The Husky that wouldn't die and other "Kleinigheidjies" in Ovahimbaland

[teebag]

It has been a looooong time since I have seen him so determined & excited about, well... anything.

Even more than the evening before Valentines at Kaleo [emoji50]

 

[big oil]

If I received a hundred dollar bill for every dream I’ve had about doing a Namibian tour with Specialised Adventures, I’d be retired by now.

Looking forward to this report!

 

[TVB]

:sip:

 

[Oubones]

If I received a hundred dollar bill for every dream I’ve had about doing a Namibian tour with Specialised Adventures, I’d be retired by now.

Looking forward to this report!

I look forward to taking you there!
Time you made a plan. ot:

 

[Oubones]

After all the curve balls Kopdoek casted our way in 2020, Hardy decided to put his foot down [see what I did there?]
It has been a looooong time since I have seen him so determined & excited about, well... anything.

So with the crew being all “bright eyed & bushy tailed” we are counting the days, until our convoy starts with the “groot trek” at an over-achieving pace of 90km/h all the way up to Namibia.

I am even excited to queue at the border.
Really looking forward to this trip.


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I will rather refrain from trying to think how someone can see me as “Bright Eyed and Bushy taled” :imaposer:
I am looking forward to being part of this trip as I know a lot of the guys and just know it is going to be epic.
I will sit in my airconditioned air suspension seat looking out at the scenery while they break a sweat in the heat. eepwall:

 

[OomD]

It hasn't even started yet, yet already it seems epic! I'll be printing posts and placing it into my bucket list. :thumleft: :ricky:

 

[Chantal Burger]

It has been a looooong time since I have seen him so determined & excited about, well... anything.

Even more than the evening before Valentines at Kaleo [emoji50]

:imaposer:

 

[Chantal Burger]

“Brian Harmse is the 2020 Quest winner, a fantastic rider, the most energetic person you will ever meet and I have yet to see him failing in sniffing out a shebeen along the road if there is one in the area.
Brian is a businessman from East London, was the proxima centauri of the sidecar-gate and a very good friend of mine.

Martin Harmse is Brian's brother - The one who sabotaged the inner lining of everyone's helmets with red food coloring on Quest and the jester of the group.
a Very successful businessman with a razor-sharp sense of humor and the guy you invite first on a trip like this. Martin is everyone's friend and a fantastic rider.

Peter Frueholz is one of the most laid back people you will ever meet - a Great fan of all things KTM (I will take a pic of his toiletry bag as proof) and a very good rider. Nothing is a problem for Peter and as long as there are cold beers around, you will always find him saving energy, somewhere in the shade.

Tony Petricivic is a property developer from Pretoria and runs his life like he runs his business. Tony needs to know what is happening and loves having a good time with his friend Peter.

Elio Striglia (@Striggs) is a pharmacist who happens to own a mad amount of pharmacies in the Eastern Cape. Elio is the one person I could ride with for the rest of my life. I have yet to meet a person that looks so calm and collected on a bike in the most technical of terrain. I enjoy this man's company and I believe he has a heart of gold. You want something arranged - This is the guy

Hein Kuhm is a earth moving company owner and a great friend of Elio in particular. Hein does with his 1200GS what us mere mortals wish we could do with plastic bikes. a Former International GS Trophy winner (I think 2013), a field technician and a great guy to have in the group.

Johan Harmse is a businessman from Mpumalanga who joined me in 2018 on a tour to Kaokoland. Johan's trip unfortunately ended at Spitzkoppe when he had an epileptic attack whilst standing on one of the rocks next to the rockpool high up in the koppies with @Chopperpilot and @Straatkat.
Johan fell down the rocksurface and the whole group worked together to rescue him from an overhanging cliff at a 30 degree angle.
Johan had to be taken to hospital and that meant the end of his trip. He is as fit as a fiddle now. Such a good man with a no nonsense attitude  -  he has ridden the Northern Cape with us in 2020,  and I can't wait to ride Kaokoland with him. If anyone out there deserves a ride in Ovahimba country - It is him.”


A very good description of the merry men, all the way from Ku Gompo [emoji1303]


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[Tony the Boney]

Thanks for doing this report Hardy and Chantal. Going to relive it through your RR  :thumleft:

 

[chicco]

:sip:

 

[wooly bugger]

:sip: :sip:  :sip:

 

[ClemS]

:ricky:

 

[m0lt3n]

Normally I dont think twice to subscribe to a thread


normally threads wont have me making so many plans!


subscribed!

 

[Oubones]

Normally I dont think twice to subscribe to a thread


normally threads wont have me making so many plans!


subscribed!

Pick a date and go :thumleft:
I remember the months before going on my trip. nice to be so excited about something and then it exceeded all my expectations!

 

[SOS]

This is definitely going to be an epic trip, bunch of solid characters.
Namibia after the rain, can you imagine.

 

[Hardy de Kock]

Managing expectations and putting a group together

I always have interviews with the clients prior to a booking being made. I do this to manage expectations. I have had interested riders referring to “stages” instead of days and that usually tells me that this is not the tour for them. On this tour the guests will stop 20 times a day to take pictures and they will come to understand why this place is so special and so sacred. No point in speeding past all the beautiful places only to have nothing to contribute that evening around the campfire when everyone tells the stories of their day in the saddle.

I also try and make up the groups with people who have the same interests. In the case of the May group it would be riding, drinking and having as much fun as possible. (Not in a specific order)

I know Martin and Brian will be up to no good as soon as we land in Windhoek. It is a given.
I know that Johan Harmse will double check his bike  - with a powerful quietness that is true to him.
I also know that the Father and son combo of the two Daan’s will miss their brother and son who unfortunately could not make it.
Hein will offer a helping hand with everything the staff do in final preparation, before we leave.
Peter Frueholz will definitely make sure no one goes thirsty. It is a job he does with youthful exuberance and unbelievable commitment.
This group were made for each other.

I am looking forward to work with Annemien – I have endless respect for her, for what she did on the Honda Quest and I know that she will love Northern Namibia. I was worried about the vacuum Gene’ left when she resigned from the company in June last year to get married, but the team has pulled together and collectively pulled of great work.
Working with Oubones is like working with an old Lister engine. You know that it will carry on forever. Jeez this guy has a work ethic that will make younger men blush.
See to it that he has a coffee every now and then and feed him properly, and he will graft you to a standstill. In some way I believe Hennie and the Unimog were made for each other. They have the same qualities.
Chantal is my other half in every sense of the word. It is sometimes difficult to work for me – as I like things to be done in a certain way. Chantal and Oubones seems to have a grip on my expectations and they do an excellent job of making the clients enjoy their trip hassle free. I believe Annemien will fit right in.

Man I can’t wait for May

 

[SOS]

Crazy what happens behind the scenes.

I for one really appreciate what Specialised adventures does to make this happen.
All we need to do is get our "sports pass", prep bikes, drop kit with bikes off with Specialised team.

We get on the plane, land and ride. No worries, but just have to live in the moment. with peace of mind that they have our backs.
 

 

[Lem]

for one day when I can spend a few bucks on myself again ...this RR will keep that dream alive  :deal:

 

[Hardy de Kock]

Our weapons of choice – The unsung heroes of our team

Iveco

For many years I have used an Iveco Daily 4x4 D/C as our logistics vehicle. With a few modifications that Iveco International never bothered to fix, it is one of the best vehicles you can ever have for this kind of job. The only problem with the Iveco was the fact that the luggage compartment was a little too small for our requirements. We had to have a D/C because we removed the rear seats and replaced it with a tray that carried two big fridges. This unfortunately meant that we sacrificed the extra load length at the back.
I believe in selling vehicles when they are still very good and the Iveco went to a good friend of mine in Gauteng.  Oubones did not answer my calls for three weeks after I sold it. He loved it as much as I did.

Unimog

I bought the 2018 Unimog U4000 about a year before I sold the Iveco because I wanted to see if it works for us. It is a massive and immensely strong piece of machinery and it also turned out to be exactly what we needed. We have added the mods we wanted and it had its first proper tour in July 2019 when we did the film production for the new Africa Twin in Southern and Central Namibia. It is of course heavier on fuel but it makes up for it in so many other areas. Hennie initially accepted the replacement reluctantly, but have since fallen in love with it and you will not separate him from that truck with anything. My office has now accepted that Hennie has taken over the ownership of Oupoot. It will soon go in for its big annual service and a service bill just north of 40k awaits me. After that it will get new tyres (20k each x 4 = 80k) Yeah, it hurts

Buksie and Basjan

Many people have asked me why I use the V8 diesel Cruisers instead of the petrol V6. These bakkies have to tow 3500 kg trailers loaded with 8 bikes each to Usakos, and from there they have to crawl their way through places like Van Zyl’s Pass where your average speed in a car is less than 5kph.
The V8’s torque just makes all of this a lot easier and they have never let me down. In my opinion there is no real significant difference between the three different Land Cruiser model’s fuel consumption.
These bakkies get serviced (filters, oil, hub re-packing etc) every 10000 km, but I service the oil and oil filters every 5000.
Both the bakkies will also get new shoes after their service – 8 x 3800 = 30k (and it hurts again)

Asterix and Obelix

These two trailers were specifically built for our purposes and has served us well. There is just no way to do the job we do without trusted trailers that can carry at least eight big adventure bikes.
We keep the vehicles in excellent condition and I am fortunate to say that the staff treats it as if it belongs to them.
Imagine the F-UP if these vehicles break down in the middle of a trip. Nightmare…

Himba

I have tried many bikes and have found that the Honda XR650L does the work I need it to do. These XR’s do not let you down if you take care of them and they are very affordable compared to new bike prices today. I can honestly recommend them to anyone looking for a bike to go into the Northern Namibia.

 

[Chantal Burger]

For those of you who were wondering about the names..

Hardy treats his vehicles, like he treats his animals, and therefore, every vehicle gets a name.

Each vehicle & trailer has a file. It contains all documentation pertaining to the vehicle. Service history, cross border documents, modifications, registration documents, license interval reminders,  etc. [Yes, he is really that pedantic]


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