WildWood Kaokoland Recce - Sept 2015

[WildWood]

Besides the obviously awesome adventure riding the highlight for me was the people of Namibia and the Himba in particular . A genuine warmth and feel good attitude towards tourist. One or two guys tried an angle in the towns but the rural folks were fantastic.

At the turn to vanZyl's Pass I was ahead of the guys and lay under a tree waiting for the gang when I looked up and saw two burly blokes with pangas heading towards me. In SA I would have run for the hills but these really poor folks were so chilled I quickly relaxed and chatted with the guys.
Later two more panga weilding mates arrived. On arrival they threw the blades down beside me and we chewed the fat for about twenty minutes before they said cheers and headed back into who knows where.  Awesome. Here's a pic of the spot.

 

[JonW]

Awesome trip and great pics.

Well done.

 

[Rooi Wolf]

Baie mooi! Pragtige wêreld daai.

  . Ride your wheels to hard and you bounce like pogo, and let the pressure down and risk this. Pinch flats, we had few. To hard and gravity strikes hard. Thanx for the example Amsterdam.

I am intrigued: what tyre pressure did you run? And what's your take on too hard or too soft?

 

[adv]

Bucket list stuff boet.

 

[ExploreSA]

Wonderful!

Really enjoyed your report and made me longing to our similar (albeit with backup truck) when we rode 6 guys and one lady on GS/GSA's.

Remember me when you plan the next one. We may be able to provide the backup (with lady driver)

 

[Warren Ellwood]

Thank you, really awesome report.

The pictures almost tell the story on their own.

 

[m0lt3n]

bucket list updated!!

 

[Warren Ellwood]

And if I am going through your route correctly on T4A, there are more warnings about aggressive elephants than anything else on that piece of map.

And then a bit further on there are warning about lions on the map.

Don't think with my sand riding skills I would like to bump into either. I can only concentrate on one at a time  .

 

[WildWood]

Warren, I think the reason Jason & Attie pressed on through the night to get to Sesfontein was the thought that if there is fast food available (ie game) then the chances are good there are customers (ie lions) and sleeping out in a tent in the middle of nowhere isn't a great idea.

 

[WildWood]

Rooi Wolf, I normally run at about 1.5 for touring on the 690 (back & front) and 1.8 front and 2 rear on a 990. For this ride with the weight we had 2.0 was cool for the 690 and 2.5 on a 990.

 

[Snafu]

nice report!!!

 

[JAmBer]

... and 2.5 on a 990.

Lol, I was eventually up to 3.2 bar on my 990's front for the day after the Van Zyls stretch. The bit near orupembe is rocky; but by then the sand's behind you so you can run hard. Still managed to get 6 pinch flats on the one day on the front wheel from all the rocks that you hit... admittedly probably going too fast and slamming a few too hard. After I slowed down a bit, things were fine. I recommend lighter bikes in this sort of terrain.

 

[Buff]

Lekka report, thanks for sharing  :thumleft:

 

[Amsterdam]

Nice report, thanks.

 

[2StrokeDan]

Very nice report indeed.

Amsterdam, have you fully recovered?

 

[Amsterdam]

Amsterdam, have you fully recovered?

Getting better by the day.  The broken rib is taking a little bit of time.

 

[adv]

When is this "tour" starting  > > >

 

[[email protected]]

Bucket list x 100!

 

[2StrokeDan]

This particular route, and variations of it, is crucial for everyone on any form of D/S bike to do, at least once in your life. It is that good.

 

[HB 9]

A hard but beautiful area of Namibia - Great RR!  :thumleft:  :thumleft:  :thumleft:

Looking forward to the "real" trip  :deal: