Monday, 1st September. Back in South Africa

Two days in Swakapomund - time to have laundry done and shop and do a couple of activities.
It was a lot cooler than we had been having. On Wednesday we went on a Living Dunes tour. Along with Richard and Therese we were collected from our hotel and driven to the Desert Explorers base on the outskirts of town. After a brief lesson we were allocated a quad bike each and headed off with Ricky, our guide, into the dunes. We spent 2 and 1/2 hours quad biking through the dunes, looking for life in the hot sands. Ricky found a white lady spider, a lizard and a gecko. They all burrow down into the sand to stay cool during the heat of the day.
It was a great morning, out amongst the massive sand dunes.

In the afternoon we wandered around the city of 45,000. It is famous for its German heritage, and many of the buildings were built around 1905 by the German settlers who came to the area. There are many signs in German, and shop assistants are of German heritage and speak German.

For dinner we went to Pier 1905. This restaurant is at the end of the pier which was originally built out into the Atlantic Ocean in 1905. Parts of it have a glass floor so you can see the water underneath you. We shared a main course seafood platter between us and Jeromé and Amy. It was very tasty, and plenty of food for four.

On Thursday John and I and Richard and Therese were collected at 8am and taken to the airport.   We then had a 2 and 1/4 flight slightly inland South and back up the coast. It was very interesting to see the vastness of the sand dunes which then changed into red sand. Along the coast we saw pelicans, seals, and Walvis Bay which is a port.

Another relaxing afternoon; lunch at Bojo's which serves great coffee then ä wander around some more shops.

Friday we were back on the truck, after a delayed start. Drove South, stopping at the Tropic of Capricorn sign for photos, before our lunch stop at Solitaire where they serve delicious apple shortcake. Then drove on to Sossusvlei where we camped for the night. Once our tents were up we walked about 5 kilometres to a canyon to watch the sun set. The canyon was amazing, and the purple-hued light looked really spectacular. Dinner was prepared - in the truck because of the unceasing wind which was blowing sand everywhere. We were able to eat dinner in the bar, which was great. Then it was time to crawl into tents prepared for an early start.

So Saturday the alarm went at 4.15am. No-one slept very well because of the relentless wind which blew fine red sand everywhere, including into our tents. We got in the truck and Josh drove us to Dune 45, the biggest sand dune. We started climbing it to see the sunrise, but gave up after a short climb as it was so windy and truly unpleasant. The dune was probably about 250m high. After breakfast there we drove to the Dead Vlei, an area where there are dead trees over 1,000 years old. We were driven through sand in a 4x4 to walk into the area. It was blowing a gale and very unpleasant, we were completely covered in sand. However the area looked very surreal, and it was good to get things into perspective. The flat pan was surrounded by towering sand dunes, with sand being blown over and into everything. We were driven the 5kms into the area on 4x4 wheel drives, as the road surface was all just loose sand.

It was a relief to get back on our truck, Perky, and out of the wind. The drive to campsite was about three hours. We stopped in a little town called Solitaire for lunch. The campsite was off the road down a dirt track. It took a while to get hot water for showers as the boiler was only started when we arrived. However it was finally hot and we enjoyed a lovely shower, with the chance to wash all the sand out of our hair. Dinner was a delicious pasta, and we were able to sit in the bar at the camp to eat it. Very cosy, with a fire going. Konkilapa Camp.  We upgraded to a cabin for $160 Namibian dollars ($16NZ) and enjoyed having single beds to sleep in and room to sort out our bags. It was very cold overnight, down to low single digit temperatures, but we were warm in our cabin.

Sunday dawned clear and crisp. Alarm went at 6.15. It was cold out but started to warm up as soon as the sun started shining. We left at 7.30 after Josh had changed a tyre on the truck. Short stop for petrol at a small town, then drove to Fish River Canyon, where we arrived at 11.30am. This is the second largest canyon in the world, formed millions of years ago, and is a canyon in a canyon. We did a short walk along part of the rim of the canyon, then had lunch, before heading to our campsite for the night.

The landscape is still dry, dusty, and does not support much in the way of plant or animal life. Some ostrich, a few zebra, some goats and a monitor lizard for animals; small tussocks for plants.

Camp had green grass! A lovely spot on the Orange River, which is the border between Namibia and South Africa. It was lovely to set up camp early, clean the sand out of our tents, and swim/shower. Liz was on truck cleaning duty, so once the chores were done we sat at the outside bar beside the pool until dinner was ready. Bedtime was about 9pm.

Monday 1st September - Up before the alarm at 5.30, packed up tent and went to breakfast. All ready to leave before the 7.30 departure time. It was a short 10minute drive to the border, where we were processed out of Namibia, drove across the border and were processed into South Africa. All done within an hour of leaving camp, but we also had to out our clocks forward again one hour.  

Just at supermarket in Springbok, where we have internet.