As we headed into the last quarter of a busy touring season it was time for Michelle and I to welcome Richard, Graeme, Dave, Neil, William (Billy), Phil, Alan and Darren to Namibia.
Flying into Windhoek from the UK, this group of friends were taking on a 7-day adventure which would include riding through Damaraland, Swakopmund, the Namib-Nauklaft Park and Sossuvlei.
Day 1, we didn’t have to wait long for the Adventure – with an initial taste of the roads to come Rick made friends with the big Namibian sand verges on the road; fortunately, no harm was done to man or machine. A couple of kilometres further down the road Alan picked up a front tyre puncture – just to test firstly Michelle’s bike loading skills and secondly my puncture repair skills!
Fortunately, it was just on lunchtime so while the guys took a well-deserved break, we quickly swapped out the tube – good to go.
The last section of sand into our lodge was “interesting “but the guys did well, and the cold beer was a welcome treat to a great first day.
Day 2 was supposed to be an easy out ride but will forever be etched in my mind as “Traumatic Tuesday". Around 100km into our out ride, I suddenly realized my tank bag was missing – I’ve never understood how riders can lose top cases or side panniers and not realize it, but I’d lost a tank bag right in front of me on the tank!!
The bag contained my wallet, passport and phone – an absolute disaster. I turned and raced back along my route, but this was a busy road, and I had little hope.
I was starting to feel a “little eggy", (a phrase coined over the years by these 8 mates), when Michelle received a call – a local good Samaritan had picked up the bag, taken the trouble to go through my wallet and called the numbers on my business card – I can’t quite describe the relief and gratitude I felt to that guy!
So, all good then – well no – the day wasn’t done yet. After all the celebrations my bike flat out refused to start - we tried everything and eventually towed it, and it started.
That then became the norm for the next day and a half – as payback for the flat Alan was the designated tow start – every time we stopped anywhere, he would need to tow me – bump starting a heavy GS on gravel was always fun, but we got pretty good at it.
Day 3 saw us arriving in Swakopmund – Dylan having been working furiously back home to source a battery, had managed to arrange one at a local Yamaha shop. That afternoon I fitted the new battery and voila the bike was good again.
After an overnight stay in Swakopmund and a delicious dinner at The Tug, the road to Sossusvlei was hot, corrugated and hard going at times but also scenic with the road through Kuiseb Canyon an absolute dream to ride.
A day off the bikes was welcome and the trip to Sossusvlei and Deadvlei was a big hit. Did we mention it was hot? 38 degrees was the general running temperature for that week!
The last days riding into Windhoek was through winding farms and a perfect end to the some-times challenging riding of the previous days.
Our rental trailer also lost its spare wheel to the unforgiving gravel corrugations.
These guys were so easy going, full of laughs and took everything in their stride – a fantastic bunch that we hope to host again in the future!
Thanks to Rick, Graeme, Alan, Dave, Phil (Moses), Neil (Nelly), Billy and Darren for choosing GS Adventures!
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