Wild goose chase – but worth it!

What a ride! Whoa! Our seemingly “easy and relaxed” day took a turn for the worst when we tried to find a piece of grass to pitch our tent for this 4th day on Crossing Africa… Mariental accommodation we found out a bit too late does not come in abundance. After sorting our IT stuff at the Wimpy we were very impressed to have reached our destination at 15h00 in the afternoon – so much time to spare! So much, that we got picky when deciding where to stay the night. The River Chalets and Camp site looked a bit dreary and we were craving a nice piece of grass and a tree! To much to ask? So we were clever and checked our GPS and decided to push forward for another 17 km to the Hardap dam. As we arrived there all ready to relax we found out the place was closed down for renovations…

The gate keeper did not sound too worried and sent us back in the direction of Stampriet (only!) 20km further. Now, I must say we have learnt the hard way that a Namibian’s 20km is NOT a South African’s 20km, plus they have no idea how far 20km can be on a 200cc bike. Eventually we reached Kalahari Anib Lodge an hour later. The gate keeper said camping was full, but he will make a call to see what he can do… We explained that we only need a tiny place to park… He then came back to us with the green light – there is space after all!

The 3km gravel road to the lodge was a bit sandy and we were VERY excited once we made it to the lodge. We even received a welcome drink and things were looking good! But alas once inside reception we found out that there was actually NO camping, but that we were welcome to take a room at R600 each! Eish now that was not good news and we were not impressed… I am sure they took one good look at us and decided that these dodgy bikers will not gel in well with their guests as it was quite a larny setup (with the welcome drinks and all).

They referred us to the next best camping site that was just around the (Namibian!) corner – apparently only 10km with a bit of gravel road. So there we went again all the way back…

After 25 km of gravel road and another hour passing we finally reached the gates of Bagatelle lodge and once again we were happy. However, the worst was yet to come as we striked the first thick sand patch that turned out to last for another three kilometers, took me down once, took Francois down twice and had me say all the bad words in the alphabet I knew. The best I could master was a drunken swaying up the road criss crossing all over the show for more than half an hour.

But, alas good things come to those who suffer (adapted a little bit!) and minutes within arriving we were sitting next to the pool at this amazingly beautiful lodge with a gin and tonic and beer with some good company!

Tomorrow is another day and will think about the trip out again then! We will be aiming for Windhoek tomorrow afternoon to meet with journalist Francoise from Die Republikein to chat about our trip.

We were also super excited to read the write up on our trip on www.motoring.co.za by Dave Abrahams. See the review here: Crossing Africa – on 200cc cruisers! Thanks again to Dave for taking the time to meet up with us on an early morning at Killarney a few days ago – much appreciated!