Specialised Adventures+BAS Trucks = An undreamed dream to come true!

[chopperpilot]

Ingeskryf...wag in spanning![emoji6]


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[Jehan]

Dit gaan n lekker een wees. :thumleft:

 

[Mr D]

:ricky: tagging along for the ride

 

[funky_munky]

Count me in for the read! 

 

[NIMMO]

M@er ma is 'n lang appetiser  :biggrin: ot: :lamer:

 

[armpump]

Someone wake me at kick off time

 

[tgg]

lyk pret

kan jy net asb eers starter se werk betaal

 

[Kevin Liddell]

Looking like an epic RR.


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[Hinksding]

Jammer mense, eks 90% vd week uit sein. Die feit dat Tapatalk nie werk nie, help nie veel nie.

 

[Ruan 87]

sien BAS-lus uit na die een!

 

[Hinksding]

Some background
Last year during Quest it was as dry as hell EVERYWHERE, from Loeries to Loxton to Upington to Whk to Epupa and aaaallllll the way back 6500km of drought. . I was glad that I could disappear from the farm, where we experienced the worst drought since I started to farm. Before I left, I moved all the sheep to camps with a last bit of vegetation and transported 30 tons of mielies to the farm. I left orders and hoped for the best.

This year it was totally different. We had enough rain (can't believe I just typed that), and my morals where at normal levels. I was exited as hell, Im gonna meet Dakar racers.  I'm not a great fan of ballsport since I've got 2 left feet, my wife loves it, cause when other is watching rugby, I'll  probably be mowing the lawn.

Since I was a kid, the Dakar amazed me, not as such the cars...but the Bikes and ofcourse the Trucks .

As technology developed YouTube, and social media made the Dakar way more accessible.  I followed Lyndon Poskitt's channel this year and was on Donovan and Willem's Whatsapp groups. A friend of mine, Walter Terblanche raced with BAS during last year's Dakar. So, as time developed the Dakar wasn't only a race in the desert far away on the other side of the earth, it felt like something I can relate to. So, what was on its way, was kinda to good to be true.  :ricky:


Departing from Loeries to Windhoek

Hardy and crew slept over at our guesthouse in Loeriesfontein. The convoy consisted of the Iveco, which I drove. Bernadine and Willie accompanied me. Hardy and Janco in his SC Cruiser, with the 2 x XRs at the back, and Gené, Chantal and Terror in the DC Cruiser. We left Tuesday morning, drove through Namakwaland to Bitterfontein, made a dieselstop in Springbok and gunned for the border.

 

[Hinksding]

At the border all the paperwork was in order and we drove to Grunaü, where we stopped for the night. Even the South of Nam is beautiful. The fields are covered with the yellow flowers of the beesduwweltjies. Next moring we drove to Whk. North of Mariëntal we drove into thundershowes. The fields along the road are green as they had rain before. Arriving in Whk we stayed at the Arebbusch Lodge. Nice, clean facility, closely situated to the supply stores, where the girls bought the proviant for the trip from.

 

[Hinksding]

As the BAS team was riding in the Richtersveld for a few days, their truck had to go back to Cape Town, before it could depart for Whk. They were running a bit behind schedule, but the evening at 20:50 the BAS truck pulled in at the Lodge. Ockie, from Expedition Medics, escorted them. He pulled a trailer with 2 bikes as it could not fit into the truck.

 

[Hinksding]

WHK to Opuwo

The next morning, (by now I already forgot which day it was and I was still 800kms away from the Kaokoland. btw it was Friday....the 13th. ), we all saddled up to do another 800kms North to Opuwo. The route we follwed was: Okahandja, Otjiwarongu, Outjo, Otjikondo, Kamanjab Opuwo. Everywhere it was green, the vegetation was beautiful. The day was slightly overcasted with the most beautiful clouds hanging above us. When we passed on the western side of Etosha we managed to see giraffes and some Zebras.

The road was long and my two passengers felt the strain of the last few days of traveling....they were off to dreamland.

Before Opuwo the trailer got a flat wheel. While we fixed it the rain came down on us. Willie, tried his best to make me look cool. There were just too many wrongs in this pic. A boer from the driest part of SA, was sitting next to the road fixing a PAPWIEL on a TAR road in the RAIN!!! I told you, it was Friday the 13th.

 

[Hinksding]

Arriving in Opuwo is always special. From the Lodge, which is situated on a hill on the side of town, we had a breathtaking view. For someone who can hardly (or at all, for that matter) be called a drinker, Hardy's got a good ritual/tradition: Drinking a Rum and Coke arriving at Opuwo.

 

[Hinksding]

Later during the day, Appie and Will arrived with the BAS truck. They offloaded the truck and assembled the bikes. Here's some pics of the truck, equipped to the bone!

 

[Hinksding]

The cab of the truck's equipped with a rollcage, part of Dakar regulations

 

[Hinksding]

Saturday morning, the Dutchmen arrived. We parked their bikes infront of the Lodge to give them a warm welcome. Willie and Janco picked them up from the airstrip. We were supposed to start the tour, but due to flooding at Epupa, we stayed over for the day. However the Dutchmen went for a short discovery around Opuwo on their bikes.

 

[Hinksding]

Day 1 Opuwo to Orupembe

Sunday moring 0600. It was hot and humid as hell. As I walked in the dark towards the Iveco to pack my stuff, I saw this moerse security guard, dressed in black next to our vehicles. It was weird, as I haven't noticed him before...oh shit! It was Hardy in his bike gear. I've never seen him before in gear and it was an unfamiliar sight. I just gave him one look and he said: F*k dis te warm. 2 minutes later and he returned in his Khaki-ATGATT. Everything back to normal.

 

[Hinksding]

The previous night, before going to bed, I saw the thunder and lightning was quite active towards the NorthEast....right the direction we were heading for the next morning. Hardy and I rode the two XR650s he brought along. We left early, before the sun was up we were out of town. The C43's surface was klam due to the previous night's rain, the air was cool and the fresh air was overwelming my nostrils, while the thumpers was doing their thing. Man, till now life was good, but now life was great!

I rode behind Hardy, there were no dust at all, everything was green, a scene which was totally different from 6 months ago during Quest. We stopped for a break. Everything was quiet and pieceful. But little did I know how my day was about to take a dramatic turn.