4 Day trip to Eastern Namibia

[HB 9]

I am enjoying your RR tremendously!  :thumleft:

 

[Metaljockey]

Very interesting. I had planned to do this stretch when I did a trip with my wife and my kid, but I chickened out.

I felt that 250km of loose Boesmanland sand may be too risky fuel and water wise. I cannot wait to see what I missed.

 

[Pom17]

I cant see the photos  :'( :'(

 

[Desert Boy]

Very interesting. I had planned to do this stretch when I did a trip with my wife and my kid, but I chickened out.

I felt that 250km of loose Boesmanland sand may be too risky fuel and water wise. I cannot wait to see what I missed.

Hey Metaljockey

As the Guru of adventure trips, you would have found the going a piece of cake.

There wasn't an unbroken stretch of 250 km of Boesmanland Sand. The road between Otjinene and Gam has been "ugraded" to a gravel, district road standard, however, as I said earlier, a Polo would have been completely inappropriate. Sand stretches were longish (3 - 5 kms at a time), interspersed with hard remnants of the gravel road. After the Vet Fence, just before our first camp, the road was fine right up to Eiseb Village and to Gam.

You and your mates, including your wife, would have found the road easy. 10 extra litres of fuel was all the 990 needed and sure, one had to take enough water. I suppose a bad fall would have changed circumstances drastically, but is there adventure without risk? You taught us that!

 

[Chrisl]

Very interesting. I had planned to do this stretch when I did a trip with my wife and my kid, but I chickened out.

I felt that 250km of loose Boesmanland sand may be too risky fuel and water wise. I cannot wait to see what I missed.

Hey Metaljockey

As the Guru of adventure trips, you would have found the going a piece of cake.

There wasn't an unbroken stretch of 250 km of Boesmanland Sand. The road between Otjinene and Gam has been "ugraded" to a gravel, district road standard, however, as I said earlier, a Polo would have been completely inappropriate. Sand stretches were longish (3 - 5 kms at a time), interspersed with hard remnants of the gravel road. After the Vet Fence, just before our first camp, the road was fine right up to Eiseb Village and to Gam.

You and your mates, including your wife, would have found the road easy. 10 extra litres of fuel was all the 990 needed and sure, one had to take enough water. I suppose a bad fall would have changed circumstances drastically, but is there adventure without risk? You taught us that!

I always thought that the road from Tsumkwe down is very much like the one through the Khoudom to Rundu OR
parts of it were the same.

 

[Desert Boy]

Bushmanland is an extremely beautiful, and interesting part of Namibia. It became officially known as "Bushmanland" before Namibian independence when it became one of the seats of the "ethnic" government system incorporated into the then SWA / Namibia. Prior to that, Bushmanland had been "discovered" by European explorers and had also been a section of the route followed by the Dorsland Trekkers on their way to the North West and ultimately, Angola. The name "Bushmanland" was officially dropped after Namibian Independence in 1990.

From a social point of view, the success of Bushmanland is debateable. It was founded to provide a "home" to the nomadic Bushmen of Northern and Eastern Namibia. Putting a fence around, and limiting the movement of these nomadic people seemed to have varied reults. Bushmen were settled in villages, encouraged to raise cattle and to adopt a "more modern" lifestyle. With modernity, came a host of social problems that plague the Bushman communities till today.

I am not a sociologist, or an anthropologist so these views are certainly not based in a lot of research, but from observations during fleeting visits to the area over the past 25 years. Many organizations are commited to assisting Bushmen to cope with the rigours of the modern world. It certainly cannot be an easy task. Good luck to them!

A reality that the area is currently experiencing, is the effect of the demand for ranching land by Herero cattle farmers. These farmers are expanding there operations Eastwards in a never ending search for extra land. In their expansion to the East, the Herero farmers have crossed the old "border" of Bushmanland and are continuing to take up more and more land. This is developing into a sensitive situation for the Namibian authorities to handle. It will be very interesting to see how all parties involved in this particular "land struggle" can be satisfied.

 

[Skaiidawg]

@SGB ek dink daai sak is dwars gedraai net buite Windhoek. :deal:
Skaars genoeg plek om te sit vir n kind. :eek7:

Ek pak ook so, maar baie vleis en aartappels maak mens seker die sak dwars draai.  >

Lekker RR knap gedaan

 

[Desert Boy]

Day 2 Continued

Once we got going, we found the road to be in great shape all the way to Eiseb Village - hard gravel. Eiseb village is a small settlement near to the Borswana border (approx 20 km). It is inhabited mainly by Herero people but also has a number of Bushmen. There is mobile phone coverage and electricity too, so it is hardly backward any more.

There was very little sign of human habitation next to the road but we did see a lot of livestock

We also picked up the trip's first puncture. Hardus on the 660 was the unlucky one

Eiseb Village is a dusty, sandy place with lots of kids. They all wanted to be in a photo. The kids even got the donkey to smile for the camera

We bought some refreshments at one of the local Cuca Shops, ate lunch and headed out towards Gam. Ome of the group (remains nameless and without photo evidence) suffered the embarrassment of falling in the sand in front of all those kids. Luckily, all that was bruiesd was the ego.

We went through 2 more Vet fences on the way north to Gam and Tsumkwe. Once again the road was good hard gravel.

The idea was to visit some large Baobab Tree sites on the way to Tsumkwe. We met a number of locals there

 

[Desert Boy]

There are a large number of side roads (tracks) off from the main Gam - Tsumkwe road leading to interesting sites that are worth seeing. We took a few, but the going was really tough. On one particular tweespoor both Hardus and Johan fell rather heavily, prompting an immediate rethink of the day's plan. We turned around in the particular track and headed instead off to Tsumkwe, filled the fuel tanks and made our way to the "Tsumkwe Country Lodge". This lodge is virtually in the centre of Tsumkwe and is staffed by friendly, jolly people.

Hardus getting up after a heavy fall in an extremely unfriendly tweespoor paaidtjie

Tsumkwe Country Lodge

After sweating and struggling on the bikes for the whole day, we were happy to be able to negotiate a Kudu steak meal with Chef Martin.

We had a wonderful meal in the Lodge's restaurant (we were the only guests) and then retired to our camp site. It was a cold evening.

 

[Chrisl]

I am learning a lot from this RR :thumleft:
DB how many kilos was it from Otjinene to Tsumkwe?

 

[Mev Vis Arend]

Dit lyk fatasties.  Beslis iets om binnekort te doen.

 

[Desert Boy]

I am learning a lot from this RR :thumleft:
DB how many kilos was it from Otjinene to Tsumkwe?

Otjinene - Tsumkwe is 370 kms. This is too far for the KTM's fuel capacity so carrying extra fuel is essential. The detour to Eiseb Village added another 40 kms. Of the 370, about 110 is pretty sandy and needs heavy concentration.

 

[Probie]

Dit lyk fatasties.  Beslis iets om binnekort te doen.

Ek stem saam, ek dink ons moet maar 'n groot WD groep maak en hier na die einde van die jaar Namibie invaar! Baie nice RR :thumleft:

 

[JACOVV]

Dit lyk fatasties.  Beslis iets om binnekort te doen.

En ek se niks - sweet blou bokkerol  :mwink:  Julle weet wat my gedagtes sê.

 

[Desert Boy]

Day 3: Tsumkwe - Waterberg (495 km)

Anyone that has travelled from Tsumkwe to Grootfontein by road will know that it is one of the most deadly boring stretches that one can imagine. Added to the boredom, is the state of the gravel. Usually the road is in a horrible state of repair and you and your vehicle literally get rattled to pieces.

For this reason, we decided to turn South off the C 44 onto the D 2893 right after the Vet Fence. This happens about 150 km West of Tsumkwe. From this point, the road winds its way through the cattle farms, along the Omatako River for a while and becomes the D 2844. Eventually, you get to Berg Aukas and on to the main Grootfontein - Rundu tar road about 15 km North of Grootfontein.

Packed and ready to leave Tsumkwe

Heading west from Tsumkwe

Just befor reaching the VET fence / gate we stopped at a Cuca shop which was owned by a lady from Kavango. She was doing a roaring trade in alcohol early on a Sunday morning.

The road through the farms was quiet and isolated. We had planned to pick up a stock of food at the Grootfontein Spar, both for Sunday lunch and for the night's meal at the Waterberg Plateau Park. Unbeknown to us, the Spar closed at 13h00 on a Sunday so arriving at 1 minute past 13h00 didn't help. Fortunately we were able to convince the manager to let us in and we rushed through a shopping spree.

Lunch somewhere South of Grootfontein. Mussels and bread.

With Namibian time once again threatening to bring on early darkness, we rushed towards Waterberg from the East.

Once again it was Hardus that was unlucky to get a puncture along this road.

Having actively decided to avoid the main routes, we again found ourselves on a minor district road that had a few surprises in store for us.

The puncture, the slow going on the road and the "unkind" Namibian time caused us to arrive at Waterberg in the dark. It was certainly a hair raising experience riding towards Waterberg while the sun was setting, in thick dust and on a bad road. We all rode nervously and were glad to arrive at the Park.

There was an argument with Park officials who didn't want us to ride our bike to the campsite. They said that there had been "naughty" bikers in the past that had abused the Park's tranquility. They said that we should park our bikes at the Reception office and walk up to the camp. This didn't suit us of course so we worked hard to convince them of our good intentions.

We were all dead tired that night and coupled with the fact that it was freezing cold, an early night was on the cards

 

[Pepe]

Keep it coming.

 

[smurfie]

This was a wonder full trip, and my Yamaha XT1200Z was exilent. My fuel consumption wat 20Km/l average. Finished the video of day one and will send on the short clips to Wild Dog to share.

 

[Desert Boy]

We woke to a clear but cold morning in Waterberg. It would be the last day of a fantastic trip. Once again, in order to avoid the tar of the BI highway we chose a route that stuck to the smaller district roads. We would join the tar 30 km North of Okahandja.

Before leaving Waterberg we decided to look around a bit and search for a hot coffee.

The Park, which is approximately 400 square kilometres in size was declared as a reserve in 1972. The plateau acts as a sanctuary for endangered animal species and even black rhino can now be found there. The vegetation around the plateau differs from the surrounding plains. The facilities at the Park were extensively renovated in the late nineteen eighties but are sadly somewhat run down today.

Cliffs at Waterberg Park

Waterberg is also famous for being the location where the "Battle of the Waterberg" took place in 1904. This battle was the final battle between German Colonial and Herero forces. The battle was decisive and virtually put an end to Herero resistance to German rule in Deutsch Sudwest Afrika. After the battle, German authorities issued an "extermination" order against the Herero. Many of the Herero fled into the wastelands to the East, resulting in a huge death toll due to starvation and thirst. The leader of the Herero at the time, Maherero crossed into Bechuanaland (Botswana) with the remnants of his tribe and sought refuge from the British. There are still many Herero living in Botswana today.

Old police post at Waterberg - today the restaurant

Swimming pool behind the restaurant

Scoring coffee at the restaurant

Tourists enjoying an early breakfast

Time to leave Waterberg - heading Okahandja and home

 

[Desert Boy]

The route from Waterberg was relaxed and easy, passing through some of the most sought after cattle ranching real estate in the country. From the C 30 we turned into the D 2120, finally joining the B1 from the D 2124.

We had a final fuel stop at the Shell in Okahandja and settled in for a last coffee and take away before hitting the last 70 kms of tar to Windhoek and home.

Thanks to my colleages on the trip - it was fantastic!!

Back on tar North of Okahandja

Final coffee and toasted ham

Videos and final comments will follow.........................

 

[JACOVV]

What a pleasure to read!!  Nice photos etc.

Do you guys perhaps have the GPS routes? 

I'm thinking . . . . that I must go and  . . . . . do it.  Don't know when, but time will tell.