“Africa is not for sissies.” That gem of a quip came from veteran GS Trophy marshal Marchant Maasdorp, and truer words have never been spoken. The 2024 BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy has been the most ‘adventurous’ thing I’ve ever done. I got a good sense of that at the very beginning when a chunk of our rider briefings was dedicated to all the dangers we had to watch out for during our week of living in a tent.
Poisonous scorpions, snakes, and spiders were just the start, because there were also blood-sucking tsetse flies and malarial mosquitoes to watch out for. A full slide of the safety presentation dedicated to thorns drove home the fact that these were not to be messed with either – especially since we were told that some of them would require professional medical assistance to be removed from the skin.
‘Diarrheal diseases’ are common, so don’t drink tap water, avoid ice cubes from unknown sources, and, if possible, brush your teeth with bottled water. As for food, ‘cook it, peel it, or leave it’. Also, don’t forget to keep the campsite bathroom doors closed, because you might run into a band of baboons looking for something to steal.
Essentially, it was abundantly clear that this was going to be the adventure of a lifetime, even before we began to ride. My full experience will be out in the next issue, but it has jumped right to the top of the most exciting and challenging things I have done on a motorcycle.
The GS Trophy has been held every two years at the most exotic locations around the world. And I’m told by multiple folks who have long-term associations with this amazing event that this one has undoubtedly been the toughest yet. That is partly due to the geographical nature of Namibia, but also because the Trophy has been attracting younger, more skilled competitors in recent years, and BMW was happy to turn up the wick.
Riding in sand is probably one of the most energy intensive forms of motorcycling, and it demands plenty of skill as well as exceptional stamina on giant ADVs. What exceeded my expectations about how difficult this would be wasn’t the type of terrain, but the sheer extent of it. For three days straight, the teams had non-stop hours of riding in deep sand that was ripped apart by about a hundred extremely powerful motorcycles.
But the tough riding was just a part of it, because the points at the Trophy are only scored in special stage competitions. More often than not, these were held immediately after a particularly gruelling few hours of riding. And when it’s all done, you arrive at the campsite, set your tent up for the night, only to have to tear it down the next morning at dawn.
You could qualify for the GS Trophy on skills alone, but I can confirm that you’ll also need excellent levels of fitness as well as a genuine love for adventure to thrive there. It’s far from a luxurious motorcycle journey, but the ride, the region, and the incredible people you’ll meet will leave you with a lifetime of memories. It’s such a magnetic draw that, for some contestants, this was the reason they bought a GS – after all, the Trophy is only open to BMW motorcycle owners.