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Bicycle tour through Namibia and Botswana over 5000 km. Self-supported and self-planned tour

Between the Okavango and the Orange River - Namibia

Waltraud
2004-03-05 12:17:25

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A Hot Bicycle Tour through the Deserts of Namibia and Botswana

Andy Heßberg & Waltraud Schulze; (1998/1999)

The waves gently hit the dug-out canoe. A few dragon flies can be seen between the white and yellow water flowers. Birds can be heard in the tall reeds. But not much is visible, except a narrow channel of water between man-tall reed, and the bright blue sky. The sun is very strong, as it had been since days, and the air is still just above the water level. Relaxing. Bike tour? Wasn't this going to be a bicycle tour?

Through the Kalahari

We deserve a few days of relaxing boat trip. 850 km, that is the distance we just covered – through the Kalahari from West to East. Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, was the starting point of our 10-weeks mountainbike tour. First we cycled to Maun, a city at the southern extent of the Okavango Delta. However, biking in the Delta is difficult. It is much more promising to take a dug-out canoe together with a native guide and enjoy the wildlife for a few days. This is exactly what we are doing after 10 days of heat, drought, dust, sand, sweat, dirt, and long thorns of acacia trees. For us as pale Europeans, the intensity of the sun is rather dangerous, especially if one spends the whole day on a bicycle and shady places are rather rare.

Water – where can we get water?

The mental fight against the wind, the track and the sun at times is extreme. In addition, water is not available everywhere, but it is absolutely important at these temperatures of 40°C or higher. Our daily actions, the distances we traveled, and the breaks we made, were only influenced by this one thing – water. Breaks are used to refill drinking bottles on the bikes, to take a few pictures, to check the tires for thorns, and to put on another layer of sun-block. However, the always present question was: where can we get the next supply of water? In 80km? Then we have ...