Boesmanland aint for pissies.

[Camelman]

The sky is nice and blue I thought. My left leg was pinned under the bike, which was lying on its side leaking
petrol through the overflow cap onto my left leg. F@%& I thought. Now I’m screwed.

Day 1:
Woke up at 04:45, tried to sleep. Failed. Stood up and went to plot on the GPS. Got at Richwood
at 05:30, then coffee, and talked crap with Andy (XT660R).

Others arrived. N[]va, Mountainboy, WayneH, H. Leave via Occudale. Jerry cans kept going loose.
Twice. Got it fixed at the end of the day. Working 100%. Breakfast at Ceres. Filled up with fuel.
Then off to Op-die-berg.  Hit the gravel at 09:00. Twisting via Cederberge to Cerberg Oasis.
WayneH and Mountainboy misses the only bar in 100km, Cederberg Oasis, eish!

Gerrit meets us with outstretched hand, as always. You know where the fridge is he says, help
yourselves. We storm for the fridge and get a beer or cold drink each. Chill on the grass for 45
minutes, and then start the last stretch to Wuppertal. Road is sandy and rutted. Heavy luggage
makes for difficult handling in sand.

The afternoon is spent drifting in the dam, drinking beer and talking crap.

The evening is spent talking bikes and planning trips.

Day 2:
Wake up at 04:30. Lie and wait for the dawn to break. Dawn breaks. Time to stand up. I build
myself a mug of coffee. Hear Andy moving. Build a breakfast. Oats-so-easy. Causes the song to
start in my head.  "Oats so easy its fun to make" Eish. Andy's up, so is Mountainboy. N[]va
shows his face, then dives back into his sleeping bag. Slowly the others awake. No sign of Henk as
yet. Almost finished. Its 06:00. Andy shouts at Henk. Henk shouts back. Its time to move.
Everybody leaves there stuff, except for me and Mountainboy. He's day is ending at Porterville and
mine somewhere North of our current location.

We depart, and head towards Clanwilliam, then right towards Calvinia, and left on the old tea route
towards Nieuwoudtville. It’s a beautiful road. I trail the others. My bikes heavy. I'm in no rush. I
sing in my helmet. "I was born to love you, from Queen". I love this. Whish my wife was with me.
We meet when we have to open and close gates. I tell Henk to ride. No need to wait for me.
Pretend I'm not here. Skip the buddy system. I'm on holiday. I want to see the view, not only the
road.

The road twists and turns. Sometimes it’s sandy, with views of valleys and ridges. What an
awesome road, I think.

Eventually we reach Nieuwoudtville. We refuel, and then split up. Awesome old bikes in the
window. At last, I'm alone. 10 km out of Nieuwoudtville I find a waterfall. Must be awesome when
the river flows, now it only trickles.

I take a pic, and then move on. Turn-off onto the R355. Its
nice. Can go fast. Its 11:30. I'm tired. Need to rest. Find a tree at a farmer’s gate. Stop, lie under the
tree.

Soon joined by  farm worker, Eric Kettledas. Then the farmer rocks up, we chat. He invites me
around for when the flower season starts. We swap phone numbers and email addresses. I ride.

70 km later I enter Kliprand. Nothing going on there. Everything is closed. I make a u-turn. Missed the
turn -off to the R358. Find it. The road is now little more than a jeep-track. Nice. Speeds down to
60 in 5th gear. GPS says go left. No road. So go straight. Eventually road and GPS meet. I'm happy
again. Its 15:00. I’m tired, but it’s till 35km to the N7. I have opened and closed 6 gates. It's tiring.
Stop, find hard spot for kick-stand, dismount, open gate, mount ride through, hard spot, dismount,
close gate.

Damn. It sucks. Eventually I hit the N7. Still 20km to go to Garies. Enter Garies, find
caravan park. To couples from Gauteng already there. I find a tree and stop. This is it. I'm not going
anywhere for the remainder of the day. Unpack, put up the tent. Will have curry brenyani something
in a tin. Its food, I’m hungry. Yum-yum. Quick coffee then hit the showers, wash the clothes I wore
for the day. Chill in the tent. Tired. Going to finish writing. Mini-me is at 50% must last four more
days.

 

[Camelman]

Day3:
Two cockerels are trying out for idols. Its 04:30. I had slept more than the previous two nights.
Same routine. Build coffee, then food. Bully-beef. Not very tasty. Needs some onion. Its starts to
drizzle. Damn. Oo well. Keep packing. My  mind on the days ride. Back roads through the
Karesberge to Springbok then on to Pofadder. 180km  to Springbok according to the GPS. 06:30.
On the road. Now and again, its starts to rain. Just out of Garies I start climbing into the mountains.

It’s breathtakingly beautiful. Around every bend in the road is like having another Christmas
present. Soon I'm at 5600ft and riding in the clouds. I'm freezing my nuts off. Stop, pull on another
t-shirt over the frock I have on. Helps a bit, but not much. I can't see jack. Speed down to 30km/h.
30 minutes later I start to descent, I'm under the clouds. Decide to have a coffee break. Best
decision of the day.

An hour later I ride again. Now the road twists through farms. Every now and
again I have to do the gate routine. The roads surface changes from rocky to sand to dry riverbed
crossings. This must be the most scenic road I’ve ever ridden.

At 10:30 I reach Springbok. Pass the Wimpy, make a u-turn. As I'm dismounting another rider pulls up on a BMW Dakar. We go in for
breakfast. He has breakfast and I have lunch. Burger at 10:30. Lekke man. We talk. Two of them are
on a mission from Cape Town. He's friend on a Vuka 200 d/s bike. The bike has broken so many
times on the trip that the exhaust system is held in place by wire.

After breakfast we split up. I refuel, and then head for the R355 which will take me to my first turn-off to Pofadder.

My GPS bracket is u/s. Keeps loosening and my GPS falls off and bounces in the road. Damn. Tie it down
with a strap. Good. It lasts. Turn left at a fork on the R355 towards Pofadder. See s sign to the entrance of a farm. Camping and lodging available.
I drive the sandy path 4 kilometres to the house. Nobody. Eish. A farmworker pitches up, inform me that no-ones home. So much for that idea!

69 km from Pofadder. Turn off into a farm road which is a shortcut to
Pofadder on the GPS.

25Km later hit deep sand. Axle deep.

I try to ride but the bike is top heavy
with the luggage. My clutch packs up. Now I have now clutch in deep sand. I ride till a sheep pen
where I have some space. Still deep sand. I put the bike on its centre stand, and then pull on the
front wheel to pivot it on the stand 180 deg. It’s working, but hard work. Eventually I start back,
but the sand monster rears its head and I fall doing 30km/h. Flippen hell. I’m stuck under the bike. I
dig myself out. I can’t pick the bike up, to heavy with luggage and jerry cans of water and fuel. I
will have to unpack.

20 minutes later all is off the bike, I pick the bike up. Scared of falling again, I
decide to ride the bike unloaded to the first hard ground and then walk back to fetch the luggage. I
drive 500m before reaching hard ground. Remove my boots, walk back barefoot. Can’t walk with
MX boots. These boots aren’t made for walking.

My right foot hurts. Can't figure out why. Have a closer look. Got a blister the size of a R5 coin.
Must be from standing on the pecks for the last three days. Oh well. Nothing to do but walk. Fetch
the luggage. Tie it to my back the carry the 35kg back to my bike. I'm worried. I'm 55km from
civilization. If I can’t pull away with the bike, I'm stuck here. Why must every mission have a
bloody disaster, I think. I reload the bike.

Time to go. I pray. I must try praying more when all is well, I think. I ref the bike to 3000rpm, then
kick it in gear. Its spins sideways, I fight for control. I win, we ride. The gate opening ceremony is a
nightmare down. Slow down when reaching the gate, Try to hit neutral, then push the bike through.
Pull away sideways on the other side, the wheel spinning in its search for traction. Still 27 km to the
main gravel road. I pray some more. I'm very tired. The sand and struggling has taken its toll. I pass
some farmers 5km from the main road. I wave, they wave. Sorry, cant stop I think. No clutch.
Reach the main road. Dial Aggeneys into the GPS and follow the arrow. 30Km later I reach the
N14. Turn right, go full blast for Pofadder. I need automatic transmission fluid. Think I lost all my
hydraulic clutch fluid in the master cylinder. Reach Pofadder. Buy the last and only can of ATF.
Refuel the reservoir. Bleed the system. It works. Buy a cheese and tomato sandwich, call my wife.
Eat it, and leave. Find camping spot at Rus-n-bietjie. Place is impeccable. Its 19:00. I unpack, put up
the tent, and drink coffee. Flippen hell. What a day. Sleep.

D

 

[Camelman]

Day 4:
Today I'm going to try and reach Kakamas via the roads north of the N14. This morning I'll have
Tinned Vienna’s with spaghetti for breakfast. I need more protein in the morning. So I've swopped
my breakfast and dinner around. At 07:00 I refuel and fill the jerry cans with two and a half liters
each. Just for the JIC (just in case) factor.  20Km on the road to Onseepkans I turn east and
encounter the two common things on this trip, gates and sand. I sincerely hope that this road is not
going to lead me into a dead end as the previous day. Last night I had sworn that if I take a road,
and reach a gate, or encounter sand, I'm turning back. But that was yesterday.

Three gates later on this road, I'm still keen. No fear. The gravel road is badly rutted and the farmers had made their
own road parallel to it. As soon as I figured this out, I was on their road, which, while twisty, was in
a better condition than the main road.

30Km later it reached a tar road. Can you believe it? Oh well,
so I turn right and follow the arrow on the GPS.  25 minutes later I 'm back on dirt. A huge
CAUTION: GRAVEL ROAD welcomes me. No shit, Sherlock, I mutter.

According to the GPS and the map on my tank bag, this road leads me to about 2km from the border with Namibia, before
turning inland again and reaching the turn-off to Blouputs. This road is severely rutted and I only
mange 70km/h. Seemed like I had been riding with only 5 gears the entire trip. Never being able to
get to 6th gear. At 3500RPM the RC8 motor is sounding sweat and the scenery and kilometers pass
by swiftly. I pass through settlements like Noun, where there is a church and a shop. I don’t stop.
Keep going. Want to reach Kakamas before lunch. At the point I reckon is the closest I can get to
the border, I stop and take a pic.

The silence is awesome. I haven’t seen another human being for the
last three hours. Better keep going. The jeep track ends in a main dirt road leading to the Augrabies
falls. I get to 6th gear. Doing 110km/h now. Sweet. A farmer passes from the front, I wave, and he
waves. Cool.

At the turn-off to Blouputs I make a left, down into the valley. The valley is in stark contrast to the
surrounds. Where the surrounds is brown and dry, the valley is green with grapes, with the Gariep
River flowing through it.

At the bridge over the river I stop. Was this exact same place my wife and
I had stopped on our honeymoon with the BMW Dakar.

Now the KTM stands menacingly on the
side of the road, always looking as if its ready to pounce at any stage. Dammit I love this bike to
bits.

Ever since my wife and I were here on our honeymoon, I wanted to cross the bridge over the Gariep
River and go up the hills to Riemvasmaak.

Waving to the kids in the village I start climbing the pass
toward Riemvasmaak.

It’s awesome. The dirt track is in a good state and I idle along in 2nd gear,
using the torque of the engine to climb the inclines and slow me on the descents. It’s about 40
minutes from Blouputs to Riemvasmaak. Riemvasmaak is not much, just a settlement of locals. I
don’t stop. Next stop is going to be Kamkiri adventure camp, still thirty kilometers away. I could
already taste the cold Windhoek waiting for me.

Reaching the camp grounds I’m met by a friendly dude called Wimpie, the manager of the camp
grounds. Our opening conversation went something like this: "Howzit!" said I. "Howzit" sais
Wimpie. "Do you have a place for me to camp the night", say I. "Yes", answers Wimpie. "Cool", I
answer, then ask: "Do you have beer?" "Yes", is the reply. "Cool, can I have one please?" "Yes", is
the answer. "Cool", I say.

And off we went to the bar. Wimpie through the door to the service area,
and me to the other side of the bar counter.

Damn was that beer good. Three beers and a toasted samie later I was taking a nap in my tent. An
hour later I returned and used my remaining cash to buy bear. As they don’t take credit cards here,
only cash, I could not buy food and beer. So I settled for beer, eight to be exact,  and had canned
food again.

Day 5:

Today I was gong to ride though the centre of the Boesmanland. From Kakamas to Nieuwoudtville.
The GPS said it would be around 350km. So I filled my jerry cans with fuel, and set of at 08:00.
This road was again in a good state, and I could do between 90 and 100 without being stupid. I
only saw two cars in 5 hours. Bit lonesome out there.

The landscape is typical Karoo, with the Salt
pans now and again on the side of the road.

Every hour I stopped and had a break to stretch my ass
muscles.

After three hours I stopped to refuel. I had done 200km. I topped up the tanks with the
two 5 liter jerry cans. Refilled my Camelbak from the water jerry cans and continued.

At 13:30 I
reached the t-junction to Nieuwoudtville and Clanwilliam.

I decide that I had had enough. These
roads I had travelled often, and now just wanted to get home. So I called my wife got back in the
saddle and rode. On tar the going was easy. But my body was tired from the previous 4 hours of
riding gravel. After refueling in Klawer, with fuel and coffee. I pointed the bike South and
continued . The strap the Dakar rider had given me in Springbok as a cruise control worked very
well now. After the 6 hours of riding my right wrist was getting sore. I strapped the throttle at
125km/h and relaxed. Uphill I would slow down to 110, and downhill I would scream by at
140km/r. For the cars it must have been a bit of a pain. But I was past caring. It had been 8 hours
since I left Kakamas. I wanted to get home. Have descent food for a change. Sleep in a bed. At
16:30 I pulled up in the drive way. My wife met me with a cold Windhoek. I was dirty and tired.
Bloody good ride I said, good to be home. Lekke man, lekker.

 

[Crop Sprang]

Great RR
What a country to ride in.

 

[the_BOBNOB]

awesome ride  :thumleft:

 

[Ama ride ride]

Lekker man Lekker :thumleft:

 

[Watty]

:thumleft:

 

[Malibu]

Fantastic!

Great RR...  :thumleft:

 

[letsgofishing]

Great adventure you had there Camelman - lekker RR!  :thumleft:

 

[Bakkie]

Great RR Camelman!!!  :thumleft: awesome reading

 

[JonW]

Awesome ride report man.

Solo trip through the karoo must be food for the soul.

Well done.

 

[Piston Pete]

Awesome awesome awesome :thumleft:

 

[Crossed-up]

I grew up in Namaqualand and I can't wait to get back there on a bike.

Great ride, great pics.  Thanks, Camelman.

 

[bradleys]

Shit ,good report and pics ,good for the soul stuff ,lekker man lekker. Sorry Imissed you at the Biedow valley .Next time ill join you boet.

 

[Kamanya]

Best ride report of the year yet.

Useless bit of info... Johnsons baby oil works in a pinch in the clutch too.

 

[the ant]

Great RR boet! Why stay in any other country, when we have it all just here!!!!!!  :ricky:

 

[Kykdaar]

Lekker report :thumleft:

 

[Sprocketbek]

Useless bit of info... Johnsons baby oil works in a pinch in the clutch too.

Many tractors use mineral oil in their hydraulics. So Co-ops and farmers often have it.

Great report there Camelman. I also love doing the solo thing.

 

[MrBig]

awesome stuff!

 

[Usurper]

Farking awesome, this is like Survivor Man but with a bike, the lone camera work is brilliant, loving it.