Ai-Ais to Hobas

March 28, 2022

The other end of the Fish River Canyon

My driver met me out front at 6:30am to get my ride out of here. I was watching the road I had previously written down but somehow missed one of the Junction‘s next thing I know he’s dropping me off at the junction of the C 10 which is the turn off to the Fish River Canyon so he took me a maybe an extra 10 km which actually I was happy about and I tipped him an extra $30 to say thank you.

I started riding and the sun was just peaking up over the mountains as I got going. It was so pretty. It was like an orange fireball in the sky because it’s just a barren landscape. I started with a little bit of uphill, but before I knew it I had a beautiful downhill run. I could see the canyon in the distance and it reminded me so much of seeing Grand Canyon in Arizona. I kept stopping to take pictures. And I was also thankful I was going between some rock walls so I actually had a little bit of shade for a while. The other thing worth noting is that earlier and there were clouds in the sky so I wasn’t bearing the full brunt of the sun right away.

Rewarded with great views in the distance

I was having a great time riding and eventually I threw on my Billy Joel playlist. However, it seems to distract me from the scenery a little bit and there’s some thing about Namibia and being out in the vastness that I enjoy. Something about the peace and quiet I really like. That being said, later in the morning when I started to get hot I wasn’t enjoying the vastness quite so much anymore.

What on God's green earth is THIS creature??? I saw multiple on the road today and I think they are from a Star Wars movie with their long bent legs that have them sitting high off the ground! (I have since learned it is an armored cricket and is a vile little creature!)

There’s not really any opportunities for shade along the way and so I was thrilled to see a tree up ahead close to the side of the road that looked like it my offer a bit of shade. I parked my bike and sure enough I could get under the tree. I was planning to get some food and take a longer break. I pulled out my chair and set up and really tried to ignore the various poo piles that were scattered about around the tree. Obviously the animals around here like this tree for the shade factor as well. Thankfully, none were here when I pulled up because I would have very disappointed. I had a nice long break and it’s such a difference just sitting in the shade cooling down.

Nice bike sitting out there! (Always looks nicer when I am relaxing in the shade!)

I got back on my bike and kept going but it wasn’t too long before I started to feel the heat a little bit. I remember thinking to myself, “If I wanted this kind of solitude, I would go on the backpacking trip.” Part of what I love about bicycle touring so much is that there are stores and people always around and on this trip that’s not the case right now. At all. It’s just a different kind of travel and probably not my preferred style. We’ll see. I know I’m going to spend more time in the middle of nowhere in the coming months.

This lone tree and I are soulmates about now

I saw I saw a sign for accommodation and looked it up and there is a lodge 2 km off the road I was on. I figured I would go down there and see if they had cold drinks. A car coming out did confirm there were two different lodges and told me to go to the one to the left as it was closest so I did that. Of course that lodge was closed. Workers were present as they were getting some sort of orientation. They did confirm they weren’t planning to open it until the summer and they had been hit hard by Covid. There were no cold drinks there, but they did let me use the bathroom and I got my shirt and buff really wet again to help cool me down. I wasn’t willing to go an additional 2 km to the other lodge to get a cold drink as I still had to backtrack as it was.

I was part way up the hill and I just took my time climbing it as after that there are a bunch of whoop-te-doos, ie, down a hill through a little wash, up steep hill and repeat at least five times. Some of the washes are sandy at the bottom so as I am trying to control my speed so that I can kind of see if the sand is enough that I can get through it. If it’s too deep what happens is you come to a screeching halt. I did have that happened one time and lurched forward. That didn’t feel so good!

Didn't quite make it through this one. See my skid marks?

The road just keeps on going and going, but really, I'm almost there

The skies are pretty and some more "roller coasters" ahead

I did know that once I got to the turn off for the Hobas campsite it be pretty much all downhill. I checked on my map and it wasn’t all that far in so I went ahead and went went for it. I do want to see Fish River Canyon. I got lucky when I got here and got the Namibian discounted special that they were having right now and camping would’ve cost me 120 Namibian dollars or I could get a nice room inside for 238 Namibian dollars. Guess which option I chose? :) Anyway, there’s no air-conditioning so my room is still hot but I do have a fan blowing and the room is huge. I'll take it!

Move over bear boxes....now we have baboon boxes!

Today's ride: 26 miles (42 km)
Total: 2,269 miles (3,652 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	8
Comment on this entry	Comment	0