Namibia Trip - September 2008

Mom outside one of the "tents" we stayed in at Desert Camp

After leaving Swakopmund we traveled south through Sesriem to Desert Camp where we stayed two nights.  The accommodation was half solid wall and half canvas and nicely decorated inside.  It had a kitchenette on the back stoep with a fridge, sink and stove.  It would have been fine if the wind hadn't started blowing at 11pm and we could hardly sleep with the noise of flapping canvas.

Dunes at Sossusvlei

September 11 - Dunes

We had planned on getting up early and heading to Sossusvlei to see the sun rise over the dunes, but with the wind blowing as hard as it was we thought it would be too windy and sandy for the dunes so we slept in a bit.  Mid morning we drove into Sesriem, which consists of a lodge, a bakery, a general store and an office to pay entry into the park.  And that's it.  We decided to see the canyon first and then head out to the dunes to see if we could actually climb them in this wind.

Dune 45 - note the sand blowing off the ridge

We spent about an hour walking through the canyon, which was interesting and then we drove till we got to Dune 45.  A group of people where just leaving so we had the dune to ourselves.  We climbed the ridge to the crest.  The wind was so strong it felt like it would blow us right off at times.  We spent some time up there, trying to keep the blowing sand out of our cameras, before running down the side of the dune.  We then decided to go back to camp and spend the rest of the day at the pool.  That night the wind blew constantly so we had another bad night.

Dead Vlei

September 12 - Sossusvlei

While packing up at Desert Camp Robert found a scorpion in our room on the floor under a blanket.  He must have been getting cold.

We packed up our things and headed to Sesriem and paid to go into the park again.  Once we got to the end of the 60km road we had to pay to be transported the last little way by 4x4 as the road was not suitable for cars.  They first dropped us off at Dead Vlei, where there was a dry pan with several dead trees.  There was still a lot of wind so the dust and sand made everything hazy, but it was still beautiful.  After that we got back on our transport and went to Sossusvlei, which is also a dry basin with amazing red dunes around it.  Robert and I climbed to the top of one of the dunes to enjoy the panorama from there while Mom and Dad went back to the car for a snooze.  Back at Sesriem we bought a tasty loaf of freshly baked bread and had sandwiches.  By 11:15am we were heading south again on our way to Aus.

1st flat wheel

The gravel road to Aus was very rocky and noisy under the wheels as rocks bounced up and hit the undercarriage of the car.  By the time Dad realized there was something wrong with the wheel it had badly damaged the rim and shredded the tire.  The men quickly had the wheel off and the spare in place.  As this left us without a spare Dad decided to take a road which would take us to a tarred road rather than the gravel road to Aus.  We could sleep in Grunau or thereabouts.

About 20 minutes later, around 3:20pm, the other back wheel was also flat.  This left us stranded.  Robert walked back up the road a little way and climbed a nearby hill to see if he could see a farmhouse anywhere.  On his way back we saw him running to the road.  Then we saw why... a tour bus was coming down the road toward us.  It was a busload of German tourists.  By then Dad had the wheel off so Dad and I got on the bus with the damaged wheel and they offloaded us at a farm about 3 miles away.  A local farmer named Clutch made calls but found that none of the farmers in the area had a wheel which would fit our car.  But, there was a guesthouse not far away where we could sleep the night and they would arrange for a tire repair store to bring us a wheel from Mariental, about 214km (133 miles) away.  So Clutch took us back to the car.

When we got to the car Robert and Mom were gone.  We later discovered that they had walked to the farmhouse that Robert had spotted from the hill to fetch water.  They thought they might have to spend the night in a tent along the roadside, and they were low on water.  So Clutch went to the farmhouse to fetch them.  It had taken them 20 minutes to walk there, then they had to climb over a tall gate, get water from the friendly staff at the farm and pet the friendly bulldog.  Then Clutch took them back to the car.  By then the owner of the guesthouse, Frikkie, turned up to take us back to his lodge for the night.

Frikkie's lodge, Nubib Nature Camp

Frikkie's wife quickly got dinner going while we had a shower and cleaned up.  The guest houses were really nice.  They were normally $45 each but seeing as we were in a bind he only charged us $7 to cover his water cost.  Dinner was wonderful and we enjoyed chatting to Frikkie and his family.  The next morning his parents made us breakfast while the tire guy, Jaco, arrived from Mariental to fix the damaged rim and put on the new tires.  He had left Mariental at 4:30am to get to us by 6am.

Frikkie, Jaco, Jane and Robert watching Dad tighten the last nuts on the wheel

September 13 - Home stretch

As we did not have enough cash to pay for the new wheels we were to follow Jaco to Mariental where we would go to the store and pay them.  Jaco told us to drive on ahead while he had a cup of coffee with Frikkie.  After driving for about 5 minutes Mom asked where her red bag was.  We stopped the car and looked in the back.  It wasn't there, so we turned around and drove back to where Jaco and Frikkie were still having coffee.  We found the red bag, my camera, the laptop and a couple of other items still in the back of Frikkie's car.  After loading these we got going at 8:10am.

At Mariental they balanced the wheels and got us in good shape for the road home.  It was a very expensive experience as Dad had to pay $0.50 per km for all the driving Jaco had done to get the wheels to us and back to Mariental.  But, he gave Dad quite a bit off the cost of the wheels and didn't charge for labor.  In all the whole experience showed just how friendly and helpful these local people are.  We thank them for all their help.

Flowers in Namaqualand

With the sky clear we got to see many more flowers on the trip home.  Unfortunately it got dark just as we were going through areas where we knew there were carpets of flowers along the road.

We got home to Darling at 11:25pm, which made it 15 hours and 15 minutes of driving from Mariental.

This whole trip was a wonderful experience.  We were lucky with the weather in most places and because we went in September we missed the tourist rush which ends in August.  The only thing I am sorry about is that we did not have another day in Swakopmund as I didn't get to see much of this historic town with its quaint architecture.  Robert says if he had to do it again he would rent a small plane to get around.  Fly to Windhoek from wherever you live, and get around by plane from there.  This would allow you to see all the interesting places we saw in a week rather than two weeks.  And you don't have to sit in a car for hours just getting to places.  However, the scenery along the road is beautiful, if you like great expanses of nothing but low hills and brush.

Table Mountain from the air

The day after getting back to Darling we went for a drive to Postberg near Saldanha Bay, about an hour from Darling.  There we saw several animals including Hartebeest, Kudu, Zebras, Springbok and Ostriches.  It was cold and windy but we had a nice day.  The next day we took Robert to the airport.  I stayed one more week to spend some time in the Cape.  Then I also flew home to Atlanta, USA.

The End

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For comments contact Jane at  jburke@gtcreations.com
September 2008