Asinine Red Tape in Namibia

Anybody planning a trip to the land of meat, beer and sand needs to take note that the desert authorities has recently banned motorbikes from entering Sossusvlei and Sesriem canyon. They have not published this faktap rule, or even bothered to put notices up at the gates or anywhere else for that matter. We only discovered it when we wanted to get permits to enter the area. Naturally I was a bit peezed off because we rode far to get there and has spend money on accommodation and other stuff. When I asked the "madam" behind the counter about the reason she said "Apparently some time ago some motorbikes nearly destroyed the place". Starting her sentence with APPARENTLY is an indication that she is clueless and has resorted to BS. (I would also like to see the bike that is able to destroy the massive dunes at Sossusvlei). I did some enquiries amongst the locals but they are not aware of any such incident/s. Over a camp fire that evening the 4x4 brigade expressed their disbelieve about this stupid rule and told me about all the undesirable 4x4 tracks next to the road and all over the place.
A motorcyclist wanting go in there has basically two options.
a) Make use of the local shuttle service but there is a catch - It will set you back about R800,00 per person to transport you a distance of about 55 kays to and fro. ( I suspect that this rip off strategy is the real reason for the faktap rule)
b) Bum a lift from one of the many 4x4 brigades that goes there every day. The best way to do it is to find one at the campsite the night before and make proper arrangements because they all rush to get in there very early in the mornings so that they can take designer photos at sunrise. The Afrikaans dudes are generally very friendly and very willing to help (unlike the french and germans)