Day 155-161

 up

NAM 4th - 10th May 2007, Namibia

 previous entry Previous entry Next entry next entry
Day 155 4/5. Bush camp, Busoa Pass, on the C28 from Windhoek to Swakopmund, Namibia
22°40.50'S 16°02.79'E. Miles today 101, Total 14333
sunsetFeels good to be back on the road again. Last minute stock up on sausage (but alas, no beer. No alcohol is sold here on holidays or Sundays) Took the dirt road towards Swakopmund. Awesome scenery, a lot of nothing. Stopped for the night on the Bosua Pass. More meat! Hurah!
Day 156 5/5. Desert Sky Backpackers, Swakopmund, Namibia
22°40.88'S 14°31.67'E. Miles today 109, Total 14442
sunriseDidn't think one could get this excited about fish paste on toast but in my defence, breakfast was with the most awesome view. Arrived in the cool (literally, thanks to the sea breeze) town of Swakopmund and checked in at the Desert Sky Backpackers where we could camp in the car park for €6 each a night. Here we met a German couple who had also driven through Africa, only they had done the East Coast and this was the end for them. This made us both so grateful that we still had another four months to play. After lovely hot showers we headed into town and treated ourselves to some amazing seafood platters bursting with prawns, mussels, calamari and kingklip. Rounded off our evening with a lot more beer (post rugby match celebrations) at the Rafters Pub.
Day 157 6/5. Bush camp, Omaruru River, Omaruru River 4x4 Trail, Namibia
21°36.85'S 14°53.09'E. Miles today 117, Total 14559
Rob's feeling grim! He says it was a bad prawn, I say he just can't handle his beer anymore! But he couldn't have been that bad as he wolfed down a cooked breakfast and a jug of coffee in town. Received a text from Lisa, an old friend from home, who had managed to wangle some leave from work and was keen to join us in a few days and come to Zambia with us. Decided to explore the Skeleton Coast and the region of Damaraland before returning to Windhoek in a few days to pick her up. Headed off towards the fisherman's haven of Henties Bay just north of Swakopmund. Parked up amongst the many anglers fighting with the days catch on the beach for a spot of lunch and then decided to head inland for a bit. We had read about a 4x4 trail you could explore along the Omaruru River bed. Turned out to be quite a cool sandy trail but sadly not much of a challenge. Beautiful rocky scenery though and loads of baboons scuttling around everywhere. Stopped for the night just on the trail with both of us huddled round the fire on baboon watch.
Day 158 7/5. Bush camp, D2342, West of Brandberg mountain, Namibia
21°17.10'S 14°29.45'E. Miles today 221, Total 14780
sunrise spitzkoppe Brandberg sunset
Amazingly, no sign of any baboons during the night. I guess they are just wild here and are still pretty wary of humans. Back on the sandy trail and continued towards the rocky outcrops of Spitskoppe. Seriously impressive red-orange rock rising up out of nothingness. There are a few community camps around but we decided to push on through to view the Brandberg mountain at sunset (which was lovely) and stopped there for the night. Not one single car has passed us all day! Made a cool fire and decided to make full use of our potjie. (An African black cast iron pot used to make stews on the fire) Tucked into a yummy wholesome garlic and vegetable potjie.
Day 159 8/5. Bush camp, off C39, outside Skeleton Coast Park North gate, Namibia
20°15.39'S 13°44.15'E. Miles today 256, Total Miles 15036
june nothingness Gemsbok
Drove back towards the coast today and entered the Skeleton Coast National Park. To be honest, although it was beautiful, it was a little disappointing. The entrance fee is surprisingly steep and there really isn't very much to see. We were hoping to explore loads of shipwrecks but actually, there are only two very small ones. I think, if you access the northern part of the park (by a luxury private fly-in only safari), it would be a lot more impressive. That's obviously where all the photos come from! We were through the park in a day and stopped just outside the park for a bushcamp. Curried the veg potjie tonight. Nothing like a bit of variation, you know. Woken up by some very loud wailing noises in the middle of the night. Shone the torch on it, think it was a desert fox or possibly a jackal.
Day 160 9/5. Bush camp, 5km west of Khorixas, Namibia
20°23.53'S 14°55.15'E. Miles today 149, Total 15185
Awoke to find my flip-flops missing. After a short search, we found them next to a small bush. The little bastard from last night had chewed them up into a million pieces. I am NOT impressed! Spent the day being tourists, visiting some impressive bushman paintings and a few equally impressive rocks.
Day 161 10/5. Rasputin Farm, 137, 30km west of Outjo, Namibia
20°15.37'S 15°54.14'E. Miles today 163, Total 15348
Awoke to find my flip-flops missing. After a short search, we found them next to a small bush. The little bastard from last night had chewed them up into a million pieces. I am NOT impressed! Spent the day being tourists, visiting some impressive bushman paintings and a few equally impressive rocks. Decided to give the Swiss, Tatjana and Michael a call to see where they were. Turns out, they were just in the next town so we just had to meet up. They had met some Germans in a supermarket and we had all been invited to stay on their farm, Rasputin, for the night. Wow, how lucky are we. Only hitch was, they didn't speak any English but we coped with T and M translating for us. They spoilt us rotten, with enormous and especially delicious Kudu steaks on the braai and cold Namibian Beer. Another bonus, they had four huge and very boisterous dogs, which certainly kept me entertained.
up top of page previous entry Previous entry Next entry next entry