Day 2..
Spitzkoppe to Palmwag -- gravel highways -- with a little bit of tricky sand here and there..
For noting: Husky that would never die = HTWND
Everyone was up bright and early, especially the crew. Tons of fiddling and tinkering on the bikes and plenty of last minute dashing off for that pee that just wont go away....
Quite a few of the group were visibly nervous, I think from both anticipation and excitement that the trip was finally really on its way.
Every morning after breakfast, the Unimog that carried all our bags (awesome duffels made by Peter King - Nomad Bags) and stretchers etc. would get packed. It is quite a task and a great team-building exercise. It also helped ease that early morning tension by doing some manual labor. This is the day it finally dawned on all that the trip was happening, after all the months of prepping, packing, yakking on WhatsApp etc. The group was quite diverse in age and back-rounds.. whether the dynamic would work or not, only time would tell.. but we were off to a good start.
At the briefing, which we had every morning, 2 guys were visibly concerned as to the availability of the local brew at our destination..
We finally left camp, refilled our water bladders on our way out and got moving, it was going to be long arduous day ahead.
The first 3 days were basically gravel highways, getting us far north as possible, to where the real fun started. It sounds rather boring, but is important as it gives you time to get used to your bike, following distances and the dust... yes the dust. Us humans are funny creatures, in spite of the thousands of km's of open space, we tend to want to huddle up, even on those long open stretches of road with lung and filter clogging dust. It took time, but finally after a few days, the group separated into smaller groups and the dust gaps grew bigger and bigger, each individual found their groove and settled in.
Hardy had plotted a route for us that included a little interesting piece as he so called it. It is all rather well thought out you see, it slowly introduces you to the varying road conditions that are so prevalent in Nam, from gravel that is smoother and wider than our tar roads, to sand so thick that it wants to stop you in your tracks. I could tell from the number of snaky tracks in the thick sand, that there were gonna be a few stories later that evening.. let's not even talk about the corrugations on a section of road close to Twyvelfontein, it was insane, they managed to dislodge my Montana from the "Garmin rugged mount" Not rugged enough Garmin, just not rugged enough...
We were encouraged by Hardy to stop and take in the sights and enjoy the journey. First stop was in Uis to refuel and take a breather.. after that was a scheduled lunch stop, which some of us flew by.. big mistake, one should never miss a bosveld jaffel....never ever.. I think after doing the Sorri-Sorri loop with the sandy riverbeds, the juices were flowing and the testosterone blinkered our vision.. we managed to miss the Unimog on the side of the road
When the hunger finally took control, we stopped at a local shop for what was to be the first of many tins of bully beef, miniature vetkoek and cold beer during the trip.. This was around 45km from Palmwag. Eventually arrived at Palmwag and filled up with cheapest fuel we have seen in years. Excellent pubs and swimming pools at Palmwag. One can clearly see and feel the impact of Covid and lack of tourism. The staff are almost numbed to the lack of business and seem cautiously optimistic that things may one day return to normal at some point.. more on that later.
Let it be noted that this was also the day that the "HTWND" was towed in, by a KTM nogal.. :ricky:
One of our group, super-responsible, very capable, tool carrying Johan, arrived with a very perturbed look on his face and with utmost concern asked where the rest of the group was? Actually he seemed quite annoyed.. He had taken it upon himself to be responsible for the father and sons crew.. big mistake. The last pic shows what they were doing whilst he was worrying about them... :imaposer:
Plenty of chatter around the camp that night, mostly about the thick sand and the corrugations and whether it would get any worse. This was also the first time Charles calmly spoke up and said... moenie worry, dis kleinegeitjies daai... and just like that a new season had dawned on us. A time of little things that really do not matter at the end of it all.
There was some activity around the HTWND and it was found that one of the screws had fallen out of the carb (still not sure if it the air screw) Anyway, it was promptly plugged up and all seemed good..
There were a couple of tired bodies and in no time, the snoring began.. Day 3 was going to be another long pull up to Opuwo..
