Etosha - Outjo - Khorixas - Brandberg West - Uis - Hentiesbaai - Swakopmund
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Monday, 2000-07-17, Okakuejo, Etosha : The morning saw tearful goodbyes, as Daniel, Julia, Mackenzie, Tatiana and Nate were leaving the tour (well, technically, Daniel and Nate had already left to get treatment for the malaria).
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We drove back to Outjo, had pancakes and waffles and coffee, and went to the bank where I noticed that my credit card was maxed out. So I drew money from my other accounts, bugger the expense, give the cat another goldfish. Promptly went out and bought N$ 200 worth of liquor. |
We almost managed to get out of town, but ran into Terry & Ina, Clive & Sylvia. Terry stripped his rear diff. He went off to find a mechanic, Pim & I went off to look for a new diff. Found one in someone's back yard and stripped it out of the axle casing, took it down to town. The guy lying under Terry's Land-Rover was saying that Land-Rovers are crappy vehicles, but hey, I was standing around with a beer in my hand while he was sweating down there, so I was quite happy to let him get away with it :-)
[WPT 116 -20.371791 14.965637 17-JUL-00 16:14 GMT 18:14 SAST Khorixas]
Khorixas: We stop for fuel. Pim has another flat tyre. For the first time, they tell me to shut down the engine while refueling, they will push to get me started again (at previous fuel stations, ever since Etosha, I just let the thing idle).
[WPT 119 -20.524344 14.397073 17-JUL-00 18:06 GMT 20:06 SAST T-junction to Aba-Huab camp]
Tuesday, 2000-07-18, Aba-Huab camp : We spent the morning fiddling with small things and relaxing in general. Elmari unpacked the Land-Rover and cleaned things up a bit, I checked the connections to the fridge battery. As soon as the camp staff saw the battery they borrowed it to start the generator.
We decide to go see the petrified forest we passed on our way to Aba-Huab.
[WPT 120 -20.439071 14.606135 18-JUL-00 11:24 GMT 13:24 SAST Petrified Forest]
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The guide to the petrified forest costs N$20. We learn about where the trees came from, which tree is the oldest, which is the longest, yadda yadda... Hey, at least we're supporting the local community. | |
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From the petrified forest we went to "Gebrande Berg" -- note, this is not Brandberg!
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We also saw the organ pipes, and the Twyfelfontein rock engravings, which cost N$35 for a 1 hour guided tour. | ||
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Wednesday, 2000-07-19, Aba-Huab camp: Thandie's birthday. The taps are all dry, and we have to wait for them to start the pump to have a shower. Which is important, since Ina tells us it's the last shower for four days.
Pim & I decide to leave early, and head off. Rene & Joke are way ahead of us already, they left at dawn. We get the first turn wrong, turn back, and meet the rest of the people coming our way.
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So, we drove through this incredible landscape, lots of rocks and lots of really tiny plants, if you look closely. Took a few wrong turns, but eventually got where we thought we wanted to be. |
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We stopped for lunch, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. | |||
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This is the river where we decided to camp for the night. The wind was honking, really blowing like mad. |
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Pim crossed the river, in the hope that the wind would be less
on the other side. It wasn't.
I wanted to sleep in the Land-Rover, but Elmari wanted the tent up, so I pitched it on the flattest calmest place I could find, which wasn't much of either. We cooked the last fish from Lufupa, which had been in Manfred & Gizela's fridge all the time. Thandie and Elmari made veggies and pap, and Elmari made a bread & butter pudding out of what we had, substituting like crazy. Elmari and Pim hit the whiskey, oh my. |
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Friday, 2000-07-21, 11:15, Bush camp : Pim gives me a tug to get the engine started, and we're off.
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[WPT 131 -20.677788 14.067231 21-JUL-00 11:04 GMT 13:04 SAST Oops] We realise that this is not the right way, and turn around. The way back is a long slow uphill, engine temperature gets rather high. My front propshaft is making a noise I don't like... |
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[WPT 132 -20.659887 13.993315 21-JUL-00 12:27 GMT 14:27 SAST Lunch] 14:00, and we get back to the turn-off we should have taken. Lunch. Which is a cup of instant soup, viennas and pickles, and a beer. It's a big flat world, red stony fields with tiny little succulents. |
| We got to a tricky bit, and waited for everyone to clear the section. No Manfred. Oops. I go back to look for him. Pim noticed that we're no longer behind him, and also turned around. We found Manfred with a flat tyre, and he needed a deep socket to get the spare off the carrier. We managed to make do with a shifter. |
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We came across this spring in the middle of the desert. No waypoint, sorry. |
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[WPT 133 -20.779942 14.074865 21-JUL-00 15:09 GMT 17:09 SAST Camp]
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Our camp for the night. Ina's kind of place, quiet and very very
far from civilisation :-) We braai some kassler chops, make mieliepap with whole-kernel
corn mixed in, cook up some Imana (soy mince) with dried peas and fresh carrot),
and salad from Thandi.
Saturday, 2000-07-22, Bush camp, 08:30 : We make coffee and have the rest of the pap. We're out of rusks, out of bread, but we still have dried vegetables. Elmari feels an urgent need to get to a shop. I'm quite happy, we can survive for another day or two... | |
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This petrified forest is free -- there's no-one around for miles.
One of the trees is really big, more than a metre across. |
[WPT 137 -20.787914 14.111525 22-JUL-00 09:35 GMT 11:35 SAST Cave]
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| We had a look at this cave next to the road. Apparently there's a story behind it but I can't remember what it is :-) | |
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The road goes through this kloof to emerge... |
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... at
Ugab River Camp.
[WPT 138 -20.962767 14.133536 22-JUL-00 11:33 GMT 13:33 SAST Ugab River Camp] They have a small curio shop here, and of course Elmari and Thandi (and the rest of the people :-) were in there in a flash. |
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[WPT 139 -21.007066 14.149291 22-JUL-00 12:10 GMT 14:10 SAST Brandberg West Mine]
| Lunch break close to the turnoff to UIS, where we were headed. We had a hard time defending the food (and ourselves) from the flies and the ants. |
[WPT 141 -21.329597 14.799684 22-JUL-00 14:38 GMT 16:38 SAST Turnoff to UIS]
We met two guys in a Disco, they had punctured two Michelin 4x4 tyres. I'm still doing well on the SAG X-plies, even though the road (D2342) was badly corrugated.
My Odo says it was a 435 mile trip from Khorixas to UIS.
[WPT 142 -21.117493 14.855833 23-JUL-00 09:21 GMT 11:21 SAST Brandberg Camp Site]
Sunday, 2000-07-23, Brandberg Camp Site : Another camp site where the shower runs off an electric geyser, ensuring that only the first person can have a warm shower in the morning. At least the price reflects the discomfort, R120 for six people. Supper was quite good, Kudu and Oryx (Gemsbok) with chips. No red wine though. Shock! Horror! We manage to survive, barely.
My starter motor is getting more and more unhappy, will have to get it fixed.
Off to the white lady!
[WPT 143 -21.093675 14.676522 23-JUL-00 09:40 GMT 11:40 SAST Brandberg]
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It's quite a walk up to the white lady. Our guide was
Matthews, he's quite knowledgeable (the site is run as
a community project). Saw lots of paintings, including
the lady, who is behind bars unfortunately. Cost was
N$60 for the group, N$5 to watch the cars, and N$10 tip
for the guide.
Unfortunately the paintings are faint, and my photographs don't show them well. |
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We met up with two young guys who were hiking up to see the paintings. At the bottom their somewhat older relative was waiting by his Series III Land-Rover. He was taking them all over the place to see things, and we would meet up with them every now and then for the rest of the trip.
[WPT 145 -22.114202 14.279818 23-JUL-00 15:30 GMT 17:30 SAST Hentiesbaai]
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Hentiesbaai is a small sandy town on the Namibian coast.
Elmari wanted to go and have a look at the place because of the
legend of Sarah de Jager, a fisherwoman who apparently out-fished
the men -- sadly I can't find any mention of this legend on the
'net. The whole tale is told in a song by Carike Keuzenkamp.
I liked the place because one can apparently hire Land-Rovers there :-) |
It was getting late, so we pushed on to Swakopmund, where we were booked into the Gull's Cry campsite. Which sucks. It sucks big muddy, slime-covered rocks and little green frogs. It sucks the proverbial golf ball through a garden hose. And then some.
OK, this was in 2000, maybe they upgraded the place, maybe they bulldozed it, whatever. But when we were there: no facilities, full-up longdrops, broken donkeys. We just slept there the night, found another place for the next night. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
After meeting the others, we go to
[WPT 146 -22.110822 14.292896 23-JUL-00 16:09 GMT 18:09 SAST the Carnivore restaurant]
...where I managed to lock the Land-Rover, not remembering that we had lost the only key miles ago. So of course I had to break back into it, at least the security guard didn't think that breaking into a vehicle was a serious crime...
But anyway, back to the Carnivore. On the menu is "Carnivore" (Kudu, Oryx, Zebra) and "Herbivore" (Eggplant). They also do traditional potjies and bobotie. I had the blackened fish, Elmari had a seafood platter. Excellent. Recommended.
Monday, 2000-07-24, Swakopmund : The next day finds us looking for another place to stay. Our Lonely Planet was very out of date and not much help here. Eventually found the Villa Wiese B&B, with very nice rooms and *showers*. N$35 pp, N$20 for breakfast.
| Of course, I desperately need an auto electrician, since my starter motor is now officially totally stuffed. What better place to go than Namib Auto Electric in Brucken Strasse? The nice gentleman took the starter motor apart, and showed me that every single component was worn, broken, or otherwise buggered. I knew this, of course, but I think this was the most toasted starter he had ever seen. The bloody unbelievable thing is, he had a brand new Chev 2.5 starter motor on his shelf. N$1100, and we're off. They even removed the keyless lock for me. |
At the time there were at least three internet cafe's in town. Luxury. The one next to the butchery in Kaiser Wilhelm Strasse is good, since you can pig out on the excellent droëwors while your partner surfs.
| The Laundromat is great. We washed and dried all our clothes. They sell wood too. Reminiscent of the MASH books (don't worry if you don't get it. OK, maybe the large picture will help. Or maybe not). |
[WPT 148 -22.675261 14.532391 24-JUL-00 15:54 GMT 17:54 SAST Villa Wiese]
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