Namibia Trip

Namibia Trip – Day 1

It’s Saturday and today has been hectic. I was planning on leaving early this morning but no go, had to settle for 3:45pm. Maybe I was subconsciously dragging my feet because I did not want to leave Helen, who knows, but the Stormers are going to win so that is a major plus. The worst part of my day was saying goodbye to the boys and Helen. Just the way those beautiful blue eyes of hers filled up with tears, real chin shaking stuff and blady difficult to try and act tough.

When you take a trip to anywhere from Cape Town now days add 45 minutes for traffic delays, especially now with all the work that’s going down on the new N1 and M3 intersection, must say it’s going to be great when it’s finished. I was heading for Citrusdal so I could camp there for the night, the traffic was a breeze and I arrived at the Citrus Creek Caravan Park around six. I got a campsite under a massive Bluegum tree at R75 for the night, not bad.

I have a 3 man tent which is quite a mission to put up, about 20 minutes all in all and I have a single bed mattress which folds in half and fits perfectly in the back of my car and it’s blady comfortable. It’s mal to think that I can lie in my tent in Citrusdal and with my laptop and cell phone and I can do some stuff on my website, update my blog with photographs taken on the way, Google a Namibia map for tomorrow, play a bit of poker on facebook, watch 45 minutes of “Black Hawk Down”, fall asleep and then get woken up at 6am by Alphaville’s, Sounds Like a Melody.

Namibia Trip – Day 2

Left Citrusdal at 8:09 on my way to Grunau which is 160km into Namibia. It’s crazy to think that this time last week I was walking the Argus Cycle Tour. Shit what a mission, NEVER attempt the Argus without lot’s of training and pray for no wind, I’m speaking from painful experience. I made it up to Travato Link just past Bishops Court and I deliriously rode home, so my Argus was around 20km as opposed to 109km, well done to all those who finished.

The Clanwilliam Dam is looking very empty and not much traffic on the road. Klawer, Kamieskroon, Bitterfontein, Springbok, Vioolsdrif. The Northern Cape is definitely one of my favourite provinces and especially Namaqualand. The town names are so cool and some of the places are really primitive. Who has been to Kakamas or Pofadder? I stopped in Springbok, one of my favourite place, to get a Red Bull and headed on to Noordoewer, the border post.

Getting through was no problem and only took around 10 minutes, quite proud of my new passport. The South Africa side is cool and the people really friendly, especially the police guys but a bit different on the Namibia side, maybe coz they were working on a long weekend, Namibia also had a long weekend celebrating their independence.

From Noordoewer to Grunau it’s just lots of sand and just about no trees and hot. I found a camping spot at the Grunau Country Lodge across the road from the railway station. Grunau is tiny with no tar roads and very sandy, perhaps a population of around 50 people, if that. The camping area was around the back and was very barren. No grass just a patch of sand with devil thorns all over the place. Devil thorns are those thorns that it have a thorn sticking upwards no matter which way they’re lying on the ground, deadly things!!

Grunau Country House

Had a very refreshing cold shower and went into the bar to get a drink, I had been thinking of an ice cold beer for a while. The barman was a very tall guy with a very fat stomach and very thick glasses, I did not get his name but a very nice chap and there were a handful of guys sitting at the other end of the bar. I asked for a Castle draught and the room went quiet and the barman just checked me out. Namibians are very proud of Windhoek Lager so just go the Windhoek route initially until the ice has broken. Had a Windhoek and it was great, they did not stock Castle.

This bar had a dance floor and a few chairs about and it reminded me of a bar that my friend, Murray, and I visited in Santa Cruz when we were working in the Canary Islands. Anyway it was quite late and Murray and I were well on our way, Murray especially. He asked me if I wanted another drink from the bar and I agreed so he tried to walk across the dance floor to get to the bar and won the singles dance competition.

Namibia Trip – Day 3

Rocky Outcrops

Had a good sleep and woke up at 7:30 and my tent was like a furnace. Went for a shower and packed up everything, this packing and unpacking is becoming quite a mission. I looked at my car outside thermometer and it read 28 degrees at only 9:30 in the morning, thank God for air-conditioning. Got chatting to some Germans who stayed in the chalets and they were also going in my direction but only as far as Windhoek 660km’s away. The one guy asked me if I would mind if he drove with me in my car until Windhoek. Was not in the mood for any company and besides one needs to be able to open “the old lunch box” at random without having to worry about any unexpected reactions from a stranger. So I told them I was stopping along the way to take photographs and did not have a very rigid time schedule.

From Grunau to Keetmanshoop is 157 km’s and it is a really beautiful drive with outcrops of granite rocks all over the place, funny shaped rock formations, loads of birds and the road was great. I was feeling fris and was wide awake. Just outside Keetmanshoop there is a sign board saying Windhoek 500 km’s and I still had to go 320 km’s further than that and it was 11am.

Two signs you will be happy to see

The drive from Keetmanshoop becomes really boring with no scenery, lots of trucks and very straight flat roads. One needs to be alert and very awake, the slightest inkling of tiredness you must stop ASAP walk around the car, take some deep breaths drink or eat something coz the next town was Mariental 221 km’s away. Coca Cola works wonders for me. Then after Mariental another 174 km’s to Rehoboth and still long straight roads and a shitload of traffic. Things start getting better after Rehoboth toward Windhoek another 87 km’s. It starts getting greener and the road starts winding a bit. The outside temperature is 37 degrees.

Watch Out for Warthogs

I’ve put a picture of a warthog road sign up because when you see one of those in Namibia take it seriously because the little buggers run around all over the place. They dig with tusks right next to the road and are a touch unpredictable and tend to step out into the road. There are a lot of road accidents in Namibia caused by game crossing the roads, especially Kudu and they are not small. Their heads end up going through the windscreen once they’ve been hit and their horns are not small either and they’re very sharp. Most people in living Namibia do not drive when it’s dark because it’s so dangerous.

My car has gone so well and I am really happy with it’s performance. It is a Hyundai Tucson 2.7  4×4 V6. So if anyone out there is looking to by a really cool and comfy 4×4, go onto the Hyundai website and check out the 2010 model it’s great. So with that I have posted a picture of my car.

I love my car !!

Now the town names start getting confusing. From Windhoek to Okahandja is 71 km’s, from Okahandja to Otjiwarongo 174 km’s, Otjiwarongo to Outjo 73 km’s. If you continue past Outjo you will reach Okaukuejo, quite a mouthful hey. Anyway I got to Otjiwarongo at 6 and it was getting dark. I had to fill up still so I was a bit worried about the dark driving thing but I had to get to Outjo today. 15 minutes and I was on my way driving very carefully with my eyes peeled, it was getting very dark. Around halfway just as predicted by my mates, two male Kudu’s jumped across the road about 100 meters in front of me. What a beautiful sight, but they just came from nowhere and were so quick. Of course I immediately slowed down to about 60 km’s per hour and was very awake. I got to Outjo at 7:30, what a day, great to see my good friends Deon and Jaenny and I thank God for a safe journey.