Day 6: (…of sand dunes and gemsbok steaks)
Monday 4 September 2006
I visited the Namib-Naukluft Park office in Bismarck Street to obtain a permit for the Welwitchia and Moon Landscape drive but was informed that motorcycles were absolutely not allowed into the park. I could not accept this answer and requested to speak to the park manager. I got the distinct impression from him that all motorcycles are hated and that he would only let us in over his dead body. He was well aware of the differences between quads, MX and touring bikes but was adamant that we simply could not be trusted to behave ourselves. And even if we did, he would then have to make exceptions for other bikers as well.
Some hooligan must have screwed it up for the rest of us bikers - thanks.
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So we drove ourselves to Duin 7 outside Walvis and had a blast on the dunes. Kobus was the first to fall. He tried to summit the dune from the oasis side by riding straight up it, but it turned out trickier than we first imagined!
I had a bang of a crash when I jumped a seemingly small dune without first checking out the other side of it. It was a stupid mistake. As I cleared the crest I found myself flying off into the sunset.
The wind had hollowed out a 2meter vertical leeside and I flew for 8 or 9 meters before the front wheel touched down in the soft sand at a near 60degree angle. It was a thumping crash and I was flung unceremoniously over the handlebars and screen. On my way off the bike I unfortunately tore off a mirror and damaged the screen mount ings.
I was convinced the bike was damaged but once the others came to my aid and helped me stand the beemer up, I rode away from the scene without a problem.
It was only two days later when my shoulder began to hurt like hell and the bruises appeared.
We actually promised we wouldn’t say anything about this but a certain member of the group (I won’t mention his name) insisted and eventually convinced us to hire quadbikes.
I for one detest the things but ended up adding my hundred bucks to the pool so that we could rent 2 kwats for 45minutes.
GoogleEarth image of Dune 7
They weren’t as much fun as our own bikes and I actually felt less safe on them but at least I could ride these puppies hard without fear of screwing up my own bike any further.
I was also glad that Zanie could have some fun on the sand.
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After much fun on the dunes we headed into Walvis and visited the Ra ft restaurant to have overpriced calamari and ice cold Tafel lager.
That night Tannie Fien prepared baked Gemsbok steaks for us and they were lovely. We all stayed up late and decided to remain in Swakop for one additional day.
Route of the Day - Click on the GoogleEarth image for an enlarged view