Adventure Big Five ABF2601
After we met yesterday at a nice dinner, today we finally get on our motorcycles and off we go. First we ride along the west coast until we take one last look back at the Table Mountain and then turn inland. Here we meet green agricultural landscapes and small animal breeding farms until we finally reach the Afrikaans Languages Monument where we also have a coffee nearby. Even until lunch we drive through beautiful landscapes until we finally meet the long-awaited gravel section of the day after the lunch break. It is progressing rapidly and the technically demanding passage via the Middelberg Pass is also behind us much faster than we expected. But half as bad because the hotel provided an excellent dinner and a few cold drinks and so we fall in our pillows full of anticipation for tomorrow. Hopefully the wind will blow the dust of the day off our motorcycles overnight.
After we have already started a little bit about riding on gravel yesterday, today we start directly on a beautiful off-road track along a small lake. Afterwards we go down to the coast to drink coffee where we are also looking for whales but unfortunately have no luck. But we are here to ride motorcycle, so we continue directly to a next gravel track that leads us over 50 km back to the large main road. We quickly fill up our motorcycles and ride on to have a lunch in one of the numerous lodes on the side of the road. Now we have to do some distance to reach our end hotel of the day, trying to remove the dust from the gravel slopes through the wind, which unfortunately does not quite work out but is a lot of fun. At dinner we then look back to the experiences of the day and give a further outlook on tomorrow's day and the necessary information about it. But more of that tomorrow.
Today is the day. We leave South Africa and enter Namibia. After a short stretch through wonderful landscapes and the beginning of the desert, we reach the border where we leave the border procedure behind surprisingly quickly. After a short lunch near the border, we finally continue on gravel. We arrive in the area of the Fisch River Canyon and the landscape changes every half hour. Since it has recently rained, the diverse flowers of the desert are also shown, which only very rarely bloom. We are fascinated by the interesting off-road slopes and the beauty of nature. We could actually stay here longer but our trip will take us tomorrow to the next highlight. We are already looking forward to it.
Shortly after the colourful sunrise in the desert, we get back on our motorcycles. We continue on the gravel roads along the Fisch River Canyon and we drive over endless expanses. Finally, we reach the viewpoint of the second largest canyon on earth and are fascinated by the incredible sight. A short distance further we then take a coffee in a roadhouse before we finally rest again shortly before the Naute dam. Now follows the second highlight of the day, namely a water crossing below the dam. After we've washed the dust off our motorcycles a bit in this way, one more the other less, we continue our way to Keetmanshoop. But before we finally go to the hotel, we visit the Quever Tree Forrest and the Giants Playground where we look at unusual tree and rock formations. After an extensive dinner we fall happy and satisfied into our beds and are already looking forward to tomorrow's day.
Today's day has a slightly shorter distance that we have to cover, so we decide to sleep in a bit and start later. The route today leads us pretty straight through a steppe landscape and relatively quickly we reach Marienthal where we first have lunch. Today we have another surprise ready and we decide to go to the hotel a little earlier and do a game drive in the afternoon. This decision was the right one because we can sit comfortably in a car and look at the landscape and the animals in peace. After we have taken a sundowner in the bush on this little safari, we enjoy a little later dinner and fall happily and satisfied into our pillows. Tomorrow it will continue towards the Namib desert.
Today is a very special day, because we are not only moving from one city to another but also from one desert to another. It goes from the Kalahari desert into the Namib Naukluft. First we go on good asphalt roads to Malta Höhe where we then have a small snack in a typical Namibian German inn. From here the gravel roads start and on the next 150 km there is simply nothing. Right at the beginning of the gravel road we get a problem with one of the motorcycles and shortly before the end of the desert crossing a second bike has problems with a flat tire. But nothing can stop us from reaching our beautiful lodge in the Namib and after a wonderful sunset we still enjoy our food together before we lie down in bed, because tomorrow it will start very early.
Today we have a rest day. Of course, we use it to look at the incredible scenarios of the nearby Namib Desert. Already long before sunrise we start with a small breakfast and sit in the jeeps of the lodge to look at Sossusvlei and Deadvlei. Even the journey through the national park captivates us and we are amazed in front of the largest sand dunes in the world. After some photo stops we finally reach the highlight of the day and shoot many photos in the incredible landscape . A short walk through the dunes later we rested under one of the typical trees for this region and some are so motivated that they climb one of the adjacent dunes. Tired of all these activities, almost the whole troop falls asleep on the jeep on the way back. Now we still have the whole afternoon to enjoy our beautiful lodge and like yesterday after a beautiful sunset to enjoy a dinner from the dutch oven. Tomorrow we will continue to the coast.
A day like no other.
Today is another one of the days when we have to cover a certain distance. Nevertheless, after the efforts yesterday, we decide to leave a little later and start after a small breakfast in the direction of the capital Windhuk. Although it is mostly just going straight, we discover many interesting things to the left and right of the road that please our eyes. In the middle of the steppe landscape, termite hills suddenly begin to rise and sometimes it seems as if dozens of them have been planted on the fields. The famous Spitzkoppe mountain was also Impression as we passed it covered in fog. Finally, after a few shorter stops, we reach the capital Windhoek and meander through the traffic to our hotel. Tomorrow we continue heading east.
Today we go over the Trans Kalahari Highway to Botswana. We start in Windhoek at over 1800 m above sea level and in the early morning it is still a bit fresh. But after a short time it goes across the Kalahari and the endless vastness to the border where we get through relatively well after some bureaucratic effort. Arriving in Botswana, the landscape suddenly changes and we drive past countless herds of animals and red, green, white and yellow flowering trees. Although we have travelled a very long distance today, we will arrive at the hotel in time to relax a little before dinner. After dinner together, however, we realise the efforts of the day and quickly withdraw into our beds because tomorrow will be another exciting day.
Today we take it a little more leisurely, because we don't have a long way to travel. Nevertheless, we start early in the morning and take several small breaks and Photoshop. The highlight was undoubtedly one of the big baobab trees but also the rustic pub where we made our coffee stop. Around noon we already reach our hotel and after a small shower we take our lunch. The reason for this early arrival is our second highlight of the day, a helicopter flight over the Okavango Delta. We are picked up from the hotel and after a short check-in at the airport we fly over incredible landscapes and see the most diverse herds of animals. It was just an incredible experience with the helicopter and open doors flying through these vast plains. After we have landed full of impressions again we enjoy a dinner before we once again fall into bed exhausted. We are sure that tomorrow will be another exciting day.
Today is a rest day that we do not spend on the motorcycles. After a small delay we board our 4 × 4 vehicles and drive towards Okawango Delta. Even before we reach the park we discover the first elephants and as soon as we are within the boundaries of the park we see incredibly many different wild animals such as springbucks, zebras, wildebeest, various birds and as a highlight leopards and lions. We are simply fascinated by the diversity of the animal and plant world and make countless photos and videos. But even the ride in the open jeeps is an experience in itself. After some smaller stops in the middle of Zebra and Springbock herds and a small lunch near a water hole, we return over endless sand slopes to our hotel where we already decide plans for tomorrow. We look back on this day full of joy and are already looking forward to the next one.
After we had a very exhausting day at the safari yesterday, we are taking it a little slower today. We drive leisurely through the flat plains of Botswana towards Lake Ntwetwe and the largest salt pans in the world. Again and again we let our eyes wander to the left and right but unfortunately we have no luck to discover any more animals in the surrounding bushland. At lunch then we find a nice place under some ancient baobabs. After we have had our lunch cosy we drive on and reach the hotel in the early afternoon. However, some of us take the adventure again and we drive to a bird sanctuary where one of the salt pans is just filled with water, which is a very rare sight. The sand roads there also give us a lot of joy and after we have let off steam a bit we also return to the hotel. At dinner we are already trying to make preparations for the next few days and it pulls us into the feathers very early. Tomorrow it will continue towards the north.