Tours and Destinations
Tour profile: Partially maintained gravel roads, mostly adventurous bush tracks and numerous mountain passes, lots of sand, difficult Enduro terrain, daily distances covered between 250 km and 350 km
Team spirit, good physical condition, excellent command of a motorcycle and experience in off-road driving are the prerequisites for this demanding 13-day roundtrip. A short "warm-up" phase takes you trough a variety of different landscapes to the Brandberg Mountain. The next leg already leads along sometimes hardly visible tracks through the sand and dry river beds of northern Damaraland as well as via Sesfontein to Opuwo in the Kaokoland. Next come densely populated bush areas, the infamous Van Zyl’s Pass and the awe-inspiring landscapes of the Hartmann Valley and Marien River en route to the Serra Cafema Camp on the Kunene River. Here you will find some well-earned relaxation. The Khomas Highland is reached again on desert and rocky routes, partially running parallel to the Skeleton Coast Park. A short visit in Swakpomund concludes the return trip to the Windhoek Mountain Lodge.
Day 01: FLIGHT UK – NAMIBIA
Departure from Gatwick on a scheduled over-night flight with Air Namibia, which takes you directly to Windhoek.
Day 02: WINDHOEK – AUAS MOUNTAINS
Arrival at Windhoek's Hosea Kutako International Airport in the early morning hours where you meet your local tour guide. A road transfer of about one hour takes you to the comfortable "Windhoek Mountain Lodge" in the southern foothills of the Auas Mountains, the home base of all Gravel Travel Tours. Enjoy the opportunity to get accustomed to the change of climate and to relax around the pool offering magnificent views of the surrounding mountain ranges. In the afternoon, we meet to discuss details of the tour programme and for an introduction of how to use the motorcycles and the road book, followed by a test drive on a 30 ha farm surrounding the lodge.
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – Windhoek Mountain Lodge
Day 03: AUAS MOUNTAINS – BRANDBERG MOUNTAIN
The first day of your roundtrip already presents you a multitude of impressions of varying Namibian landscapes when we travel through the country's centre towards the former mining village of Uis and the Brandberg Mountain in southern Damaraland. Our route takes us along winding roads across the hills and mountain ranges of the Khomas Highlands with their vast commercial farms and via Wilhelmstal into the flatter areas around Omaruru. Here, the majestic rugged Erongo Mountains and isolated rock outcrops dominate the scenery. After a lunch break, we proceed towards the west. Our arrival at Uis marks the entrance to communal farming areas and the starting point of the adventurous part of the tour. We stay overnight at the "White Lady Guesthouse".
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – White Lady Guesthouse
Day 04: BRANDBERG MOUNTAIN & SURROUNDINGS
The Königsstein Peak of the Brandberg is Namibia' s highest elevation and towers more than 2.000m above the vast poor plains on the fringes of the Namib Desert. The enormous rock formations catch the onlookers eye from any direction, and it is hardly astonishing that they served pre-historic hunter-gatherers as spiritual site, which they decorated with hundreds of rock paintings. Since these can only be reached on long and exhausting walks, we concentrate our activities on the various attractive surroundings of the Brandberg Mountain, which offer numerous interesting routes for the biker. Driving on sand and loose gravel is as much part of the fun as is negotiating broad dry river beds and canyon-like rock formations. All in all a good preparation for the following days. We spend another overnight at our accommodation in Uis.
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – White Lady Guesthouse
Day 05: UIS – HUAB VALLEY
When looking at the most obvious road connection between Uis and Palmwag on a Namibia map, there seems to be nothing special about it. We however have a surprise in stall for you – our route cannot be found on any official map but follows old prospectors' tracks from the Ugab Valley in a northerly direction through almost uninhabited areas. Here you need all your navigation skills not to loose your way and good control over your motor bike. Around midday, we reach the Burnt Mountain and the Organ Pipes, the latter being an unusual basalt formation. A nearby lodge provides the opportunity for a lunch break. Thereafter, we proceed on lonely routes through Damaraland up to the Huab River Valley. Here the DAS-Team (Desert Adventure Safaris) awaits us for the first time on this journey. Everything in this outdoor camp is well prepared for us, the special DAS-equipment lets us want for nothing. You will enjoy delicious meals as well as a bar with a wide range of drinks always offering cool refreshments, even in very remote areas.
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – Outdoor Camp Huab River Valley
Day 06: HUAB RIVER VALLEY – OPUWO
Having had a quite exhausting step yesterday, we travel further north today on 'normal' gravel pads in order to reach the Kakokoveld. The wild-romantic landscapes of the northern Damaraland accompany us on our way to Sesfontein, formerly a police station from the country's colonial past. Today, the restored fort serves as a hotel. There is an opportunity to take a refreshing dip in the cool fountain water at Ongongo before the final leg takes us to Opuwo, civilisation's last outpost situated in the centre of the Kaokoveld. Hidden behind unpretentious walls lies our modern accommodation, whose twin rooms with en suite facilities and restaurant under a huge thatched roof surround a cosy court yard with a pool.
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – Ohakane Lodge
Day 07: OPUWO – MARIEN RIVER
We have to get up with the birds today to tackle a very demanding leg of the journey, which requires full attention and concentration as well as a fair degree of fitness. It will take us two full days to reach our northernmost destination on the Kunene River – only a few dare to approach it by land. Equipped with lunch packs, we travel on seldom maintained dirt roads through widely spread out bush villages during the first leg. Here we have the opportunity to meet members of the Ovahimba tribe, a Herero speaking population group, who upheld their ancient traditions and still live a partially nomadic life. Besides the language the Himba also share their origin with the Herero but opted for retreating into this remote region when the majority of the people decided to settle in the centre of the country. The unusual traditional dresses of the Himba made from animal skins, their jewellery made from iron and their tradition to cover the entire body with a mixture of ochre and fat have been documented in numerous coffee table books on the Kaokoveld. Our trip through their settlement area allows for personal contacts. And then the infamous Van Zyl’s Pass lies in front of us, for many the greatest challenge of the tour and certainly one of its outstanding highlights. When we made it across the dream-like landscapes of the Marien River Valley stretch out before us as far as the eye can see and there are quite a few more sandy kilometres to cover to reach our destination. Today we overnight again in the DAS outdoor camp in the middle of the bush and far away from any kind of civilisation.
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – Outdoor Camp Marien River Valley
Day 08: MARIENFLUSS – SERRA CAFEMA
More stunning landscapes await us en route to the Kunene River some of which, like the remote Hartmann Valley, are already better known these days. The vastness of the Kaokoveld, its rugged mountain ranges and free-roaming wild animals draw every visitor into their ban, and hardly anybody can resist the impression to have landed up in an entirely different world. Burial places of Himba chiefs are one of the very few signs that this area is not completely uninhabited. When we reach the Kunene River Valley a completely different view greets us - groves of the tall and slender Makalani Palm and thick leafy vegetation line the banks of the lazy flowing river from whose mouth at the Atlantic Ocean we are just a few kilometres away. As inviting as this oasis might appear for swimming, its inhabitants – crocodiles and hippo –-, soon makes one forget the idea. Our accommodation today is Serra Cafema, a comfortable tented camp, situated at the river bank under palm trees, offering unrestricted relaxation opportunities. Our tables are booked for lunch. Lazing around the pool is just as much an option for the afternoon as are leisurely excursions by boat or motorcycle, and whoever feels like taking a walk will also find this activity rewarding. Feel free to explore the spectacular landscapes in the larger environment surrounding the camp during an excursion in an off-road vehicle.
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – Serra Cafema Camp
Day 09: SERRA CAFEMA – KHUMIB RIVER
And off we go again in the early morning hours! There are still a couple of days ahead in the wilderness of the Kaokoveld and Damaraland before we return to civilisation. Our trip south takes us along the Skeleton Coast Park, one of the most fascinating ecological systems in Southern Africa. While its coastal area is protected and inaccessible for visitors, we have the opportunity to explore its impressive desert landscapes on our inland drive en route to Orupembe. Many river beds, mountain valleys, sand and rocky tracks await us further inland. Scattered bush villages are also few and far between in this area. Our destination is the Khumib Rivier, where we overnight once more in the already familiar mobile tented camp we enjoyed two days ago. Picnic lunch en route included.
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – Outdoor Camp Khumib Rivier
Day 10: KHUMIB RIVER – PALMWAG
Today's route can also not be found on any road map of Namibia when we travel through the remote north-western parts of Damaraland, following the tracks of the famous desert elephants. It takes a bit of luck to discover the grey giants in the thick bush vegetation along their migration routes through valleys and river beds. However, the Huarusib and Hooanib are their preferred feeding grounds and therefore our chances are not too bad. This arid area is actual a quite atypical habitat for elephants, and it was initially common belief that those living here were members of a separate species. No scientific proof could be found though that this assumption was correct, which makes their survival techniques and adaptation abilities even more astonishing. We enjoy a picnic lunch in Fort Sesfontein before taking on the last leg to Palmwag, a green oasis in the remote landscapes of northern Damaraland. Comfortable accommodation in twin-bedded reed-and-wood chalets with en-suite shower/WC awaits us and a leisurely safari atmo-sphere. The local restaurant and bar are favourite meeting places for travellers in these isolated north-western regions of Namibia.
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – Palmwag Lodge
Day 11: PALMWAG – UGAB RIVIER
Who thought we would take a leisurely drive on well maintained roads along the central coastline to Swakopmund could not have been further from reality! Once again, we opted for a very special route that poses a challenge to your driving skills. Experiences made with Namibia's "wild" tracks here and there so far you will have to apply within a few hours when we travel through western Damaraland and past the Brandberg West Mine towards our outdoor camp. And once again, fascinating landscapes accompany us on our route and invite us to take a break during the hottest hours of the day. When we approach the coastline, the change in vegetation and the cooler climate there become very obvious. We cover the last few kilometres in labyrinth-like riviers surrounded by deeply cut canyons. In the shade of gigantic rock walls, we set up our last outdoor camp for this journey.
Bed/Breakfast – Ugab Rivier Outdoor Camp
Day 12: UGAB RIVIER – KOBO KOBO HILLS
Today, we will have to cover a demanding step again. First we have to get by some riviers and canyons before the mighy brandberg comes in sight again. From this point, we turn off to the western direction until we reach the atlantic coast line. Our journey continues south on a salt road, Namibia's answer to the destructive impact of the desert and the salty ocean air. Swakopmund invites us for a welcomed break before we enter Khomas Highlands on normal gravel pads which now seem to be much too easy for us. Hidden in the highlands, there lies an outstanding lodge which hardly could be more beautiful: The dream-like Kobo Kobo Hills.
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – Kobo Kobo Hills
Day 13: KOBO KOBO HILLS – WINDHOEK MOUNTAIN LODGE
After a good sleep and a leisurely breakfast, we reluctantly leave this place and start off to the last leg of our tour. Although we drive on gravel pads again, these will make you really enjoy the trip: Up and down the pad goes, offering magnificent viewpoints at its passes. Moreover, the route is extremly winding - at least compared to other namibian routes. In the course of the afternoon, we finally reach our basis, the "Windhoek Mountain Lodge", where our team awaits us. Once more there is time to relax, to enjoy the beautiful surroundings over sundowner drinks and to spend an entertaining farewell evening with a bushman fondue.
Dinner/Bed/Breakfast – Windhoek Mountain Lodge
Day 14: WINDHOEK MOUNTAIN LODGE – AIRPORT
This is the only rest-day of the tour. Today, you have the opportunity to sleep in and to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, to take a ride on the quad bike, or just relax at the pool. Or maybe you prefer to visit the city of Windhoek for individual activities and some last-minute souvenir shopping - the choice is yous. In the late afternoon, we make our way to the airport for your direct scheduled flight in Air Namibia back to Europe.
Day 15: ARRIVAL UK
The flight reaches Gatwick in the early morning hours.