Kaokoland: I was tired of reading about it!!!

[Dragonfly-XC]

Geduldig asseblief...ek tik met twee fingers!!!

:sip: Soos 'n hoenner wat na een mielie in 'n blik pik.

 

[stroke her]

Day 2 Sunday

Wake up feeling like ****...and its cold. The plan was an 800km dash to Windhoek...got started late...we will see how far I get.

On a previous visit to Nam with Westley (by car) he showed me the Gamkab...I really wanted to visit by bike so I did. Head out past Aussenkher and then take a right into Gamkab riverbed. Visited the tall cliff and also a little cave Westley showed me before. The cave has lots of animal bones and smells of rotting flesh so must still be in partly regular use by some critter. Found some bike tracks but the rider was nowhere to be seen.

Worked my way on the dirt to the Canyon Roadhouse. Some nice twisties with good views and piss cold. Got to Canyon for lunch at 12...better try and force something down as I skipped breakfast after the previous night's puking.

Lots of 4x4 on the road making dust. Fukkers...although I learned to love them later on in the trip.

Very open country...lots and lots of space.

Sat eating lunch whilst fascinated by the throngs of tour buses. I envied their comfort but once I heard all the accent, especially Yank) the envy waned.

On to Keetmanshoop on tar...what a kak town. Did not like the vibe at all!! Luckily an Oom in a Prado struck up a conversation and suggested Riverside Chalets Campsite in Marienthal as both he and I thought Windhoek was not to be for me that day. Filled up and pressed on to Marienthal. Saw some Gemsbok, Springbok, an eagle thermalling above a dustdevil (this is not normal...crows maybe but eagles not.), 2 x Gringos on 250 busy with RTW.

Chasing the sunset, pressing on...i was not riding in the dark in Nam...too much game around.

Some dodgy truck passes in high winds and then a small bird flashes before me...thud. He hit my boot. Well I met Frikking the low Flying when I arrived in Marienthal. Unfortunately I met him at his burial...which I had to be the master of ceremonies.

Chatted to local farmer whilst eating my burger. He reckoned no worries about lions in Hoanib river which I had planned for later. Ellies also no issue on bike...he reckoned.

Quick Wimpy burger (a kak one) and the campsite. Got done just as sun was setting. Called home and then sleep.

 

[stroke her]

At this stage I also started taking the Mozzietech tablets...for the malaria that apparently rages further up :biggrin:

 

[JACOVV]

Ek ry lekker saam  :sip:

 

[Crossed-up]

Enjoying your report. You write lekker.

 

[stroke her]

Day 3 Monday

Up by 6am to depart by 7h30am...got to reach Kamanjab today to make up for lost time. I have schedule to stick too dammit!!

Friendlie overland lady at campsite next to me offers a morning coffee...this means I dont have to fire up the camping stove so I wander over for a coffee ciggie and a chat.

Her client...a pretty teacher wanders up to interrogate me. Dont know if she was worried about the kids she was in charge of or if she was looking for some "company"...for the benefit of my ego I will choose the latter and leave it at that. "Jammer juffrou...die show moet aan...volgende keer dalk >"

Straight tar road ahead...moon on my West and sun on my East....and piss cold. If that juffrou only knew the effect of the cold on my manhood she would not have bothered with the chat. LOL

5500rpm again as soon as daylight is enough. Landscape becoming more "African". I dare say the AIDS is slowly on the decline...I hope.

On my navigation app (OsmAnd) I get an altitude reading....1600m ASL as I approach Windhoek. Surprising as the yourney seems flat...you dont realize you are climbing so high. Reach Windhoek at about 10am. Joe's Beerhouse is closed so I head to Yamaha for a new rear tube (spare) and then stop at one of these universal coffee shops one seems to get nowaday in any big city. Brekkie, coffee and some ciggies.

Check bike over and fill up my Tutoro chain oiler.

Fine tar up to Okahanja...then the road turms to the Warthog Expressway...buggers are everywhere so I slow down to a sedate 100/110km/h. They are quite big and I dont want to have another murder on my hands....after Frikkie the low Flyer the death of Puumba will not be forgiven.

Stop at Otjiwarango...16l for 280km...thats more like it. My credit card utters a sigh of relief.

Whilst munching on some NikNaks and a Coke I check the bike over. WTF?!?! The lid of my Tutoro is gone :'(. Now I went to great lengths to import this specific oiler from the UK and now due to my negligence the lid is gone. ****. **** you you *****. I had visions of the sclep involved to order a new lid. Then in a blink...fuckit...its only a lit. Fix and move on you *****. So an N$8 pack of condoms saved the day (multi colour nogal).

Top up again at Outjo and reach Oppi-Koppie in Kamanjab at 17h30.

 

[stroke her]

Thanks Crossed-Up...my turn to write for a change :

 

[stroke her]

Some more

 

[Roxtar]

Luv the horns man............. :thumleft:

 

[Hotwire]

Hoe lekker ry ek saam... gooi hom pappie!!!

Sent from my HUAWEI GRA-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[stroke her]

Night 3 Oppi-Fokken-Koppi

My pizza and the some attempts at artsy moonrize over Tenere (failed)

A word on my accommodation for the night...Oppi-Koppie in Kamanjab.

Fokken Pielle :thumleft:

During my Google fueled trip planning Oppi-Koppi Kamanjab literally looked like a bed for the night type of place. How wrong Google was!!!

I arrived and are met by a friendly Afrikaaans game ranger type of chap..."ja enige tyd...ons het plek vir jou" ...Me: "Hoeveel vir kamp vir een aand?" Ranger type dude: "Nee ons cater vir overlanders...dit is verniet".

Slaan my dood met n pap snoek...verniet?! I had a clean safe campspot, hot water and ablutions (clean nd HOT), free Wi-Fi, bar, resturant...**** man the guys wife was even hot. How does an ***** like me luck into a spot like this?!

Needless to say I felt obliged to drop some N$ at the bar and restuarant. Well even that was more than what I bargained for...the topping on that pizza was almost an inch thick. And those that know me I can pack it in...not this night...three slices was sent back. Also over dinner some dassies and a Gennit Cat (?) by the pool...until the dogs smelled them and gave chase.

If you are looking for a base for Kaokoland...check out Oppi-Koppi :thumleft:

 

[ROOI]

Sub :deal:

 

[stroke her]

Day 4  Tuesday

Up by 7am and go and drop some more N$ at the restaurant for brekkie. Got my photo taken for their overland book...I will be XT660z #3 on the 2016/2017 red file  8)

Today is the last of the tarmac so I take it easy...some warthog and springbok. Then police checkpoint. Lots of crashed cars at the checkpoint...the result of the cattle farming in that area. They farm with cattle extensively...but no fences! Cattle literally everywhere....take it easy if travelling there. This now the C35 Kamanjab to Ruacana.

Landscape slowly changing...less bush and more rocks.

At my second smoke stop at 200km roughly the following plays itself out:

I am standing there having taken some pics next to the road. Enjoying a ciggie and taking in the morning. I observe a new white BMW X3 approaching from the North at a moer of a spoed. I thought...what ******* gansta ***** is this now?! P03s.

Then after nearly connecting a cow the X3 swerves of the embankbent and comes to a screeching halt right next to my bike...Oh p03s!

Two black dudes jumps out. My first reaction as a crime terrorized Saffer is "O fok...hier kom kak!"
No I ride in MX books so running wasnt an option...and in all the bleddie ATGATT I did not even thing I could throw a decent punch. ****.

Then I started actually pay .hang on a minute. Thse guys are dressed well. Casual but expensive. Gangsters? Mafia?

Look again...one with the Ray-Ban Aviators has a Tafel can in hand...what ganster drinks Tafel?!

Then the bubble burst with a barrage of questios:

"Where you from, where you going, why you alone, how long, how fat etc etc etc"

The penny dropped...Van Rooyen you ******* *****...these guys are busy with a long drive to Windhoek and you are simply something interesting along the way. They were genuinely friendly and interested. We spent about 15mins just chatting and then they were of again at a spoed.

I stood there and felt like a right prick...so far this country has been nothing but kind to me, especially the people. Not one begger, skew look, remark...nothing but kindness. Take your RSA crime paranoia and shove it up ur arse boet. This is Nam :thumleft:

Arrive at Puma garage in Ruacana mid afternoon. Bike back on 20km/l :thumleft:

Fill up with fuel as well as 2 x 2l coke bottles and my Desert Fox bladder. I knew next fuel at Okangwati woud be expensive so rather stock up here.

The garage shop is well stocked. From fishing rods to tubeless repair kit. No bike tubes though.

Then off to Kunene River Lodge about 60km on. I passed the bulldoser clearing the vegetation next to the road once on the gravel...mmmm so it seems the rumours of the Swartbooisdrift road upgrade may be true after all.

Gravel is a bit tricky as the doser had just worked it so although it appeared smooth it was rather loose and uneaven with some holes.

Luckily my OsmAnd directed me to the old track that runs closer to the river. So onto the 2 spoor sandy track it was :biggrin:. I manage to interweave the two and rode as much of the old track to Kunene Lodge as possible.

Booked into Kunene Campsite and had dinner on the deck. Met Volker and hit daughter from Walvisbaai...he gave me some route advise and invited me for coffee. He  showed me some footage he took with his drome of the Marienfluss. He advised that after last years rain the area was exceptionally green and special to view. He recommended the Community Campsite and not my planned Camp Syncro at the top of the Marienfluss.

The lady that runs the lodge said the road is now upgraded all the way through Swartbooisdrift to Opuwo :'(. She reckoned 3 hrs by car. ****.

My phone did not charge so lekker on the bike so I begged a charge from the lady at reception.

Although my plan was to change the worn out E07 rear at Kunene Lodge and put on the new D606 I decided not too as the tyre was still ok and the road supposedly improved.

 

[stroke her]

nog

 

[stroke her]

Something that made me laugh:

So at Oppi-Koppi with the free Wi-Fi I thought it a good idea at the time to Wassap all the photos I took so far to the missus. Then she can enjoy them so long and also have a copy in case my phone ***** out.

So I just selected all and sent them...checking every now and again while munching my pizza to see how the upload is going.

Well you remember the oiler and condom? This photo was part of a bunch of 75 I sent her.

During that evenings compulsory call home to check in the conversation when something like:

Me: "I Wassap you the pics so long"

SWAMBO: " Yes got them thanks. Why is there a condom on your bike?"

Me: "I lost the lid of the Tutoro, I had to make a lan so put a Johnnie over it"

SWAMBO: " Erm I see...well prepared you are...you even have condoms stashed away on the bike!"

Me: " Erm no honey...I had to buy them. N$8 for 3, multi colour nogal"

SWAMBO: " Ja right!"

I thought to myself...why is it that they (your better half) never seem to miss a thing?! I mean I can show her a picture of the Tutoro oiler and she would not know what she was looking at...but put an FL on it and hide it amongst 745 other pics...shared via Wassap (small pics) and she finds it within seconds.

I just laughed.

 

[slicknick]

:laughing4:

 

[JC]

:thumleft: report!

rode that Gamkab piece with Weskus and Nimmo last year and it was the highlight of the trip

 

[stroke her]

Day 5 Wednesday

Get going by 9h30 am.

OsmAnd keeps pointing me towards the old road...I follow the advice and is rewarded with some (about 20km)  lekker sandy twisty tweespoor.

Some water crossings but all easy. Some dry sandy crossings also easy...the baby Ten was proving its mettle. "I am your little pack mule...I will get you there"

Some cattle, small bokkie...Himba girl with **** straight from the Heffner mansion (nearly dropped the bike when I did a lookback for a second viewing >)

Stopped at some palm trees with the spikes to climb them. The Himbas make beer in then as reported in Metal Jockey reports. I did not see any Himba men working the trees though. I surmised that it must not be beer season being winter? Later I learned that the Nam goverment outlawed the practice as the Himba beer making practice kills the trees.

Stopped at the Omuhonga riverbed for a smoke and the change the GPX file I was using for navigation. Google maps have an interuption in the road here so could not route it in one go.

Fair amount of 4x4 holiday makers...some (mostly Saffers) stopped to see if I was OK. Their presence, although annoying with the dust did assure me that should something go wrong there would be someone passing eventually in a 4x4. So I was flying solo but I was not alone :thumleft:

Road became easy like a normal Karoo gravel road. Easy good times 8)

Arrived at Opuwu Falls roughly 12h30 and checked into the Campsite.

Katenga (?) booked me in and immediately asked about the extra tyre. When I explained that it is not a spare but that I will be doing a tyre change he ws delighted when I offered him the old tyre. Apparently they struggle to find non-steelbelt tyres. They make sandals for the Himba cattle herder boys with the tyres. He was stokes with the tyre. Himba herdsmen on Mitas E07 soon boys :thumleft:

Met Thomas (Swiss-German ). He travels the world shooting travelling documentaries. We hit it off well and shared some stories, philosophies and went for dinner at the lodge. He was also travelling solo so also appreciated the company. He rides a GS1200 back home and we could connect on that universal biking way.

Tyre change went smoothly and also fixed loose shift lever. Had a beer at the bar and bought 7l of water.

Later the arvie I went for walkabouts to see the falls and to look for crocs. No crocs but found some piggies having an absolute feast on some roots they dug up.

The Opowu village seemed slow and typical of an African village with too much Western influence and now relying on this Western influence for its survival. I skipped on the Himba tours on offer...seemed "aangeplak"...I will go find my Himba in the wild thank you.

Swim in the pool and Katenga comes to tell me I must rather not as they had to put poison it the pool to clean it. Huh?
I ask him to show me this poison...turns out to be normal HTC Chlorine :laughing4: Poison my arse.

Then Whilst relaxing in my Hammock the local freelance Himba guide "John " approaches me to try and sell me a tour. Ipad in hand and all...no thanks mate! Business must have been slow as we spend the next 30mins shooting the breeze. Interesting topic that came up was the price of cattle. N$4-6k for an Ox. N$2-3k for a cow. Next impoverished Himba herdsman you ride past...count his cattle. These guys are loaded man :thumleft:

Dinner with Swiss Thomas and his guide (local) Owen. Owen turns out to be quite the find. He works as a guide, involved in politics both Kaokoland and Angola and owns a few fuel depots. https://www.kaokolandguides.com/guides/
I will remember him when travelling this part of the world again.

He had alot of good to say about the Portugese influence in Angola and how it taught the locals to work for themselves.

PS: Picture of the dish...no its not a TV dish. Thats VSAT. How the interwebs get to the lodge. I do marine version of this so found it interesting.

 

[stroke her]

nog

 

[stroke her]

Nog