – (In My Humble Opinion) and this is my ride report so my opinion counts, you go write you own ride report if you don’t agree!!, lets see why I decided a few years ago that this is the correct bike for what I want.
I want comfort, high speed, maybe 70% tar, 28% good dirt road and maybe 2% bad dirt road. I do not want to ride on sand and mud and will plan my routes to go around it. Yes, certainly I do curse Sylvias weight every day, and trust me with all I am carrying, she is heavy – A vetgat and with back fat to boot. BUT, she gets me where I want to go in style. She carries 33liters of fuel, all the other bikes I have seen seem to have little bottles of fuel all over the show. I want ABS, now today I turned it off for a while, discuss later. I want a large windshield that keeps me dry, keeps the bugs off me, protects me from the wind. Tubeless tires is a plus, and one feature I did not expect, and one I now use all the time is the ability to adjust the suspension with the touch of a button. This to me is a great feature – Comfort when I am cruising, tighten it up in mountain passes etc.
I know I ride alone and I want BMW on call assist, OK, that means a new bike every 3 years, but I will survive that. So yes, she is heavy, and it does make life harder at times but you plan for it, and you allow for it. Don’t pull into downhill angled parking’s, you will not get out. Do not use the side stand on steeply angled roads, she will lean over so far you will battle to pick it up. I do envy the lighter bikes at times, especially in tight situations. OK, todays ride, about 360ks total.
Left the Lapa at about 7h20, temp was already 35degrees. Took the D425 – very technical ride of about 60 ks. Two very steep descents on bad rock roads, Now here I believe the ABS must be switched off. I use ABS on gravel, I want ABS on gravel, I know the difference with and without. But, on steep descents when I need the back brake, I need the back brake. Not the computer deciding that because my wheels are not spinning at the same revs so now you have no brakes. You know what I mean, sometimes you do need to lock up that back wheel. Same with steep uphill’s on rock, you may need to stop, now you start sliding backwards and now you need your brakes no matter what each wheel is doing revs wise. Again, this is my humble opinion. This road would not normally be so bad, but the rain has damaged it badly at the mo. I then did the D707 – a well know road that takes you thru the Namib Naukluft Park. Wow, what a road, mixture of hard surface, soft surface, loose gravel – not a bad road, but the scenery is simply stunning. You must do it, and after all the rain the mountains were green. This is amazing.
Saw countless springbok, herds and herds of gemsbok, kudu – really was awesome. But, there is one serious problem with this road. Some areas are fenced, some not. In the fenced areas you often find game that have jumped the fence and as you approach you scare them and they start to bolt. But they cannot escape as they are fenced in. Game have only so much energy for each day, you cannot simply just chase them for miles on end, they will die from exhaustion. The only way to end this is for you to accelerate past them so they will stop bolting. But now it falls apart because as you draw level they alter course across the front of you and they take the fence on – the gemsbok simply run into the fence, springbok try and jump over, ostrich seem to tumble over – and these poor animals are hurt badly.
Man I saw Gemsbok go down today, maybe 4 big bulls in total, 4 or 5 springbok that didn’t make the jump, this is not pretty. You cant wait for them to go away, they have nowhere to go, you must get passed them or you will sit on the road all day. In areas where there is no fence the animals can simply escape.
After the D707 I took the C27 to Betta and on to Sesriem. Sesriem camp site looked OK, but camping only on the sand, temp was 47degrees, took the Visa / Mastercard option and came to Sossusvlei Desert Lodge. Heaven, good chalets, order your meat raw, they make the fires, you cook, they bring salads etc, but is really a self catering place. Tomorrow will be Sossusvlei, trying to get a balloon safari organized.
Trip: Durban to Namibia, Namibia to Durban via Caprivi Strip and Botswana
Bike: 2009 BMW 1200 GS Adventure – “Sylvia” or the “Pig” or the “Donkey”
Accessories: Handle bar raisers, Oil and light guards, Throttle locker – MOST IMPORTANT
Tyres: Metzler Tourance – 2.4 & 2.6 on tar – 1.8 & 1.8 on dirt
Clothing: Santiago Boots, BMW Rally Suit, Richa Summer Gloves
Safety: BMW System 6 Helmet, Leatt Brace, Noise Clipper Ear Plugs
The author of this article is new to Adventure Riding, but has owned bikes since the age of 14, now aged 46 so that makes 32 years of riding. Throw in a few races for Suzuki years back and quite a bit of off road riding, the author admits to being a newbie to this game, but not a total novice.
Certain rules need to be applied when one is a long ride like this, 7000ks planned, but you should always be flexible to what arises around you unless you are on a strict time budget. Rules such as doing your laundry every day, shaving when you can, trying to avoid breaking into a sweat, not riding at night, reducing speed on dirt or in bad riding areas should always be taken into account. But, you can do what you want, you have the right to risk. A fellow biker – Double Diamond – did a solo trip to Namibia last year and all said to him – You are mad to go on your own. I don’t agree – He would still be at home if he didn’t just do it alone. Yes, it is better to go in a small group, no argument – but you show me someone else who wanted to leave Durban when I did, has 3 weeks to ride a bike, wants to stay mainly in chalets with a few nights camping etc etc and certainly I will ride with him. Not many people are lucky enough to take such a long break, certainly I give thanks for all my blessings that allow me to undertake such a trip.
Thursday 11th Feb 2010 – Felix Unite Camp, Noordoewer to Konkiep Lapa Camp, 35ks North of Bethanien on the C14 – Chalet – R140 per person
Hard days riding today, did 460ks, most on dirt. Good dirt though, nothing to complain about. Have now done 2270ks total since leaving Durban. Good breakfast at Felix Unite, good vibe, good place, clean, good people, highly recommended.
Left at 08h30, slack bastard I know, but it was such a mellow morning, the river is right on your doorstep, really cool. The route I wanted to take to Rosh Pinah – the C13 – was closed because of floods. Decided to do the Fish River Canyon instead, haven’t seen if for 12 years or so. Sylvia loved the dirt, tires are maybe a touch soft as the onboard tire pressure warning light is flashing at me all the time. Both are on 1.7bar on the bikes computer system, but my calibrated gauge shows 1.9 bar, happy with that. Took the first part of the C13 to Aussenkeer, then onto the C37 to Fish River Canyon.
And here, Sylvia and I truly bonded when she went all temperamental on me and nearly evicted me for bad riding skills. Right in the Canyon look out, the roads are hard rock and flint. A small 200m section of road was so bad, people have made a small loop road next to the bad area. On the way in I chose the new loop area on the left, got thru no worries. Coming back though, at 40 ks an hour I forgot which section I came in on – Then I DITHERED, then I chose right, then I chose left, then I seriaasly faaaaked up and went straight. Well, Sylvia was up and down, I swear at one stage I was walking next to her, I know I lost the bars twice, pulled out of my hands, I was sitting, then I was standing – And then I decided to climb off and let her go. As I was now in the mindset of abandoning Sylvia I looked for a suitable soft landing spot – And in the rock garden there was no place that looked even remotely soft for landing.
In my working environment we encourage staff to play the “What If Game” all the time. What if we had a fire right now on board – Do you know where the fire extinguishers are? Do you know where the escape routes are? Where is your muster area? Do you know where your life raft is? And so on – All morning in the soft sand areas I had been saying to myself – What if we are going down now, What will you do – And of course the answer is Stand Up, Look Up, Open Up.
So – I am not sure if I was standing or sitting, but I know I made a conscious decision to stay with the bike – I opened up and we got out of there, a few dings on the bash plate, a mirror that vibrated loose, a leaking rear end – No, not Sylvia, me. Actually ended up in being a huge confidence builder!
After that we went on our way to Seeheim. Must also mention that I need Daves help here in Namibia. There are all these overland trucks that all seem to have 18 chicks on board and 2 okes, and the okes seem to be dumb Aussies. You have to be under 25 to join these tours – So this is just up Daves alley. Met a girl from Calgary in Canada – 20 years ago when I lived in the Caymans I had the hots for chick from Calgary in Canada, told this girl all about it – And they seem to know each other. Putting this on Facebook!!!
After Seeheim, tar road to Goageb, the B4 – beware the GPS and the map show petrol in Goageb, nothing, Nada, not even a petrol station any more. A rule in Namibia is to fill up every time you have the chance – even if you just filled up 50ks ago, fill up again. Twice today I have been unable to put petrol in because of power failures and once because of bad info. Fill up when you can, buy cold water when you can. On the road to Seeheim – the C12 – You will see the Canon Roadhouse.
Awesome, must stop, great food, great theme bar, give you ice for your Camelbak, all they can do to help you. As you go into the toilet, there is a stunning photo of a nude bird on the wall, with a box covering, well covering her “box”. This box has a handle, so of course you look around, see no one, make sure you alone, check under the toilet doors, approach the picture and open the little box. Well, a damn air raid klaxon goes off and inside the box is a sign that You just the bar a round!!!
No hiding now, Hitler would have been happy with the damn air raid siren. Man up, walk out with your guilty face, start making excuses, eat your meal and hope the next guy going in is as doff as you are.
Saw some Sprinbok – put on a pronking show for us, nearly hit a shoal of funny looking donkeys, seem to have white and black stripes running down their sides, black mane as well. Close call actually, damn Zebra saw me and bolted right across the road in front of me.
Left the B4 and headed up the C14 to Bethanien, filled up with petrol, headed on another 35ks to stay at the Konkiep Lapa rest camp. OK, this is not 5 star, this is 1 star, but it is a good 1 star, you could bring a girl here no worries, but it is rough. Not en-suite, but good clean ablutions, good clean linen, swimming pool – just so much easier than camping, but at a camping price. Ice cold beer for sale, R9 each, no food though – you must bring your own, but they do have kitchen facilities.
On food, I am eating Back Country Cuisine – a freeze dried MRE ( Meals Ready to Eat). Excellent quality. These guys came to your mom’s house at a Sunday lunch, took your roast leg of lamb with mint, mash and 3 veg – then they freeze dried it – you now add boiling water to the packet for 10 minutes, and that meal re-appears in front of you. You can even taste the mint. Most nights I eat out, but if you have to camp, this is the way to go – no tins, no mess, no fuss. Cape Union and camping shops have it. R70 for a meal for 2 – if there are 2 of you, maybe bulk it up with a side portion of two minute noodles. Loved that girls ride report where she said she had Seafood Platter for 2 – Can of Tuna and a Can of Mussels. Ha, ha. That was awesome.
Tomorrow I am doing the D707, a minor road in the Namib Naukluft Park, on the side of the park actually, am led to believe that the game is prolific, all over the place. Looking forward to it.
A=
Friday 12th Feb 2010 – Day 7 – Sossus Vlei Lodge Desert Camp, Sesriem
Chalet – R710 per person, self catering, but a 4 Star type deal.
Today was hard riding, 100ks to far, gatvol at the end of it. Really was tough, but an excellent ride from all that took place. First up, the Tannie at the Lapa told me of a short cut that they always use – well maybe they use a Bell Jet Ranger Helicopter, certainly they do not use a 270kg bike loaded with 50kilos of gear and even more so, they do not use a motorbike after all the rain we have just had. Every few hundred metres was a wash away, heavy rain leads to flash floods leads to sand on the road.
Now lets talk about how big the BMWs actually are, lets see why – IMHO – (In My Humble Opinion) and this is my ride report so my opinion counts, you go write you own ride report if you don’t agree!!, lets see why I decided a few years ago that this is the correct bike for what I want.
I want comfort, high speed, maybe 70% tar, 28% good dirt road and maybe 2% bad dirt road. I do not want to ride on sand and mud and will plan my routes to go around it. Yes, certainly I do curse Sylvias weight every day, and trust me with all I am carrying, she is heavy – A vetgat and with back fat to boot. BUT, she gets me where I want to go in style. She carries 33liters of fuel, all the other bikes I have seen seem to have little bottles of fuel all over the show. I want ABS, now today I turned it off for a while, discuss later. I want a large windshield that keeps me dry, keeps the bugs off me, protects me from the wind. Tubeless tires is a plus, and one feature I did not expect, and one I now use all the time is the ability to adjust the suspension with the touch of a button. This to me is a great feature – Comfort when I am cruising, tighten it up in mountain passes etc.
I know I ride alone and I want BMW on call assist, OK, that means a new bike every 3 years, but I will survive that. So yes, she is heavy, and it does make life harder at times but you plan for it, and you allow for it. Don’t pull into downhill angled parking’s, you will not get out. Do not use the side stand on steeply angled roads, she will lean over so far you will battle to pick it up. I do envy the lighter bikes at times, especially in tight situations. OK, todays ride, about 360ks total.
Left the Lapa at about 7h20, temp was already 35degrees. Took the D425 – very technical ride of about 60 ks. Two very steep descents on bad rock roads, Now here I believe the ABS must be switched off. I use ABS on gravel, I want ABS on gravel, I know the difference with and without. But, on steep descents when I need the back brake, I need the back brake. Not the computer deciding that because my wheels are not spinning at the same revs so now you have no brakes. You know what I mean, sometimes you do need to lock up that back wheel. Same with steep uphill’s on rock, you may need to stop, now you start sliding backwards and now you need your brakes no matter what each wheel is doing revs wise. Again, this is my humble opinion. This road would not normally be so bad, but the rain has damaged it badly at the mo. I then did the D707 – a well know road that takes you thru the Namib Naukluft Park. Wow, what a road, mixture of hard surface, soft surface, loose gravel – not a bad road, but the scenery is simply stunning. You must do it, and after all the rain the mountains were green. This is amazing.
Saw countless springbok, herds and herds of gemsbok, kudu – really was awesome. But, there is one serious problem with this road. Some areas are fenced, some not. In the fenced areas you often find game that have jumped the fence and as you approach you scare them and they start to bolt. But they cannot escape as they are fenced in. Game have only so much energy for each day, you cannot simply just chase them for miles on end, they will die from exhaustion. The only way to end this is for you to accelerate past them so they will stop bolting. But now it falls apart because as you draw level they alter course across the front of you and they take the fence on – the gemsbok simply run into the fence, springbok try and jump over, ostrich seem to tumble over – and these poor animals are hurt badly.
Man I saw Gemsbok go down today, maybe 4 big bulls in total, 4 or 5 springbok that didn’t make the jump, this is not pretty. You cant wait for them to go away, they have nowhere to go, you must get passed them or you will sit on the road all day. In areas where there is no fence the animals can simply escape.
After the D707 I took the C27 to Betta and on to Sesriem. Sesriem camp site looked OK, but camping only on the sand, temp was 47degrees, took the Visa / Mastercard option and came to Sossusvlei Desert Lodge. Heaven, good chalets, order your meat raw, they make the fires, you cook, they bring salads etc, but is really a self catering place. Tomorrow will be Sossusvlei, trying to get a balloon safari organized.
