South Africa and Namibia, September- November 2023

 

South Africa and Namibia

 

Capetown to  Windhoek, September/November 2023

 

 

 

It was a long flight to Capetown on Singapore Airlines, they were great, and we did have the luxury of booking a transit hotel in the airport so we could get some sleep and a shower during an 11 hour stopover.  

 

We saw during the flight, that the Western Cape area had some pretty cold weather going on and this was evidenced by us actually seeing snow dusted peaks on our final 20ks or so on approach.

 

We flew in on Monday the 11^th of September 2023. Landing at about 9:30 am, we were very quickly through immigration, all bags arrived including Larry and Priscilla which is always a relief, a fantastic start.

 

Organising SIM cards and some cash while in the airport was pretty easy, so we decided to get ripped off by our next service provider, the official Capetown airport taxi service. Knowing that we were in a vulnerable negotiating position, ie, 2 bike boxes and all the associated paraphernalia, the main taxi guy saw us coming a mile off. We weren’t in any real hurry, as we were way too early to check in to our BnB over in Camps Bay, but the reality was that there was only one van available that would carry all our stuff. So just pay the money Dave J

 

The guy didn’t let us down, we got the full airport taxi experience, hairpin bends at breakneck speed, last minute braking, but the old van didn’t have enough grunt for neck snapping acceleration.

 

He did deliver us to our destination in one piece though, just. As has become our norm, we do try to book somewhere nice for a couple of nights to get settled in and this was no exception. Camps bay certainly has the wow factor in both the landscape as well as the over-the-top wealth and glamour of the place. This was definitely one of those juxtaposition experiences for us. Down on the main beach front, there are a lot of locals quite aggressively selling their wares and at times outright begging for money and food, while the Porsches, BMWs and Ferraris, roared past trying to out wank each other.

 

But, great food and coffee options were in abundance at quite reasonable prices compared to OZ, so that was very cool.

 

We spent the afternoon putting the bikes together, and sourcing some supermarket supplies etc.

An early dinner was on the cards as we were feeling rather shattered, and as we arrived back up the hill to our accommodation, we realised that neither of us were going to see the sunset tonight.

 

22.53klm, 476m vert

 

The next day we had a great brekky and decided to go and do a 20k ride that our friend Jimmy had recommended. This ride left camps bay and climbed up to Signal hill which had spectacular views over Capetown, the southern Atlantic, and of course the iconic Table Mountain backdrop. We were stunned. Paragliders were flying off the top giving great colour to the scene. Then it was back across the main road and following the “no through road” out past the cable car that goes up to the top of Table Mountain. It was nuts busy, but we just rode on through, and really enjoyed the far end, including being able to fill our bottles with awesome mountain spring water.

Table Mountain

 

Back at our digs, we finalised our loading, bought some fresh food and made some decisions about what the route and destination would be for tomorrow. Dinner wasn’t quite so early as last night, but we were still tucked up in our bed by sundown. We don’t feel like it’s jet lag, just body clock adjustment, I think it might take a few days yet.

 

September 13, Camps Bay to Simon’s Town. 40.1klm 549m vert

 

We fully plan to ease ourselves into this trip slowly. We feel a bit like fish out of water at the moment, and are mindful about smashing ourselves too early. Effort, Rest and Recover.

Epic Sand Sculpture 

 

We were awake very early and raring to go. But as we headed down the hill for breakfast, Larry was making a disturbing knocking noise that wasn’t present yesterday, oh oh. A closer inspection revealed that one of the threaded rack bosses had broken a weld and let go, leaving the left side of my rack unsupported. We realised that this must have happened the day before when Larry fell over while having his photo taken. We asked around if there was a local welding guy, but given the Camps Bay Real Estate prices, we realised that this was unlikely. We checked at the little hardware store to no avail, so I just bought some heavy zip ties and actually managed to secure it quite effectively. This was a way better outcome than I could have hoped for, and as the next few days were all going to be on bitumen, would give us time to find someone with a mig welder along the way.

 

Finally, we were on the road again, and it felt great. The road heading south from Camps Bay stays right on the coast for quite a while, and this is one seriously spectacular coastline. Culminating in the famous Chapman’s Peak Drive through the National Park, we thought we were in cycling heaven. There were quite a few cyclists out enjoying this road and it was a very friendly atmosphere.

Looking Back Over Houts Bay

 

At one lookout we got chatting about my broken bike to another local cyclist who suggested we drop into a certain bike shop in Noerdhoek on the way through. He was sure that if he couldn’t fix it, he would know someone who could. I had finally relaxed about it and was sure that we would be ok. But in the back of my mind, was the concern that the African Wilderness is no place for a dodgy bike rack.

 

Meanwhile, someone had turned the scenery dials up to eleven. This is a must ride road.

We found a nice little turnout for a picnic lunch overlooking the beach and the Monkey Valley resort with their thatch roofed buildings.

 

Descending down through Noerdhoek we couldn’t ride past a brand-new organic coffee shop, so we stopped and had coffee and lunch desert (carrot cake) before rolling on to find this bike shop. Luckily it was open, but while this guy couldn’t fix it, he gave me the number of a guy who probably could, and he was only 1k away. I gave him a call and he said yep, come on over, but make it snappy as he was about to lose his power due to the load shedding that plagues South Africa. Luckily, we made it in time and the guys in the workshop were super friendly and sorted Larry out in just a few minutes. It was no big job, but without the right tools?  Next door to the workshop was a cool micro brewery called Charlies Garage. It was a bit early for me, we still had 10ks to go to Simons’s Town which was a bit disappointing. A couple of guys had been chatting with Mary about our trip while Larry was getting zapped. They really let me know that I was missing out. A bit later, in Simons’s Town, serendipity kicked in and we found a bar that served Charlie’s beer, so we went in and had one, and it was great. So, we feel that all this serendipity happened, all as a result of my broken rack mount.

 

On our way again, we headed over another pass before descending to the coast at Fishhoek, on the Eastern side of the Cape of Good Hope. A few ks further South and we were rolling into Simon’s Town where we had booked a very basic but cool bnb for two nights. We had a wander around this very cool old fishing town, complete with a Naval base with no less than four Vice Admirals in town. It actually didn’t look like they had four ships, let alone the need for four admirals. Funny as.

 

We did early dinner again, load shedding was still on, so the restaurants were struggling to cope, but they came through with a great meal, and us reflecting on a great first day of touring.

 

Thursday September 14. Day ride Simon’s Town return 24.54klm 347m vert

 

There aren’t many options for early coffee/breakfast here, but what we did find was good. Then we rode out towards the Cape, heading South. It was a bit windy and showery, but at least initially, we had a tail wind.

 

One of the reasons for coming here was to see the African Penguin colony at Boulder Beach, so we stopped in there and had a great time checking them out.

African Penguins

 

Riding on, despite the weather, the riding was really nice. Eventually we got to the climb at Smitswinkle Bay, coolest name hey, which got our hearts and legs pumping nicely. Once at the top, the entrance to the National Park loomed with a big fees sign. Unfortunately, they wanted to charge us 376 rand for each foreign cyclist to enter. This was a bit of a shock, about $75 Australian Dollars to ride the last 10ks to the cape. We decided that this was ridiculous and chose not to pay. A bit disappointing, but there is a grander scheme to our adventure and sometimes budget decisions have to be made.

 

Back in town, we got chatting with a guy who was asking us about our trip, and when we told him which way we were planning to go tomorrow he very seriously advised us against it. Baden Powell Drive, which is a beach front road that goes across False Bay has apparently been taken over by a township and is very unsafe, so we had to re look at our route. Following this, another guy we chatted too said the same thing, and then another. So, we have a problem to sort out, that might take us an extra day.

 

September 15

 

We spent a long afternoon and evening agonising over our options. At least we had some. The real conundrum was that to continue riding from here was a choice of certain mugging, or a very late detour back through Capetown and then back out, all on freeways that we aren’t supposed to ride. This would also be pretty crappy, so we considered getting a lift around. A local shop owner that we chatted to tried valiantly to find someone who could give us a ride, but it just wasn’t going to happen.

 

We considered that if we had to ride back into Cape Town, that we might as well get a bus out to Plettenberg Bay and skip the Agulhas coast. Once we started doing some research, we found a guy who runs a private shuttle service to Plett, and he was happy to come and pick us up from Simon’s town, but it would be Saturday. So, we got in touch with him and organised a pickup for tomorrow. I think deep down we are going to be happier with this plan, as it is immediately going to get us out to rural areas which is what we really want to experience.

 

As a result of our new friend putting out an appeal for someone to drive us on the local WhatsApp chat, we instantly became recognisable in every shop we went into. It became a little absurd, the whole selfies with strangers thing again. What we find weird, is that without our bikes we are nobodies, but with our bikes and a story of adventure, lots of people become very interested and engaged. Maybe that’s our purpose sometimes, to offer a little break from the normal?

 

Meanwhile, our celebrity status led us to free cape Malay treats called Bollas which were delicious, a museum tour, and chats all over town. What a crazy day.

 

 

Sunday, September 17, Plettenberg Bay to Diep Walle National Park, 55.93km, 1029m vert

 

After a great trip across to Plett thanks to Peter from Garden Route Transfers, and a very cool hotel that we stayed at beachfront, it was time for the mandatory Beach start photo. Luckily, the weather had moderated, and the tide was much lower than last night, when the high tide was threatening the ground floor of our hotel. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel and made our way out onto the windy beach.

 

A New Start, Plettenberg Bay

Finally, we were all loaded up and on our way, a bit later than we would have liked, but it felt good to be rolling. We had a short few ks on the N2 before we turned left on our road to the mountains. Initially we were just cruising the river flats, checking out the mansions with the high security fences. Eventually we knew however, that we had to start climbing. The first 15ks or so was all bitumen, but once the real climbing started the dirt and gravel appeared. Overall, the climbing was ok, it’s just that we really had no climb training in our legs, we’d be ok. The scenery was great though, and we got reward for our efforts with the ever deepening gorge down on our right side.

The First Climb of Over 20000 Metres To Come

 

Eventually we topped out at around 800m asl, but the pain didn’t stop there, it was quite rough up and down across a saddle for about 10 ks before we finally started to descend. We had two options for accommodation tonight, The Diep Walle National Park at 50ks or somewhere in Knysna at 68ks. Even though it would mostly be down we decided to try the camping option at the park. Hopefully it would be open.

 

Our First Camp Of The Trip

Of Course, the track into the park office was very steep up and we were smashed by the time we got to the top. A car going the other way stopped and I asked if we could camp. A nice lady said yes, but the office is closed, and we would need to find the duty ranger. This we managed to do, and he showed us to an amazing tent platform in the forest. It even had its own little kitchen bench with stools. We got the tent up quick smart and thoroughly enjoyed our night. We even got a hot shower. We were the only ones camped there.

 

About 2am a troop of what we think was baboons travelled noisily through the treetops above us. They stayed up high and didn’t bother us though.

 

Monday, September 18, Diep Walle to Teniqua Treetops, 60.02klm, 771m vert

 

Great night in the tent, breakfast done, bikes loaded and heading down the hill at 7:30am. It was very cold on the descent, so we had to rug up. Our camp had been at 500m and we had to go to sea level at Knysna. We called in at a bike shop to replace Mary’s missing gloves, had second breakfast and picked up some food. It was a nice cruise out around the inlet and then a right turn onto an old railway bridge with a short single track after it. This single track would turn out to be the only single track of the trip.  Then it was climbing time again up the Phantom pass road, not as high as yesterday, but these continual 200metre climbs were going to be the theme for the next two days.

The Only Bit of Single Track On The Rhino Run Route

 

We had a heads up about a place called Teniqua Treetops, a quirky semi tented accommodation in a patch of scrub. It was really Cool though, and we had a great afternoon chatting with staff and the owner Antony. We cooked our own dinner again and had a great night listening to the birds. Fortunately, the infamous food stealing monkeys didn’t turn up. Apparently, they break in and steal everything that’s not locked up. We had prepared.

 

Our Luxury Tent At Teniqua

Tuesday, September 19, Teniqua to George. 49.78klm. 862m vert

 

We had purchased a pre prepared breakfast pack the night before, so we got up quite early to prepare that and get going. We were continuing on the Seven Passes Road today, weirdly, some of the passes were low gullies, where we had to smash down to a creek line and then climb very steeply up 150-200 metres again. I must say that we were doing it tough, normally we chat about the joy, but the continuous climbing was killing us. Tomorrow is Montagu pass, and it was starting to do our heads in. Have we bitten off more than we can chew?

 

Eventually we rolled into George to a little airbnb that we had booked. A good shower to remove the dust and a great feed just up the road, oh, and a Windhoek Draught, had us thinking a bit more positively about tomorrow.

 

Some Of The Passes Are Low Points?

Wednesday September 20, George to Oudtshorn via the Montagu Pass 64.53km, 815m vert

 

Let The Climbing Begin

Making our own brekky is the easiest way to get an early start, we were lucky enough to pick up a pretty good sourdough yesterday, so that, some coffee and we were on our way on a crisp morning with swirling clouds around the peaks.

Great Spot For Morning Tea On The Climb

 

Getting out of town was quite busy, George is really a small city. But once we turned off on the Montagu pass road it all went quiet, in a good way. After a few ks, we arrived at the old toll house. This was closed as the traffic now goes up a new road called the Outeniqua Pass. Beyond the toll house the road is officially closed to vehicles, although we did see two.

 

This road was built by convict labour and was just a single lane with a hand stacked dry stone barrier wall all the way up. We met a few other cyclists who were just out for a day ride, we chatted for a while and two of them were expat South Africans living in Australia, dreaming about a round Oz cycling trip next year.

 

The climb itself was tough on an occasionally very rocky surface which made it quite difficult to hold a line. An occasional hike a bike was necessary but eventually we made it. We did stop half way for second breakfast with a monumental view. We were looking out at mountains and deep gorges covered in what the locals call the Fynbos, which is low scrub, but at this time of year is full of wildflowers.

 

Nearly There

Once over the top and a few ks of descending on very nice gravel, we arrived at a village called Herold with a great café called Over The Mountain. Lunch time. Plunger coffee and our new favourite, RoosteKoek.  This local grilled bread comes with all sorts of fillings and is wonderful bikepacking food.

 

After lunch we still had over 40ks to get to Oudtshoorn, which seemed to go well, with only a few minor climbs to completely cripple us. Oudtshoorn claims to be the Ostrich farming capital of the world, there were lots of feather dusters for sale up the Main Street.

 

We stayed at a nice hotel called Hlangana, which was really good value and later walked down to find a great dinner at a restaurant called Jemima’s where I tried my first Bobotie, which I really enjoyed.

 

Thursday September 21, Oudtshoorn to Kruisriver Farm Campground. 48.95km, 731m vert

 

Officially there is no pass today, but we weren’t going to let that fool us. We stopped at a servo to get some water and snacks before cruising out of town on the bitumen road for about 6ks, passing the thanks for visiting Oudtshoorn sign that quotes, “May The Feathers Be With You” and they were.

South Africa Is So Friendly

 

Turning North onto a dirt road it was good gravel and fast, we were making great time heading up into a river valley that would slowly get narrower and rougher as the day progressed. It was cool riding though quite hot. We were needing to wear longs for sun protection as our locally bought sunscreen doesn’t seem to be up for the job.

 

This valley road twisted and turned through a combination of lovely small farms and the ubiquitous Fynbos. There was a nice flowing creek alongside the road most of the way as we continually climbed. Eventually we seemed to gain some elevation and came out of the steep valley. We started following the boundary of Swartberg game reserve. We were lucky to see two Giraffe by a water hole. Coming up to a left turn we thought we had finally finished climbing. We were up to 750metres again which is almost as high as Montagu pass yesterday. I had been concerned that once we turned West again, parallel to the Swartberg Range that we would have lots of gullies again and that’s exactly what happened. This last few ks really added to our climbing total for the day.

 

We had spotted a place called Kruisriver Guest farm at about the 50k Mark today and by the time we hit their gate we were feeling like we were done for the day and went in to see if they had any accomodation. The lovely owner met us and while her b&bs weren’t available, we were welcome to camp. She showed us around to the campground and we were blown away by the beauty of this little spot. We had it all to ourselves and went and cold soaked our legs in the freezing pool water for a while.

Great Campsite, Great Dog

What a gem this place was, we even had our own camp dog to keep us company.

 

Friday September 22, Kruisriver to Calitzdorp 30.1km, 329m vert

 

Todays ride was to be shortish, only about 30km into Calitzdorp where we would have a half rest day before heading up Rooiberg pass in the morning tomorrow.

 

We didn’t hurry out of camp as a result , but were still on the bikes at 8 heading for second breakfast in Calitzdorp. It was a nice ride but as usual very undulating until the last 10ks was mostly down into town.

 

About 10ks out we met a bikepacker from the UK, Tom who was heading in the opposite direction, we chatted for a while, exchanging route observations.

 

Trail Side Coffee

Arriving at the main intersection in Calitzdorp we were instantly mobbed by young locals hoping to relieve us of some spare change. These guys were quite determined to get a result, so it took a very firm no to dissuade them. We were looking for somewhere to eat when some guy came out and said we could park our bikes safely inside. The Main Street was very intense, so it was nice to get some quiet while we worked out what we were doing. The safe place turned out to be the smallest bar in the Klein Karoo and some guy was about to start a world record attempt at the longest Braai (BBQ). We found out later that he got the record.

 

We found a quiet café in a side street away from the madness and settled in to finding somewhere to stay. Lucky for us, the café owners had a guest house a few doors down with a spare room that night. Problem solved.

 

Needing a few supplies, we walked up to the supermarket in the Main Street which was still very busy, but on foot we looked like normal people and no one bothered us.

 

Dinner was directly opposite our bnb so that was great except for the huge spider hanging out on the chair next to us. She was gently removed to the garden.

 

Saturday September 23, Calitzdorp to Rooiberg Lodge via Rooiberg Pass. 42.11km, 854m vert

 

We have been keeping an eye on the forecast for a few days now as there is quite a lot of rain forecast to start this afternoon. An early start was the order of the day, so we were rolling out of Calitzdorp shortly after 7am. It was a pretty easy first 13k out of town heading south to the pass. Once again, cloud was closing in around the peaks threatening rain. We had managed to book a room at Rooiberg Lodge which a friend had recommended, about 50ks away. The climbing starts on a good quality surface with switchbacks that gave us a little break after every turn before inclining again. Being a long weekend, there were a few tourists out traversing the pass. The road was so narrow that this required us

to stop to let them through. We were doing really well, but we weren’t sure if it was easier, or if our climbing legs were kicking in. Either way, we were pretty proud of ourselves at the top. There had been some fabulous views on the way up, but once up there it was cold and a bit drizzly, so we couldn’t see much.

 

It was going to be a cold descent, so we put our rain jackets on to break the wind and began heading down. The road was a bit rougher on this side, so we had to be careful descending. We couldn’t allow too much speed to build up. Heading west again at the bottom, we began the rolling gullies again before arriving at the back gate of Jurassic Park, I mean Rooiberg Lodge.

 

The rear entrance is a sandy lane along a creek line that leads to a massive Elephant proof gate. Should we be going through here on bikes? Neither of us was prepared to ask the question. It was only about 1k into the lodge from here, but of course there was one last hill.

We checked in without a problem, but that is where the fun began. When we booked on booking.com, we got what we thought was a great price, about $120 for a standard Villa. It did say that this room was 400m\2 but we assumed that was a typo. Well, the bathroom is nearly bigger than our house.

 

We wandered through the massive villa saying WTF and OMG, have we accidentally paid $1200 for this room rather than $120? Checking the booking slip, we confirmed that we were right, but with the weather coming in, could we afford to stay? Having ridden seven days straight we were due for a rest day, but convinced ourselves that if the weather was ok we would move on while we could. Surely the restaurant here was super expensive and that’s how they would get us. But dinner that night was both delicious and the same prices as anywhere else. We checked if the room rate would be the same if we stayed longer, and it was. It turned out that the forecast had led to some cancellations, so we stayed. And then the forecast got worse and worse.

So Many Of These On Roadsides

 

While we were pretty happy to have a rest day, we were forced to have two, due to the shocking weather rolling through the Western Cape. With bridges washed away and road closures everywhere we were going to have to make some route changes, but meanwhile the advice was to stay put. Pretty nice place to be stuck.

 

Tuesday 26 September, Rooiberg Lodge to Riversdale. 77.18km 1061m vert

 

So Many Wildflowers

With some trepidation we said our see ya laters to the great staff at Rooiberg. We had no idea how far we were going to get, so we just set our sights on VanWyksdorp and we would go from there, it was only 12ks. But while everything was damp the going seemed fine. We had a quick coffee and bought some supplies at a little organic café called Stuff. This place was a gem in a tiny village that doesn’t even have a paved Main Street. Definitely a #villagesomewhere.

Water Flowing Everywhere Off The Range

 

The bridge out of town was just coping with the raging river flowing under it, but once across we settled into the undulating gravel roads heading south toward the ranges. The views were spectacular, with waterfalls tumbling down every crevice and gorge. Of course, this led to many flooded creek crossings on the road, but most weren’t too deep. We were also seeing herds of Springbok for the first time which was cool.

 

The undulations and creek crossings left us with very wet feet and muddy bikes, but luckily, they just take the harsh conditions in their stride.  After about 50ks we turned left onto a bitumen road, phew, but started up another pass, oh no. Luckily the Garcia pass wasn’t all that high from the North side, but once we had battled the freezing head wind across the top, gravity took over for the last 20ks into Riversdale. We had managed to book a guesthouse on booking.com when on the pass, which was lucky as when we got into town the phone network was down. Once we found the place, Ramble guest house, the lovely Chantelle looked after us and had us set up in a great room just minutes after arriving. Luckily, we had some food and were able to use the kitchen as we were a bit late for the town offerings.

 

Wednesday 27^th September, Riversdale to Suurbraak. 71.33km, 787m vert

 

After having gone much further than planned  yesterday, we still weren’t sure how far we would go today. Vaguely we had Suurbraak in mind, but after the rain we were expecting lots of wet crossings again, and we weren’t disappointed. This ended up being a seriously tough day, but as always, beautiful, diverse and majestic. There was always a view when we could tear our eyes away from the road.

But, the real story of the day.

If You Have To Hike a Bike, Do It With A View

We arrived in Suurbraak ok around 3:30, but we hadn’t been able to find anywhere to stay. There were a few bnb’s available, but they were across the swollen river and the crossings were even beyond the skills of Larry and Priscilla. But word seemed to have gotten out around town and people were trying to help us. Next minute, a bakkie, a South African ute, pulled up next to Mary and asked if we were looking for somewhere to stay. The lady said that she had a guesthouse and if we follow her, we can stay there. So, let’s let serendipity do its thing.

 

We followed her down the road about 500metres and she showed us in. This lovely lady’s name was Karin, who is a keen hiker. Her guesthouse was basic, but certainly all we needed and then Karen just kept turning up with stuff for us. A big bottle of water, then a big plate of Boerwors pasta, then a flask of a special herbal drink that they brew locally which was delicious. We had such a great night and the next morning Karen asked if she could put us in touch with some friends and contacts she knew along our way. Shortly afterwards there was a whole Whattsapp support group setup to encourage and support us. Karen will definitely go down as one of the loveliest people we have met while travelling.

 

September 28, 29,30, Suurbraak to Ashton 71.09, 849 to Worcester 67.81, 449 to Ceres 51.69, 535

 

I’m going to wrap this one up in a quick review as these days were really just a transit over bitumen roads as our alternate route due to the storm damage everywhere. We left the Rhino Run route at Swellendam as Franshoek and the pass are still closed. Franshoek got 299mm rain in one day!!!!

 

This is not to say for a minute that it wasn’t good riding, and seriously, the climbing still had to be done. We enjoyed getting good meals and coffee for a few days. A final note about the last climb up through the gorge into Ceres though. Despite being Bitumen, this is a stunning road up through a magnificent gorge or Kloof, that culminates with a spectacular vista across the highly productive Ceres Valley and town. The Main Street of Ceres was in full-on crazy mode and Mary very nearly got cleaned up by a bunch of young lads in a car.

 

Luckily, we had found a guesthouse a few streets back with a restaurant right next door, so we didn’t have to venture out to the Main Street again. The guesthouse owners were lovely and helpful, but we always take note of the security measures in place as an indication of risk, and this place had more security than the average place we had been staying.

 

All was good though and we had a great night once again.

 

October 1, Ceres to Moon River Bush Camp 77.82km, 931m vert

 

We had an awesome early brekky at the guesthouse before heading off for a big day. Luckily, we had been able to contact the owners at Moon River to see if we could stay, they only have 2 campsites and we could have one. So now we were committed.

 

The little supermarket in Ceres wasn’t open yet so we got going hoping we could pick up some food at the next small town.

Looking back to Ceres From The Gydo Pass

 

There were a lot of people walking into town in their Sunday best this morning, church was on, but we had an appointment with a mountain looming in the distance. Our legs got warmed up across about 14 ks of flat valley floor, but before we started the climb we had to buy some food. This was uneventful except for the after shop, where outside a few local guys had gathered to ask the usual questions and watch us pack our food away. The best comment of the trip so far, was when finished, one of the guys said, “Wow, it’s just like a caravan, but on a bike!!!”

 

The climb was hard but good. We stopped at a lookout near the top for second brekky and admired the stunning view back over the valley. The pass topped out at about 1050 metres and we once again experienced pass wind over the top. Always a head wind. But today, there was no corresponding descent. We would stay at around 1000 metres for the rest of today. It was good to get some forward motion happening after the big climb and we pushed pretty hard, wanting to enjoy the campsite as much as possible.

 

With 14 ks to go we were back on the dirt road and it was pretty nice and fast. There is no sign out on the road for this place, so we had to navigate to an exact distance mark on the gps before turning left on an inconspicuous 4wd track. After about 500 metres there was a steep rocky climb up to the Owner, Veronica’s house. She met us and explained where to go to our river side camp.

Entrance Track To Moon River Camp

 

When we arrived, we were blown away by the serenity of the place. As we only had a couple of hours of daylight left, we headed to the river pool for a swim before setting up camp. It was an awesome place, with water cascading into a small pool on both sides. The water was freezing, but so good for our tired muscles.

 

We had a lovely camp, with great stars early and then a near full moon a couple of hours later.

 

October 2, Moon River to Cederberg Oasis 31.3km, 386m vert

 

It was really hard to leave Moon River, but the Cederberg Wilderness was waiting for us.

The Epic Cederberg Landscape

The morning started with the most awesome long descent down to Mount Cedar Lodge, about 15ks. But looming ahead was probably the most brutal climb we’ve had yet. It was like a wall looming in front of us. The first couple of ks was rideable, but after that the next 3ks was at 14-16% and beyond the capabilities of our legs on loaded fatbikes. So, walk it was. Even after we crowned the top the descent on the other side was steep and technical, so while rideable, there was no letting it rip. White knuckles on the brakes, and Larry’s rear brake was starting to get pretty dodgy.

Something, Something Leopards 

 

On Babboon Watch

With about 30ks done, we rolled into Cederberg oasis for a cold drink and lunch. Once we had a look around, we decided that we were stuffed and would have a half day break. We think that it was more yesterday’s effort than the big hike-a-bike today that made us hit the wall. We spent the afternoon chatting and having a few drinks with a nice family who adopted us in the camp kitchen.

 

October 3 Cederberg Oasis to Jamaka organic farm 48.02km, 598m vert

 

While we had another big climb up over 1000metres today, it was much more gradual and all rideable. We could sit back and admire the awesome landscape that continued to astound us. There was still plenty of water around but as usual, almost no wildlife. Then came a huge descent once over the last pass. This started as bitumen but then turned into the longest brick paved road that we’ve ever seen.

Once at the little settlement of Algeria, the road to Clanwiliam had a fallen down road closed sign across it. While trying to decide whether to head down there or not, a local car turned down there, so we decided to follow along. There were quite a few washouts and lumpy bits, but nothing that the fatbikes couldn’t handle.

It had been a long day, so luckily when we arrived at Jamaka, they had a little shop, so we had a cold drink and chips before heading to the campground. Then we found out that the campground was way down on the river, and it was going to be a punishing climb back out in the morning. But it was a nice campground, although lots of midges, and there was a little bar down there, so we had another cold drink. The owners were doing a lot of repair work from flood damage. An early night in the tent to escape the midges had us snoozing pretty early.

 

October 4, Jamaka to Clanwilliam 24.79km, 274m vert

 

The climb back up to the main road wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be, although, still a bit of hike a bike involved. Back on the dodgy dirt road, we were bombing through some pretty heavy ruts, potholes and washouts when my rear rack mount let go again. Bugger. Luckily we only had 20ks to go in to Clanwilliam, so I zip tied it, and now hoped that I could get two things fixed, my rear bake was completely useless and needed to be bled. It was a great ride in though, following the edge of a large reservoir.

I had done some research and knew that there was a small bike shop in town. Marnus, at Die Den, was very helpful and had his mechanic bleed my rear brake and replace the pads which luckily I had on as spares. He also phoned a guy at Wolf Engineering to see if he could re-weld my rack mount.

 

This guy had a tig welder, which should do a better job. But he was unimpressed with his own workmanship and refused to accept payment for it despite my protests. The weld looked strong, but not pretty, hopefully it would hold.

Larry Having Surgery, He Did Make It

 

This took us up to lunchtime and we checked in to the ClanWilliam hotel and started hatching a plan. High water levels on the river crossing out towards Calvinia, meant we couldn’t go that way.

 

We decided that it was time to head straight for the Namibian border, at least on the smooth roads Larry’s weld would hold up, and then we would at least get to ride some of Namibia before it failed all together.

 

October 5, Clanwilliam to Klawer 59.96km, 577m vert

 

Our Hosts, Rhoda and Tewie

But before the bitumen, we had an awesome gravel road on the east side of the Olifants River up to Klawer. This involved a crossing of the Doring River which was still in flood, but luckily, here we had a bridge. However, the bridge had been underwater and had some damage as well as a lot of flood debris on it. This was the river that we knew we couldn’t cross if we had gone east to Calvinia.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed this ride and had the last few ks in to Klawer on the N7 which didn’t seem too bad.

 

The highlight though, was that our friend Karin, who we had met in Suurbraak, had put us in touch with a friend who insisted on hosting us if we came that way. We had been in touch with Rhoda and Tewie once we had decided to go that way and they were very excited to have us stay. We spent a lovely afternoon chatting and having insights to Afrikaner culture that we otherwise wouldn’t have had. Rhoda fed us and Tewie watered us, and the next morning sent us off with full bellies and a packed lunch for good measure. We can’t say thanks enough and hope that one day we will meet their daughter who lives in Naracoorte, only a few hours from our home.

 

Thanks So Much For The Sandwiches Rhoda

Once again, a bitumen road wrap up. Klawer to Steinkopf 90.28, 898m 80.7, 715m 50.2, 954m 67.88, 856m 48.85, 431m

 

This road was anything but boring, lots happened along the way.

Our First Quiver Tree

Rock Hyrax

 

From a climbing perspective, the N7 was no picnic. We were still churning out 800 – 1000 metres vertically every day.

 

Some highlights included the strange town of Nuwerus, the Bitterfontein Bakery that wasn’t, Sophia Guest House in Garies, steeped in Rustic charm. In the little town of Kamieskroon we met a lady who ran a tiny takeaway in the camp ground who had escaped the Bush War in Rhodesia with her husband. They were on the verge of going home after many years away.

North Cape Public Transport

 

Then it was on to Springbok. By now the trucks carting zinc from a northern mine somewhere were getting to know us, and always gave us a wave or a toot. Springbok seemed a bit crazy and mad following the quiet little towns we had been staying in. But it was an essential resupply point before hitting the border. We were able to get everything we needed, which was great.

Five Star at Steinkopf

 

Then it was on to Steinkopf. The landscape was changing, becoming more arid, but the climbing continued. There is only one place to stay in Steinkopf, the Hollywood guesthouse. This place is about 200 years old and looks it. But the owners, Letitia and Eugene are an amazing couple doing amazing work providing budget accomodation to travellers and out of town workers alike. They are both up for a yarn and love hosting travelling cyclists. So, while rustic, this is a must stay place when in Steinkopf.

 

October 11, Steinkopf to Noordoewer 72.65km, 290m vert

 

Letitia was keen to make us an early breakfast to get us on our way. It was quite cool to start with and we had a little nervous anticipation as today was a border crossing into Namibia. The landscape changed dramatically only a few ks out of Steinkopf as we rolled across a high barren plain, still around 900 metres up. We knew the descent would start soon and when it did, it was a luxurious -1or2% down for about 50km. We ate up our 67 ks to the border crossing in very quick time. On the final descent down to the Orange River, there was a lot of flood damage waiting to be fixed. Such a shame as it was a very new and well built road. It seems as though flash flooding in this area is rare, but very violent when it happens.

 

The long descent into Vioolsdriff

Arriving at the South African border post, we began the almost comical process of checking out of South Africa.

 

Step 1, first gatehouse guard looks you over and hands you ticket that says two pedestrians.

Step 2, Go to immigration office to get passport stamped.

Step 3, Go back to Police office for unexplained reason, get ticket stamped by police.???

Step 4, Proceed to next gatehouse to show passport and ticket, another stamp.

Step 5, Final gatehouse where you hand in the ticket and chat to the lovely lady about your trip.

 

Checking in to Namibia.

Step 1, Photos on the Orange River Bridge in no man’s land.

Step 2, Into Immigration office, fill out form.

Step 3, Passport stamped with 3 month limit.

Step 4, Lovely immigration lady chats about our trip for a while and makes us promise to wear lots of sunblock. Seriously nice experience.

Step 5, Army post, Soldiers check out our gear, ask about our trip, check the passports and ask us about our bikes, offer advice on where to get a SIM card.

 

We then rode about 1km to the Orange river lodge where we would stay the night.

 

 

 

October 12, Noordoewer to Aussenker 49.79km, 244m vert

 

The Orange River Irrigation Area

Rolling out of Noordoewer we went through a large irrigation area, mostly growing table grapes, tomatoes and mangoes. It was an amazing contrast of dry dusty land growing amazing crops only because of the availability of irrigation water.

 

The road then cuts across a big bend in the river and the Namibian landscape opens up to windswept dusty plains surrounded by dramatic Rocky Mountains. This landscape blew our minds as we rolled across it. We stopped on a nice rock about halfway for a coffee, and just soaked in the serenity. While still a bitumen road, the traffic was very quiet. A motorcyclist pulled up and we met Peter, a guy from Joburg who had cycled the world for about eight years before changing to a motorbike. He was staying where we were that night and we said that we would catch up for a beer and a chat.

Desert Smoko

 

After more than three weeks without a break, we were looking forward to a bit of luxury and a day off before heading into the desert. Noratshama lodge was all it promised to be, and we knew we had picked a nice place for some R&R.

Our Day Off at Norotshama

 

Noratshama turned in to bikepacking central with the arrival of four guys doing the Rhino Run route North to South. Tips and experiences were exchanged.

 

October 14, Aussenker to RoshPina. 46.25km 498m vert

 

We had a wonderful day off at Norotshama resort, everything was fantastic, including our legs rolling out this morning. When you head East from Aussenker you pass a very large settlement that is quite different to the South African ones. While I am sure that poverty exists here, these huts were made of bamboo and thatch and appeared to be very well looked after, many with their own gardens growing
some produce.

 

The road out was lovely, however, many people from the settlement were out gathering firewood from the road and river side. There is not much to take.

 

The Elephant in the room was our destination for the night. We planned to stay at a National Park camp on the Orange River, but we had heard that someone had been robbed at knifepoint while camping there recently. We decided to head there and suss it out. When we arrived, the campsite looked awesome, green and shady. Also, right on the river.

There were a couple of guys working, mowing etc and sent us to the office across the road. We met the head ranger, who informed us that the campground was officially closed, but if we needed to camp we could. But then he told us about the security risks that he had been brought in to sort out. There had been two robberies, targeting campers. He thought that it was Mafia from a town about 100ks away, who do a regular run down this road at night for other nefarious reasons, and if they saw just one camper, they would go in and rob them. We thought that we would not make it to Rosh Pina, so he tried to assure us that the risk was low and that he would have security present during the night. So, we went over and had lunch in the shade and thought that we would stay, we weren’t sure about the wild camping options further down the road. At least there was help here. A short time later, a busted up car with all the windows painted out cruised past really slowly. That put the wind up us, big time. A few minutes later a couple drove in and asked if we were planning to camp there, and said that it was a bad idea. They had a ute, and offered us a ride to Roshpina, it didn’t take too long to accept with a lot of gratitude.

 

Along the way, they were pointing out a lot of small diamond mines on either side of the river. This may explain the nightly drive through of the local thugs.

 

We arrived safely and luckily had no problem getting a room at the hotel.

 

Not the original plan, but definitely the right decision.

 

October 15, RoshPina to wild camp. 104.84km, 1019m vert

 

Sealed Namibian Roads Had These Shelters Every Ten Ks

With about 168ks to Aus and 1500 metres climbing, we wanted to put in a big day today, about 100k to get the best part of it done. We got up really early and had our own brekky despite having brekky included with the room, and were on the road at 6am.

 

It was a weird morning, heavily overcast and misty. We were getting wet from the mist. Who says it never rains in Namibia? But honestly, this was a stroke of luck for us. The climb we were on, was only 1-3% but went on for over 40ks before hitting about 1500 metres. The cloud lasted for a bit after that, keeping things cool. Later, the sun did come out, but the breeze was still keeping us cool. With regular stops for food and water, we did pretty well.

 

Wild Camp

We have started using the IOverlander app which is a bit like Wikicamps in Oz, which is helping us to identify potential wild camping spots. The other unexpected win today was that there were roadside shelters about very 10ks. These were pretty clean and made second brekky and lunch very easy. On the app, we had identified one of these, that apparently had a rocky outcrop behind it that you could camp behind. So, we were aiming for that, at about 103ks. This turned out to be an awesome spot and we settled into a really good private spot that was even shady in the late afternoon. Big win.

 

October 16, Wild camp to Aus. 62.17km, 596m vert

 

Getting to Aus was quite uneventful, an early start had us there in time for lunch where we stayed at the Bahnhoff Hotel. A little bit of German hospitality was nice in a quirky little town. It was an unusually neat town, with nicely coloured buildings that really set them off in the desert landscape.

 

October 17, Aus to Tiras Farm Stay 70.66km, 445m vert

 

Hitting The Road Early

With Aus being 1550metres asl, today was at least going to have a bit of down. But first we climbed out of Aus. Once onto the gravel the road started to descend gently, and while quite soft it was pretty fast on the fatbikes. There were a lot of animal tracks on the road, and we did see occasional Oryx, Springbok and Ostrich. They very much kept their distance from us though and didn’t provide much in the way of photo opportunities.

 

We had decided not to do the D707 and go around through Helmeringhausen as this way had us dividing Aus to Betta into 3 days with certain campsites with guaranteed water. It also meant we could keep the days shorter to avoid the heat.

Blowing us away again, were the distances we could see ahead. Starting the descent from Aus, we realised later that we could see the D707 intersection in the distance which was easily 45km away. With some big sections of very rough road, we noticed a grader working ahead of us. This was very exciting until we passed them and found that while they made the road smooth, they really fluffed it up, making it very soft going. This slowed us right down now and made the last 10ks a real drag.

The Seemingly Endless Road Ahead

 

As we approached the entrance to Tiras farm, we noticed their two campsites on the opposite side of the road, tucked under a huge Rocky Mountain. We were very excited until we saw the state of their road and realised that we would have to ride it twice. The owner’s farm and guesthouses were really nice, and the lady was lovely, giving us a large bottle of coke, we were very hot, so we just sat outside chatting to another cyclist and drank the lot while it was cold. She didn’t give him one, hahahaha.

Community Weaver Nest

 

Back across the road and a big navigation error from Dave, saw us finally rocking into our stunning campsite a bit later and hotter than planned. Luckily there was plenty of shade and great showers, so we could cool off. Later we just put the tent inner up and enjoyed a stunning starlit night.

 

Quiver Trees Are Succulents

Tiras Farm Camp

October 18, Tiras Farm to Helmeringhausen. 43.28km, 313m vert

 

We got going early despite only having about 40ks to go today.  It was a pretty scenic route too, overall down, but generally undulating. It was mostly cattle country, but we did see a few Springbok and we think a couple of Eland.

 

The tiny hamlet of Helmeringhausen was cool, dominated by the hotel which is an oasis. We arrived early and had coffee and apple pie. They had a room and they let us check in early, so we settled in and Mary decided that she wasn’t feeling very well. And then it quickly turned into vomiting, and if you know Mary, she doesn’t vomit. Was it the famous Helmeringhausen Apple Pie? This totally wiped Mary out and she literally spent the next 24hours sleeping. So, it was an obvious decision to have a rest day while we weren’t too remote.

 

Mary slept, and I ate foodJ

 

October 20, Helmeringhausen to Aubures Guest Farm 60.01km, 505m vert

 

Luckily Mary was feeling a lot better in the morning and she ate a good breakfast at the hotel. They started at 6am, even though that was a bit late, we decided it was a bit of an insurance policy in case Mary started feeling sick after eating.

 

We had about 50 ks to ride today, the ride was quite cruisy early, although very rough. With the landscape changing quite regularly, we went from windy desert pass, still around 1600m asl, onto a slow descent on quite straight roads out onto a huge dry and dusty plain. The classic Namibian gravel road scene.

 

We arrived at the gate to the Aubures guest farm around 1pm, the temperature once again soaring. It was three ks into the farmhouse on a very bumpy road. Arriving at a huge two story farmhouse that would make the cast of Gone With The Wind envious, we met the owners who were really nice and chatted in the shade for a little while. They let us know that if we were leaving early in the morning to watch out for their big herd guarding dog, an Anatolian, he was known to follow cyclists out to the road. We were just to lock him up in the house yard if he was following us out. They then showed us out to the camp ground, another two ks of even rockier farm track. We were going to be the only ones there tonight, so we selected the best offer of shade and got the tent inner up. We were going to have to move during the afternoon to follow the shade.  

Plus 2ks To The Camp Site

 

 

I had a shower and relaxed in the tent while Mary had one. All of a sudden, a huge animal jumped into the tent and started mugging me, I had heard nothing coming at all.  All I could see was fur and claws as the thing tore around inside our little tent on top of me. Finally calming my adrenalin, I realised that it was a dog and not a fucking Leopard. Mary heard the commotion and came running, but by the time she got there, I had a new best buddy, Tigger, the herd guarding dog. How I, or our flimsy air mattresses didn’t get shredded with this guy’s claws I have no idea. Tigger decided that his most important duty this afternoon was guarding the bikepackers, so he set to work, sleeping in the shade by our tent.

Tigger On The Job

 

The conversation turned to our struggle with the heat, and whether we should finish the riding part of our trip a bit earlier than planned. Riding early in the morning was great, but hanging around in the heat of the afternoon was more challenging than being on the bikes.

Camel Thorn Sunset

 

October 21, Aubures to Betta Camp. 54.04km, 279m vert

 

Up at 3:45am and a quick breakfast had, we were bumping along in the dark past the house, when Tigger joined us, tail wagging and looking forward to accompanying us. Luckily, he was pretty well behaved, and we got him into the house yard ok. He was very disappointed.

 

This section of road was rough, and it was quite hard to pick a good line with our bike lights. But it was cool enough that we wore jumpers, and we ate up the kilometres while it was cool. By the time we stopped for second breakfast it wasn’t so much about a nice spot, but just needing a coffee and something to eat before it got too hot. So just think flies and cow shit.

Any Shade We Could Find Was Teasured

 

The gravel was mostly good and fast until we got to the intersection where the d707 rejoined the road. After this the road was atrocious and the last 20ks into Betta Camp just vindicated our decision to not ride the d707.

 

Betta camp is really a roadhouse and accommodation. But while you can camp, we really wanted a room, rather than sit in a hot tent all afternoon. The really helpful guy who ran Betta Camp explained that they had actually closed their last four rooms to start renovation, but kindly offered to sort one out for us, as they hadn’t started on one of them yet. We were very grateful.

 

By 10pm, we gave up in frustration, the room was an oven full of mozzies, we put the tent inner up outside, where it was much cooler and mozzie proof. Finally, we slept.

 

October 22, Betta to Tolou’s 27.28km, 8m vert

 

Today was a weird strategic decision in heat management. It was only about 25ks, but all about the next two days. We have decided to finish the ride in Sesriem, about 150ks to go. We just didn’t feel that we could safely manage the afternoon heat issue any more. So, Tolou’s was a quite large guest farm, but we hadn’t been able to contact them to book. We just had to hope that they were open.

 

It was really weird rolling into this place just after 8am, but it was an opportunity to shorten the ks needed for tomorrow, because the next water was about 90ks away, and we just weren’t prepared to load Larry up with a full multi day load of water, constantly worrying about re breaking the rack mount. Embarrassingly, we think we woke the owner up when we knocked on the door. She was extremely gracious and understanding however, and showed us straight to a room where we would relax the day away. Luckily this room was well designed and insulated, so it stayed quite cool.

 

We had a great chat late in the day with Francine and her husband and they kindly gave us some freshly picked oranges for our journey tomorrow.

 

October 23, Tolou’s to weird castle hotel, Le Mirage Hotel, near Sesriem. 88.21km, 350m vert

Sunrise After 3 Hrs Of Riding Already

 

Champagne Namibian Gravel

We were on the bikes at 4am, riding under a stunning Milky Way. This area was a stunning ride. On the left as it got light, we could see out across the Namib Desert Dunes. On the right, rocky peaks, shading us from the early morning sun. We were still seeing occasional Springbok and Oryx, but as yet none of the cool wildlife that we were keen to see. Finally, on our penultimate day, we saw a large herd of Zebra crossing the road in front of us. This gave us a taste of why we were excited about our decision to finish about four days early, we had decided to hire a car and go on safari in the North, where there is a lot more wildlife.

Our First Zebras

 

The Legend That Is Mary

Oryx 

But first, a few nights of luxury hotels, food and touristy things.

 

Our next “water stop” was a hotel about 20ks short of Sesriem, Le Mirage hotel. But with no internet for about four days, we hadn’t been able to book. We made good time and were arriving about 12 noon. One of the staff asked if we were here for lunch, but when we said we were hoping for a room, she said that she thought they were full, but she would check. Putting on my terribly worried, disappointed, not sure what we should do face, she did say that they had taken one room offline as the aircon wasn’t

working. I said that if they were prepared to do a special deal, we would be ok without aircon. Although the temperature was baking outside. They agreed, and showed us to the most amazing room we have ever stayed in, opened all the French doors to let the breeze in and settled into a great afternoon of coolness and food.

The Weird But Amazing Le Mirage Hotel

 

October 24, Le Mirage to Sossusvlei Lodge, Sesriem. 22.76km, 85m vert

 

With only about 30ks to go, we could afford a sleep in and a lazy relaxed breakfast.

 

This didn’t yet feel like the end. We were way ahead of time, with still over two weeks to go before our flight out. We decided that maybe this is our one time in Africa, who knows? So, we would spend some money on seeing some wildlife, that meant heading North, ultimately to Etosha National Park.

Seems Unlikely

 

So, we rode into Sesriem Oasis and started doing some research before heading to the lodge. There is a guy who helped out at the roadhouse who gave us some tips about how to get to Windhoek to pick up a hire car, but we couldn’t take our bikes, we would have to come back to pick them up. This was definitely not ideal, but the best option. We booked everything while waiting to check in to our lodge, then we could relax.

 

We booked a morning dune tour for the next day and really enjoyed that landscape. Our first taste of Safari life.

 

Dancing White Lady Spider

After 2054km cycling and 21696 metres climbing on this trip we are extremely grateful for the care and hospitality the South African and Namibian people have shown us. Right now, we feel that this is probably the hardest trip we have done, mostly due to the loads of climbing in South Africa, and the heat of the Namibian Desert. Food and accommodation along the way has been great and affordable which certainly eased the pain. Camping, where possible has been stunning.  So, we both feel that yes, it was hard, but very rewarding and certainly no regrets.  Unfortunately, we think it’s time that Larry is retired from expedition life. With over 25000km of tough back road touring on him, he will retire gracefully and be fixed up as my fun fat bike. We are not sure what’s next yet, but there is a long list.

The Famous Dead Trees Of Deadvlei

Classic Dune at Sunrise

 

The next two weeks…..

 

The experience of staying in a great lodge in Sesriem, visiting the dunes, Deadvlei  and Sossusvlei was a fantastic.

 

We got a small bus ride to Windhoek, which took about 5 hours, and stayed the night at the Hilton Hotel. The next morning we picked up the car, a Hilux dual cab that we would be able to lock our bikes up in the rear cab. We headed back to Sesriem after picking up a pack of KFC for our friend at the roadhouse in Sesriem. He had joked about craving some kfc, so we had decided to deliver. We stayed at the roadhouse campground that night which was surprisingly nice.

In the morning we went into the park just after sunrise and the line-up had dissipated. We weren’t heading for the main attractions though, and just wanted to explore the Sesriem canyon, which was quite close and well worth the visit.

After that we were heading to Swakopmund on the coast for a few days. The road there was long and very rough. We were glad that we weren’t riding any more as it was another excessively hot afternoon. We did, however, catch up with two of the Rhino Run riders and offered some cool drinks and fresh fruit.

Sesriem Gorge

Arriving at Walvis Bay, we came in past the lakes where a lot of Flamingoes were hanging out, that was very cool to see. Then the coast road up to Swakopmund was quite surreal due to the modern beach house communities that appeared to getting swallowed up again by the dunes.

We booked into a campground in Swakopmund and had a couple of days exploring around here in the very cool temperatures. A guide we chatted to in LeMirage had implored us to do a full day dunes tour here which we did and thoroughly enjoyed. They pointed out the small wildlife of the dunes and then we went on a 4wd tour down to where the desert dunes meet the ocean. This was a very cool day.

Chameleon

Look Closely For The Eyes Of A Sidewinder

Where The Dunes Meet The Atlantic, Sandwich Harbour

Wanting to explore the Skeleton Coast, we headed slowly North on a very good road up to Cape Cross. Here we visited the Seal Colony in the National Park, where unfortunately we learned that they still harvest the seals for fur and Genitals. Of course, everyone loves a nice seal penis,,, don’t they?

Seal Pup At Cape Cross

After this we headed back inland to visit the rock art at Brandberg Mountain which was great. But from here we really wanted to find some big wildlife.

A friend on the Whattsapp group had recommended a lodge called Omaruru Game Lodge. This was a good halfway point on the way to Etosha National Park. While a game reserve, and effectively captive/managed animals, we thought that this was a good

failsafe, to actually see the big animals just in case the expectations about Etosha didn’t hold true.

After checking in, we started with a game drive out to see the Elephants, with a big bale of Lucerne hay on the back and a bag of Camel Thorn Pods on the driver’s lap. It took a while to find them in their huge rangelands and it was fun, watching the driver pick up the tracks that eventually led us to the three females and one young bull. The bull rushed us, but it turned out he was just after the lucerne, tearing it off the back of the vehicle. He was a bit full of it, so the driver had to use the pods as bait to take the bull away from the cows so that we could then go and get close to them. And get close we did.

Once done with the Elephants, we went back to the main lodge paddock where we saw white Rhino, Girraffe and all the other animals. There was also a Hippo enclosure, which we found quite confronting, they didn’t belong here. Overall this was a good experience and we enjoyed the luxury in the presence of the animals.

The next morning we were off to the Southern entrance to the Etosha National Park. We camped at a lodge just outside the gate and then got going at sunrise the next morning. Once through the Anderson Gate, we had to drive North to the main visitor centre at Okaukuejo. It was very busy, but this seems to be the way of Namibian National parks. You check in at the gate and fill out a form, then you present that form at the visitor centre and pay for access then. Then when you leave the park you have to present the form again to make sure that you leave. A very convoluted, labour intensive process. Once in the park and clear of these bottlenecks, it didn’t feel very busy, apart from all the amazing animals. Before we even got to the visitor centre about 30ks into the park, we had seen Elephant, Kudu, Springbok, Zebra and lots of other things.

The rest of the day we just moved from water hole to water hole, heading East across the park. What a fabulous experience. It was so hot and dry that most animals had to visit water at least once a day, so we just had to sit and wait and all sorts of amazing animals turned up. It really was the entire cast of the Lion King.

We had a booking to camp at Onguma Tamboti Campsite, a part of the very large Onguma Conservancy for four nights. Onguma is a private game reserve that encompasses the entire Eastern boundary of the park, with its entrance only 100m outside the Namutoni Gate. This was a very special place with great campsites private ablutions and a little green lawn to put the tent on. Luckily the campground is securely fenced, as the first night we heard Lion’s not far from camp. The campsite also had an old homestead that had been converted into a reception area and really good restaurant overlooking a nice waterhole. You could sit and have dinner or breakfast and watch the various animals come down to drink. On the first night, we even had a Leopard slink past on the edge of darkness.

Nervous Impala Buck

I Just Loved Photographing Giraffe

Our plan was to stay cheaply (camping) so that we could spend up a bit on experiences. So every morning we booked something with Onguma and then in the afternoon, drove into the waterholes at the Eastern end of the park and watch animals while we sat in the airconditioned car.

Probably my favourite activity was a visit to a hide that Onguma have which sits down low at a water hole and we could photograph everything up close. This was a totally amazing experience.

What They Were All Nervous About
30 Metres Behind Our Hide

 

A game drive the next morning saw us finding a Lioness with four cubs who lounged around for a while. In the afternoon we came across a herd of female Elephants with seven calves on their way to a waterhole, prior to this we had only seen Bull Elephants hanging out at the waterholes.

 

Next morning we had arranged a bush breakfast which was fantastic and in the afternoon caught up with the Lioness and cubs again with a surprise visit from a large Male just on dark.

So Lucky To See This Herd Of Females With Young

 

Our Lioness and Four Cubs

There was so much to do in this area, we really could have stayed much longer, but it was time to head south towards Windhoek. But we had done some research and decided to have one last stop at the Cheetah Conservation Foundation near the Waterberg National Park. With a little trepidation because we hate captive animals, we were to discover that this amazing organisation is doing fabulous work in conserving the Cheetah population as well as other native predators. While the attached photo shows Cheetahs at their morning exercise, which is quite spectacular, this is not what they are about. They run educational intervention programmes to assist farmers and landholders to introduce real world changes to their practices in order to reduce the need to shoot Cheetahs. They collect scat to test what local Cheetahs are eating, mostly not livestock. They breed Anatolian herd dogs to protect livestock herds. They are introducing value adding practices to subsistence farmers so that they can afford to make the changes, also helping the economy of their district. We were so impressed with the effectiveness and integrity of this organisation that we would thoroughly recommend supporting them, we don’t say that very often these days.

 

The next morning we made the final trip into Windhoek, via a comical incident with the traffic police who wanted to fine me for not having my headlights on during the day. In the end it all proved to be too much effort and paperwork for them that they sent us on our way. I think that maybe they wanted a “donation” but I wasn’t going there in case it was a set up.

 

We picked up bike boxes on our way into Windhoek and set to getting them boxed up straight away so that we could relax later. We had a lot of help from the car park staff at the Hilton Hotel and donated all of our extra food and coffee etc to them. There was quite a bit and they were very happy.

 

Thank you Namibia for a great time.