NAMIBIA uber alles - by POPFUNPLOT

[Brakenjan]

:thumright:

Great stuff, thank you!! Namibia uber alles indeed!

 

[Groenie]

that is one lekker report! thanks guys, loved reading it over a few days. now pofunplot, you've ticked this one, where to next?

I vote Zambia!

ZAMBIA? Did anyone say Zambia? I'm in the early stages of planning a Zambia trip.....Well, I have to top my Lesotho trip..

 

[oo7]

Meneer Plothond - Very sharp writing, bring back some good memories. You guys also took beautiful pics. I really appreciate the effort of putting together such an eloquent and nicely presented report.

One question - If you have to do the trip again, will you take the Trans Kalahari road again from Gauteng, or rather some more interesting (IMHO) routes by entering Nam from the South? Although I guess the saving in distance and time will probably make the decision for you . . .

 

[funacide]

For this trip, we decided to use TK Highway to get into Nam as quick as possible, my original idea when we started planning the trip was go go via northern Botswana but when we started looking at timing that was just not possible. Our thought process was that we could do a separate Botswana trip at another time, this trip was about Namibia...

While it is a very boring road, we did stay at one of the nicest campsites of the whole trip in Bots and another thought is that it is about the adventure and not the destination. I wouldn't change the approach for this trip but you need to decide up front what your goal for the trip is.

We also discussed doing the northern parts of Bots as a separate trip over a long weekend..........

 

[popipants]

Meneer Plothond - Very sharp writing, bring back some good memories. You guys also took beautiful pics. I really appreciate the effort of putting together such an eloquent and nicely presented report.

One question - If you have to do the trip again, will you take the Trans Kalahari road again from Gauteng, or rather some more interesting (IMHO) routes by entering Nam from the South? Although I guess the saving in distance and time will probably make the decision for you . . .

If I had to do it again, I would not do the south at all.
Besides from the Fishriver canyon, the South is pretty boring. I liked the North.
I would do the Trans kalahari there and back and spend all my time North of Windhoek.

 

[Frankie]

Well done Plothond and FunPop too! ;D

This is a mgnificent report and the details are fantastic - one can plan and get the whole feeling of the trip with costing and alles!

One thing I definitely agree with is that awesome quiet and peace in Nam - must of taken a while to get into traffic and hustle-bustle again!

An inspiring write-up! So much so that I definitely will be doing Nam next year! ;D

 

[Plothond]

To answer the last question;

I agree with Fun & Poppi - The TK was the right thing to do given the available time. Yes, it was long and boring but we made such an adventure of it that I was not in the least bothered by it

Going to Namibia - I'd do it again

 

[JO GSA]

Wow!!! exelent, maak my lus vir n trip.....

 

[Shakes]

All I can say - Bliksem dit was nice

Excelent and thanks for sharing

 

[Chrisl]

Very well written Plottie. I was lucky enough to be a cattletruckdriver in Nam for year and a half just after army. Based in Witvlei. Jip that tiny place between windhoek and Gobabis. I saw a lot of Nam and it was for free!! I just had to drive the truck. It is a stunnung country that heals my soul every time I go back. Chris.

 

[Obiwhan]

Ahh man ...this trip looks awesome ! i would love to do one of these before i leave the country . I am going to NZ and my KTM is coming with me!

nice Pics guys!!

did you have any major problems with the KTM ?

 

[Obiwhan]

Really well documented trip !

i feel like an ass for asking this Q :"did you have any major problems with the KTM ?"
except for the cable that was damaged by "human error"
was there any other problems on the bikes ?
what is the mileage on the bikes now?
and one more Q ....what did this whole trip Cost P/P?

 

[brettp]

Havin just read this from start to finish, I would like to say WELL DONE!!!!

Fantastic

Splendid

Awe inspiring!!!

Thank u!!!!

 

[Plothond]

Really well documented trip !

i feel like an ass for asking this Q :"did you have any major problems with the KTM ?"
except for the cable that was damaged by "human error"
was there any other problems on the bikes ?
what is the mileage on the bikes now?
and one more Q ....what did this whole trip Cost P/P?

No other problems on the bikes. Not even a puncture
The 950 has about 19 000km (I think)
The 990 ended the trip on 14 500km

The total cost each was about R 6 000.00
About R 2 900 on fuel, about R 2 200 on food and camping and about R 900.00 on drinks and alcohol

 

[Andy 950]

WOW guys what an inspiration and a lekker read.

Wifey and I are going on a Winter trip at the end of the month and its good to learn what to take with.
Bigest lesson is: if you're gonna farkle do it yourself as those pinched wires can end yr trip.

LC8 riders, remove your fuel pump and keep it in good condition, its a kark desing but can be maintained easily

 

[FortyZA]

Poppi, Fun and Plot
All I can say is great report, lovely pic's and really nice story.
I would like to know what type of camera's were used as some pic's give depth and distance and some seem to do the area a little bit of injustice. Even so, the pic's are stunning and I would love to do the northern part of Nam again next year. Maybe do the brandberg, head further north to Palmwag and Puros (oasis with hot water, great camping sites, private toilet per camp site, cost R50.00 P/P.)
Must start planning as this report has me ready to ride.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[popipants]

Poppi, Fun and Plot
All I can say is great report, lovely pic's and really nice story.
I would like to know what type of camera's were used as some pic's give depth and distance and some seem to do the area a little bit of injustice. Even so, the pic's are stunning and I would love to do the northern part of Nam again next year. Maybe do the brandberg, head further north to Palmwag and Puros (oasis with hot water, great camping sites, private toilet per camp site, cost R50.00 P/P.)
Must start planning as this report has me ready to ride.
Thanks for sharing.

I used two camera's
1.Canon A590 IS: I kept this one in my tank bag for the quick and easy shots. (Excellent for a small compact camera)
2.Canon 350D. This one I used for the special shots, I carried it in a Pelican case so it is a bit of a pain to take out for a quick shot.

 

[FortyZA]

Thanks for that.

I think I will do something similar on the GS Challenge.  Small "Mik and druk" for quick shots and the Nikon D40 for the better shots / scenery, night shots and so forth.

Good advise.

 

[funacide]

I only took the Canon EOS 400D, so relied on Plothond and Popipants, for the on the move shots...

We also took the tripod with so that the group photos and night shots could be taken....

 

[Plothond]

My camera is an Olympus compact 720 (waterproof)

As a matter of interest - please comment on which pics in your opinion gave you the different perspectives
It would be interesting to see which camera's they were

Although my Olympus compact takes excellent shots - my wife's camera - an Olympus Digital SLR definately takes better pics - but then it has very good lenses on it
For this type of riding an SLR is going to be better but a compact is just more practical