The Ride to Kang, Botswana…

I had spent the previous day, updating my blog, riding into Windhoek to look for a spare cable to charge my computer with (the one I am using is getting VERY hot…),visiting BMW to chat about a little problem which had developed with my back shock absorber, and keeping Liesel and Etienne’s dogs and cats occupied…. Or rather, they kept ME occupied!! Their three Dachshunds, their Boxer, and two cats, clearly enjoy company, and they made good the

The Vermaak Family... The Extended Version... And wherever I went, the kids were sure to go...

opportunity to hover close to me, while Liesel and Etienne were at work. When I tickled the Boxer, the Dachsies howled, when I tickled the Dachsies, the Boxer barked… It was a busy time at the Gypsy Biker Tickling Parlour… One of their cats, a jet black Tom, took a shine to me, and hardly ever let me out of it’s sight… When I sat down to write, he jumped up onto the table and typed a few words of his own, (iM a GR8 Kat….) which spell check had some difficulty with… Liesel mentioned that at one stage they also had two sheep roaming about the house, who followed her around bleating “Mmmaaaaaaa…!!!” all the time. Complaints from the neighbors finally saw them sent to live on the farm….

Last night we went out to dinner with Etienne’s parents, who were visiting Windhoek from their farm outside of Windhoek. We had a great meal at Joe’s Beer Place, the same restaurant that Allan and I had enjoyed a meal at in 2008…

I can’t say enough about the kindness and the hospitality extended to me during my short stay, by Liesel and Etienne… I was made to feel at home from the moment I rode the Big Fella into their garage… Thanks a million Guys !! Etienne, if and when you get your GS, we will ride together on my return to Namibia !! And to Liesel… All the very best for the future… I look forward to seeing you both again, and hopefully one day I can return the favour…

By 7.30am I was loaded and ready to roll, and after a last cup of coffee with Etienne, I bid my newfound friends goodbye, and rode out of Windhoek on the B6, passing the Hosea Kutako International Airport, about 20 kms outside the capital city… Traffic was light, and I rumbled on through countryside which was in a much healthier state than that of Southern Namibia. Well tended fences were testimony to the cattle  industry which flourishes in the Eastern part of Namibia.

I crossed the Seeis River shortly before the town bearing the same name, and noticed the railway bridge that ran parallel to the B6. It was painted red, and had four, rounded metal arches under which the trains passed. It was one of those photo opportunities that I would miss, as I was riding directly into the rising sun, and would have had to turn back to take a half decent photo…

Gimme Fuel, Dude !!! (PS: Taking photos while doing 120 km/h is not a recommended pastime... Don't try this at home...!!)

I was running low on fuel, but had taken a gander at my maps and saw that petrol was available at Witvlei, 50 kms short of Gobabis… I would just make it, and adjusted my speed while I watched the figures dropping on my computer screen… Just before Witvlei, the reading showed “0”… Not a good number when it comes to available fuel and range…!!

Consternation at the Station...

I still managed to reach Witvlei a few kilometres later, riding at about 80 km/h, and praying hard !! Imagine my joy at arriving at the petrol station…and then imagine my consternation on discovering that there had not been a petrol pump there for the last four years !!!! UPDATE YOUR MAPS, PEOPLE !!!….. Luckily I had filled two of the four canisters I carried, when I passed through Garies in the Northern Cape…. Whew !!!

Witvlei and the D.I.Y. Pump Jockey... Bring your own fuel !!

I emptied the four litres into the Big Fella’s bone dry tank, amongst a growing crowd of bystanders… Well, you can understand their curiosity… They hadn’t seen petrol here for the past four years…!! I now had a minimum range of 60 kms, and muttering to myself, we thundered out of Witvlei and made the 50 km dash to Gobabis in only 20 minutes, crossing the White Nossob River, and burning almost all the fuel left in the tank.

I wanted to get to Gobabis as quickly as possible, as I had to find and internet cafe to see if I had a reply from Roger Smith at Auto Bavarian BMW in Pretoria… My rear shock was leaking oil and I

Gobabis... Not famous for it's sheep....

was sure that it had blown a seal. I had emailed Roger the day before, as well as Chris in Nairobi, to see if he could repair it there… In the mean time, my sister had been in touch with Roger, who agreed with BMW in Windhoek, that the best option was to get the shock to Pretoria to have it seen to… Chris in Nairobi replied that he could not repair the shock either, so it was a long ride back to Pretoria for us… I was less than amused, I can tell you !!

Internet Gobabis... A hit and miss affair...

I refueled (and filled my two spare canisters again !) and rode the 115 kms to Buitepos Border Post like a bat out of hell… Yeah, of course I had Meatloaf pumping through my earphones !! I crossed the Black Nossob River, which had a few pools of standing water left in it’s reed filled bed, remnants of the rain that had fallen here only a few days ago… The border was a breeze and I was quickly into Botswana, noticing the big sign on entering this

No Corruption in Botswana....?? You sure ??

the 5th country of my Tour… The Mamuno Customs charged me 120.00 Pula for the honour of riding on their roads, and then used 1.5 as an exchange rate, instead of the 1.2 they charged me everywhere else… Naughty, naughty…!!

I asked a truck driver at the border if there was fuel before Kang, my next stop in the centre of the Kalahari. He told me that there was, so I did not bother to fill up at the Charle’s Hill fuel stop, but bombed straight past, heading for the Ghanzi turn-off, where I expected to see a petrol station…

I get a serious case of the mutters... Not a petrol station in sight !!

Kang was my first option to stop on the 1500 km stretch to Pretoria, but I had hoped to make it as far as Jwaneng, if there was still enough light to ride by… When I got to the Ghanzi intersection, another bout of consternation was visited upon my person… Not a petrol station in sight, unless of course you could see 44 km up the road to Ghanzi, which just happened to be in the opposite direction in which I had to travel… AND, I had only a 38 km range left in the tank… There was much gnashing of teeth as I made my way sedately to Ghanzi, riding at 100 km/h to stretch the fuel, my plan to try for Jwaneng now blown to bits…

An hour and a half, and 90 kms later, I was back at the same intersection and rode the last 215 kms to Kang in double quick time, dodging livestock as I went…  With the sun setting behind me, I rode past Takatshwane, Lone Hill, Lokalane and Palamaloloi (which in the local language means “buggered if I know”…) and arrived in Kang at 6.00pm… I had been on the road for 10 hours, and was both hungry and thirsty, not to mention a little tired…

My spirits had been lifted however, by frequent sightings of raptors along this stretch of the Trans- Kgaligadi Highway… Goshawks, Kestrels, a Sparrowhawk, Yellow-billed Kites, and a Tawny Eagle, which sat on the road and flew up too close to me for comfort, it’s wings seemingly brushing the top of my helmet… I also saw the first of many Lilac-Breasted Rollers, birds which never cease to amaze me with their myriad of colours… Truly beautiful… I narrowly avoided riding over a large Egyptian Cobra, which reared up as I approached, where it had been lying sunning itself on the road… It’s head was level with my knee, as I jinked past it, hoping it wouldn’t strike at me as I passed…

My Log Cabin in Kang

I checked into the Kang Lodge, situated alongside the highway, and took the cheapest accommodation they had available… log cabins at R 250.00 a night !! I was too tired to pitch my tent, and the 800 kms I had covered today, had made me acutely aware of the bony backside I have been saddled with…!!

I refueled the bike in preparation for an early start, wolfed down two Russian sausages and a packets of chips, took a shower, and hit the sack… Dead to the world in minutes….

© GBWT 2010