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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.