Greetings once again, as we have now crossed over into Botswana, I thought I would leave you a few images that will highlight what we will remember Namibia for...
Firstly, the open spaces that go on forever... enough said...
Secondly, quad biking in Swakopmund! What a blast that was. You just ride over these majestic dunes and carve your own tracks. They go on forever and you become so disoriented with the sheer size of nothingness, a definite highlight for us both.
The almighty dunes of Sossusvlei! That is Karla on the horizon, this is coming down from Dune 49, so called as it it the 49th dune from where the dunes start and it is located 49km's from the camp.
Lastly, GRAVEL ROADS!!! Beautiful as the landscape that surrounds them is, by the time we left I had had enough. More specifically, "Sink Plate" (that is Afrikaans and does not read like a plate for your dinner, pronounced, "sunk plaata", or similar). They are not really an issue for big 4x4's but on a heavily loaded motorcycle they are bone jarring monsters that had me cursing non stop. I longed for bitumen daily and my wife knew all about it...
In summary, we had high expectations for Namibia and it didn't disappoint. The open spaces and sheer nothingness were astounding and the silence was at times overwhelming. I still don't know where all the people in the south of the country are however, days on end and not a soul in sight.
Here is a few shots of some interesting people that we have met thus far on our trip. Firstly, these two Germans had ridden 10000km's in six weeks. They flagged us down in need of a pump. They bought these Chinese motorcycles in North West Africa and were limited to 80 - 100kmh. They were a tad crazy we thought, still legends for sure!
This is Andrew out hot air balloon pilot, he is training to become a commercial pilot and gave us a very memorable flight over the Kalahari.
This is Tondo, he was our quad biking guide for our trip into the dunes in Swakopmund. Hilariously, a short way into our trip, Karla got bogged on one of the steep dunes. Tondo didn't appear to be too impressed and went to her aid. He told her to get off the bike and then said to her, "You can walk...". Those that know Karla will know that that is like saying, "Noone puts baby in the corner". When she got her hands back on the bike at the top of the dune she snatched it back from him and rode like a demon for the rest of the day. Seriously, Tondo and I had Yamaha Raptors, zinging little racey quad bikes, she stayed with us on her 125 automatic beasty and did all of the dunes just as we did. Legendary...
This is Herero lady that we met on the road in a place called Ugab.
And finally, we met these two chaps just before we left Namibia and crossed the border. They had the same bikes as we do, they had done 20000km's, all the way from Austria! They had not had one puncture and not one problem with either bike. We shared stories and it was a shame that we were headed in opposite directions, would have been great to continue the yarns over some cold sundowners in the bush. I have included two photos, one to show them and the other to show the psycho local that walked over to us all on the side of the road with a jug of some hallucinogenic liquid and jumped on of these boy's bikes! He wanted a photo of him on the bike, I thought for sure that he was going to do something really stupid. He was so blasted, his eyes were pointing in different directions and for sure if he decided that today was a good day for a ride, it was all going to end badly!
In closing for now, we have been on the road for a month. We are now well in the groove and are loving the fact that we are camping for six months straight. We love cooking strange concoctions on our little fuel stove, in rural areas tins of chakalaka and rice have become our staple diet. We have accepted that it is going to take us longer than we thought to traverse certain parts. We have accepted that being blocked up by huge ammounts of white carbs will be the go for quite some time yet. I have also accepted that when we hit civilised places Karla will run around and buy a basket load of fruit and veges in case we dont come across them again for a while. Most importantly,we've realised that this trip is about the journey itself, it's about being on the road, it's about packing and unpacking tent and equipment daily, it's about time to appreciate and reflect in the endless miles and to enjoy each others company. Each day, something happens that delays us or sends us towards somewhere where we didn't plan on being. We have accepted too, that it really doesn't matter what time we get up of a morning, as we always seem to hit the road right on 10 am. We have tried to disprove this theory several times already and have failed on each occasion, with always an interesting character to chat to, leaking air filter oil in a pannier or something we've forgotten in the bottom of our big bag right after we've packed and compressed it.
And you know, I am always reminded that I am living my dream. I don't need to try, it just happens. And each day I am eternally grateful...
Until whenever...
P and K xxx
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