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Namibia is brutal, beautiful and unforgiving. Endless sand, choking dust, freezing coasts, wild elephants, Himba villages and towering dunes – we found riding here is less about the destination and more about surviving the journey…
This travel blog recounts our motorcycle adventure through Namibia on our round the world journey. To read more stories from our travels check out Our Adventures
Namibia Motorcycle Travel Blog
By Andy Davidson
Mad or Nomad: Round the World Motorcycle Traveller
Dakar
I’m flying. On the pegs, elbows bent, head over the bars, the rear’s snaking, the front’s shaking.
The TKC80 tyres chew gravel and spit out dust as the CRF floats over washboard, deep sand sections, washouts and puddles of loose stones. The suspension rhythmically compresses and rebounds. My bodyweight flicks between loading the rear and forward attack. Everything is in perfect unison.
I’m light, all the gear is at the campsite, so my only job is to keep the throttle absolutely pinned and trust I’ll stay upright. Stay loose… relax.
Sweat soaks my back and stings my sandy eyes as I guzzle warm water from the bladder pack. Brown mountains fly by in a blur. I am the fastest thing in the world – nothing and nobody can catch me. This is the closest I will ever come to feeling like I’m in the Dakar Rally.
Then a 4×4 casually overtakes me. The passenger stares in confusion at the war raging on outside his window while he slowly eats a packet of crisps in a blissful bubble of air-con. The Dakar will have to wait.
Dunes and Dead Trees
We make it back to the campsite and collapse from exhaustion on our hot and sticky blow up sleeping mats. We had woken up before the sun that morning to ride 50kms to Sossusvlei National Park, leaving our gear and bags behind in the tent to make better time on the rough roads. We parked up outside the main gate and hitchhiked a ride to the famous Namibian dunes (no motorcycles are allowed in the park).
We took our shoes and socks off and climbed to the top of “Big Daddy Dune”. The temperature is cooler earlier in the day, which makes sand easier to walk (and ride) on. The hotter it gets the looser the sand.
Once at the top, it’s customary to run down the other side of the steep ridge. Each disappearing plunge of your feet slows the descent until you’re at the bottom. The dune towers over Deadvlei, where thousand-year-old trees burnt by the sun still stand, too hot to die and rot back into the scorched earth.
We sat staring out at the red and yellow sea of sand stretching for hundreds of miles into the Namib Desert, wondering what the country had in store for us next…
Day 1
It started off well. We were excited to cross the border into Namibia and finally arrive in Windhoek after a long and boring ride through southern Botswana. Especially as it meant we’d finally meet up with Isabel and Carl. Two fellow British overlanders also riding round the world. After a few days in an apartment together, eating good food and drinking red wine, we plotted our route to the south and said our goodbyes. Read more on Isabel and Carl at the end.
Most overlanders we know get to Windhoek, store their bikes and rent a 4×4 to explore Namibia. In hindsight, it’s a good plan – especially as big attractions like Sossusvlei and Etosha National Park are off limits to bikes and we’d need to rent a 4×4 anyway.
But full of optimism at the time, we just went for it. Only three hours into the start of our Namibian adventure did we realise we’d made a mistake. The back D roads are filled with sand and washboard – not ideal for loaded bikes. We switched back to the main gravel road and it was worse.
Hundreds of 4x4s packed with tourists blast up the battered gravel road every day. Their tracks weave in and out of each other, which makes picking a line impossible and left us constantly riding over berms. The going was painfully slow. Every time one passed, we were left coughing in a cloud of lingering dust. It was dangerous as we couldn’t see the skinny tracks, we were desperately trying to keep our front wheels in.
The plan was to make it to Sossusvlei and camp. But we only made it half way. When we finally arrived at our intended campsite the next day, the owner said she had five bikes stay there in the last 20 years. We could see why.
Heading North
The next morning, we pack up camp and are on the bikes early to escape the 4×4 route and head north. But the days are long and hard in Namibia. The routes stretch on forever in mind-numbing straight lines. Which would be fine, but it’s loose and mixed with sand. The only respite are the washboard sections that judder our brains against our helmets for miles instead.
It’s hot and sweaty work, but the air is exceptionally dry with low humidity. Mix that with the constant dust and the dry air dehydrates the nasal membranes leaving our noses constantly bloody.
We contemplate heading back to the main roads, but these little back tracks will take us to the places we want to see – and it means no dangerous tourist vehicles. Out here it’s just us and we can take our time.
Cold and smelly
We finally break away from the sand traps as we near the coastal town of Swakopmund. We’ve been sweating constantly for the last week through Namibia, and now we’re freezing cold and have to pull over to put on our heated jackets.
We follow the Skeleton Coast past rusting shipwrecks. Towering brown dunes covered in a chilly fog collapse into the icy sea. This is the only place in the world where the desert meets the sea. But it’s too cold and harsh to stop and admire – until we reach the seals.
Cape Cross is home to one of the largest colonies of Cape fur seals in the world – and it stinks. Thousands of screaming seals shuffle along the beach emitting an atrocious smell. Fun to see, but now we’re freezing and the smell has latched onto our already sensitive noses. We leave the coast and reluctantly head back inland to the sand and the heat. The interior will be hard work, but it has to be better than the cold coast…
Namib camps
The further we retreat inland the warmer it gets so we keep on until we can feel our fingers again. We find a place pitch for the night, light a fire and cook oryx steaks and garlic bread as the big burning ball of pink and orange sizzles behind hazy mountains. If there’s one thing we love in Namibia, it’s camping. Stunning rock formations that you can tuck your bike and tent behind one night and vast open lands the next with billions of stars flickering overhead for company.
Keep going
At 55 million years old, the Namib is considered the world’s oldest desert. And you can feel it as you ride… it’s vast, lonely and beautiful in its empty silence. The expanse lures you in, but there’s nothing to do apart from ride and camp – no shade, shops, people or life. Which means we have to carry plenty of extra food and water, couple that with all our luggage and it makes riding through soft sand even harder to fight through.
We can ride faster, and risk being thrown off, or crawl slower and quietly go mad. So, we stop for a break and contemplate our life choices over some biscuits instead.
A wild ostrich runs by, stops, takes a look at us and then disappears into the distance. It’s a sign – fast it is then. We move our water and heavier gear further to the front of the bikes and drop our tyre pressures even more for the last stretches of sand. We plot smaller tracks that take us further off the main trails and cut into Damaraland – known as the Stone Desert, where we hope the terrain will be rockier and easier.
Desert elephants
Even though we haven’t adapted to the desert, there are animals here that have. Desert elephants roam the plains of Damaraland, an area filled with thousands of rock engravings by the San people over 6,000 years ago.
We spend days watching wild elephants before jumping back on the bikes and blasting along straight and empty gravel tracks. We can pick up speed again now we’ve escaped the endless dunes.
The Namibian desert elephants aren’t a separate species, but they have evolved to handle life in one of the toughest environments on Earth. They’re smaller, with longer legs and wider feet that help them move across sand and cover huge distances -sometimes 70 km in a day – just to find water and food. They drink less often, rely on moisture-rich plants, and remember seasonal waterholes like old friends. Their herds are smaller, they’re gentler on the landscape, and they’ve figured out how to survive without wrecking the fragile ecosystem around them.
The Himba people
It’s not only elephants that roam these empty lands, the neighbouring region of Kunene is also home to the Himba people. Riding further north, we pass Himba families tending cattle and working in their villages. They’re unmistakable – women covered in red ochre paste and thick braided hair adorned in jewellery to signify social status.
We leave the main track and cut across a hazy yellow range. All life disappears and hours pass in silence until a red figure appears in the distance. A young Himba woman smiles and waves as we pass. So, we pull over to say hello and are invited to her village to meet the family. In that moment, sitting around the sacred fire watching as they engulf their bodies in cleansing smoke, it feels like we’ve rolled back in time to witness traditions that have remained unchanged for centuries.
The Himba are a semi-nomadic people of northern Namibia. Around 50-70,000 Himba live in Kaokoland.
Here’s some interesting info we learnt…
+ Women apply a paste called Otjize (butterfat and ochre pigment) to their skin and hair for that red appearance. This protects them against the harsh desert climate.
+ Water is scarce, so they wash using smoke…
+ Women wear goatskin skirts and elaborate hairstyles and jewllery to signify their age and social status. Men wear a more simple attire. Notice in one photo, one of chaps is wearing a black necklace – signifying he’s the chief.
+ The Himba follow a monotheistic faith on Mukuru, their supreme god, while also honouring their ancestors as spiritual guides.
+ They are semi-nomadic cattle herders. Livestock is central to wealth, status, and survival for Himba people.
+ Polygamy is common, but family ties are seriously important for social support.
+ They face climate, modernization, and resource challenges and education and healthcare are limited in remote areas. But despite the challenges, they remain committed to preserving their identity and heritage.
Wild fires
We finally escape the wilderness and happily trade two-wheels for four. Dumping our gear and bikes at a hotel, we rent a 4×4 and race to Etosha – one of the world’s oldest national parks, at over 22,000 square kilometres it’s bigger than several European countries.
Motorcycles aren’t allowed inside because it’s brimming with animals. We spend the day photographing wildlife from the car, then push deeper in search of lions. That’s when the wildfire catches us. Insects and birds stream past, smashing into the windshield – a warning we miss. Flames force us onto a long detour back to the main gate. Hours late and with the sun rapidly disappearing, we’re the only ones driving through.
But then, just as the planes glow gold – a lioness strolls out in front of us. Alone, we switch off the engine and sit still, watching her move with unhurried grace. We leave the camera and keep this one as a memory for ourselves. She stares at us, mouth open, touching distance away. It’s a special moment. It feels like the Namibian wilderness is offering us a personal gift – a quiet reward for making it through.
With thanks to…
We finally met up with Isabel and Carl. It’s only taken two years of criss-crossing and missing each other the whole way down through North, Central and South America.
They also shipped to Cape Town from Argentina, and we kept missing each other as we travelled around Africa — but now, finally, third continent lucky — we’ve met up!
Isabel and Carl are two fellow Brits, who jacked it all in for a life on the road. They’re motorcycling around the world and have been travelling for two years now.
They shipped from the UK to the US, rode the Americas, are here in Africa now and their next stop is New Zealand and Australia.
They’re awesome people and we had a blast hanging out, swapping stories, drinking tea and red wine and – four Brits together, we had to go out for fish and chips.
We’re sure our paths will cross again – somewhere in the world.
Give them a follow on FB and check out their YouTube videos Life2 on-tour
Read more on motorcycle travel in Namibia and Africa
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What a brutal and beautiful ride. Your description of floating over washboard and deep sand sections!
Hi Jens, thanks for your comment – hope you enjoyed the article – thanks for reading!
Cheers
Andy