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Updated Information
Witt & Jen
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
60km |
Meals
instant noodles, fruit salad |
Weather |
Near Walvias Bay, Namibia
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26 May, 2004 |
BushCamp |
22°58.233’S
14°35.822’E |
Odometer: 23051km |
Sunny, 93(F) degrees |
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We spent the morning in town grocery shopping,
sending emails, and performing other mundane but necessary tasks. The boys
(except David who drives a Toyota and has no need of spare parts) went to
the local Land Rover parts store to pick up some odds and ends. Witt
bought a ½” socket set so that he can check the level in Rafiki’s leaky
front differential. At about 2 pm after lunch at Nandos and some excellent
milkshakes we left town for Walvis Bay, from where we planned to drive
south along the beach to sandwich harbor. We apparently need a permit for
this, so after driving to three different offices, each time being
directed somewhere else, we eventually wound up at the tourist information
office. The very helpful lady there told us that the piste is along the
beach and that we would need to time our departure to coincide with low
tide. This was to occur at 3oclock the next morning, so we reluctantly
decided not to go. Witt, Jen, Vicky, and David booked a half day sea
kayaking trip for tomorrow morning instead. We drove out to Dune 7 and
found a nice campsite at the base of an enormous sand dune. After climbing
the dune and stargazing from the top for awhile we were all too tired to
bother with dinner, and in what is a first for our group went to bed after
making a pot of instant noodles! |
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Sunset over Walvis Bay |
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Updated Information
Graham & Connie |
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
0km |
Meals
Milkshakes, Nando's noodles |
Weather |
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Dune 7 Namibia |
26 May, 2004 |
Bush Camp at the base of
Dune 7 outside Walvis Bay |
22°40.758’S
14°31.708’E |
Odometer: km |
Cool in the Am, Hot by
mid-day, 85(F) degrees |
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We spent the day in Swakopmund, shopping and
eating. We got groceries for the next couple of days, checked email and
had milkshakes. It was all a bit disorganized with each group going a
different way. We ran into a Dutch couple who had shipped from Ghana to
Cape Town and were now traveling up. Vicky had met them in Timbuktu.
Sometime after lunch we all got together and decided to head for Sandwich
Bay, south of Walvis Bay. So we went into Walvis looking for a permit. We
then discovered that the drive to Sandwich has to be done at low tide, the
next event for which was 3 in the morning! Anyway, we decided to skip the
Sandwich Bay idea and Witt, Jen, Vicky and David booked a sea kayaking
trip while Krissy, Slade, Connie and Graham went out to a restaurant on
Walvis lagoon to see the birds. There are thousands of migratory birds
that stop off in the lagoon, including about half the flamingo population
of Southern Africa! Once the others caught up to us we decided to head
into the desert to bushcamp. We arrived at the Dune 7 turn off and took
it, coming to a picnic area at the base of the dune. We decided to camp
there and most went for a very strenuous climb to the top of the dune.
Since it was dark the view wasn’t much, but the slide down was great fun.
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Updated Information
Witt & Jen
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
90km |
Meals
Braai’d
lamb chops, corn on the cob |
Weather |
|
Windhoek, Namibia |
27 May, 2004 |
Bush Camp |
22°58.233’S
14°35.822’E |
Odometer: 23141km |
Sunny, 92(F) degrees |
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Slade, Krissy, Graham, and
Connie still want to see the seal colony so we made a plan to meet in
three days at Sossusvlei and spit into two groups. Witt, Jen, Vicky,
David, and Nadine met the sea kayaking guide and drove to pelican point
where we spent an entertaining morning playing with fur seals and chasing
dolphins around the bay in our kayaks. The dolphins put on a spectacular
show, leaping 3-4 feet out of the water which according to our guide is
fairly unusual behavior. In the afternoon we drove back to Swakopmund for
a little more shopping, then returned to our bushcamp at Dune 7. |
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Updated Information
Graham & Connie |
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
215km |
Meals
Borewors, sweet potatoes |
Weather |
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North of Cape Cross,
Namibia |
27 May, 2004 |
Bush Camp in the hills East
of the main road to the Skeleton Coast |
21°39.561’S
13°59.202’E |
Odometer: 24558km |
Cool in the Am, Hot by
mid-day, 85(F), windy degrees |
|
The sea kayaking crew got up early to leave
for their trip. Krissy, Slade, Graham and Connie decided to head north to
the Skeleton Coast. We stopped off in Swakopmund first to get another
milkshake and to get some more parts from the Land Rover parts place.
Graham got new lugs and lug nuts to repair the stripped lugs on the right
rear hub. We then started north. First stop was Henties Bay, just to have
a look. Then on to the Cape Cross seal colony. It is an amazing sight with
thousands of seals arguing over a few rocks for sunning room. And the
smell is amazing as well! After Cape Cross we found a great bushcamp in
the hills east of the road. |
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Updated Information
Witt & Jen
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
365km |
Meals
T-Bone steak, fried potatoes |
Weather |
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Namib-Naukluft NP,
Namibia |
28 May, 2004 |
National Park campground |
24°15.929’S
16°14.363’E |
Odometer: 23504km |
Sunny, 90(F) degrees |
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Today was another adventure in gastronomic
excess. We began with French toast after an early morning climb up the
sand dune. We leaned that while the Americans and French call it “French
Toast” (at least when the Americans haven’t changed the name temporarily
to ‘Liberty toast’ in protest over French foreign policy), the English
call it simply “Eggy bread.” It is possible, however, that Vicky just told
us that to get us to put it on our website and have a good laugh at our
expense later. We departed at about 10, headed for Namib-Naukluft park
where we plan to do some hiking tomorrow. We stopped for a late lunch in
Solitaire, a one-horse town with an amazing bakery. We enjoyed sandwiches
on fresh homemade bread followed by large pieces of apple strudel. We
arrived at the campground at about 430 and after some much needed showers
we grilled some very nice T-bones on the braai. |
Along the road to Solitaire Driving into the Naukluft mountains
Along the road to Solitaire
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Updated Information
Graham & Connie |
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
34km |
Meals
Lamb shoulder potjie |
Weather |
|
Just East of Springbokwater,
Namibia |
28 May, 2004 |
Bush Camp in the hills South
of the main road |
20°18.991’S
13°42.248’E |
Odometer: 24792km |
Cool in the Am, Hot by
mid-day, 90(F), degrees |
|
We went to the Skeleton Coast park and the guy
at the gate was less than enthusiastic about the park and said that the
wind was blowing and there really wasn’t much to see, but we decided to go
anyway. We had a little trouble making progress because when we stopped at
the skeleton coast to look at the Winston ship wreck Slade discovered that
his Landy had a broken transfer case linkage so when he tried to change
into low range it was no go. Slade and Graham worked on “Sid” to locate
the problem, while Krissy and Connie did the only other thing that could
be done in such a situation and had tea and biscuits while alternately
watching the ocean and watching the guys get greasy. On the way out of the
park we met up with a Swiss couple that Slade and Krissy had been in
contact with before they left on their trip and they were having far more
trouble with their Series III than we were having with our Defenders, so
we counted ourselves lucky. We invited them to camp with us, but they
wanted to head to Etosha. We pulled off the road and bushcamped in a
barren valley with springbok and gemsbok.
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Updated Information
Witt & Jen
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
117km |
Meals
Braai’d
boerewors |
Weather |
|
Sessriem, Namibia |
29 May, 2004 |
National Park campground |
24°29.047’S
15°47.989’E |
Odometer: 23168km |
Sunny, 95(F) degrees |
|
We started on the 17km Waterkloof trail at
about 730 in the morning. We passed beautiful waterfalls and saw lots of
wildlife including a family of baboons as we hiked through canyons along a
dry riverbed. We finished the walk at about 330 and immediately hit the
road for Sessriem, trying to make it to our arranged meeting with the
other two vehicles before they close the gates to the park (another
section of the same park) at sundown. We arrived about 30 minutes after
dark, but fortunately the gates were still open. The reception office was
closed, so we had no way to reserve a camp site. Unable to locate our
friends, we found an empty site and set up camp. About an hour later a
German couple showed up with a reservation for our site. We said we would
leave, but as the sites are fairly large they let us stay. We grilled some
Boerewors for dinner and Vicky made some mashed potatoes and baked beans. |
Along the Waterkloof trail
Along the Waterkloof trail
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More travel in
Namibia --->>> |
