Day 11: Lubango to Flamingo Lodge
Distance: 280 km
We have a leisurely start and ride up the mountain to the “Cristo Rei” (Jesus Christ Statue). The statue is one of 3 in the world and is a replica of the one found in Rio de Janeiro. Wikipedia describes it as follows: Cristo-Rei (English: Christ the King) is a Catholic monument of Jesus Christ overlooking the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and inaugurated on 17 May 1959. At that time, Portugal was being ruled by the President of the Council António de Oliveira Salazar, and it was on his orders that the Cristo-Rei was built. Jesus has taken a few shots here, which makes this one slightly unique in this trio. We found this choir up there, singing like only Africans can sing, especially for our entertainment. We handed a few Bibles to them, their appreciation once again a unique experience.
View of the city from the mountain
Humpata is the next stop. This is where most of the “Dorsland trekkers” settled in 1878 and the years that followed. I can see why they settled here, it is a great farming area and the remains of their fields, orchards and buildings show that they were working hard and doing well here. We visit the monument and some graves in the area. I am fortunate to find some of my wife’s ancestors; my father in law was born in Angola as part of this outing. What I can tell you, is to get here from Rustenburg with an ox wagon is not for girls….. Imagine if those people had motorbikes…..
We were back on the tar, direction Namibe. Leba pass is next touristy thing to do around here, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The Yamaha’s front wheel still did not want to hold air (tubeless tyre leaking on the bead) – even after the panel beating in Lubango, so we quickly put in an 18” tube. Problem solved. Some of the bikes got “tested” a little more than the others, great fun coming down here. You drop about 1km in altitude in 10 km of road winding its way down the mountain. The ride is calmed by trucks with big blocks of granite on the back. There are also some of these blocks lying on the side of the road, evidence of truck brakes failing here. Must be a hairy experience…. We stop for lunch at the market at the foot of the pass. The Portuguese rolls and bananas work well and hit the spot.
New Mitas E10 - very soft compound. [EDIT: I have since been lead to believe that the new shipment will have a harder compound.]
And if the tyre looks like that, the crash bars look like this.....
From here, the mango trees rapidly disappear and the landscape gradually dries. Within an hour we are in the desert. I can start feeling the air cooling off, a sign that we are nearing the coast. A dry river bed near Namibe shows some life again and we arrive at the garage just outside of the town. We fill up here and Gert discovers that the rear sub frame of the HP2 has broken on both sides. We need a welding machine. Bit of a tall order, but doable I think to myself. We look on the GPS for a place that might have a machine under Points of Interest and a few possibilities come up. We did not need to look on the GPS, just on the side of the road there is a guy busy welding the garage’s sign! Wow! We approach him, he is from Portugal, speaks English and is out here doing contract work for a while. He does not have a welding helmet, his power connection is dodgy, but he welds the frame together in a flash and we are ready to go again once Gert as re-assembled his frame and extra fuel tank under the seat. Gert offers the welder a six pack of beers and a Biker Bible. He declines the beers and takes the Bible. Go figure…..
Gert: "It was real a real humbling experience when the guy chose the Bible over the beers... makes one think about priorities!
In defense of my HP I must say that I overloaded the tail section. The bike has done 30 000km of similar terrain and the rear frame just got fatigued. I will have to redo the welding job at some stage."
Once all filled up, we go for a coffee on the beachfront to celebrate our arrival.
Then off towards Flamingo lodge. The road towards Tombua is also brand new and smooth tar. Although the tar riding offered a good rest it was now becoming a bit boring. I was quite happy when we saw the turn-off to Flamingo which took us back to the good stuff. All the riders had a sudden wake-up and we could focus on the riding again for a change. We gave our best and found the beach and the lodge just when the sun dipped into the ocean. Great views and a bunch of happy campers arrived at Flamingo Lodge.
A great place to stay over. Owned by Rico Sako, an ex South African who came to settle here in 1992 when he realized how good the fishing was. We had a shower, a great fish dinner (some of the best I have ever had) and slept in beds in bungalows. We were in 5 star luxury and slept like babies.
eepwall:
