Hearts in the Desert (Video Added)

[Minxy]

So awesome this. Cannot wait for the next chapter every time. Your riding ability, abillity to adapt, navigatianal  skills, and story telling. The nerd in you that does the homework, so you can really experience where you are. I envy and respect you, and cannot thank you enough
Included is a picture of the marienfluss with the fairy circles and all when we were there, many moons ago. Amazing to see the diffrence. We also visited a point called blou drum as per picture, but have not herd anyone mentioned it in any of the ride reports. Also in the same area as rooidrum. Maybe someone knows. My biggist wish would be to go back and do the route we did those many years back, but on bikes. It also included robbies pass and van zyls. So many memories. Thank you and all the others for taking me back down memory lane

Thank you for taking the time to share your photos with us MRK Miller. Just look at that sea of grass! I think next time we do a trip to the Kaokoland (which will hopefully be sooner than later as HSK has completely fallen in love with this part of the world as well ), we'll have to go after there have been some rains.

And you guys must have followed a slightly different route. If you are going through the Hartmannberge after doing Van Zyls pass you will go past Bloudrom. It is just to the west of Rooidrom. There is also an orange and a green drum further west. The more popular route seems to go past Rooidrom, as it is the quickest way if you are heading south towards Purros. The Hartmannberge and Camp Syncro are definitely on our agenda for a future trip though, also Robbie's Pass which you mentioned. There is soooooo much to explore up there, I cannot wait to go back to this incredible part of the world again!

https://tracks4africa.co.za/listings/item/w137885/bloudrom/

I still have the map, and a lot of info, around the trip we did back then. You are welcome to it, for planning. We are in Springs eastrand. We can meet somewhere, if you want to borrow it. Thank you also for the link info on the drums

Thank you! I will let you know if we are in that area again. We stay in Pta. Will pm you soon

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

10 pages of pure magic ...thanks to both of you!

8)

 

[Minxy]

Friday the 20th of September 2019 (continued)

I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand - Sting

We ride the wide open expanse of the Klein Serengeti. Not a single blade of grass in sight, only dust and sand.

The terrain gets more rocky and harsh as we start moving away from the Klein Serengeti and slowly in the direction towards the main road.

More surprises on the way. A fairly steep rocky climb going over a hill. Lots of loose white rocks to make things even more interesting. The KTM 500 makes mince meat out of every obstacle though, and we get over the hill in a jiffy.

We follow the rocky road to the most spectacular view. I'm not sure if this pass has a name?

We ride down this steep hill, the fall I had on our last difficult day on the Honda Quest 2017 still fresh in my mind. We haven't had a single incident yet this whole trip, I didn't want to have one now. All goes well though, we are so comfortable on our bikes after numerous days of riding.

Alien plants and an alien landscape. We could be on Mars?

The colours change from red to grey. We follow the road a while longer.

Finally, the little two track pops out on the C43, the main road between Palmwag and Opuwo.

And just like that, the last epic bit of our adventure comes to an end. It is all easy dirt road riding from here. That's it? It all seems so surreal all of a sudden. Did we really just finish everything we set out to do?
HSK and I glance at each other and I start screaming I am overjoyed ;D OMG, OMG, WE DID IT!!! There are congratulations, hugs, helmet kisses, and high fives! We just finished the last challenging part of our journey. I can't believe it!!! The last canyon trail, the last sandy riverbed, the last rocky pass, all behind us.

The victor earns the title "The Great"
All the mysteries get unlearned
All the history just becomes a string of dates - The Kongos

It feels SO GOOD! But, it's not over until it's over though, and we still need to get to Palmwag. We set off again, both of us with ridiculously big grins on our faces. I don't think I stopped smiling all the way.

When we get to the Palmwag petrol station it is still pretty early. We full up with fuel. The petrol attendant on duty today remembers us when I tell him that we are the couple who had the bad luck with the broken key in 2018. He is all too happy that we could come back and finish our journey. There's still lots of daylight left and we figure sleeping over in Palmwag will be a waste. We decide to push on to Uis.

Today would then in effect, be our longest day.

In the field of the lords
I forget myself, with you
Forever with you - The Cult

We soldier on, and on and on, down the C43 dirt highway. We stop here and there to take a photo and just stretch our legs. At this point even the airhawk isn't doing us any favours anymore

Our last little roadside snack break, the only shade next to the road being in one of the riverbeds near Twyfelfontein. We ride on and see the signboard for Uis, and then for the Brandberg Restcamp.

Yes, yes, yes! We did it, we actually pulled this off! A tremendous achievement, an epic adventure and an unforgettable journey, all spurred on by a random last minute idea. So many feelings! All I know is this is a moment I will never forget!!!

Basil hears us arrive and runs up to us to congratulate us. Hugs are exchanged and we cannot wait to tell everyone about our adventure!

Flashback - This photo was taken just before we reached the end of our journey on the Honda Quest 2017. Riding Northern Namibia on the Honda Quest had made me fall in love with this beautiful and mysterious country. It lit a flame that will never be extinguished. When we arrived in Windhoek and handed in our bikes, I remember being so emotional, yet super happy at the same time. I was jumping up and down cheering with tears running down my cheeks, a few of my friends joined in chanting "Minxy, Queen of the Desert". These moments I will cherish my whole life!

The sun sets over Uis and the Brandberg. Our kit is packed, our bikes are loaded onto the trailer. They have served us so well! All the little things, like taking a bath and getting into some nice clean clothes feel so good. And now it's time to have a proper meal, I've been craving for a yummy steak for days, mmmm! There are two other adventure bikers who have arrived and want to hear all about our trip, we end up chatting away into the night. What an incredible experience.

And so we end our last night in Namibia.

 

[MRK Miller]

Glad to be of service  :biggrin:

I wonder which section that might be. I will wait patiently for the story to develop  8) :thumleft:

Haha, something to do with endurance..

I like to use the setup of the GL bag and tank bag myself but have found that it often leaves little space for me to comfortably fit in between (especially in the soft sand).  Look forward to reading how you guys found it.

There is really ample space if you use the Coyote saddle bag combined with the Diablo tank bag. 

The Coyote was designed to be positioned on top of your rear fender according to the manual, unlike the Great Basin that requires the are where the pillion seat is.  I could never trust all the weight on the fender and opted to have a portion of the saddlebag rest on top of the seat.  For that I installed an anchor point (strap) approximately 100mm behind the seat and strapped the bag down properly (can show you with pics later).  This prevented any forward movement which normally causes space problems.

[color=red[u]]I replaced the lower sub frame bolts with button type ones and used the GL hooks - this basically gives you the anchoring from the front part of the bike.  If you tighten the straps over the saddle bag legs properly you won't have any problem with movement - usually why the space becomes problematic[/color].

[/u]Lastly - we used the Diablo tankbag  because of it's size which is brilliant for the 500.  Anything bigger and you'll struggle with space.

I'm a particularly big specimen with proper girth not easily found elsewhere and I can promise you, I had huge space to move around on the seat -  except if you have puffed up child bearing hips  :imaposer:  We could still strap Minxy's full 6L Desert Fox on to the GL, behind her bum, and it didn't interfere with her movement.

The GL is a brilliant product for these bikes and I would recommend it to all.  I must say the MoskoMoto really attracted me more because of the modular design which makes organizing a bit better but beggars can't be choosers, so GL it had to be.. :ricky: 

Hope it helps a bit.  Shout if you need more info

Could you tell me if you did anything to strengthen up the sub frame or was it not needed. A friend of mine has the older version 450 ktm, still carb, and he is worried that the sub frame won't hold the weight of his bag, and is their any bracket besides the fender holding the fender bag

 

[windswept]

Thanks for a great report. The two of you do some awesome riding. :thumleft:

 

[big oil]

Dis report Poppin'

You two off the hizzy  :thumleft:

 

[Minxy]

Glad to be of service  :biggrin:

I wonder which section that might be. I will wait patiently for the story to develop  8) :thumleft:

Haha, something to do with endurance..

I like to use the setup of the GL bag and tank bag myself but have found that it often leaves little space for me to comfortably fit in between (especially in the soft sand).  Look forward to reading how you guys found it.

There is really ample space if you use the Coyote saddle bag combined with the Diablo tank bag. 

The Coyote was designed to be positioned on top of your rear fender according to the manual, unlike the Great Basin that requires the are where the pillion seat is.  I could never trust all the weight on the fender and opted to have a portion of the saddlebag rest on top of the seat.  For that I installed an anchor point (strap) approximately 100mm behind the seat and strapped the bag down properly (can show you with pics later).  This prevented any forward movement which normally causes space problems.

[color=red[u]]I replaced the lower sub frame bolts with button type ones and used the GL hooks - this basically gives you the anchoring from the front part of the bike.  If you tighten the straps over the saddle bag legs properly you won't have any problem with movement - usually why the space becomes problematic[/color].

[/u]Lastly - we used the Diablo tankbag  because of it's size which is brilliant for the 500.  Anything bigger and you'll struggle with space.

I'm a particularly big specimen with proper girth not easily found elsewhere and I can promise you, I had huge space to move around on the seat -  except if you have puffed up child bearing hips  :imaposer:  We could still strap Minxy's full 6L Desert Fox on to the GL, behind her bum, and it didn't interfere with her movement.

The GL is a brilliant product for these bikes and I would recommend it to all.  I must say the MoskoMoto really attracted me more because of the modular design which makes organizing a bit better but beggars can't be choosers, so GL it had to be.. :ricky: 

Hope it helps a bit.  Shout if you need more info

Could you tell me if you did anything to strengthen up the sub frame or was it not needed. A friend of mine has the older version 450 ktm, still carb, and he is worried that the sub frame won't hold the weight of his bag, and is their any bracket besides the fender holding the fender bag

No strengthening of sub frame needed. Just make sure the bag sits where the seat ends, then it is ok. You can't exactly put it over the flimsy plastic bit at the end. We carried about 13kg each (incl 3L extra water) in our Giant Loop bags, some of our tools etc were put in the front fender bags to spread the weight. We rode some hectic conditions with all the luggage and it didn't bother us once. Having the fuel tied to the front by the headlight makes quite a difference as well. :thumleft:

 

[JonW]

Thanks for the effort Minxy, great Ride Report

 

[Minxy]

Thanks for the effort Minxy, great Ride Report

Dis report Poppin'

You two off the hizzy  :thumleft:

Thanks for a great report. The two of you do some awesome riding. :thumleft:

Thank you, thank you! I am still going to write a short afterward and then I'll finally be done 

 

[OomD]

You write reports in such a way that I long for places I don't know, want to pack my bags and head on to yonder. Just reading them already puts one's head in a space that is far far away from the mundane office. Thank you!

 

[Ri]

Cannot wait to get back there myself :biggrin:

Very well done on this inspiring adventure, and then this fantastic ride report to take us back there along with you.... THANK YOU!! So sad it's finished now :'(

And soooooooon the next one!! :deal:

 

[MRK Miller]

You write reports in such a way that I long for places I don't know, want to pack my bags and head on to yonder. Just reading them already puts one's head in a space that is far far away from the mundane office. Thank you!

I agree

 

[hondsekierie]

[member=17553]MRK Miller[/member]  - sorry for the late reply to your question regarding the luggage - I think Minxy has summed it up quite well though. If I had to go on a RTW trip I will definitely look into welding some gussets, but that would only be precautionary.  A guy like [member=9492]Xpat[/member] can give much better feedback as he's done like 20 x more distance with the 500 but I doubt he's done any upgrades/strengthening.  A very helpful sight could be www.therollinghobo.com

I just heard yesterday from [member=19649]Hardy de Kock[/member]  that an Australian tourist this week got trampled to death by an elephant whilst camping in the Huab river close to the entrance to the Desolation Valley.  Although not much detail is known it has been reported that they were camping in the riverbed which is not allowed in that area.  It once again highlights the reality that you travel in the wild and shit can get real very quickly.  In our case we decided upfront that we would stick to designated camping areas and only wild camp if there's no alternative.  Apart from a possible nice shower I think your exposure to elephant, hyena and the likes are far less at the designated areas - not even mentioning possible flash floods.  Still very sad though and really hope it doesn't change anything.

 

[2StrokeDan]

[member=17553]MRK Miller[/member]  - sorry for the late reply to your question regarding the luggage - I think Minxy has summed it up quite well though. If I had to go on a RTW trip I will definitely look into welding some gussets, but that would only be precautionary.  A guy like [member=9492]Xpat[/member] can give much better feedback as he's done like 20 x more distance with the 500 but I doubt he's done any upgrades/strengthening.  A very helpful sight could be www.therollinghobo.com

I just heard yesterday from [member=19649]Hardy de Kock[/member]  that an Australian tourist this week got trampled to death by an elephant whilst camping in the Huab river close to the entrance to the Desolation Valley.  Although not much detail is known it has been reported that they were camping in the riverbed which is not allowed in that area.  It once again highlights the reality that you travel in the wild and shit can get real very quickly.  In our case we decided upfront that we would stick to designated camping areas and only wild camp if there's no alternative.  Apart from a possible nice shower I think your exposure to elephant, hyena and the likes are far less at the designated areas - not even mentioning possible flash floods.  Still very sad though and really hope it doesn't change anything.

Bit vague now, but somewhere in the early 2000's we were at Purros and aFrench photographer got trampled. It's the wild west out there.

 

[Dacquiri]

Great ride report Minxy! Thanks for the effort and all the detail.  Definitely a bucket list ride that I hope to do soon.

 

[MRK Miller]

[member=17553]MRK Miller[/member]  - sorry for the late reply to your question regarding the luggage - I think Minxy has summed it up quite well though. If I had to go on a RTW trip I will definitely look into welding some gussets, but that would only be precautionary.  A guy like [member=9492]Xpat[/member] can give much better feedback as he's done like 20 x more distance with the 500 but I doubt he's done any upgrades/strengthening.  A very helpful sight could be www.therollinghobo.com

I just heard yesterday from [member=19649]Hardy de Kock[/member]  that an Australian tourist this week got trampled to death by an elephant whilst camping in the Huab river close to the entrance to the Desolation Valley.  Although not much detail is known it has been reported that they were camping in the riverbed which is not allowed in that area.  It once again highlights the reality that you travel in the wild and shit can get real very quickly.  In our case we decided upfront that we would stick to designated camping areas and only wild camp if there's no alternative.  Apart from a possible nice shower I think your exposure to elephant, hyena and the likes are far less at the designated areas - not even mentioning possible flash floods.  Still very sad though and really hope it doesn't change anything.

Bit vague now, but somewhere in the early 2000's we were at Purros and aFrench photographer got trampled. It's the wild west out there.

Thank you for the info and the website. Very nice reading there

 

[Xpat]

[member=17553]MRK Miller[/member]  - sorry for the late reply to your question regarding the luggage - I think Minxy has summed it up quite well though. If I had to go on a RTW trip I will definitely look into welding some gussets, but that would only be precautionary.  A guy like [member=9492]Xpat[/member] can give much better feedback as he's done like 20 x more distance with the 500 but I doubt he's done any upgrades/strengthening.  A very helpful sight could be www.therollinghobo.com

I just heard yesterday from [member=19649]Hardy de Kock[/member]  that an Australian tourist this week got trampled to death by an elephant whilst camping in the Huab river close to the entrance to the Desolation Valley.  Although not much detail is known it has been reported that they were camping in the riverbed which is not allowed in that area.  It once again highlights the reality that you travel in the wild and shit can get real very quickly.  In our case we decided upfront that we would stick to designated camping areas and only wild camp if there's no alternative.  Apart from a possible nice shower I think your exposure to elephant, hyena and the likes are far less at the designated areas - not even mentioning possible flash floods.  Still very sad though and really hope it doesn't change anything.

I didn't strenghten my subframe in any way. So far after 17000 km of hard riding, no worries. There are two people currently going RTW on 500 (highly unrecommended as far as I'm concerned) - haven't followed them closely, but I don't believe they did much in terms of subframe strenghtening. Here is one of them with over 100k km on it: https://advrider.com/f/threads/new-zealand-rtw-and-back-on-a-ktm500exc.1181912/.

As long as you pack clever - ideally use one of those u shape luggages keeping the weight up to the front and limited, you should be fine. I have ridden with plenty of luggage quite hard and so far so good.

HSK: they guy who got killed in Huab was Austrian, not Australian. And there are official campsites next to Huab river - I slept in one with my father and from the description it seems exaclty the one where he got killed (it is where Crowther 4x4 trail starts south from Huab river - there is no Valley of Desolation starting at Huab, that is much more south) and it is campsite 4 I believe on Crowther trail.

Edit: but there definitely aren't any shower or ablutions in camp 4. However there is luxury stationary campsite on the oposite side of Huab close to place where you connected to it after crossing the desert from Purros canyon.

And don't fool yourself believing that you were significantly safer in Purros community campsite - I believe few years back a guy got killed there as well by elephant when he got too close trying to take picture. The fact is those elephants have relatively limited space to operate in - you have seen how narrow those green riverbeds are in the surrounding desert, and conflict form time to time is inevitable. The bull elephant in Huab has particularly bad reputation - when we slept there (there is artificial waterhole close by) the lonely guard there told us that he hurt badly local policemen throwing him into the bushes, which saved him as he then couldn't find him there to finish him off. IMO best there is keeping the distance, and if I would have to camp out there, I would probably find a spot up on the hill.

 

[Minxy]

Saturday the 21st and Sunday the 22nd of September 2019 (Let's go home)

We thank Basil at Brandberg Rest Camp for his hospitality and letting us leave the vehicle behind while we journeyed up North. With a heavy heart it is time to leave Namibia behind. We have just successfully completed one hell of a trip. Everything went so well, no falls, no mechanical break downs, just about everything was perfect. We are still on such a high... but then...

We get the only puncture of the trip... The tyre is a gonner, luckily we brought two spare wheels with us as precaution. The bakkie quickly gets jacked up, wheel changed and we continue to the small town of Omaruru.

Real cappuccino and a lovely breakfast is had, we are so officially back in civilization.

In Windhoek we stop at the iconic "Joe's Beerhouse". HSK says he is not missing the Springbok vs NZ game for anything! A true fan.

Unfortunately the game doesn't go too well for the Springboks, and it turns out to be the only game they lose this world cup. Guess you can't have it all heh.

We slip away in the second half of the game, heading through Gobabis for the trans Kalahari highway in Botswana. Border crossings have been easy so far and our papers were never even checked at any of the border gates. Our timing hasn't been so great today and we have to do what everyone has warned us about, driving in the dark through Botswana. We end up driving behind a local car that is confident in their speed and follow safely behind them, dodging only a few cows (not many donkeys around anymore) on the lonely road to Kang. We get to the Trans Kalahari rest camp at around 8pm, where we pitch our comfy pop up tent. We have done a whopping 1008km for the day.

It is Sunday the 22nd of September. We wake up early, leaving Botswana and heading back home to Gauteng, getting back later that afternoon ater a pretty uneventful 700+km. Perfect, at least we won't be late for work on Monday

I immediately start missing Namibia, our small tent, and our epic journey all over again...

Anyway, this officially concludes our Namibia adventure. I still need to finish editing an epic video with all the highlights from our trip, it is going to take me a little while though.

A lot of people also expressed interest and mentioned they too would love to visit Northern Namibia themselves. I'll still write an afterward with a bit more info on what it takes to visit this last frontier.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I also want to take the time to thank all the adventure riders on this forum who have ventured into the vast Namibian wilderness and taken the time to write about this incredible place in their ride reports, I have read just about all of them and they have been a huge source of inspiration for us to take on this adventure. It however all seemed so impossible, extreme, remote and difficult to access until I had the good fortune to be part of the Honda Quest 2017.

My gratitude forever goes out to all the parties involved with Honda Quest 2017, having the opportunity to ride in Northern Namibia with such a fantastic and organized group of people lifted the veil on this mysterious part of the world for me, and left me with an even bigger desire to go back and show my partner HSK this special place.

A big thank you again to [member=9492]Xpat[/member] for giving me all the last minute info and details about routes and other precious info before we set off on our trip, couldn't have done it without you.

Everyone reading this report and posting moral support along the way. I am always glad when you guys and gals enjoy sharing in on our crazy adventuress

And saving the best for last... A big thank you to my partner HSK for letting me share this place I fell in love with, with you. There is nothing better than sharing the same passion and both having an endless sense of adventure. Together we make an incredible team and I am sure we will still travel to the ends of the earth together. This has been our most epic trip so far, and has proved that together we can do anything!

 

[douw]

I have not been on WD in many moons and the 1st thing I read was this EPIC RR on an amazing trip...  thank you for sharing in such detail a report of an area that not many of us will travel to during our lives.  Just spectacular....

 

[Ri]

Wonderful RR Minxy, I really enjoyed it. I loved the quotes, lyrics and literature in between - all deftly and beautifully done.

Thank you so much for the effort, and looking forward to the video.