Author Topic: NAMIBIA (AS NEVER SEEN BEFORE) - ON THE ROAD AGAIN (MAPS NOW ATTACHED) (Read 21475 times)

Vis Arend · « **Reply #100 on:** May 07, 2011, 11:26:12 am »

Thanks almal, daar's nie veel meer nie, maar ons hou die beste vir laaste.

McOets · « **Reply #101 on:** May 07, 2011, 12:41:34 pm »

Great RR dit laat my soveel verlang na die dae toe ek nog n Overland Guide was, toe ons Suider en Oos Afrika getoer het. !
Nou wil ek dit nog doen op my bike !

pops · « **Reply #102 on:** May 07, 2011, 12:55:09 pm »

I am at work , but this RR is making the time fly.
Thank you.

Oetie · « **Reply #103 on:** May 07, 2011, 03:10:18 pm »

WOW!!!!

Vis Arend an amazing report with brilliant photo's!! Well done to you, the misses and Blou Bliksem

Somehow some of the photo's from Day 7 onwards cannot been seen, a Photobucket image say something about bandwith.. $:-\$

Vis Arend · « **Reply #104 on:** May 07, 2011, 09:34:16 pm »

Quote from: Oetie on May 07, 2011, 03:10:18 pm

Somehow some of the photo's from Day 7 onwards cannot been seen, a Photobucket image say something about bandwith.. $:-\$

Thanks for informing me.
We are attending to the problem. I upgraded to Pro, seems like the problem is still with this forum. I did PM the moderator, waiting for a reply.

Vis Arend · « **Reply #105 on:** May 07, 2011, 09:48:28 pm »

DAY 13 EPUPA TO KAMANJAB

Our aim for today is Kamanjab. The route will be back to Okangwati, Opuwo and then the long stretch to Kamanjab.

We heard thunder the whole night, but we slept well. We woke up and did not want to leave, but time was against us. We left with mixed feelings, we were happy but also sad to leave, life is a bitch.

We started of very slowly and eventually got into the stride, we had other commitments and another special places to visit. (That will hopefully come later).

The road back to Okangwati.

On the way back I noticed that the river were flowing a lot more than the previous day. It must have rained in the catchment area during the night.

Another boabeb tree

This were our route so far.

The road to Opuwo

Yesterday I had 6 rivers to negotiate, today it was almost each and every river.
This is the river yesterday

And today

Yesterday

Today

More scenery on route to Opuwo

I recommend this place

The best cheese burger and chips in a long time

I was disappointed to found out that the road from Opuwo to Kamanjab is now tarred, the last time, about 6 years ago, it was a gravel road.

Signs of heavy rains

Wife’s art work

Warning signs of elephants. We so hoped to see them.

Storm chasers

One poopol

Moeg geploeg

Cabin for the night.

We were just settling in when it started to bucket down. Luckily we did’nt camp tonight.

Video of the rain

That night we booked in a B&B with no electricity or water. We ate at their restaurant a potjie, that was all that you could order, with genuine raw veggies. Man, even die people were unfriendly. Kamanjab will not see me soon. In spite of this we were still in high spirit and were looking forward to the rest of the trip.

redtiger · « **Reply #106 on:** May 07, 2011, 10:02:58 pm »

Lekker report great photos thanks for posting.

ThysBasson · « **Reply #107 on:** May 07, 2011, 10:52:57 pm »

Ek geniet die report van julle baie. Elke foto vertel 'n storie. Ek is baie lief vir Namibie, so die foto's maak my net lus om te gaan.
Die wereld is darm nou baie mooi daar-bo.

Gooi die foto's.

Luca · « **Reply #108 on:** May 08, 2011, 12:54:37 am »

Compliments for the report. Really complete of wild adventure. A question: what tyres they are those that you use?
Thanks
______________________________________________________________________________-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31318688@N06/

Vis Arend · « **Reply #109 on:** May 08, 2011, 07:59:29 am »

Quote from: Vis Arend on May 07, 2011, 09:34:16 pm

Quote from: Oetie on May 07, 2011, 03:10:18 pm
Somehow some of the photo's from Day 7 onwards cannot been seen, a Photobucket image say something about bandwith.. $:-\$
Thanks for informing me.
We are attending to the problem. I upgraded to Pro, seems like the problem is still with this forum. I did PM the moderator, waiting for a reply.

The problem seems to be fixed.

Vis Arend · « **Reply #110 on:** May 08, 2011, 08:10:09 am »

Quote from: Luca on May 08, 2011, 12:54:37 am

A question: what tyres they are those that you use?
Thanks

It was Heidinau's, the rear tyre only lasted 5000km, then started to crack next to the knoblies. The same thing happend on my Transalp with the older version of the same tyre. For me they did not last, but other guys on this forum are very happy with them. Their grip on wet tar and in mud were also not to my liking. This is however my personal experience, for some they work, for others they do'nt.

You will see in post to come what I mean.

Vis Arend · « **Reply #111 on:** May 08, 2011, 09:47:06 am »

Day 14, 15, 16 and 17 - KAMANJAB TO WINDHOEK

Our plan was to go from Kamanjab to Outjo, Omaruru, Karibib, then the back road over the Witwatersberge to Windhoek. 90% of this route is gravel. Our plans changed drastically after we received news from the locals and my family in Windhoek that most gravel roads were closed due to heavy storms during the night. The Swakop River was also flowing heavily and we would have to cross it at one stage on route. Karibib were hit by a hailstorm and tar roads we apparently covered in water. The Erongo area was hit the hardest and that was where we were heading to.

We altered our route to be Outjo, Otjiwarongo, Okahandja and then Windhoek. This bothered me a bit as it was tar all the way and the rear tyre was starting to deteriorate faster than I expected and cracks were appearing on the side of the knobblies. Windhoek was more than 500km away and there were no agents on route.

We slipped and slide from our cabin onto the tar and off we went.

Water was everywhere to see

Church in Otjiwarongo

Tyre inspection

This happened to the same brand of tyres on my Transalp.

I had no choice but to carry on, it was still 180km to Windhoek.

Die tiete close to Kalkveld

Nearby Okahandja

Okahandaja

At this bakery .......

....you get the best Schnitchel Brotchens.

All the rivers on the way to Windhoek were flowing, this is the Swakop River.

Storm chasers

Almost in Windhoek

We came into Windhoek just before it started to rain.

At my in-laws house.

The tyre lasted to Windhoek. The local Yamaha dealer in Windhoek had a set of Bridgestone TKC’s available and I rushed over to get it fitted, R1900-00 later.

We stayed for 4 days in Windhoek, 2 days at my brother and 2 days at my mother in law. We were treated like Kings and we enjoyed every moment. The 1st night my brother took us to Joe’s beer garden, what a place and what a headache. We spent the rest of the time cleaning the bike and the gear.

I knew 4 nights and 3 days in Windhoek would get to us, as we had a special place to visit. There were a couple of highlights on this trip, like Remshoogte and Spreetshoogte, Spitskoppe, Aba Huab and Epupa Falls, but this one would be a very special one for us. We had ants in our pants and couldn’t wait. The special place will be revealed in the next report.

KALLY · « **Reply #112 on:** May 08, 2011, 11:47:03 am »

Fantastic report Vis Arend. I have never been to Namibia but your report and your wife's photography are far, far better than any I have seen in our travel magazines,
But I think you must have upset the rain gods at some time in your life. Your R/R on your trip to see your daughter somewear near Rhodes (I think) was also washed out.
If I ever have the pleasure of riding with you the first thing I will pack will be my rain suite.

Vis Arend · « **Reply #113 on:** May 08, 2011, 12:00:25 pm »

Quote from: KALLY on May 08, 2011, 11:47:03 am

But I think you must have upset the rain gods at some time in your life.

Kally, thanks for your nice comment.
I really don't know what we did wrong, the rain seems to follow us everywhere. Lately our rain suits are kept close by. Maybe our luck will change soon.

Oetie · « **Reply #114 on:** May 08, 2011, 12:08:00 pm »

Vis Arend, the problem is fixed, I could see all the photo's this morning

Just a thought I had while reading, how many photo opportunities do we miss as riders as you say your pillion took most of the photo's... But that is a discussion for another thread!

Vis Arend · « **Reply #115 on:** May 08, 2011, 12:57:37 pm »

Day 18 WINDHOEK TO ROOI DRAAI

Our trip for today is from Windhoek to Rooi Draai. Our route is from Windhoek to Rheboth, Mariental, turnoff to Stampriet then on to Gochas, from there we will follow the C23 onto the C15 until we get a turnoff D502. Rooi Draai is 27km on the D503.

Rooi Draai is a farm that belongs to friends of us, the same friends that we visited in Henties. This is in my opinion a piece of paradise. The farm is situated in the Kalahari with its beautiful red dunes and the camel thorn threes in between. This is indeed a very special place for us and we just had to include it in our trip.

4 Days in Windhoek were enough and the road was calling, we left with first light. It was a very misty morning and there were a chill in the air.

The sun started to rise

I had a brand new rear tyre and it felt good. The road to Rheboth

Tropic of Capricorn

Close to Mariental

Getting closer to the farm, first signs of the red dunes

In the region of Gochas

The turn off to the farm is now very close

The turn off

2 Wheeler also, sir

The road to the farm

I just love this place

Extended foot pegs

Still on the way to the farm

This little chap greeted us at the farm gate.

The farmhouse

We were happy to be there. The following day my wife and I went exploring a bit.

I hope you can see this video

He made himself a game camp, all his gemsbok and springbuck is in this camp

Some more scenery

Back at the farm

This was another one of our highlights. We always enjoy visiting the farm and this was once again the case. This one was however a very special one because we did it on the bike.
Time was running out and we had to make our way back to SA. More of that tomorrow.

JMOL · « **Reply #116 on:** May 08, 2011, 01:57:49 pm »

Baie baie mooi. Kan nie wag vd res nie

spoedvark · « **Reply #117 on:** May 08, 2011, 03:47:57 pm »

Subscribing!

DirtCopper · « **Reply #118 on:** May 08, 2011, 04:49:12 pm »

Uitstekend

Hoe vergelyk die TKC met die Heidenau?

Vaalseun · « **Reply #119 on:** May 08, 2011, 05:35:39 pm »

Baie mooi RR met goeie fotos. Dit bly maar 'n voorreg om so 'n trip te doen saam met jou beste maat.