Tankwa Karoo (R355) and its dusty magnificence S1EP45

We are leaving Calvinia in the Northern Cape on a frosty morning, it has been below zero during the night and we make a chilling start to the day. A quick visit to the largest postbox in South Africa before we go onto the R355, the longest uninterrupted gravel road in South Africa. 200KM of nothing but beautiful Karoo landscapes, wide open spaces and a very varied gravel road. Luckily both the KTM 390 Adventure and the KTM 890 Adventure R have enough fuel, because there will be no fuel stops today! The road is also notorious for punctures and we don't carry spares, but nothing can beat the feeling of the open road. We end up at the Tankwa Padstal, without a campground in sight. We camp that night next to the Padstal with a million stars above us!
When we reached the Padstal it feels like we rode onto Area 51 where a UFO crash landed and a car also met its end with a nose dive!
This landscape is truely beautiful as is its people, we filled our hunger with amazing food at the Padstal, set up camp for the evening and felt like we where on Mars that evening.
#ktm390adventure #ktm890adventure #tankwapadstal #R355 #ufo #karoo #southafrica #explore #motocamping

[@scheun2]

Been going to the tankwa now for six years in a row on the bike. Those roads are different every single time. Beautiful place. Great videos. Keep them coming 😊🎉

[@thetravelingtortoises]

You are a very lucky man to have been going there for so many years! And that just goes too show you how special it is, just does not get old and always beautiful! Thank you for the support!

[@AdventureGrampa]

08:40 Nice drone work in this episode.

[@thetravelingtortoises]

Thank you !

[@benniegerber9526]

Beautiful whow, those drone videos are out of this world. Makes a fellow biker itch

[@thetravelingtortoises]

We will keep giving the itchy powder until you go and make more memories on your own adventures!! :) Glad you liked them!

[@TheSilmarallion]

Awesome footage, what drone are you using, myself and a friend are going to do a Tankwa trip next week i.e. 2-5 Jan 2024....

[@thetravelingtortoises]

Hi! That sounds very nice! Its an awesome place to ride a bike! We use the DJI Mini 3 Pro, but the new Mini 4 is much better with tracking and avoiding obstacles. Hope you have a great trip! Enjoy and be safe!

[@seamus9750]

Planning to do this soon and your video was the first to pop up

[@MotoAndy]

Hi guys, very cool channel and nice episodes, we have a similar passion so I will definitely follow you, good luck and safe adventures.✌

[@thetravelingtortoises]

We are so glad you enjoy it and thank you for the follow!

[@johansander7368]

Love your humour! Always smiling and positive!

[@thetravelingtortoises]

Thank you! There are times that it gets difficult, but we enjoy every second of this journey.

[@darrylcoomer1539]

Amazing experiences and people!! Great video

[@thetravelingtortoises]

Was an awesome day Darryl! What a place too ride and the people was super!

[@benniegerber9526]

Tankwa looks so beautiful, a whole few kms of nothingness 😮😂

[@thetravelingtortoises]

One can find beauty in such harsh environment and nothingness, but when you look closely down on the ground there is actually a whole lot there.

[@grahamcairn8379]

What a awesome and beautiful place to camp.

[@thetravelingtortoises]

We where so grateful for the lady from The Padstal to allow us to camp there. It was better than any camp site! Just amazing and a true feeling of adventure!! We loved it!!

[@guyonbikeadventures]

I'll have to rewatch the episode. My internet is not good due to the loadshedding.

[@thetravelingtortoises]

We feel your pain!! Loadshedding and weak internet signals is a real headache for us too. Trying too keep the videos coming can sometimes be hard with all of these little things. But thank you for coming back and watching it anyway!

[@guyonbikeadventures]

Enjoyed the episode and great content. Keep them coming. Any plans crossing over to Namibia, I think it's a given?

[@thetravelingtortoises]

Thank you so much and glad you are enjoying the videos! Namibia is for sure on our list! :)

[@Thebabsdt]

Tankwa is amazing to drive and stay, feels like you are in a total different world. That road goes on forever and then the oasis of the Padstal, we loved our trip through there to the National Park! Great hospitality from the Padstal owners!

[@thetravelingtortoises]

It truly is a whole new world and we loved it!!! Even with all the bumps hahaha!! Yes she was super nice and we where so happy to camp there! It was truly awesome and we felt like real adventures camping there! true spirit of adventure sometimes comes in these little things like putting a tent up next to the road.