|
Saturday, September 2nd, Luderitzbucht, South West Namibia
We are staying at the lower end of a peninsula called Shark Island, at Luderitz. It seems to be a part of the mainland, in a cottage 5 metres above the sea, and 20 metres from it. This is the end of the line. About as far as you can get without taking a swim. We look out over the bay at the town Lonely Planet describes as "a surreal colonial relic huddling against the barren windswept Namib Desert coast". All true, especially the bits about "a surreal colonial relic huddling against the barren windswept Namib Desert coast"...... Of all things, its only about 20C here in the middle of the day - must be the Southern Atlantic winds whipping past this cottage, cemented into the rocks. It is still early spring, and the Atlantic is quite chilly out there!
In Luderitz, what, as Aiden asked, do people do here for "fun". Well, we discovered the "Diamond Recreation Area" which looked very much like the Namib Desert to us. There are about 100Km of 4 x 4 tracks around the town, which incidentally, is also totally surrounded by Sperrgebeit land restrictions, and has an uncanny resemblance to yet more desert. So, apart from an 800Km trip to Windhoek, a 400 Km trip to Fish River or other similar dusty treks, there is not much in the way of what you, I, or the kids would consider "Fun". By the way, Namibia has one of the lowest densities of population and one of the highest reproductive rates of anywhere on earth. Hey kids, don't try this at home!
Back in town, it's the annual carnival - lots of noise, and 5 floats, 1 empty truck, 3 backies and a song & dance troupe. It was over in about 10 minutes - no doubt everyone had a great time. I finally changed some travellers cheques at the local branch. Terrible rate - give me an ATM any day. Everything shuts at 1:00 PM, so we are out of luck for the other high lights of the town. Call for details. Being effectively a billion miles from anywhere, you might expect this place to have an what I call an "island" mentality - whereby, it's pretty safe because no one can steal anything and use it as everyone would know about it. Sadly, this does not appear to be the case, and once again, the security guy at the restaurant last night, had a night stick and kept a good eye on our vehicle.
A short distance into the Namib, there is a sign for Feral Desert horses. These horses are a left over from (various stories) of stranded horses from early in the 20Century, whatever the case, there is a hide where you can view, as we did, 30 - 40 (out of an estimated 145) at the bore hole, all looking remarkable fit, considering they must live on sand. We stop for a quick self congratulatory family shot. Tonight we will stay in, have G&T's till sunset and break out the Chardonnay. Catch up on journals etc. Tomorrow, we begin yet more Serious Travels into the heart of the Namib to visit Sossuvlei. Luckily the machine has been wonderful with only a few hesitant beats at start up, then we can travel all day at cruising speed. I have now developed my daily ritual which is approaching religious fervour: Daily Checks: Check under the machine for any slime, check tyres for inflation levels, check roof box for rigidity etc, check oil and water level, top up as necessary (this is from a compugeek remember!). So far it has worked very well. Wish us luck! Distance travelled this entry: 440 Km. Distance moved on trip this entry: 400 Km |
Once again, I sit at the controls of this machine, and this time look up to view the Southern Atlantic,
which is almost literally, sloshing at our door.
After a hike and a half from Hobas (400Km.), luckily, mostly (300Km) on tarred road, 125 of them
through the Namib Desert, any place with more than 1000 hectares of sand and two buildings was a
welcome sight. On the way here, we stopped at Aus, a tiny outpost right next to the desert, and the
very last spot for anything before we get here. Immediately after Aus, we came over the rise, and the
Namib Desert stretches, seemingly vast and never ending before us. Very impressive, Very Imposing
and VERY INTIMIDATING. How the hell did anyone ever even want to get across this place before
there was a road here? (Or now for that matter?). Well, of course, the answer was diamonds, masses of
them. Just where the desert starts, so does the Sperrgebiet - the 
On our early morning tour, we did stop off at 
August 31st. saw us depart from Hobas after our first night camping out. We were well enough
prepared that it was quite and adventure. All we were missing was a table light, but that was minor.
The stars shone like they can only do in the desert. The road from Hobas was dusty, flat, occasionally
rutted, and once, had a real river flowing across our paths. We flew along it at 90/ 100 KPM.
Travelling early does give you a bit of a leg up on the day, but the bottom line is, will you make it to
the other end? 
