Day 8 - Part 1
In the morning I got up still in the dark for an early start so that I would hopefully be out of the tough part before the midday heat. The plan for the day was to ride up the Ugab river along the northern boundary of Brandberg, then turn north-west over the plains next to Doros crater to the Twyfelfontein about 70 km away (the tough bit), and then jump on the highway to Palmwag for overnighter in the lodge.
The elephant show night before left me feeling still pretty tentative about riding the Ugab river, but I decided to give it a try. Worst case I’ll backtrack to the campsite and take the desert double track going over the elevated ground few hundred meters further north from Brandberg.
So I packed, geared up and set-off without breakfast at sunrise to save some riding time while the sun was still low. I rode cautiously through the campsite ready to open up should I came across a pachyderm behind many of the bushes in the camp. Despite having the track on the GPS I got a bit lost as the campsite is huge and there are many crisscrossing tracks. I’ve found my bearings quickly and made it to the riverbed without any other drama.
The track from campsite joined the riverbed at the point where it was wide and open and I set-off up the river at about 50 kmh riding mostly off the double spoor left by safari cars. About km up the river I came across a thicket overgrowing most of the riverbed, and sure enough about 150 m ahead on the other side of the thicket there was the elephant herd spread along the both sides of the river. The only way through the ticket was a deep sand double track on the left hand side, but with the river turning right behind the ticket I couldn’t see if there isn’t an ellie behind one of the many bushes flanking the track. I could see that the elephants were heading also up the river, so I waited till they moved off a bit and crept forward off the track through the ticket as that way I had a line of sight on the animals. The thicket was sitting on a very deep and uneven sand with roots lurking all over the place. With wound up engine I was able barely to walk the bike making horrible racket and it look like I’ll get stuck any second. The elephants up front didn’t seem too bothered, but I was painfully aware that there is usually a straggler bringing up the rear and was constantly paranoidly scanning the bush all around me, half expecting the dreaded sound of breaking bushes and branches.
Eventually they all moved to the left bank and I crashed through the rest of the ticket and back onto the open riverbed where I gunned is as close as possible to the right bank. The elephants were clearly aware of me and the last two males (I think) were walking with raised heads and tails, and arched backs to let me know to keep clear, but there was not trumpeting or other aggressive displays. Elephants finally moving off the way:
I hugged the right bank, while the rear guard on the very left kept an eye on me:
See, how you cannot see even a bloody elephant in the shade?:
Relieved to leave the elephants behind I floated up the river navigating occasional narrow passages without any incident. About 3 - 4 km further up I came upon a camp with a Landcruiser under a anansi tree on the right bank. This clearly wasn’t campsite anymore, so I stopped to check if everything is OK. It was a namibian gentleman Volker (I hope that is the right spelling) with two young lads (sons or grandsons, don’t remember), who was bush camping just for the kick of it. We chatted a bit - I told him about the elephants coming up and he said that the elephants went down the river past their camp last night and ate the apples they left out for them.
Volker & his campsite:
Seeing that everything is good and keen to put some distance between me and pachyderms I bid my hasty farewell and pushed on. For the whole 150 meters or so - until I realized that the mushy feeling up front that I was experiencing for a while is not just the soft sand but indeed a flat. Looking for safety in numbers and hoping Volker will let me into his Landcruiser should the elephants arrive, I backtracked under their tree camp and frantically unpacked the tools.
Luckily the puncture was small and the TyreFix spray blocked the whole so there was no need to take the wheel and tyre off. So I packed up quickly, said farewell to Volker and his gang who were already packed and starting down the river, and set-off up the river again. I made it only few dozen meters further than for the first time when lost traction and I dug the rear wheel completely in. I tried to walk the bike out but the clutch started slipping badly, so I had to manhandle the bike on its side, drag the rear wheel over the flat surface, and pick-it up. Just to dig it in about meter later. I had to repeat the whole dance 2 more times before I got to the double track about 4 meters from the first dug in.
By this stage my heart wasn’t in it anymore - this just wasn’t my day to ride Ugab. The riverbed upfront was again overgrown and there were bends so I couldn’t see far enough to be able to avoid emergency. And, should an elephant come for me and I will dig it in - highly likely if I have to make turn in the confined space, I’m a toast. So I decided to backtrack to the point where I entered river and take the double track crossing the desert about km or so north. Sure enough as soon as I turned back, there was the elephant family spread across the river coming up about 200 meters away.
After a mild panic when I realised Volker and the refuge in his car were gone, I started thinking straight again and realized that there is a big red stone kopije to my right (left as I was coming up the river), so I started off towards it and tried to ride up a steep fesh-fesh covered embankment. I would probably have made it, if it wouldn’t be for a step at the bottom of the embankment that forced me to slow down and didn’t leave me with enough momentum to clear the top. So almost at the top I just put the bike down against the side of embankment and settled on the nearby kopije for an elephant walk-by.
Heading for the riverbank with an elephant in the left opening:
Desperately trying to make the last meter:
And the resulting mess:
Parked Tenere:
Elephants moving up the river:
Where I was fixing the flat about 15 min ago - with my in and out spoor:
Tenere waiting in the hiding:
After about half an hour or so the elephants moved up the river I left my gear on the kopije and went to manhandle the bike back to river for the return leg. I stopped on the firmer ground in the river to go fetch my gear and when I looked up to the anasi tree where the camp was, I thought I see an elephant standing there in the shade about 100 m away. My eyesight isn’t what it should be anymore and the light was playing tricks with my brain so I stared intently trying to figure out if it is ellie or a bush. That was until few tense seconds later when the elephant stopped solid probably by my racket started to feed off the tree again. That woke me from my stupor and leaving the bike in the riverbed I legged it back to the safety of kopije. This was the straggler I luckily didn’t run into in the thicket. The elephant eventually continued peacefully up the river and didn’t show any interest in the bike.
Tenere not hiding anymore:
Once the bull was safely away, I geared up, got on the bike and rode much more calmly (with elephants being up the river) the 4-5 km back to the place where I entered the river and where the desert double track started on the other side of the river. I have dropped it once in that narrow deep sand track in the thicket where I met the ellies first time, but no biggie.
eepwall: BEFOK Love the report what camera did you use, and did the powercomander work this time in the bush?
