13 to 19 March 2010 (Day 14-20) – Steinkopf to Vioolsdrif – Entering Namibia
We had the most awesome day cycling from Steinkopf to Vioolsdrif, apart from the first 10 km it was all downhill with a tailwind. Approaching Vioolsdrif the landscape became harsher the closer we came to Namibia. The most salient feature is the rocky hills, it is as if God just dumped piles and piles of rocks on each other billions of year ago to face the elements, providing a home and shelter for a small number of extreme forms of life, facing un uphill battle of survival against all odds. As noon approached these rocks get baked it the hot sun and as you pass them you can feel the heat radiating from them.
We made Vioolsdrif in good time, stopped at the shop to send some last e-mails and have a Coke when a young Englishman by the name of Rob Martineau arrived on his bike. He is cycle-touring from South Africa to Ethiopia and decided to join us until we reach Windhoek, where he will be going his own way again.
After we finished the necessary formalities at the border post we were in Namibia, it was a great feeling to cross our first border. We set up camp about 12 km from the border at a campsite called Felix Unite, a beautiful establishment on the banks of the Orange River where we decided to stay over for two nights.
From there we headed to Ai-Ais and had no idea what lay in store for us. We got on the road just before 5 am and only reached our destination at 7pm in the evening. It was our old nemesis – hills and headwinds – that kept us back and for good measure the sun was scorching and the last 85 km of our 133 km cycle was gravel road. The distance combined with all the other factors made this our toughest day on the road yet.
Once we got on the gravel we only saw five cars on the road during the ten hours we spent on the gravel. This part of the world is truly remote, with no place to refill our water bottles the whole way. Everybody told us all this about Namibia before we left, but this has to be seen to be believed. The landscape is hard and barren, but it has something special to it, a rare beauty that one will find on few other places on earth. By the time we reached our destination our bodies and bikes were in a bad state, some repairs being necessary on both man and machine.
From Ai-Ais we cycled to Hobas to see the Fish River Canyon, a great sight it must be said. After we saw the canyon we pushed on and that evening we made camp at the Caon Roadhouse from where we left for Seeheim the next morning.
We reached Seeheim by noon, a rather strange place it must be said. The whole place consists of only the hotel, a grand old building in the middle of nowhere. After the heat of the day has passed we pushed on for a few more kilometers and then just made a camp in a dry river bed by the side of the road. It is great to camp like this, the only obvious thing we lacked was a nice shower, but the silence and star-filled sky more than made up for that.
This morning we headed to the town of Keetmanshoop, where we have to do some urgent repairs on two of the bikes, but it seems that we will not have much luck here, not to many cycling shops around in this neck of the woods…
Tomorrow we will continue and we plan to reach Mariental within two days, if only our bikes will last!
