Many of us dream of packing our bags and heading off on a motorbike adventure. We’ve all seen the likes of Nick Sanders and the Long Way Down crew visiting incredible places, while the rise of social media has given us a window into the world of many individuals and couples who’ve left the humdrum behind and traded it all in for a life on the road.
But while it seems like an impossible dream for most of us, it is possible to have the adventure of a lifetime without having to jack it all in, and without the hassle of arranging bike shipping, green cards, insurances and accommodation. The alternative is a motorcycling package holiday, like the Namibia Motorcycle Adventure, where you pay your money, get yourself to Namibia and enjoy 10 days riding around ‘The Land God Made In Anger’ on a Triumph Tiger or BMW R 1250 GS adventure bike.
Starting in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, the trip takes in around 2600 kilometres (1600 miles) of mostly off-road riding through the stunning southern African country, before winding up in Cape Town, at the southern tip of South Africa. It’s some of the most stunning scenery on earth, and as far away from the British Isles as you’ll find.
The Namibia Motorcycle Adventure is run by a company called Bonafide Moto Co, who started out as a group of mates planning some adventures around their native South Africa almost a decade ago. Their first trip was to the Sani Pass in Lesotho in 2015, and the project has grown year on year – opening up to paying customers who can take advantage of the wealth of experience gained by ride host Joe Fleming.
This year’s adventure is ‘The Land God Made In Anger’ and one of the special aspects of their tours is the care and attention taken to ‘create content’. In a world of Instagram and YouTube, the Bonafide team make a point of creating stunning photos and videos for you to share with friends and family, and to keep a lifetime of memories. It was, in many ways, these images which has led to the development of the tours, with more and more friends keen to join in after seeing the amazing photos coming back from Joe’s original adventures.
That's when Baffle Culture's co-founders Salts and Sam (pictured), with fellow business partner Andy Harrison and seven friends thought it was time to have that trip of a lifetime.
Baffle Culture's brand and story started almost a decade ago with, like many modern brands, an Instagram page with a passion to share what they loved most. For them, that was biking culture and everything along with it.
From sharing custom builds to leather jackets, Baffle Culture wanted to encapsulate the best of motorcycle culture and has most recently made the progression from online to bricks-and-mortar. They launched Baffle Haus just over two years ago, near Abergavenny in Wales, as a moto enthused destination where like minded people can enjoy great coffee, hot food from the 'Fuel Station' (of course utilising the Welsh local produce) and a retail store with brands and products not available in your everyday retail bike shop.
When asked about the reason for embarking on this African adventure, and riding with Carole Nash, co founder Salts said: "The chance to ride across the Namibian landscape with your best mates, watching your shadows grow longer, was an opportunity we couldn't say no to. It's an adventure and experience you just can't replicate anywhere else. We're not the type of people to take ourselves too seriously so I can only imagine the fun we'll be having trying to navigate ourselves through the harsh African terrain.
“We've (Baffle Culture) wanted to work with Carole Nash for some time after being introduced to them through a friend of the business but we were short of an adventure and a chance to share the ride! It's our mantra and backbone of everything we aim to do at Baffle, so to be able to share this journey and showcase what we believe to be the best of motorcycle culture with our combined followers and friends is truly amazing.”
At Carole Nash we’re motorcycle enthusiasts so when we were given the chance to share this ride with Baffle we jumped at the opportunity because we wanted to be able to share it with you! Motorcycling is all about the sense of freedom and adventure, so make sure you are following us on our social channels to keep up to date with the ride.
