One of my best ever #NorthernCape discoveries came on our recent Open Africa #NamaquaCoastalRoute trip … The destination in question is the Naries Namakwa Retreat – www.naries.co.za and one can find it secreted amidst the renosterbos rante on the Kleinzee road 15min west of Springbok.
This delightful destination caters for an outdoor crowd keen to combine a unique fresh-air escape with a high level of comfort. Excellent accommodation facilities include Nama Reed Huts beautifully set into rock outcrops, superbly equipped self-catering units and B&B rooms in the Manor and ‘Power House’.
What really impressed me at #Naries, however, was the endless spaces beyond your front door. Anything goes here on the edge of the vast inland escarpment, and both the views and trails are sure to blow your mind. A well-marked route network allow you to #hike and #trailrun along half a dozen different routes of nearly 20km in combined distance.
Our Open Africa Route Scouting mission included this little piece of desert paradise with a view to establishing a brand new #mountainbike Stage Race Route here along the Namaqua Coastal Route. To this effect, I had the pleasure of working together with the EcoBound Mountain Events crew and my long-time shooting buddy, Pistol Peter Kirk .
One of the key routes we scouted is an extreme #enduro route section adjacent to the spectacular #SpektakelPass, running adjacent to the main tarmac route towards #Kleinzee. Bone-crunching drop-offs and canyon-sized ruts made for some hectic riding (and a few portages for the more clever #Ooms in the party of riders), but what a place to let loose the new #Trance!
We once again had Dudley as back-up, and he showed serious off-road skills to make it to the bottom of Spektakel Pass unscathed. From here, there could be options to either connect to the coast, or otherwise to head back into the SANParks – Namaqua National Park along the remote #Kommegas Road … whichever way, it promises to be breathtakingly beautiful!
Once again, the Isuzu South Africa #Xrider handled the terrain en route to #NamaquaNP in its stride; there will be much more about this amazing arid park in the next blog capturing this #OpenAfrica Tourism Route.
All images shot on the PENTAX SOUTH AFRICA #Pentaxk1 – super impressed with the image quality and low noise on this great #fullframe body!
Click here to view the pics