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Cycle Tour 2025 - Western Europe and East/Southern Africa

Home Page > Bicycle Touring > Cycle Tour 2025: Western Europe and East/Southern Africa > Part 8




Part 8 - Africa: North-West Namibia

We left Epupa before sunrise and it was magnificent when it did! By that time we had the first 5 km under our belt and they were very steep. We rounded the other side of the hills and were in a flat plain, Himba huts to the right and left. Man, did they have the pick of the place! What a spot to live at the right time of day. Another welcome sight was a road sign denoting that a grader was at work! We came across his activity, a smooth section of road to the right and we rode on it for about 7 km. This road to Epupa is busier than the Cunene River road from Ruacana and all throughout the day convoys of 4x4's and other local vehicles passed us. Today was a day of climbing. We would climb 800 m vertically in 50 km of riding which is a decent amount on any surface. The road condition was much better than the Cunene road and it as clear that it had been recently graded, but it still had dips and sandy river bed crossings. We carried additional water as it would not serve us to get to the settlement on the road at 72 km as there was no campsite there and we would have to continue to wild camp. The views were amazing of many ranges of hills, really ancient looking. The country was for herding goats and cattle and we came across Himba men now and then doing just that. We chose to camp near a river bed and found a spot under shady trees which was good. We rode until after 15:00 and found the heat oppressive but we had plenty of water and also carried a bottle of Coke for the end of the day. The most delicious thing we have eaten since Eastgate Campgrounds pies are the bread rolls baked by the lady in Epupa. They are so good! Unfortunately there were many flies today but they disappeared at sunset. We did not get any campsite visitors which is a first for many nights of camping. It was really quiet here.


It was much cooler overnight and this morning which was very welcome. It was deadly quiet last night until some dogs began to bark far off but still noticeable. We had Okongwati with a shop in 10 km and set off at 07:15, bit later than we have been but we are feeling pretty tired. We arrived there at 08:00 and the shop opened just after. It sold tinned goods and staples like sugar, flour etc. Down the road was a bar where there was vetkoek. We had no food except some oats so bought a few tins, a Coke and packs of biscuits and then 40 vetkoek from the guy at the bar. It took a while for him to grasp that I was asking for so many but we had to eat it for tea, lunch and dinner today and tea and lunch tomorrow! The vetkoek was very fresh and crispy. We are becoming conneseurs of this African staple. Never had one in our lives until this trip! We picked up water at the communal tap, filling up a lot once again, but we would not have access to water again today or tomorrow until we reach Opuwo. We carry 19 L between us on days like this

We set off once again, we would not have as much climbing today and the road was pretty flat to start, with the steep climbs coming at the end of the day. We planned to ride 60 km again which is reasonable on this road. The road quality was pretty poor, possibly worse than yesterday, until we met up with our grader again where the Swartbooisdrif Road joins this one. Then we had a good surface for quite a while. We still had views of hills, but they got less and less impressive as the day went on. We were really in amongst them along the Cunene and yesterday. This is the first day though that the distant sky is not so hazy, it seems very clear compared to what it has been which was very murky.

We had our convoys of 4x4 vehicles passing us going to Opuwo in the morning and to Epupa in the afternoon. One stopped to chat to Mike in Okongwati, it was a group of Italians interested in our trip. One bloke took a photo of Mike and shook his hand! There were also many local utes on the road for work or ferrying crowds of Himba on the back. The 4x4 drivers rush passed and shower us with dust which takes a while to clear. We can't understand people driving in convoys as the only one who gets to see anything is the bloke in front. All anyone else sees is a cloud of dust. We often rode on the righthand side of the road as the surface was always better and sometimes stopped by the roadside for a few minutes to drink water or rest. We are surprised that only two vehicles since Ruacana have stopped to ask if we needed anything (we don't really) and they were the Dutch couple and the German bloke on the Cunene road. No Namibian or South African tourists in well-kitted out 4-wheel drives have even thought of stopping. We don't expect it of course, we are just surprised after cycling remote Central Australia where almost everyone would ask us or offer us something. One bloke on the Great Central Road begged me to take the litre of water he had spare. We did see two motorcycle tourists today which was a first!

Just before our planned end point we came across a small shop and they of course sold Coke so we got 2 L which we were very happy about! We still see many Himba on the road and shout "Nawa" which is hello. The women are very beautiful in their amazing outfits and hairdo's. They all seem happy to see us.


We had a couple of little kids passing by last night who went to collect water and then came back and were content to sit and watch us. We managed to have our shower when they were out of sight and then they were very interested in watching me take the bandage off my injured shin and put a new one on. The sat engrossed in morbid fascination. We are realising that as they see so few white people at close quarters, features on our bodies must stand out more. Like savage cuts on a leg must be so much more noticeable to them. Same as when we got into the Cunene River a couple of times, in our undies and vests, our tans are so distinct and, well, Himba don't tan. Anyway, eventually they scuttled off. A Himba man also walked passed our camp and commiserated about the difficulty of the road on bicycle. This morning we were just so keen to get to Opuwo and hopefully a stay in a guesthouse or indoors anyway. We had e-mailed and phone and filled out a contact form for ABBA Guesthouse but had not had a response. There were not too many places in Opuwo and some were very expensive. So we were on the bikes ready to leave, when we noticed my front tyre was flat. Can't tell you how frustrating this is when we are still being so careful, unpacking on the road and carrying our bags and then our bikes seperately. Carrying the bikes is no mean feat, they weight around 23 kg and man are we exhausted. Anyway, all you can do is fix the puncture. We were pretty happy when we inspected the tube and found that it had failed around the valve so no fault of our own. By the time it was fixed and we were off it was 07:40 so a bit of a time waster. Today we had the least climbing of all three days from Epupa, with the most climbing done in the first 5 km. It was a cold morning, just over 2 degrees when we got up so at least that would make the day more comfortable.

We ended up taking one break only, we ate a few more of yesterday's vetkoek while a boy dressed in really ragged clothing stood and watched us. When another pitched up we left. There was a Roman Catholic Church nearby. There are many orphans in this area, perhaps due to HIV, we have seen evidence of education on this issue and also orphanages. Historically there was a lot of missionary activity in Northern Namibia, but we have not seen much. It sounds horrible, eating while a poor kid just stands there looking miserable but Africa makes you tougher than you should be. We had many kids and teenagers asking us for food and sweets today. What a joke when we have struggled getting enough ourselves lately. We reckon they see white people and don't really think that what we are doing is difficult as most white people in their experience have it easy, driving fancy cars and having plenty of material goods. So they probably assume that we must must have it easy too. Well, we didn't. The road started well for the first 20 km and then ended up totally rubbish. We couldn't believe it. There was some climbing just before Opuwo and then we dropped down into it and man that piece of road was a shocker.

So all in all we were pretty happy to hit bitumen in Opuwo after 320 km since Hippo Pools, 7 days ago! It feels like we just dropped back to earth after living in another age for a week! We went straight to ABBA but they could not give us three nights as the middle night was full. We then went Simba Guesthouse which was lovely and booked in there for three nights, then to eat chicken and chips and to OK Foods to stock up. Many people in town greeted us and were very friendly. It was a busy place, small, but bustling. There were Himba and Herero so such a mixture of dress which was amazing.

We were so impressed with our accomodation at Simba Lodge. The manageress, Cisco was lovely and made us feel at home. The tiny details such as mini Barone chocolates provided with the coffee and tea provisions in our room were appreciated. we had two double beds, fridge, microwave and aircon. On our first rest day I had washed all our filthy clothes, Cisco helped out with three plastic basins and washing powder and I could hang the stuff up on the lines. Mike planned the rest of our trip which has now reached it's conclusion. Since we noticed my rear rim failure we have been unable to steer our motivation for the trip back on track. Mike had made enquiries with a bike store in Windhoek who got back to us to say they could get a rim (Mike was not familiar with the type or quality but we assume it would have been okay) but it would come from South Africa and only to them in Windhoek in about a week. We have been here before; with all the rims wearing even if Mike got the rim and correct spokes and then built a new wheel (always assuming the stuff could get sent to where we are), it would not be long before we would have to replace another one. It's too tiring. It pushes us beyond our point of resilience. We can't do it. We don't care enough. It isn't worth it. This passed week has been extraordinarily tough but the reward has been equal to the effort. Never did we think we would be able to ride that Cunene River road and see this world of the Himba. It is something we will never replicate, it feels like a very rare experience that we were able to travel in this area and interact with these people. We feel lucky to have had the chance. The rest of the route south through the desert area and the west coast doesn't feel required somehow. We certainly have our doubts about the fabulous quality of the gravel roads in Namibia that people always bang on about. If we never see another gravel road again that's okay by us. We have had perfect sunrises and sunsets for weeks and wonderful wild camping and don't need to just continue in the same vein. So we are heading for Windhoek, about 880 km from here, all on sealed roads. The airfares from Windhoek to Cape Town are really reasonable (around 230 AUD each which is impressive, bikes fly practically for free with Airlink, you get an extra 15 kg luggage allowance for no extra cost which feels like 2010! We had always planned to arrived in Cape Town sometime in October as we depart 2 November from there for home. We are very grateful to have family happy to put up with our company for an extended period and open their home to us! So we sorted out some arrangements, booking a hotel stay in Windhoek from 31 August and then booking flights to Cape Town on 3 September. This gives us plenty of time to get to Windhoek with rest days factored in. We feel content with our decisions.


We got an unusually early start for leaving a hotel, normally it is difficult to leave! We had a climb out of Opuwo for the first 20 km and then at 60 km we turned south onto the road to Kamanjab. This first part of the distance to Windhoek is about 280 km, Opuwo to Kamanjab, so water and food still needs to be considered, but after Kamanjab the distance between towns gets less and less which we look forward to. We had a couple of picnic sites today and a very nice fuel station just as we turned onto the Kamanjab road. We are travelling towards the western entrance to Etosha on this road. The riding was pretty boring and it grew hot as usual but the bitumen was FANTASTIC! So easy. We just flew along. We picked up water at the petrol station but also came across three water points along the road. These are large areas with water tanks and taps and troughs for animals. We stopped at the second one with a view to camping there, but there were so many ticks, as in hundreds of ticks that kept appearing on our groundsheet so we decided to press on a couple of km after filling up with water. We should reach Kamanjab the day after tomorrow.


This C35 road that we are cycling is very quiet during the day, so at night it was absolutely silent. The only sound was the occassional heavy breathing of the horses that were hanging around nearby. A group of 4 had walked passed us around sunset and not left. They were beautiful animals in good condition. Stunning sunrise this morning and again just such a relief not to be battling dust and corrugations. The road is excellent. We rode from picnic site to picnic site, easy riding and a bit boring. Be careful what you wish for! We are not looking for any excitement. We stopped for morning tea at a small settlement, very friendly people. We stopped to buy Coke, and then to drink it, and again to buy Coke just before the end of our day. We picked up water where we bought the Coke. Man, it's hot! We did not expect this heat. However we are now only in line laterally with Tsumeb and almost passed Etosha so still north. It will get a bit cooler as we go south but we should not underestimate how far north we went! A few km after the last stop we found our campsite which Mike had earmarked, a magnificent culvert and our first of the trip. It is wide and big and clean with a pebbly sealed floor so perfect campsite where we could sit in proper shade all afternoon, having arrived at 13:30. It really helps having full shade in the heat of the day. The sun is setting at almost 19:00.

We did some forward planning. From here we have around 700 km riding to Windhoek. The last day into Windhoek will be 75 km from Okahandja and we have booked accommodation in that town for two nights before we travel to Windhoek and a three nights hotel stay. We also found what looks like a good guesthouse in Outjo, three days from here and sent a booking request to them. So it is all working out well, 9 riding days left in total, all around 75-80 km. Tonight we ate soya mince,boerewors flavour. Bringing back the past!


Last night, camping in the culvert we heard hooves on the road now and then and thought it was a horse or donkey on the road, sometimes it sounded like a large animal walking up and down the embankment. This morning we left at 07:00 before sunrise as usual and about 3 km down the road there was a giraffe that took off on seeing us and ran ahead of us alongside the fencing on the roadside for ages until eventually it crossed the road and went into the bush. We cycled as far as possible from it, on the right hand side of the road. It was an unexpected experience! We couldn't keep up with it! We saw another giraffe by the road later on. The C35 runs down the western edge of Etosha and we pulled in at the gate to make tea. They had undercover picnic spots and water available. We met two Kiwis who had come to Africa for a few months of travel and were able to share our experiences with them and help with their planning.

Today we had about 500 m of climbing which is more than usual on the sealed roads around here and also a headwind for the second half of the day. It was hot as usual and the road was quiet. The air is always so murky here, full of dust. We had some views today at least due to the climbing, but the murky air shrouds everything. We are both counting down to the end of the trip. Nothing inspires us now, we feel bored but we do have great campspots. Another culvert tonight, this one shallower than last night so we won't be pitching the tent inside. Maybe it's our diets making us feel worn out. Probably. The heat doesn't help, We were off the bike by 13:00 after 04:30 ride time. You just cannot be in the heat any longer. There were no settlements on the road today, so no shops and no Coke. Maybe it's the lack of Coke that brought us down! Very disappointing not to have any! We will reach Kamanjab tomorrow morning and will be able to shop for food there.


We saw five giraffe early this morning on the road, a group of four to the left of the road and a single one to the right. They were behind fences this time. Kamanjab was quiet and we picked up water at a fuel station and shopped at the Spar, plenty of Coke and biltong. We ate delicious pies at the Kamanjab sign and elephant sculpture leaving town. We soon realised that we had a headwind which was disappointing! After a few km's we heard a police car using it's warning beeps to signal we were to leave the road. We stopped and they pulled off just ahead of us. They got out the van and the male police officer came over, asking, "Are you familiar with the road rules in Namibia for cyclists?". Mike replied that we were familiar with the general road rules. We hadn't thought there were enough cyclists to be worried about. He proceeded to ask us where our reflective jackets were. We have relfective bands that go over our shoulders and across front and back like a vest and told him that, but as they are reflective they are only really relevant in the dark, or half-light when car lights cause them to reflect. They were packed away and he made us get them out. "That's a start," he said. He then told us that it is against the law for a cyclist to ride out in the road, you have to cycle in the tiny shoulder between the yellow line and the edge of the bitumen. The roads are so quiet that this is ridiculous. Anyway, once he had restated all of this a few times, he clearly felt that he had made his point and told us that he was concerned for our safety and if we were not riding inn the shoulder and were hit by a vehicle they would not be liable. He then said that our reflective straps were insufficient and when we got to the next town we had to buy a full reflective jackets. We don't know why he kept saying "a reflective jacket" when he clearly meant a high vis jacket. He said our torso front and back had to be covered. We were so taken aback by the whole thing we didn't know what to think, except that we just wanted to get out of Namibia! One of the least populated countries in the world, next to no traffic, always sunny. What the hell?! We were quite cross and the headwind made us crosser. Also, it's a bit strange that having passed through numerous police check-points, and having had about 50 police cars passing us in Namibia, not one other officer bothered to mention the vests!! Hmmm....

So we were happy to come across the next roadside picnic area and have a sit down. The day felt against us and we started thinking for the first time of hitching a ride! A few trucks and utes came by and we got up and tried to hail them when they looked suitable. After a few attempts a ute pulled off the road into the picnic area, driven by a farmer and his worker. The worker jumped out and the farmer explained that they weren't picking us up, the picnic area is considered part of their farm and they had come to clean it up and collect the garbage. He had a chat to us and called a bloke called Abadja in Kamanjab who runs a taxi service to Otjiwarongo to see if he had left Kamanjab yet, he had and would pick us up on the way. When he arrived he had a 7 seater car which looked full however somehow he rearranged the people so that we could fit in it! The bikes were an issue and he called another man to get him to stop, he had a ute with high railings around the tray (they are common here) and our bikes and luggage could fit on the back. Somehow in between all of this another person also got on the back with the bikes The bloke who took the bikes charged us 600 NAD and Abadja charged us 500 NAD for our seats. We thanked the farmer who had arranged all of it and we set off. Abadja was a very good driver and the km's ticked by quickly at 120 km/hour. Even at that speed it was still as boring as anything. No scenery to speak of. And still hot as the aircon was not working but not as hot as riding. We stopped in Outjo to drop someone off and also picked someone up. Everyone uses taxis here to get around, there are informal taxi ranks which are full of people and cars and managers organising commuters into taxis etc. We pressed on to Otjiwarongo, having booked into a guesthouse for three nights on the way. In total it was a 200 km trip. Otjiwarongo is a big town and Abadja dropped everyone off and then did some errands for himself while we waited for the vehicle to arrive with our bikes. We then packed our stuff back on the bikes and rode a couple of k's to Kamaku Guesthouse.

The guesthouse was in the suburbs and looked very neat and well-presented. We rang the bell and a lady came out but not to the gate and quizzed us about if we had a booking etc. It felt a bit weird. She didn't seem keen on letting us in. Anyway, she let us in while she went to check her bookings. We have a lovely room with a patio where we can leave our bikes and the place has a little swimming pool and it all seemed perfect! We have three nights with breakfast included so we are sorted. We just need to decide whether we are going to ride the rest of the way into Windhoek or take a taxi. It's a pity the riding is so hot and so boring as it feels as if you don't really gain anything from doing it. The first rest day we took a walk into town to buy some food. Walking by the taxi rank where the vehicles leave for Windhoek we spoke to Ronnie and his buddy and it seems it would be easy to take a taxi from here as they arrive from the north empty and there are a few which come with trailers which would take the bikes. Apparently it costs 200 NAD each to Windhoek. It is tempting to do just that and we haven't yet made up our minds. If we don't ride then we will have to book a few more nights accomodation which is pretty reasonable. We would rather keep our flights the same from Windhoek as we have booked the bikes in. After we left the taxi rank and had walked down the main street to another shop we wanted to go to, Ronnie's buddy got out of his car and told us that it looked as if a small red car had been following us so we should be careful. That was also a first! Perhaps we should have been wearing reflective vests!

Interestingly, during the rest day Mike downloaded the Road Traffic and Transport Act and determined that there is NO REQUIREMENT for hi-vis/reflective jackets for cyclists, and the guy probably just had a chip on his shoulder and was possibly looking for bribe as it wasn't obvious that we had them.


We decided by the night of the 24th that we were not going to ride into Windhoek and so booked a further 2 nights here at Kamaku for a small discount and then have 2 nights in Windhoek at one guesthouse and 5 at another. It feels like a lot of accomodation and doing nothing when we have been on the move for so long however a change in gear can be a good thing. One thing about being on the road for so long is that we only really talk about what happens on the road on a day to day basis. This sort of travel is so all-encompassing it doesn't leave much space for other topics of conversation. There are things we need to deal with when travelling, like tax returns, but we don't have to think about home or what to wear or going to the dentist. And we don't see anyone but each other so our focus is really just on the immediate. Life narrows, to a degree, at the same time as it broadens due to the experience of travel. Just being in the one place, we slowed down and started talking about plans for next year and other things. I rewatched some favourite movies. We sat on our patio to eat. It was pleasant!

We went to the Namibian Museum of Fashion which is a small place but very well presented and a short walk from our guesthouse. We got a call from Ronnie, our taxi "fixer" who is going to set us up with a ride to Windhoek on 27th and we sorted out our gear, throwing some stuff out and organising it.

We enjoyed our last breakfast at Kamaku, delicious freshly fried and scrambled eggs as usual and it was a chilly morning as we cycled the short distance to the taxi rank. Ronnie was there and had organised JodyJohan with a very clever Honda van where the back seats disappeared at the touch of a button into a flatbed which enabled our bikes to fit in standing up! No dismantling required. It was pretty impressive. We negotiated on the price a bit as it was much more than we would have paid to get into a taxi with other people, but it was a pretty luxurious ride into Windhoek. We were there by 12:00 and taken right to our accommodation, which is in a suburb outside the city centre. It is also a short walk from a big supermarket. How we wish we had had this cold weather a week ago, it would have made a difference!

The guesthouse was neat and our room was good, small, but fine. We locked our bikes up outside on our little bit of patio. There were building works going on as the guesthouse is adding additional rooms and also putting in a pool which was pretty exciting as when we arrived there was just a big hole in the ground right near our room (so anyone who decided on a late dinner would be best reminded to avoid alcohol when returning in the dark) and when we left a swimming pool was inside it! It was a little weird that our room had an interleading door to the one next door and we could hear EVERYTHING from the person staying there, telephone conversations etc. It felt like we were in the same room. We rode a few km's to Mannie's Bike Mecca which was an impressive bike store, big and full of staff busily servicing bikes. Mannie himself was there. Many cyclists came and went, dropping off and collecting freshly serviced bikes. The staff who chatted to us were all avid cyclists, on a national and international level. We bought two really good quality bike boxes and packed the bikes there and then got a lift to our next hotel in the shop truck which was unexpected and just made everything so easy not having to arrange a taxi ourselves. Mannie even made tools available to us to use in case we needed them. It is amazing that almost every bike shop we have approached for boxes over this year and prevous trips make money out of the sale of a box which would ordinarily cost them to have removed with general waste. One man's trash I guess.....Only Perth stores and strangely the Decathlon in Brussels did not charge us to take a box.

Arriving at Tenbergen, Marvin at the front bench got a little strung out when we said we had boxed bicycles to store. We had messaged the hotel about this and had been advised there was place for them to be stored. I told Marvin this (not wanting to seem as if we just pitched up expecting it) and he was like, "Well, that was someone else, they are HUGE!". He worked out a place where we could take them, into a storage room in the underground parking and then we could check in anyway as our room was ready. This is a very nice hotel especially to end the trip on, and almost our first accomodation of the trip which feels like a bit of luxury. VERY comfortable bed, armchairs, kitchenette, Nespresso machine, big room. Happy days. We will spend 5 nights here so it's a good thing it is so nice. Very reasonable price.

So we will spend the next few days as tourists in Windhoek which is fine by us.