kaokoland 2017

[Enzo]

Just returned from a 14 day tour of Kaokoland mostly offroad on my 1200 GS LC, I was joined by a fellow member here with a similar bike. We where lucky enough to bump into other 3 WD members on route. I was always nervous doing this trip with only 1 other person in case something goes wrong deep in the marienflus or anywhere in namibia really. What made this trip special is the fellow members we bumped into had their own routine and pace but at least we managed to meet up in the evenings.

The memories of this trip will stay with me for a long time, the solitude and trepidation that nothing must break at any given point in time was a constant companion, the friendship and banter whilst on expedition is difficult to repeat and carry over onto normal people whilst back in civilization.

Glad to report we all came back with no serious incidents and no real damage to our bikes. We bumped into elephants in dry river beds on 3 occasions, rode down van zyls with care. Rode copious amounts of sand. Had to turn back on routes where the sand beat us. Met friendly people all along the route and never had a need for fuel or food or a cold beer.

I have been on other extended expeditions on bike and car and this one really stood out for me. Cant help to think the more things change the more they stay the same.

Adventure is out there waiting for us and life is random. So whatever linear excuses you find yourself making for not going on a similar trip on any bike wont hold water because the time is now.

Herewith a few pics that highlighted the trip for me.

 

[Enzo]

Snapshot of some of our routes as seen on basecamp

We used a car to get the bikes to Mariental

Day 1 we slept next to the road and ate last years dry rations that came back from a previous trip



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Enzo]

Getting from the south to our first technical stretch via the Khowarib Schlucht which means small canyon or dungeon or sand cest pit of hell especially with tyre pressure too high in fear of giving the soft LC rim a smiley

We managed to meet up with a group of 4x4 travelers from tented camp in Tankwa and they shared with us their lovely steak meals and snacks with cold beer

Much needed the following day to get out in the thick sand and meet the locals for some fresh water


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Enzo]

From Schlucht we headed to Opuwo for much needed supplies before we headed to the Kunene. The Opuwo lodge on the hill has a nice infinity pool


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Enzo]

Headed up from Opuwo via swartbooisdrift to Kunene River lodge and along the Kunene to Epupa falls. Bad news is that old road along the river is no more. It has recently been scraped so a two day journey has become 3 hours - not that I personally would complain

First time we hooked up with our fellow riders. Our first impressions where that they had too much stuff, the bikes where to small and that they where young and naive. I would only hear later when they saw the 1200's they where expecting a back up vehicle [emoji23]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[0012]

heyto hiers hy nou pappie!

sub  :sip:  :sip:  :sip:

 

[Enzo]

Pictures show the journey towards the top of van zyls pass via Onkongwati where we stopped for fuel, the campsite on top was fantastic wit a hot shower and lovely shaded trees. The guys did some dry river test riding without luggage.

The mind f... was not riding the 1200 in sand it was riding it with luggage in sand with extra 10l water and fuel on that part of the trip. The tail behaves differently so took a while to get used to it.

The picture coming down the pass is taken at an angle to make it look worse than it actually is. We approached the 4 sections individually with a walk down to see the line and just rode it down slowly.

We had a deadly visitor inspecting our papers coming down

Pictures won't do justice to the view


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Enzo]

The main thing was to preserve bike and person, you dont want issues on this side of the mountain


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CVE]

:lol8: Hier kom dit nou ja! Ek sal darem nou nie Dirk/Gert se thread opmors met die "naive" youngsters se manewales nie! 

Ek sal 'n ander thread maak en sommer 'n CRF 250 Rally review so tussen in doen.  :deal: Goeie direct comparison met 'n 1200...  ot: Maar julle moet my eers kans gee om als eers skoon te maak sodat dit nie die hele huis volstaan nie!  :-\

 

[Enzo]

No one tells you that after surviving van zyls you better be able to ride 60km of sand towards camp synchro. You can't turn around.

Our view of Angola and the young ones also over van zyls with camping chairs and luxury items


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Snafu]

Sub!

 

[Enzo]

You catch yourself feeling very far from home at this point . Blue dot marks the spot

This picture - best days riding of my life that morning heading south through the marienfluss - little did I know that later in the day we would be surprised by a elephant in the purros river bed

If you need fuel or a cold drink Orupembe has the goods

Pictures above show constant well organized fixing a front puncture, and myself and Dirk doing an elephant run. Dirk successfully did a elephant turn in the sand.

Daai outjie op die kant lyk nie impressed nie. Needless to say I did my laundry that evening in camp. Don't mind elephants but not on a sandy patch on a bike


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Enzo]

Refuel Purros, we had coffee filters as a precaution for container fuel. It worked but took forever to get fuel in. We left late and a detour via purros canyon ment we arrived late at the Hoanib river and again we met elephants as the sun was getting low. Sadly no pictures of the river as we where gunning to get out of there with the previous days memories still fresh

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fat b]

Nice ! RR ! Highlight must have been seeing the ultra rare 5 legged elephant of the Puoros  :imaposer: Or maybe its a normal ellie just excited to see you guys ??  ot:

 

[Enzo]

We where back at the lodge at Khowarib via sesfontein. Feels like only yesterday we started off our northern part of the journey.

Here we took a rest day and some much needed R&R next to the pool

Our journey would take us south via the sout rivier towards Khorixas and then down to brandberg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hentie bm]

Lyk na great trip!!

 

[Enzo]

Safe to say we didn't count legs coming around the corner on a sandy track meeting the guy on my right flank

After which I shouted to Dirk behind me elephant ! When he came round seeing one on the left !!! Dutifully doing his evasive elephant turn clockwise to the right only to see that bugger I saw initially looking straight at him. Safe to say he bolted for the river bed with an unknown drop into the dry sand from the island. All turned out well


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Enzo]

Seeing that man kitting up on a 1200 always attracts a following [emoji23]

So what happened here?

Clue - its in the sout rivier, and yes it is my bike, and yes it is the side stand switch that I managed to break after yet another encounter with elephants in the sout rivier . Donford will tell you that you can't bridge the switch. Basically you are stranded.

Apparantly a cheap USB cable does the trick and we where off in no time!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RobLH]

Amazing pic in the Marienfluss.

The 250 Rally looks right at home in that environment.

Keep it coming, thanks.

 

[Enzo]

Above you see pictures of our camp spot on route to white lady lodge from Khorixas. Why didn't we make it ?

Here we met our match, or I did anyway.....

Typical mistake you make towards the end of a trip and when you think you are relatively back in civilization towards the south in brandberg and you decide to map a route on the fly and think it is the shortest way home

Those red dunes encroaching on your route initially you think it is ok and then when have spent most of your energy and stuck in the middle you realize you are in deep kak

When I called it to bail, I miraculously could ride sand all the way back we came in no time.

Luckily fresh water on route and lekker camping at the end

Never switch off or leave your sand hat [emoji145] at home whilst in Namibia

Every day is a challenge, always have enough water even when you think it is a doddle


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk