Inventor I
- 13,232
- First Name
- Bjoern
- Last Name
- Eldracher
- Member #
-
20111
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- DO3BE
Southern Africa years ago
Today I went a bit through a hard drive and found a report I wrote mny many years ago about my trip through southern Africa long time ago and that I would like to share with you guys here.
So lean back and I'll let my thoughts wander back more than a decade and take you virtually on this journey…
On a grey dark November day it came to my mind that soon my 30th birthday will take place. Immediately, I began to think about a great overlanding trip to come.
But where to go? My mind started to wander around the globe. Somewhere in Europe – no, have visited nearly every country in the last years, this time it should be something special. A trip through North America would be great – no, not in winter as the northern part will be a no go by adventure bike in winter. Eastern part of Europe to Asia? No, same reason.
What about Africa? Africa? Yes, Southern Africa! I started searching for travel reports from Southern Africa and while reading and reading I thought more and more that this is a perfect spot to ride and to escape from the murky middeleuropean wintertime. After a little bit of more research I decided to took my own bike to Southern Africa is too much effort for only a few feeks. So I searched for a good tour operator down there and found one.
It was a Sunday in early November and one of these rare great sunny winterdays and therefore a perfect day to set off for a great trip.
9pm at check-in counter at the airport: “Sorry Sir, the plane has a technical problem and therefore takeoff is delayed to 0:30am.” I kept relaxed, went back to the bar for some more beers. At this time I was not knowing the worse is yet to come. At the end the problem was bigger and the repair of the aircraft will take more time than expected. So I had to spend a night at the airport hotel. No worries, there was a bar inside. Let´s have another cold one…
To keep a long story short I boarded next morning, flew to Windhoek (Namibia), had to stay there another night as the connecting flight was already on the way. Finally, reached Capetown next day noon. But who can state having celebrated one´s birthday in two great countries of Southern Africa.
Capetown – what an interesting and great place!
I quickly checked in at the hotel near the seaside and organised a car to the Table Mountain. This is an awesome place. The main feature of Table Mountain is the plateau of approximately 3 kilometres from side to side – great. Visitors can either walk or take the cable car to the top. I preferred the cable car as it was already afternoon and a walk will take quite a long time.
The next two days were reservated for sightseeing in Capetown. I visited of course the Waterfront, the great Aquarium and took a bus tour around.
Finally, we checked the bikes and hit the tar road to the Cape of Good Hope – obligatory for a trip through South Africa. Saw many Ostriches and Baboons along the road. The cape itself is very busy and lots of tourists hanging around there of course. So we were off again soon.
Destination for today was Hermanus. Luckily the whales were still there – amazing animals.
Instead of waiting hours to get a good pic of a jumping whale I sneaked into the bar. This idea was not too bad as it was possible to watch these huge animals while having a tasty beer.
Next day we rode to the Cape Agulhas – the most southern tip of Africa. Cape Agulhas is the dividing point between the Indian and Atlantic Ocean.
I stopped in the little village nearby the cape to have some beautiful calamari for lunch. After lunch I found myself on the road again in east-north direction and finally reached the first gravel roads. Along the road: Snakes, Antelopes and Ostriches. Turning the bike in western direction again we reached Stellenbosch in the evening. Stellenbosch is located in one of the main wine growing regions in South Africa. So you can imagine the end of the evening…
From Stellenbosch we took direction north and travelled over gravel roads through the Ceder Mountains. This day was with approximately 45 degrees celsius one of the warmest of the trip. Good to have clothing that is easy to ventilate. Fortunately, we our destination for today already early in the afternoon and were able to cool down our bodies with one or more beers…
[
Next dax we took some gravel roads to the access of the 4x4 track to Wupperthal. This was one of the greatest tracks on this trip – washouts, deep sand, watercrossings, etc.
We filled up our Camelbags and continued north. We rode nearly 500 kilometers over gravel, sand and only less tar roads this day. Temperatures rased again and the trip was exhausting.
Finally we reached our destination for today near the diamond areas. For dinner we had everything you need after a day on dusty roads: oysters, crayfish, klipfish and other seafood and of course – some beers.
We also knocked down some of the famous „Haakiesdraat”- snaps. You can easily identify this liquor as the bottle is wired with a piece of barbwire. If I remember correctly, this liquor is made from Amarula-fruits, Lychees, Pineapples or Peaches and has minimum 50% alc. – great after a long day of riding…
The other morning temperatures have dropped signifcnatly and a bit rainy. First kilometres were terrible farm-road with deep washouts and rocks. The following kilometres were not better as the road was pure washboard due to the huge trucks of the mines around there. To make matters worse it began to rain. The rain, sand and dust on my visor created an obscure coat disabling me to see the bad road – so full throttle to bring that behind me…
After alast fuel stop we reached the border at the Oranje. Border proceedings were very quick and we reached Namiba! Stayed near the Oranje this night. Next day we followed the Fish River Canyon – another great place in the world you must have seen!
Form now the road turns into a gravel road again until reaching til Roch Pina. Roch Pina was something like a “boom town” due to the zinc-mines there.
A good place to fill up again before driving (too many) boring kilometres straight on tar roads to famous Luederitz.
The town was founded in 1883 when Heinrich Vogelsang purchased the land from a local chief and on behalf of Adolf Luederitz, a hanseat from Bremen in Germany. Downtown Luederitz it seems to me that time has stopped in the 19th/ early 20th century.
Just outside of Luederitz lies the ghost town of Kolmanskoop.
This previously booming diamond town is now abandoned, and fights a constant struggle against being buried under the shifting sand dunes of the Namib desert.
Visiting this town it seems not to be a ghost town – it is a tourist town. But it is very interesting to see how the people lived there and how they have organised the essential things for live like fresh water, ice and food in these days.
On the later way up north we reached a little village called Helmeringshausen. Helemeringshausen was founded by a German and when we reached it we did not find more than a fuel station, a supermarket, hotel and some small houses in the african outback. Good place for a stopover and filling up with fuel again.
Temperatures were picking up more and more the nearer we came to Sossuslvlei in the central Namib Desert. Fortunately, we had a pool and a nice bar in the Lodge were we stay that night.
The Namib desert – again a great place! The Namib desert thought to be earth’s oldest desert.
Leaving the desert in north-eastern direction we travelled via Solitaire and stopped on the top of two great passes with a spectacular view over the whole desert.
A last fuelstop and we reached Windhoek – the destination of the ride from Capetown to Windhoek.
In Windhoek I packed all my bits and pieces together to rent a car the next morning. This funny thing, a Toyota Condor was my base for the next weeks.
Sitting in the car needs getting used for after such a great bike-trip but it was not so bad to sit in a car with air-condition while driving nearly 600km boring tar roads and 45 degrees Celsius northwards. Maybe this was the initial start of a thinking process until I decided to move from adventure bike to a 4x4 rig for overlanding.
My destination now was the “Etosha Pan” in order to see some wild animals.
Travelling further on through the Damara Land and over the Grootberg Pass I saw incredible places.
On the way to Swakopmund I visited a vulcanic burned mountain – awesome how powerful the nature is. Many people in Swakopmund speak still German and streets and buildings looks very german. – strange feeling to walk through these streets.
I wanted to see the desert again and travelled via Walfish Bay back into the Namib desert to Sossusvlei.
Here in the Namib Naukluft Parc you find the tallest dunes in the world. In some places the dunes rising more than 300 meters! Fantastic! In Sossusvlei I took a flight with a balloon! Fantastic! Just wonderful to see the dunes from the top!
From Sossusvlei I took some more gravel roads back to Windhoek and took the plane back on the next day. Early in the morning home welcomed me with a cold, dark winter day.
During these weeks I got to know South Africa and Namibia as great places for travelling. I will come back one day! I guess many things have changed the last years and not everything will be like I have xperienced and seen it. One of my dreams is still to take my rig onto a Transafrica Trip. Let´s see how the worldwide situation evolves in the next months and when this wold be possible. Never stop dreaming and do what you love to do!
I hope you enjoyed this little virtual overlanding trip.
Cheers, Bjoern
Today I went a bit through a hard drive and found a report I wrote mny many years ago about my trip through southern Africa long time ago and that I would like to share with you guys here.
So lean back and I'll let my thoughts wander back more than a decade and take you virtually on this journey…
On a grey dark November day it came to my mind that soon my 30th birthday will take place. Immediately, I began to think about a great overlanding trip to come.
But where to go? My mind started to wander around the globe. Somewhere in Europe – no, have visited nearly every country in the last years, this time it should be something special. A trip through North America would be great – no, not in winter as the northern part will be a no go by adventure bike in winter. Eastern part of Europe to Asia? No, same reason.
What about Africa? Africa? Yes, Southern Africa! I started searching for travel reports from Southern Africa and while reading and reading I thought more and more that this is a perfect spot to ride and to escape from the murky middeleuropean wintertime. After a little bit of more research I decided to took my own bike to Southern Africa is too much effort for only a few feeks. So I searched for a good tour operator down there and found one.
It was a Sunday in early November and one of these rare great sunny winterdays and therefore a perfect day to set off for a great trip.
9pm at check-in counter at the airport: “Sorry Sir, the plane has a technical problem and therefore takeoff is delayed to 0:30am.” I kept relaxed, went back to the bar for some more beers. At this time I was not knowing the worse is yet to come. At the end the problem was bigger and the repair of the aircraft will take more time than expected. So I had to spend a night at the airport hotel. No worries, there was a bar inside. Let´s have another cold one…
To keep a long story short I boarded next morning, flew to Windhoek (Namibia), had to stay there another night as the connecting flight was already on the way. Finally, reached Capetown next day noon. But who can state having celebrated one´s birthday in two great countries of Southern Africa.
Capetown – what an interesting and great place!
I quickly checked in at the hotel near the seaside and organised a car to the Table Mountain. This is an awesome place. The main feature of Table Mountain is the plateau of approximately 3 kilometres from side to side – great. Visitors can either walk or take the cable car to the top. I preferred the cable car as it was already afternoon and a walk will take quite a long time.
The next two days were reservated for sightseeing in Capetown. I visited of course the Waterfront, the great Aquarium and took a bus tour around.
Finally, we checked the bikes and hit the tar road to the Cape of Good Hope – obligatory for a trip through South Africa. Saw many Ostriches and Baboons along the road. The cape itself is very busy and lots of tourists hanging around there of course. So we were off again soon.
Destination for today was Hermanus. Luckily the whales were still there – amazing animals.
Instead of waiting hours to get a good pic of a jumping whale I sneaked into the bar. This idea was not too bad as it was possible to watch these huge animals while having a tasty beer.
Next day we rode to the Cape Agulhas – the most southern tip of Africa. Cape Agulhas is the dividing point between the Indian and Atlantic Ocean.
I stopped in the little village nearby the cape to have some beautiful calamari for lunch. After lunch I found myself on the road again in east-north direction and finally reached the first gravel roads. Along the road: Snakes, Antelopes and Ostriches. Turning the bike in western direction again we reached Stellenbosch in the evening. Stellenbosch is located in one of the main wine growing regions in South Africa. So you can imagine the end of the evening…
From Stellenbosch we took direction north and travelled over gravel roads through the Ceder Mountains. This day was with approximately 45 degrees celsius one of the warmest of the trip. Good to have clothing that is easy to ventilate. Fortunately, we our destination for today already early in the afternoon and were able to cool down our bodies with one or more beers…
[
Next dax we took some gravel roads to the access of the 4x4 track to Wupperthal. This was one of the greatest tracks on this trip – washouts, deep sand, watercrossings, etc.
We filled up our Camelbags and continued north. We rode nearly 500 kilometers over gravel, sand and only less tar roads this day. Temperatures rased again and the trip was exhausting.
Finally we reached our destination for today near the diamond areas. For dinner we had everything you need after a day on dusty roads: oysters, crayfish, klipfish and other seafood and of course – some beers.
We also knocked down some of the famous „Haakiesdraat”- snaps. You can easily identify this liquor as the bottle is wired with a piece of barbwire. If I remember correctly, this liquor is made from Amarula-fruits, Lychees, Pineapples or Peaches and has minimum 50% alc. – great after a long day of riding…
The other morning temperatures have dropped signifcnatly and a bit rainy. First kilometres were terrible farm-road with deep washouts and rocks. The following kilometres were not better as the road was pure washboard due to the huge trucks of the mines around there. To make matters worse it began to rain. The rain, sand and dust on my visor created an obscure coat disabling me to see the bad road – so full throttle to bring that behind me…
After alast fuel stop we reached the border at the Oranje. Border proceedings were very quick and we reached Namiba! Stayed near the Oranje this night. Next day we followed the Fish River Canyon – another great place in the world you must have seen!
Form now the road turns into a gravel road again until reaching til Roch Pina. Roch Pina was something like a “boom town” due to the zinc-mines there.
A good place to fill up again before driving (too many) boring kilometres straight on tar roads to famous Luederitz.
The town was founded in 1883 when Heinrich Vogelsang purchased the land from a local chief and on behalf of Adolf Luederitz, a hanseat from Bremen in Germany. Downtown Luederitz it seems to me that time has stopped in the 19th/ early 20th century.
Just outside of Luederitz lies the ghost town of Kolmanskoop.
This previously booming diamond town is now abandoned, and fights a constant struggle against being buried under the shifting sand dunes of the Namib desert.
Visiting this town it seems not to be a ghost town – it is a tourist town. But it is very interesting to see how the people lived there and how they have organised the essential things for live like fresh water, ice and food in these days.
On the later way up north we reached a little village called Helmeringshausen. Helemeringshausen was founded by a German and when we reached it we did not find more than a fuel station, a supermarket, hotel and some small houses in the african outback. Good place for a stopover and filling up with fuel again.
Temperatures were picking up more and more the nearer we came to Sossuslvlei in the central Namib Desert. Fortunately, we had a pool and a nice bar in the Lodge were we stay that night.
The Namib desert – again a great place! The Namib desert thought to be earth’s oldest desert.
Leaving the desert in north-eastern direction we travelled via Solitaire and stopped on the top of two great passes with a spectacular view over the whole desert.
A last fuelstop and we reached Windhoek – the destination of the ride from Capetown to Windhoek.
In Windhoek I packed all my bits and pieces together to rent a car the next morning. This funny thing, a Toyota Condor was my base for the next weeks.
Sitting in the car needs getting used for after such a great bike-trip but it was not so bad to sit in a car with air-condition while driving nearly 600km boring tar roads and 45 degrees Celsius northwards. Maybe this was the initial start of a thinking process until I decided to move from adventure bike to a 4x4 rig for overlanding.
My destination now was the “Etosha Pan” in order to see some wild animals.
Travelling further on through the Damara Land and over the Grootberg Pass I saw incredible places.
On the way to Swakopmund I visited a vulcanic burned mountain – awesome how powerful the nature is. Many people in Swakopmund speak still German and streets and buildings looks very german. – strange feeling to walk through these streets.
I wanted to see the desert again and travelled via Walfish Bay back into the Namib desert to Sossusvlei.
Here in the Namib Naukluft Parc you find the tallest dunes in the world. In some places the dunes rising more than 300 meters! Fantastic! In Sossusvlei I took a flight with a balloon! Fantastic! Just wonderful to see the dunes from the top!
From Sossusvlei I took some more gravel roads back to Windhoek and took the plane back on the next day. Early in the morning home welcomed me with a cold, dark winter day.
During these weeks I got to know South Africa and Namibia as great places for travelling. I will come back one day! I guess many things have changed the last years and not everything will be like I have xperienced and seen it. One of my dreams is still to take my rig onto a Transafrica Trip. Let´s see how the worldwide situation evolves in the next months and when this wold be possible. Never stop dreaming and do what you love to do!
I hope you enjoyed this little virtual overlanding trip.
Cheers, Bjoern
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