Day 7: Somewhere in a canyon to Swakopmund
The next morning I got going first with the repaired clutch. And rode straight into a rock and stalled it. This was going to be harder than I thought. Fortunately, the clutch lever held for a second pull and I managed to get out the canyon without trouble. This track is hardly ever used (we hadn't seen a car in over 24 hours) and could count the number of vehicle tracks in the sand on one hand. An entire herd of gemsbok and two herds of springbok ran alongside me as I rode out. I saw some cat prints too, but didn't spot the leopard itself.
We made straight for Henties to see if we can source a replacement lever. But first I had to wait where the trail meets the gravel for the other guys. They were a long time coming and I started getting worried. The road to the coast was decent gravel, with large undulations that kept things entertaining. The wind was howling and I was being blown all over the road.
As we got to the coast to turn south, we stopped to put on some warm clothing. The sea air was freezing cold. And then Mark's KLR wouldn't start. But I was half expecting this and went straight to the sidestand cut-out switch. Problem solved. U-go had cleverly overridded his before we left Cape Town.
Ah, some real food at an actual restaurant. This made for a great change after our impromptu camp the previous night. Fresh seafood warmed us up after the freezing ride down the coast from ~Mile100 to Henties. Meanwhile, I made some calls.
The only BMW Motorrad dealer in Namibia that I could find was in Windhoek. No stock, 2 days to order, R900. A two day wait would've killed any chance of a push into northern Koakoland. We all had to be back in Cape Town for various reasons in a week. The roads to the south were mostly easy and I was willing to risk it without a clutch. So the decision was made to take a leisurely ride back to Cape Town.
In retrospect, we could've continued on our trip northwards at this point, but I was nervous that I'd be going along a cliff edge and the lever would snap while changing gears, sending me wheelie-ing off a cliff. But in fact, the lever held for the whole day, and the following, and the one after that... Two months later, and the repairjob is still holding!
So then on to the salt road down to Swakopmund.
Our plan was to spend the night at the "Municipal Chalets", but we had no idea where this was. After a lot of asking around, we got general directions that led to the south west corner of the town. From there it wasn't hard to spot what Garmin lists simply as Swakopmund Rest Camp. We got a chalet that sleeps four for R220. Good value. There was even a laundromat/bar/casino/games room/cafe/pool hall down the road...
great pics!
