We left Lüderitz early enough as we had a lot of kilometres to cover and most of it on gravel roads. About 5km before Aus Christoff pulled off the road saying it was time for coffee. We had nothing with us that morning to make coffee and I suggested we head into Aus, but they said the wanted to wait for the caravan. When the caravan and trailer eventually arrived, I found out Stoof ran out of petrol again. They thought the look on my face was worth not telling me.   

  Apparently Aus was slightly further away than he calculated Stoof could run without a refill. 

At the turn off to Helmeringhausen the scrambler came off the trailer and Hannes was all smiles again. Even Kobus took it for a slight spin up the road and back. The rest of the party left us whilst we got ready. About 5km’s down the road we hit sand which is not my favourite surface to ride. We were travelling at about 90km p/h when my bike started snaking across the sand and I could not pull it straight again. The end result was that I bought a piece of Namibian gravel road, cosmetic damage to my bike, a blue butt and a bruised ego. Thank goodness nothing serious happened. But for a while after that I took it easy and the adrenaline was pumping.  Yet another piece of thick sand where I somewhat ungratefully duck walked the bike through and then the road became better and we could maintain a nice speed.

At some point in the afternoon the scrambler got a flat front wheel and had to be loaded on the trailer. Hannes again rode pillion  with Christoff. We decided to skip Duwiseb castle as it was getting late and took the road to A Little Sossus which was about 90km away. By then it started getting dark and dark in the dessert before the moon rises is dark. (Full moon was a couple of days ago). I asked Christoff to ride my bike and I rode pillion. I never think riding at night is a good idea, but seeing road signs warning of wild antelopes, giraffes, wind and sand in the desert is in my opinion never a good combination. We saw Eland at the side of the road at some point.

We got to A Little Sossus all in one piece and were allocated site 8. What an amazing campsite. It’s like a massive barn with two bathrooms on either side and a kitchen in the middle and open to the front and the veld. We pitched the three tents against both walls and the caravan on the outside. About 100m from the site was a salt licking spot and we had Springbok the first night and small Buffaloes the second night. Living in a city we tend to forget how beautiful the night sky is and the Milky Way was breathtaking. The silence and wide open spaces is what sticks in my head when I think of this country. We had two “donkeys” that are used to heat the water and a warm shower was well deserved.

Kobus had to do another round of vacuuming of the caravan due to the one window not sealing properly and the Namibian dust seeps into every opening. The caravan was covered in a thin layer of dust. This  was the second time he had to do this after Ais Ais. After a great dinner the camp settled down.

The next day we headed to Sossus vlei. As we were not allowed to enter the park with our bikes the three bikers took Kobus’s bakkie whilst the rest went with Ockert in his Landrover Discovery. The 65km’s in the park to Sossus vlei is the only piece of tarred road we’ve seen since leaving Aus. A cold beer and a slow drive made the trip seem shorter. From the end of the tarred road it’s another 5km’s to Sossus vlei and one can only attempt it with a 4×4 vehicle. The sand is thick powder and I was glad I did not have to ride that on my bike. Ockert took the other six first and then returned to fetch us. We walked about 100m down the sandy road and decided it’s a bad idea to walk the 5km’s. Two German girls started walking down the road with two bottles of 350ml water, short sleeves and no hats. On our outward bound trip we found them about 1,5km’s down the road and gave them a lift. It turns out both of them are interns in South Africa doing a trip at the end of their internship through Namibia. I seem to have a knack running into German interns.

     The pictures I’ve seen of Sossus vlei does not do nature justice. Dead trees surrounded by massive dunes on three sides is an amazing sight to behold. Off course the brothers convinced me to climb the highest dune from the most difficult angle. Climbing in loose sand up a massive dunes at midday on a winters day is tougher than one of the WOD’s I’ve had to perform. Dry desert air, 25°C and a dune to conquer. We had enough water and the view from the top was worth it.  

 We met the two German girls on top of the dune and still no hats and a little bit of water. We ran into them at Sesriem later and it was good to see they were ok. On the way back to the parking area we passed at least three vehicle stuck in the sand. A Unimorg was busy doing the rescue so we drive on. At the parking area the gas braai with Christoff as chef served a very late brunch. Somehow the mossies in the tree above us kept on finding Hannes and made their deposits first on his plate and then on his shirt. Somehow the road back to the entrance gate seemed much longer than on the way in. We stopped at Sesriem and walked a bit down the canyon. If one didn’t know about it one would drive right past this little canyon with all the beautiful round river stones.

Back at the camp we did chain maintenance on the bikes and checked that all nuts and bolts were still tight. Then it was another awesome braai and a nice chat round the campfire. The next day we had to hit the road towards Hentiesbaai via Walvisbaai. Another long day lay head of us with a minimum of 200km’s of gravel road. Little did we know what the next day would bring us.

Bis Bald