Moondog
Race Dog
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2009
- Messages
- 4,098
- Reaction score
- 7
- Location
- Helderkruin, West Rand
- Bike
- KTM 1290 Super Adventure
Namibia is a place that I have always wanted to visit – so when I got the email from my second-cousin-thrice-removed-and-twice-put-together-again Matthew, I jumped at the chance to join friends and seldom-seen family for a week trip from Cape Town through the Southern part of Namibia. We spent two months bouncing emails back and forth with planning and arrangements for the trip. Initially we were going to ship the bikes to CT, catch a plane, and ride with the rest of the crowd from there – but we decided that as hardcore bikers, we would ride to CT a day early – the train time arrangements were just not fitting in with our plans.
So Matthew and I hit the long road at 3AM ….
…and pulled in to Cape Town in peak hour traffic – 1400kms later we met up with the rest of the crowd.
The next day the bikes visited Auto Atlantic for service (my 40 000km service was perfectly timed), new front knobblies and some new brake shoes.
That evening we did bike preparations, last minute alterations and packing …. In some cases this generated a few laughs with a mountain of kit on the bike packed in the least professional of ways.
In the end, all was securely and neatly loaded and we were on the road. These taken at Bains Kloof – A first for us Gauteng boys - what a gorgeous area- even in the mist – luckily the rain was ahead of us, but the roads were fun – especially on fresh knobblies.
Overnight at a farmhouse turned B&B at Vanrhynsdorp. Drinks and pizza at the local pub, early evening and brekkie before back on the road on Saturday. This is an OLD coffee maker at the B&B.
The Sendelingsdrif border over the Orange river - this must be SA's most beautiful border.
Some stunning dirt roads up to Ai Ais - this country was made for touring by bike - Route 66 se Moses!
Ai Ais camp site. Met fellow Wilddog 'Mother' and his companions at the site next to ours. We had a good meal, coffee fresh off the gas burner, then settled in to the hot spring bathes – loved it!
Into Fish River Canyon country - we must have crossed about a thousand of these cattle gates.
This is just gorgeous bike touring countryside – and May is the time to do it!
The Canon roadhouse - This is a 'Must Stop' Once a big motor workshop - turned into a most interesting eatery! A word of warning – don’t be opening Pandora’s Box!!
Matthew testing out a steed more suited to his leg length
Johnny’s wife is Italian!
Love the décor in this place!
They don't make advertisements like this anymore!
The Fish River Canyon - from the lookout point and surrounds.
Back on the Namib roads …..
The day was longer than expected - 350k of dirt in a day takes it out of you. We only made it into Luderitz after dark - it got cold with thick mist.
Overnight in Luderitz, then next day off. Took a ride to a little diamond mining ghost town - deserted to the elements - Kolmanskop, just outside Luderitz.
The 'Direktors' house is the double story. The back of the one on the left was completely 'eaten' by the desert.
Karl - in his element. It is amazing to see the tricks used to get diamonds out - crossbow, homing pigeons, and then in every cavity you care to imagine (or not).
Shocking! Matthew couldn’t resist this pic – he is always putting his fingers in places they shouldn’t be
The town had lots of money in its day - electricity everywhere, water reservoir, entertainment. Even a bowling alley.
Time to move on - Diaz point for stong coffee. Diaz erected this cross (replica) here in 1488 having rounded the Cape - Lots of Cape Fur seals on the rock just offshore. No clubs in this area though.
The road to Diaz Cross held some challenges - thick sand, water crossings .....
After a photo stop, Karl took a shortcut - turned out not to be a firm sandy bed - rather snotty pan mud – eventually he was pulled out after much needling and laughing.
The camping area at Shark Island - the view makes up for the hard ground and the howling wind.
The Desert landscape - transformed by the big rains - which we fortunately just missed.
After the heavy rains, the roads were sort-of OK - mostly hardpack, but with quite a lot of soft sandy sections, loose gravel, washouts, marbles and water / mud crossings – ready to catch you out. Many needed grading and we found a number of graders along the way.
At Betha we stopped to refuel - both man and machine.
This is supposed to be desert landscape - gorgeous riding country.
Leaving Betha, one of the party headed off ahead - in the wrong direction and a road not recomended. End result was two bikes down in a thick hidden sand section - one on the trailer, the other patched up, and Johnny in the backup vehicle with a bang to the head and damaged ribs. On a trip like this, stick to the agreed protocol, and stick together.
Sunrise at Betesda campsite after a good braai and drinks the prevoius evening - after a I performed repairs to one of the downed bikes.
Betesda is 38km from Sesriem - en route to Sossusvlei.
We had to leave our bikes at the lodge - apparently some guys on bikes or quads had ripped up the place - now no bikes are evel allowed on the 60km tar road into Sossusvlei!
The vlei was full – thanks to the rains – a once in a lifetime experience- I loved this part of the trip.
The famous apple pie at Solitaire - thanks for the tip, Adventurer!
Wilddog spoor at Solitaire.
Long day on the road - here we are going into Kuiseb pass.
These ugly big buggers were all over the parts of Namibia that we saw. More so in the Namib - Naukluft Park.
Coming out of the hilly section- taking the rise and we were presented with this awesome view!
Sun going down - 100km or so to go through the desert roads.
A few kms down the road we found a European tourist couple sitting on the side of the road - she had an injured finger and was clearly in shock - he seemed fine. Very lucky to have got off so lightly after rolling their little hired 4x4 on a sandy straight section of road 80kms into the desert with the sun setting - probably caught out by the sun in their eyes and loose gravel on the road. The backup van gave them a lift toward Walvis until they could be handed over to an ambulance well after sunset.
Sunset - then 60km of pitch black through the Namib - fortunately the roads were in great condition for this stretch - and I love my HID lights!
After arriving well after dark, everyone 'camped' in the two chalets that were booked in Swakop
The next day was a day off - breakfast, a walk through the town, some exploring, bike maintenance then later sundowners at this pub on the beach - good day!
Namib Primary kids don't know how well they have it - look at the size of their sandpit!
We even found tar on the main road - love the old buildings.
Dune 7 - Matthew and I took a ride here - doesn't look to big from the bottom - until you try to climb it - it is huge - took us the better part of half an hour to climb it, then a 30 second sandstorm to charge down.
The last evening in Mariental. Good braai, a few drinks and great company. Even the local canine joined in - although I will admit that the photo was a setup - he is an officer and a gentlehound.
She worked hard, handled like a dream in the rough stuff, was reliable and performed like a honey. Now she's ready and loaded for the last trek out of Namibia.
Last fuel stop still in Namibia - just before the border post.
Last night on the road - some well deserved luxury at Browns Manor in Uppington.
The sun sets on an awesome trip with the most excellent riding buddies - 5050km under the belt! I can’t wait for the next one!
So Matthew and I hit the long road at 3AM ….
…and pulled in to Cape Town in peak hour traffic – 1400kms later we met up with the rest of the crowd.
The next day the bikes visited Auto Atlantic for service (my 40 000km service was perfectly timed), new front knobblies and some new brake shoes.
That evening we did bike preparations, last minute alterations and packing …. In some cases this generated a few laughs with a mountain of kit on the bike packed in the least professional of ways.
In the end, all was securely and neatly loaded and we were on the road. These taken at Bains Kloof – A first for us Gauteng boys - what a gorgeous area- even in the mist – luckily the rain was ahead of us, but the roads were fun – especially on fresh knobblies.
Overnight at a farmhouse turned B&B at Vanrhynsdorp. Drinks and pizza at the local pub, early evening and brekkie before back on the road on Saturday. This is an OLD coffee maker at the B&B.
The Sendelingsdrif border over the Orange river - this must be SA's most beautiful border.
Some stunning dirt roads up to Ai Ais - this country was made for touring by bike - Route 66 se Moses!
Ai Ais camp site. Met fellow Wilddog 'Mother' and his companions at the site next to ours. We had a good meal, coffee fresh off the gas burner, then settled in to the hot spring bathes – loved it!
Into Fish River Canyon country - we must have crossed about a thousand of these cattle gates.
This is just gorgeous bike touring countryside – and May is the time to do it!
The Canon roadhouse - This is a 'Must Stop' Once a big motor workshop - turned into a most interesting eatery! A word of warning – don’t be opening Pandora’s Box!!
Matthew testing out a steed more suited to his leg length
Johnny’s wife is Italian!
Love the décor in this place!
They don't make advertisements like this anymore!
The Fish River Canyon - from the lookout point and surrounds.
Back on the Namib roads …..
The day was longer than expected - 350k of dirt in a day takes it out of you. We only made it into Luderitz after dark - it got cold with thick mist.
Overnight in Luderitz, then next day off. Took a ride to a little diamond mining ghost town - deserted to the elements - Kolmanskop, just outside Luderitz.
The 'Direktors' house is the double story. The back of the one on the left was completely 'eaten' by the desert.
Karl - in his element. It is amazing to see the tricks used to get diamonds out - crossbow, homing pigeons, and then in every cavity you care to imagine (or not).
Shocking! Matthew couldn’t resist this pic – he is always putting his fingers in places they shouldn’t be
The town had lots of money in its day - electricity everywhere, water reservoir, entertainment. Even a bowling alley.
Time to move on - Diaz point for stong coffee. Diaz erected this cross (replica) here in 1488 having rounded the Cape - Lots of Cape Fur seals on the rock just offshore. No clubs in this area though.
The road to Diaz Cross held some challenges - thick sand, water crossings .....
After a photo stop, Karl took a shortcut - turned out not to be a firm sandy bed - rather snotty pan mud
– eventually he was pulled out after much needling and laughing.
The camping area at Shark Island - the view makes up for the hard ground and the howling wind.
The Desert landscape - transformed by the big rains - which we fortunately just missed.
After the heavy rains, the roads were sort-of OK - mostly hardpack, but with quite a lot of soft sandy sections, loose gravel, washouts, marbles and water / mud crossings – ready to catch you out. Many needed grading and we found a number of graders along the way.
At Betha we stopped to refuel - both man and machine.
This is supposed to be desert landscape - gorgeous riding country.
Leaving Betha, one of the party headed off ahead - in the wrong direction and a road not recomended. End result was two bikes down in a thick hidden sand section - one on the trailer, the other patched up, and Johnny in the backup vehicle with a bang to the head and damaged ribs. On a trip like this, stick to the agreed protocol, and stick together.
Sunrise at Betesda campsite after a good braai and drinks the prevoius evening - after a I performed repairs to one of the downed bikes.
Betesda is 38km from Sesriem - en route to Sossusvlei.
We had to leave our bikes at the lodge - apparently some guys on bikes or quads had ripped up the place - now no bikes are evel allowed on the 60km tar road into Sossusvlei!
The vlei was full – thanks to the rains – a once in a lifetime experience- I loved this part of the trip.
The famous apple pie at Solitaire - thanks for the tip, Adventurer!
Wilddog spoor at Solitaire.
Long day on the road - here we are going into Kuiseb pass.
These ugly big buggers were all over the parts of Namibia that we saw. More so in the Namib - Naukluft Park.
Coming out of the hilly section- taking the rise and we were presented with this awesome view!
Sun going down - 100km or so to go through the desert roads.
A few kms down the road we found a European tourist couple sitting on the side of the road - she had an injured finger and was clearly in shock - he seemed fine. Very lucky to have got off so lightly after rolling their little hired 4x4 on a sandy straight section of road 80kms into the desert with the sun setting - probably caught out by the sun in their eyes and loose gravel on the road. The backup van gave them a lift toward Walvis until they could be handed over to an ambulance well after sunset.
Sunset - then 60km of pitch black through the Namib - fortunately the roads were in great condition for this stretch - and I love my HID lights!
After arriving well after dark, everyone 'camped' in the two chalets that were booked in Swakop
The next day was a day off - breakfast, a walk through the town, some exploring, bike maintenance then later sundowners at this pub on the beach - good day!
Namib Primary kids don't know how well they have it - look at the size of their sandpit!
We even found tar on the main road - love the old buildings.
Dune 7 - Matthew and I took a ride here - doesn't look to big from the bottom - until you try to climb it - it is huge - took us the better part of half an hour to climb it, then a 30 second sandstorm to charge down.
The last evening in Mariental. Good braai, a few drinks and great company. Even the local canine joined in - although I will admit that the photo was a setup - he is an officer and a gentlehound.
She worked hard, handled like a dream in the rough stuff, was reliable and performed like a honey. Now she's ready and loaded for the last trek out of Namibia.
Last fuel stop still in Namibia - just before the border post.
Last night on the road - some well deserved luxury at Browns Manor in Uppington.
The sun sets on an awesome trip with the most excellent riding buddies - 5050km under the belt! I can’t wait for the next one!
