Spin Through The Sand

Sun Herald

Sunday August 1, 2004

ANDREA LOBBECKE

Some places just aren't for your average traveller particularly untamed destinations where package tours rarely venture and things don't always go according to plan. But we know that some of our readers have a strong adventurous streak. This occasional series is for the adventurers and for the rest of us who like to read, from the comfort of our armchairs, about the things that others dare to do . . . this week ANDREA LOBBECKE cycles across the desert sands of Namibia.

THE tyres of the mountain bike make a low humming noise as they roll across the red sands.

Behind the bike a narrow trail is left on the untarred road until it is slowly erased by the wind.

It is hot in the Namib Desert in south-west Africa, midday temperatures regularly rise above 35 degrees.

A glance over the handlebars reveals the road shimmering brightly as it approaches the horizon. But the breeze generated by the movement helps to keep the rider cool.

Confronted by a cyclist, most native Namibians shake their heads in amazement.

Answers are slow in coming to questions whether the overland bus can take five bicycles and whether the next farmstead can always be reached on a day's ride in this vast and sparsely populated country.

But the reality is that a trip of this kind is not the preserve of only the most dedicated fitness fanatic, although anyone attempting it does have to be moderately fit and be prepared for a few adventures along the way, as there are no organised tours.

Nevertheless, with a little work on the internet and with the help of guest farms along the long routes, a tour can be put together without too much effort.

Transport is required to take the riders and their bikes the 220 kilometres from Windhoek south-west to the Naukluft Mountains, where the tour starts.

From here pedal power takes over, the route leading west through stony and sandy desert to the red dunes of Sossusvlei, one of Nambia's main tourist attractions.

Perhaps the biggest problem is carrying sufficient water, as each rider needs at least 10 litres a day. For this reason alone, there has to be at least one farm to stop off at every day.

About 80 kilometres a day on good routes and 50 on the less good is the maximum, as the rider must carry not only food and water, but also tent, sleeping bag and spare clothes.

The steady pace is well suited to the desert conditions. Springbok are sighted not far from the roadside, watching the approaching cyclists carefully and then bounding off in their characteristic long leaps.

A 1.5-metre black snake slithers across the track directly in front of the wheels, and in the background, the colours change from the grey-beige of the Naukluft Mountains to the deep red of the sand dunes of the Namib.

The riders can spend hours without seeing another human being, then houses become visible on the horizon.

The tiny settlement of Solitaire appears; there is a petrol station, a small guest house, a supermarket and a cafe which even has fresh apple strudel on its menu.

The desert is at its best as the sun settles on the horizon, when the sands turn blue, lilac and red in the east.

The riders now know they have about an hour left before they must stop for the night, as darkness falls rapidly in these latitudes.

Farmers in Namibia, most of whom speak either English or German, or both, have come to see tourists as a handy additional source of income.

Many rent out guest rooms and places on campsites, and often enough there is a swimming pool to welcome the weary cyclist.

The evening meal is usually a barbecue with fresh cutlets of zebra, springbok, gemsbok and other antelope on offer, along with the more usual fare.

Five days in the saddle brings the rider to the 300-metre-high dunes of Sesriem and Sossusvlei. Between the high dunes there is a dried-out river bed that has turned into a salt pan.

The next stage takes the riders to the Spitzkop region Nambia's Matterhorn. This mountainous area with its flat granite slabs is ideal country for mountain-bikers, although the thorns of the acacias growing here present an ever-present threat to the tyres.

The campsite lying in the shadow of the mountains is run by the local village community, which also maintains a bar there. The locals are friendly, open and keen to talk to strangers, hungry as they are for news from the outside world.

Cyclists are a novelty for them, so far from the beaten track.

After a night in the station hotel at Usakos, a sleepy little settlement on the railway line running from Windhoek to Swakopmund on the coast, the route runs into the Erongo Mountains.

Here the campsite on the Ameib Ranch offers a good starting point for day tours into the huge farm. Among the sights are the well-known rock paintings of the Phillips Cave.

By now the riders have covered 600 kilometres under the unforgiving sun of the Namib. The last evening before the journey back to Windhoek is spent watching the "blue hour" as the sun sets and a herd of zebra moves slowly across the landscape.

FOR CONVENTIONAL TRAVELLERS

* Flights: Qantas and South African Airways operate a daily non-stop service between Sydney and Johannesburg with connections to Namibia.

* Packages: African specialist Bench International has an eight-night Namibian Highlights package which includes a stay in the Namib Desert before travelling south to Sossusvlei and Sesriem Canyon, then up to the northern end of the Namib Desert and Swakopmund. The deal includes all transport, accommodation, most meals and sightseeing activities and costs $2812, plus air fares from Australia.

* To book: Phone 9290 2877 or 1800 221 451 from outside Sydney or see www.benchinternational.com.au.

© 2004 Sun Herald

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