Meet Adrian Haas, the Hopeless Adventurer.
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41 year old Adrian is a fresh produce agent at the jhb Fresh Produce Markets.
He got on to a borrowed bike for the first time ever in 2020, a Ktm 300. But dirtbiking did not stick.
“ I then bought my first bike, a KTM 500 in 2021 and learned to ride with guys like Andy Biram and GG Alcock.
“I dabbled with enduro… and even did the Impi Dabbler ON THE 500. That was a workout!”
He bought a BMW Dakar 650 in June of 21 and the adv bug bit.
“2 months into being on a road bike. I did a solo trip to the Cape and loved every second.”
Think big.
“At the end of ‘21, I bought a KTM 1290, popped my Mrs on the back and we did a 3800Km trip from GP to the Cape and back again. Sadly, a rock pierced the radiator near Angies G spot. I managed to ride out and arranged a lift to George for repairs.”
“My Wife flew back and I rode the bike back up to Gauteng – with a stop over in Graaff Reinet.
Over the next year, I used the 1290 as a daily commuter, Explored Baviaans solo, Lesotho – and plenty more. The Adventure bug bit me properly.”
Sadly he was relieved of that bike. What to buy?
“The 1290 is big and can be a real handful. The BMW I had was really not for me, so I wanted a balance of the two.”
The KTM 890 Adv fitted the bill.
“I found a used one with only 3000 KM’s on the clock. I did a lot of prep on the bike prior to this trip, I reckon it’s important to get to know your bike – loaded and unloaded, including passes like Sani.”
The seed was planted for a big trip, 4 countries, solo to celebrate his 40th birthday.
He tells the story:
Prior to leaving, I got the guys from RAD KTM to go through the bike. It had now done 17000 Km’s. In just a year.
We went through everything from brakes, to engine, the whole works. Although the trip was planned for my 40th, time was not on my side.
I headed out this year on the 22nd of June.
KM 0: 450KM’s.
I left JHB and did a long, ridiculously boring trip to Vryberg on the first leg. You ride boring stuff to get to the good parts – just grin and bear it!
Day 2: 520KM’s.
From Vryberg to Augrabies. A long, boring ride, but so worth it. The falls were in full force – absolutely breathtaking. You need to go and see it!
Day 3: Sand Monsters.
Rather than just following the road onwards, I decided to follow the Namaqua 4×4 trail. On the map it shows as a road…
This is where the fun started. I’m not sure that I was even sposed to ride there, but it looked so cool on the map. Solo. And guess what? I had no clue about the sand.
I got stuck for two hours!
Nobody came past, no tracks, no signal. At this point, I was very grateful that I had chosen a smaller bike, but I was longing for my 500. It was hectic.
Man and machine and lots of wrestling…
I removed all of the luggage and pushed and pulled… Luckily I had water…
Eventually, I decided to use my brand new jacket for traction under the wheel. It worked… I got out eventually and managed to get up a hill – with the plan to run down the dune and get out of there.
By now the vultures were circling and little sand flies were chewing me to pieces…
I reloaded again, aimed down the hill and opened up… and guess what?
The front wheel dug in and I went sailing over the handlebars…
Darn!
I picked the bike up again and decided to deflate the rear tyre ( I probably should have done that first…) 5 Km’s has never been so long and thankfully, I finally made it to a reasonable gravel road.
I hit Steinkopf, close to Viooldrift for the night and literally collapsed into bed for the night.
Day 4:
I had a cold coming on before the trip, but yesterday just sped it up. I took a leisurely 80km ride to my lodgings at Oewerbos and took a day off to try and recover.
Day 5: Through the Richtersveld.
What a cool, chilled ride through the Richtersveld. You need to be careful – the rocks cut your tyres to pieces. I jokingly renamed it puncture valley. Eksteenfontein, and the whole Richtersveld area is really beautiful.
I crossed to Oranjemund and slept over at “Op My Stoep”for my first night in Namibia.
What cool people! Highly recommended.
Day 6:
From Op my Stoep I headed for Hobas on the Fish river Canyon – around 300Km’s and it was great! The canyon is quite simply breathtaking. Photographs do not do it any justice.
I spent the afternoon exploring and spent the night.
Day 7:
My plan was to sleep 300kms away in Helmeringhausen. Cool ride, Ice cold, lots of gravel roads. In Helmeringhausen there was no accommodation and it was raining. A lot.
I was soaked. But I needed a bed…
I was directed to a lodge 30kms out of town. Nobody was there.it was about 5 in the evening, I was soaking wet and it was getting dark.
Eventually after more than an hour huddling under an afdak, one of the workers helped me and gave me a key for one of the rooms… No hot water, no electricity, no signal, but a warm, dry bed. I managed to send friends a message via my Garmin In Reach GPS.
You have to carry one, it works via satellite, so when signal fails, you can at least let people know where you are…
The owner found me in the morning and refused to take any payment for my nights sleepover. “You needed help and I can’t take money for helping someone!”
There are lots of good people out there.
Day 8:
It warmed up and I headed for Sesriem. Lots of tricky gravel, but all rideable through the aris semi desert.
I got to Sesriem at lunch time. DeadValley lodge is polar opposite to the night before – 5 star amazing!
I’ll be back.
I met amazing people. In Hobas, I had met a guy over a coffee who called ahead and arranged my sleepover at the lodge and a special treat.
An hour before the gate opened, I was taken into the Sossusvlei dunes to watch the sunrise. To say it was epic is an understatement.
I took the rest of the day just to chill, you have to relax and enjoy where you are.
It is a special place.
Day 9:
From Sesriem, I hit the road to Swakopmund. It’s sandy, corrugated and long. 300Km’s took more than 6 hours. Torture. I stopped off to sightsee all along the route. But it felt long and I pulled into Swakop just in time to watch the sunset over the Atlantic.
I met a cool family out on their bikes who directed me to my digs for the night.
Day 10:
I took the road inland again to Brandberg, Namibia’s highest mountain. It was mostly good tar which was a pleasure after yesterdays shakeup. Lots of cool stuff to see, flat, desolate and beautiful in its own way.
I stopped to chat and joke with some of the local Himba people and offered to buy one of the cute kids. It was a big laugh and after much negotiation, one of the ladies offered up her son for just R1000.
I overnighted at The White Lady in the tented camp. Cool spot! There are rock paintings in the area, but I opted to chill. At White lady, they helped me with some fuel, or else I would have had to go back to the town of Uis, about 25KM’s behind me.
Day 11:
From White lady, I headed for Grootfontein (505km’s away) – stopping off at the Hoba meteorite site, the biggest meteorite in the world. It’s 60 tonnes of metal that hurtled out of space. It’s amazing, otherworldly, go and see it for yourself!
The local people made me a real celebrity, they had never seen a person that looks like them on a bike before! It was awesome – they revved the bike and were really taken with the whole thing. Motorcycles are a universal language.
From the site, I headed for my overnight. It had been another amazing day in the saddle.
Day 12: Through the Caprivi strip.
There’s nothing. Except people walking for water and lots of poverty…
A bit depressing, people really battle – it brings things into perspective. I handed out fizzers to some kids… You could have sworn it was Christmas. Something so simple brought so much joy.
I spent the night at a tiny backpackers in Divundu. Nothing fancy, but a good nights rest.
Day 13:
I crossed into Botswana, and took a short ride through to Drosky’s Cabins on the Okavango River.
The road into the lodge is… guess what?
Yes! Thick sand, my favourite and true to form… I crashed again and got pinned under the bike. Thank goodness for proper enduro boots, invest in a pair!
Some dude just wandered past – and although i was huffing and puffing straddled in the sand, he didnt lift a hand to help! I eventually dug myself out and thanked him sarcastically, he shrugged and told me it was a pleasure! You have to love it!
The lodge is stunning. Beautiful campsite, right on the river. I took a sunset cruise, amazing. I saw a fish eagle catch a fish and saw an elusive, rare Pels fishing owl… it was incredible.
All adventure riders need to pay them a visit.
Day 14: Onwards to Maun.
The terrain changed. Tar roads, like riding in the Limpopo Area. I saw herds of Zebra, Elephant and all kinds of antelope. It’s like riding through the Kruger. Just a wild, open bushveld.
Maun is just a town. Nothing much to see. I planned to book a helicopter flip over the delta, but there were not enough people to tag along. So that ended up being a quiet and restful day and I met a bunch of friendly people to hang out with.
Day 15: From Maun to Nata.
Nata is about 300 kms due east of Maun, riding through the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. By this time I had had my fill of sand riding and even though I was hoping to see Bains Baobab I couldn’t face riding thick sand again, so that’s on my list to do on my next lap through the area.
I overnighted at Eselbe Back Packers camp where I met a bunch of amazing people who gave up their careers in Europe to do volunteer work in the area, among which were surgeons and doctors. Another interesting family I met was from the UK. They had taken their 10 year old daughter out of school, landed in Cape Town in February this year and had travelled all the way to Nata using only public transport. How amazing is that?
Day 16: From Nata to Kasane.
I packed my bike and turned it north. Fortunately the road was a reasonably decent tar road, however the game still roamed freely over the road and I started becoming quite blase about the numerous sightings of elephant herds, more of the same ol’ same ol’.
I arrived at Elephant Trail lodge around two in the afternoon and managed to book a boat tour, but had to hustle to catch it as it left on its tour at 3pm sharp… ish. Cruising along the Chobe we had awesome game sightings from herds of elephant guiding each other across the river holding onto each others tails, herds of the wildebeest and towards the end I spotted a fish eagle and the guides stopped very close, where I was able to file and photograph it. Such an amazing privilege experienced by so few.
Day 17: From Kasane to Victoria Falls.
After packing my 890, I hit the road to Vic falls around 10. It’s a short 1 hour trip without the border crossing… but I knew the reputation of this border and knew it was going to be a long and tedious crossing. If I can give you any advice, do your homework before you leave and make sure you have all the correct permits and paperwork in place. Unfortunately I didn’t, but fortunately I met a fellow biker who worked at the border post who took quite an interest in me, my bike and my journey and he assisted me in getting the forms filled in online and through the border smoothly and a lot quicker and with much less hassle than I was anticipating, skipping through in just on 30 minutes or so. Thank you!
From there it was pretty much plain sailing to Vic Falls.
Because I didn’t know the area or where I was going, I generally allow the universe to direct me and I ended up at this cool little restaurant where I had breakfast. The owner offered to look after my bike and kit and even arranged a helicopter trip over the falls for me, foregoing his own commission which saved me about 25% on their price. There really are still some exceptionally beautiful people on this planet. The trip over the falls is really a bucket list item.
After the flip over the falls, I went to my accommodation for the evening, had breakfast the next morning and aimed my faithful steed towards Bulawayo.
Day 18: Victoria Falls to Bulawayo:
Bulawayo is about a 430 km ride from Vic Falls, a really long ride made even longer by the terrible condition of the roads with the tar disappearing for kilometres at a time. Potholes are so, so very bad that they could really cause some terrible damage to your bike and even your person if you are not careful.
I was only too grateful to reach my overnight digs with my bike and body intact. (I discovered a massive smiley on the rim when I arrived home).
Arriving around four in the afternoon, I was really gatvol and just not in the mood for Zimbabwe any more. I just settled down for the evening. My intention was to visit the Great Zimbabwe ruins, but after the trauma of the roads in Zimbabwe I just couldn’t raise the motivation that I needed…. Next time…. Maybe. Quite sad really.
Day 19: Bulawayo to Francistown to Tom Burke:
The next morning it was hammering down with rain which soured my mood even more, making me feel better about my decision the previous day to skip the ruins. By now I was missing my wife and boys and just wanted to get home.
Tom Burke was 475 km’s and 2 border crossings away. By the time I got to Francistown I realised I had lost my bank cards and had to find a forex set up or money changer. The petrol attendant directed me to the “Mamma’s” selling snacks on the side of the road and they did a fair and easy exchange for me at the current correct exchange rate…
Who says you need a degree?
I stayed over at the Big Fig Inn in Tom Burke and arrived to a proper and very welcomed South African home cooked pap and stew.
Day 20: Tom Burke home.
The final 420 km’s seemed the longest but also the sweetest as I knew I would see my wife and boys in a few hours. I was itching to get home and hit the road at 7am and had breakfast in Lephalele/Eliisras before turning towards Vaalwater, Modimole, Bela Bela and onto the N1. I hit the gas hard and got home around 1 in the afternoon where I sat on my bike for around 20 minutes just soaking it all in and reflecting on the trip. After a monumental ride like that one can’t just get off your bike and walk away back to your normal life.
The bike: My 890 did not skip a beat. Even after I binned her a few times. Not even a flat tyre.
My kit: Thank you Leatt for the great boots, you saved my foot. My jacket survived being used for traction…
Quick tips for an adventure like this:
I was told by a farmer I met in Namibia that they have a saying:
“If you want to get anywhere fast go slow.”
I took his advice and made sure I rode slower than usually do.
I shared my exact route with a friend at home and checked in daily. I did not go off the route unless I informed him.
When crossing over into Zim, register for your Temporary Import Permit (Online TIP) before reaching the Border. Also make sure to have e-natis etc ready. They were the strictest of all.
I used my credit card at most places, only at a few rural Garages in Zim did I use USD. I didn’t have a problem with Fuel in Zim.
Don’t worry too much about pre-booking and planning exactly. Just have a plan B in case.
Be friendly and Open, the best memories come from the unlikeliest places.
Follow Adrian for more of his hopeless and hapless adventures on
http://www.hopeless-adventurer.com
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Sounds like an adventure never to forget – but not for everyone 🙂
Hi nephew 💙
What an awesome, amazing and beautiful experience you had. It is a great read and thank you for sharing it. Iam sure you had fun! Well done.
Much love ❤️
From the Adams family