Caprivi??

Caprivi?  Unexpected change of plans!

I took the extra day in Oshikati to make sure the bikes were ready for the second half of our adventure, changing the oil and checking the battery water.

Thursday morning we were up before the sun as we had a big day ahead of us, some 550km to Rundu. We said good bye to Braam who even drove ahead of us for a bit to show us the road and left Oshikati round 7:30. 

Bye Braam??

Only 45 km out of Oshikati Mia’s bike, “Night Fury” was overheating so we stopped… I started by checking all the components I worked on the previous day, but could not find anything wrong. Double checking in the Heinz manual Henri gave us to explain everything that could cause over-heating problems we headed off again hoping for the best.

Here we are again

Less than ten kilometers on the same warning light came on..?? We stopped again! 

This time I noticed that the water was not being pulled through the radiator from the water container. I filled up the radiator and noticed the water dripping out a small leak from the bottom of the radiator. While the Night Fury was cooling down, we grabbed the map and decided to head straight for Oshikango (On the Angola border) some 8km away.

The day was quickly changing into something we had not planned for. At 11:00am we arrived in Oshikango. As we arrived, Night Fury still showed the same problem. We pulled into the first service station, both already showing signs of frustration. The only person we knew in the Northern parts of Namibia was Braam…. so I called him. He did not hesitate to help and told me to stay put as he had connections in Oshikango. His friend Loise (his motorbiking buddy) who owns a bike shop (KTM) came to get us and took us to his business premises where we assessed the problem.

We pulled apart the whole cooling system of the Night Fury and discovered that the radiator had a shaving mark right up the middle…

Loise made some phone calls for a replacement part, but could not manage to get one in the whole of Namibia. Our mood was sinking! I knew the problem was going to cost us some time, but not having the spare in Namibia meant getting one from SA which would take even more time.

I decided to not waste any more time and source it myself. My first phone call must have been a blessing in the right direction. I phoned Guy Houwens in PE (Port Elizabeth)...and amazingly he had the spare we were looking for in his workshop! Whooha!

Meanwhile as we were waiting to get confirmation from the courier pickup in PE the sun was frowning over the town and the only way we could bear the heat was to escape into a KFC with some good air conditioning.

Braam arrived in Oshikango with the good news that he had already arranged the courier service and that the spare was being picked up in PE as we spoke.

Thank you Braam and Guy!

So we loaded the Night Fury (in pieces) onto Braam's bakkie and headed back to Oshikati to Braam’s house. 

Night Fury in pieces

 

On our arrival in Oshikati Braam’s brother Josef offered to attempt to fix the broken radiator. These guys know their story and within half an hour and some alu-putty it was fixed. Maybe good for 100km or 10 000km, who knows…

Again that night we were entertained in the best of Namibian fashion.

The following morning I fitted the fixed radiator and it worked! Sunday morning we joined Braam, Marius and Loise on the bikes and explored the area around Oshikati up to Ondangwa where we picked up the radiator from a guy who works for Loise. Thank you Loise for the logistical help!

Some fun in Oshikati while we wait

With little persuasion Braam agreed to join us into Caprivi! So after we fitted the new part to Mia’s motorbike we were ready to get back on the road on Monday morning.

To our dismay the new radiator that we had spent 4 days waiting for was faulty…. What now?? We decided to change back to the original radiator which was fixed by Josef (Braam’s Brother) because after all, it lasted the weekend’s ride..

By now I was able to do a radiator exchange on a BMW with my eyes closed!

We left Oshikati at 11:00 am.. destination Rundu, 520km..  As per our planning Rundu was just a quick overnighter on our way to the Caprivi.

Monday late afternoon we arrived in Rundu. Braam had arranged for us to camp on one of his friends (Jaco van Dyk) front lawn. Thank you Jaco for your friendly hospitality!

The van Dyk's

After a BIG Wimpy Breakfast we set off to Divundu, Ngepi Lodge on the Kavango River.

Braam and Hennie watching a man in his makoro on the Kavango River

We stopped at Andara Catholic Mission along the road

The 4km to the lodge was very scary with deep loose sand. As usual the yellow canary took a dive, but Braam made Mia feel better when he put his bike down as well.LOL!!

Hennie laughed and took photos - Braam bit of earth

The canary's turn, Hennie still laughing...

This lodge was absolutely amazing. Rustic tree houses on the river bed built with creativity that you can not imagine. With lots to do and see we planned to stay here for two days. 

Our tree house on the Kavango River

On our first evening we arranged for a sunset boat cruise. A beautiful sunset, many hippos really close to the boat and lots of water, absolutely spectacular! The guide informed us that the river levels were still rising because of flood waters flowing through from Angola and filtering down to the Okavango delta. Quite sad for a river that never reaches the sea.

Sunset cruise

The Guava Bar at Ngepi Lodge

 The following morning we were up early with a day planned and packed with adventure. First we had our minds set on some Tiger Fishing!  After a couple of hours and zero luck our enthusiasm failed us and we went home empty handed.

Luckily for me we have the whole Zambezi river still coming, so I’m long not done with Tiger fishing, I will get one!

After lunch a swim in the Kavango River among the Croc’s and Hippos was made possible by a floating cage. Another amazing experience!

Hennie still hoping for his big TIGER

Swimming with Crocs and Hippos

Game drive in Mahango

The afternoon the three of us took a game drive in the Mahango game reserve. A very nice and relaxing way to end our day.

Today we had to say goodbye to Braam. In this week, we made a great new friend with whom we shared many beautiful memories. Thank you Braam for all your kind help, support and enthusiasm.  We are sorry to see you go…

Bye Bye Braam

On the road to Katima Mulilo

320km to Katima Mulilo as our next destination. Katima is situated on the northern part of the Caprivi strip. A boarder town should you want to pass into Zambia. Here we were greeted by the even mightier Zambezi River. We followed our Bardenhorst notes to Namwi Island campsite. Hoping to see the friendly hippo called Stompie.

Tomorrow we will cross into Botswana. A short ride and hopefully a quick border crossing, plan to stay only one night in Kasane on our way to Zimbabwe - Vic Falls!! Heeeha!