Saturday 10/06/2017 - Bush Camp to Swakopmund

The conditions overnight in the desert were still and quiet. It was a blessing and a curse that the moon was almost full as both our batteries for our head lamps had died the previous evening but we didn't get to see many stars due to the light from the moon. 

We headed off to use the amenities (long drop toilet) and after our ablutions we climbed the huge rock we had camped behind for excellent view of the sun rise over the desert.

We packed up, had breakfast in the cave then set off for the civilisation of Swakopmund.

We checked into the municipal bungalows and are in a 4 bed bungalow with Bob and Graham for the next 3 nights. We went shopping for breakfasts for the next 3 mornings, headed back to camp and did our laundry as the laundromat was busy till Monday due to a scheduled blackout for maintenance work. 

We had dinner at the Brewer and Butcher which houses the Swakopmund brewery. It was a ritzy Place where we enjoyed lamb shanks, mashed potatoes and vegetables. Quite a change from the previous night where we had a traditional meat stew with pap and cabbage eaten using our hands, in a cave in the desert.

Friday 9/06/2017 - Sesriem to Sossusvei

We woke at 4:30am, packed the tent in the dark and set off for dune 45 in the dark. Dune 45 is 45km from Sesriem. 

It was cold and clear at the base and even before the sun peaked over the horizon there was enough light to see our surroundings well. 

It was tricky walking up the spine of the sand dune and we tried to walk in the foot steps of those in front of us to make it easier as it was two steps foreword and a slide back. We stopped half way up as the sun peaked over the horizon.

As the sun rose higher the dunes started to glow a red colour. The view was stunning.

Once we made it to the summit and took more photos we ran down the steep side of the dune. Our shoes and socks filling with sand with ever step we took.

The scenery was so stunning we couldn't stop taking photos. We drove to a car park and hopped onto 4WD vehicles that took us to Sossusvlei for another hike (2hrs) around Big Daddy dune and the salt flat. Only one girl from our group decided to hike to the top of Big Daddy. In the pictures below it shows the Big Daddy dune and when I zoomed in you can see the 3 people at the summit. 

The colours in our surroundings were awesome and the pictures don't do it justice, you just have to be there. 

After our walk we headed back to the truck for the drive to our overnight bush camp. We stopped as we passed the Tropic of Capricorn for a photo and a quick pee behind the truck.

There were many wildlife spottings on the way and we managed to get a photo of a mountain zebra.

It was a long tiring day and Catriona had a cat nap to replenish her batteries before arriving at camp to set up and help cook dinner.

Thursday 8/06/2017 - Fish River Canyon to Sesriem

Today was all about the long drive to the dunes of Namibia. Our new truck a Mercedes Benz handled the dirt roads quite well. Lucky for us as we have it the desert we have successfully out run the storm and we had another blue sky day.

Half way into our 10 hour journey we stopped at a lonely little town which had no streets except for the main road that we were on. We when to the toilet and also purchased some snacks from a general store. Darren walked over to the truck with a hot apple pie, David asked Catriona if she would buy one for him which she did. It was rated the best apple cake in Namibia. David thought it was amazing and that it probably was.

In the afternoon part of the drive Bob, Katie, Laura, Martha, Heather, Cat and David played a few rounds of a card game called shithead. We took up the middle part of the bus where the tables were. We made it to our desert camp spot inside the Sesriem Canyon park just before sunset.
Took a photo of a social weaver nest in an Arcacia tree nearby to our camp.
The moon was in the sky and as the sun set we saw the sky change in colour from yellow to orange to pink to blue - amazing.

We had an early night as we are in for an early (pre dawn) start tomorrow.

Wednesday 7/06/2017 - Orange River to Fish River Canyon

Slow start to the morning after a very windy night. We slept in as 20 minutes past breakfast time but it didn't matter as we weren't leaving till after lunch - there was an optional activity of canoeing and we were transferring trucks. We did a load of washing updated the blog and snapped some birds.
We are beginning to think we are a jinx as the new truck got a flat back tyre. Victor said this rarely happens but it was lucky for us that it was at the campsite and not in the middle of nowhere.

We passed Namibia's largest vineyard for table grapes, the area used to be just Barron desert but they use the water from the Orange river to irrigate. 
We also passed by a straw village where over 1000 people live and work in the vineyard.

Namibia has straight well graded dirt roads.
Since we have long distances to travel to help with DVT our guide Victor encourages us to stand and move around.

We checked into Hobas camp set up our tents bought some ice for the esky and set off to the view point overlooking Fish River Canyon. It is the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon. We arrived late afternoon to do a walk along part of the rim of the canyon before having a drink watching the sunset.

Amazing plant life that survives the harsh desert climate.

Darren and Vicki made martinis complete with olives. Catriona and David enjoyed the sparkling wine in plastic mugs. Spectacular setting and perfect end to the day in Namibia.

View from main look out.

Tuesday 6/06/2017 - Western Cape, S.A. to Orange River, Namibia

Packed up putting our gear into the lockers at the back of the truck. It was a tight squeeze but we managed to get everything in. We set off at 8am for our drive to Namibia. The scenery turned into a desert landscape with a few rocky outcrops. We saw rock dassies hopping round hiding in the crevices as we passed. We also saw bir of prey on the hunt for food.

We stopped for lunch at a roadside rest area and had leftovers from last night as well as salad bread rolls meat and cheese. The option for the bathrooms were bush toilet or wait till we got to springbok. David chose the first and Catriona the second.

We bought some supplies in Springbok then headed off to the boarder. We checked out of South Africa with no problems and boarded the truck to cross over to Namibia. Unfortunately the truck would not start! They ended up working out it was a dodgy fuel gauge and they had run out of diesel. Victor arranged for John to get a lift with a truck over to Namibia (1km) to get a tank of diesel and come back over on another truck. 

As this was going to take some time we decided to walk the 1km over orange river. As we were in no mans land we were all taking photos and having a laugh. Victor said in his over 700 crossings this had never happened before. It was quite dark before the truck made it over and we had to put up our tents in the dark once more. 

We had a lovely dinner and a few drinks after the eventful afternoon.