Day 16
The night before I have already decided to hit the D3707 (the road crossing in the westward arch the inner Kaokoland and connecting Sesfontein, Puros, Orupembe and Opuwo - that is the one you are looking for Ian) and head straight to Opuwo, missing Epupa Falls and the Kunene river track to Ruacana this time.
My original alternative plan - should I not make it up VZP because of the lack of talent - was to bypass VZP via the Etanga pass (another pass over the mountains to the south of VZP), and head from there north on the double track going to Otjitanda, where I would connect to the original route between VZP and Okangwati. I knew it is pretty gnarly, but I’ve done it before on GSA1150, so expected it to be doable on Tenere.
But even ***** like me could see that it was just matter of time when the clutch will pack again and this time probably for good, with no Swiss mechanic in attendance. So there was no option but to chicken out and opt for the straight and easy route to Opuwo, where I planned to fix the clutch.
This wasn’t a first time Kaokoland try to stop me in my tracks by disabling clutch on my Tenere. On the last trip (the one from the videos - I was actually with a mate who was on Husky while I was on Tenere and … eh, it’s complicated - lets’ just say that Tenere and my mate didn’t finish the trip and I ended up doing most of it on my own on Husky) my clutch cable snapped the very first day in the Huarusib river about 10 km above Puros - and sure enough I didn’t have a spare. I have eventually managed to order one from Duneworx Yamaha in Swakopmund and had it shipped to Opuwo for next day delivery.
So I felt pretty confident to be able to order new clutch from Yamaha, pick it up next day in Opuwo (which was a rest day anyway), change it and bob’s your auntie - I’m ready for whatever Bushmanland and Makgadikgadi will throw at me on the way back to the Big Smoke. I have fully expected clutch plates to be a consumable like brake pads that Yamaha dealers must keep in stock - and even if they are out of stock I can probably get them from different brand or even Midas as they surely must be generic.
Which they are not. As I found in my morning calls to Duneworx and Windhoek Yamaha, they are actually very bike specific - not brand, bike (even the XT660R clutch plates do not fit XT660Z). And no, there is no stock available anywhere in Namibia. The same story when I checked with Shimwells - they have to order first, and then there is no guarantee how long the customs will take should they ship it to another country. I have to say Yamaha spare parts availability in Southern Africa (in countries they are actually officially represented) is just shambles, every little thing has to be ordered from some Durban dump. Not sure other brands are better though...
So, it looked like I will have to conserve the clutch as much as possible to get all the way from Onjuva to Joburg. Which meant sticking to tar (once I reach it in Opuwo that is) and avoiding anything remotely dirty. Not good - I was still keen to extract some adventure from this trip.
Another problem I found while deciding where to next, was that I didn’t have enough petrol to make it to Opuwo about 220 km away - my original planning turned up to be pretty sketchy. I have started from Sesfontein with full tank and 7 liters in a jerry can - so a conservative total range of about 500 km. I’ve done already 380 km, so I was about 100 km short. The last resort was to use my Czech connection and try to bum some petrol off the Germans before they leave in the morning - assuming they have some left. But luckily there was an alternative. I remembered a handmade sign I’ve seen on the way to Onjuva and by luck I bumped into the local oil magnate in the camp. He had petrol available and agreed to keep 10 litres for me no matter what - I was aware that his stock was limited and took the precaution to prevent a greedy KTM rider leaving me stranded here.
I woke up early in the morning, but it took me ages to break the camp and pack up. The Germans left quite early - also heading to Opuwo, while I took another hour and a half to get my **** together and get ready to go - there is a reason why I avoid camping. Once on the bike the first order was to get the petrol in the village about 3 km away. I’m using term village here loosely - Onjuva as most Himba villages is a set of shacks spread very sparsely in the surrounding area. I headed for the shop I knew where they encouraged me to head further into the bush and after few km of following barely noticeable track I have arrived to the shack that was indeed the petrol depot. All that said, it was great to see the entrepreneurship and quite frankly sophistication of the local guys in this very remote place (I actually caught one of them reading a book when I went shopping two days ago), big difference compared to the Himbas living around Opuwo, who just drink, beg, and live off government grants.
Petrol depot:
And a storage depot for a dog food - looks like a Pink Floyd album cover:
With refuel done I’ve retraced 25 km back to Orupembe:
Where I hit the D3707 and caught up with three German BMWs.
They must have run into some problem as they had about two hours head start on me, but they gave me thumbs up so I passed them and ****** off. I haven’t seen the support truck that I thought is sweeping behind the group but I just assumed that I just missed it on one of alternative tracks. I was quite surprised to catch up with the truck about an hour and a half later and 120 km away - I stopped the truck and told them about the three stragglers they didn’t have a clue about.
I’ve done this road before, but being dazzled by the riverbeds and VZP I tend to forget how beautiful even these main roads in Kaokoland are (main as not a riverbed, not main as a dirt highway). The road crossed desert and the mountain range between Khumib and Huarusib valleys and provides for some spectacular riding.
And into the mountains:
I stopped in a Himba village on the way to get a cold drink, but no luck - there was none around except for these elderly couple and they weren't from the shop:
So I sipped a bit of my hot flavoured water and headed back into the mountains:
And down to the plains on the other side:
Crossing Huarusib river again:
Back on tar after about 1200 km of dirt in Opuwo - Paris of Kaokoland:
Once in Opuwo, I headed straight for a bout of shopping on the high street. The local Starbucks was already crowded by cappuccino sipping German speaking adventure riding gods, their steeds blinged out with the latest Touratech apparel. Having a Touratech bashplate myself (with both rear attachment points broken through for the second time), I felt right at home and swooped in.
I was looking for a new iPhone charger. I left mine in Gobabis and had to bum charger from the Euros in the lodges in White Lady and Palmwag to feed my internet addiction. There is no use for iPhone between Palmwag and Opuwo, but now I needed to get online to organize my trip of attrition back home.
Local hotties zoomed right in:
OK Grocer in Opuwo is definitely one of the most bizarre places I know. It is perfectly standard franchise shop selling the same stuff as any other shop in RSA - no iPhone chargers though. What makes it special are the naked red painted Himba women and their 19th century westernised Herero cousins browsing the shelves for a carrot or something. I doubt you would find bigger contrast of modern and tribal worlds anywhere else. Unfortunately I did not catch up any Himbas inside (though there were some weird plastic clad modern knight looking whiteys milling around), so here are at least some Herero ladies.
Empty handed I continued my quest for a mobile phone charger unicorn in the shops along the main road. They were selling mobile phones (no iPhones though), but no chargers - not even for the phones they were selling. Intrigued I asked how they charge their phones which they all have. Apparently there is a man somewhere in town who provides recharge services for a fee. Neat.
No charger in the Chinese shop:
No charger in the PEP shop:
This woman's stare made me speed up noticeably:
Me, being a ****** cheapskate - I can use the Euros in the lodge for charging, no charge. So I headed empty handed up the hill to the Opuwo Country Lodge for accommodation and a bout of interneting.
At the reception they offered me a choice of luxury or standard room. I choose standard and they choose to give me the luxury one for the price of standard. Sometimes you just have to suck it up, so that’s what I did.
