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22 - 25 June
We crossed the border into Namibia at about 4pm on 22nd
June and managed to coax Nyathi all the way to Ai-Ais before
sunset (sunset is at about 5pm this time of year). Ai-Ais
is a big resort at the end of the Fish River Canyon, with
heaps of facilities and a hot spring. We stayed there two
days to regroup. Leaving Ai-Ais was a bit of a sager, because
Nyathi had decided that she required some TLC before starting
up in the morning. We had planned to leave early while it
was dark, but all we got our of the vehicle was a few weak
grunts. One of the other campers came over to lend a hand
(or just stand and watch really). He told us how he wanted
to buy an old Land Rover but his Uncle had dissuaded him,
telling him how unreliable the vehicles are. This was all
pretty ironic because a week later we meet the same camper
again and his car wouldn't start. We had to use old Nyathi
to jump-start his more reliable car. For those mechanically
minded, Nyathi had a air leak in her fuel system somewhere,
so she had to be bled everytime she was cold and we attempted
to start her up.
After Ai-Ais we moved to the Hobas camping area which was
much more our scene. There were only a limited number of sites
available and the place was significantly less commercial.
It is also only 12km away from the main lookout over the Canyon.
We spent the day walking along the edge of the canyon, admiring
the view and taking plenty of happy snaps. We even spotted
a few hikers at the bottom of the Canyon. There is a very
popular 5 day hike from Hobas to Ai-Ais along the riverbed
through the Canyon.
Back at the campsite we were idling along doing nothing much
when there was the rush amongst other campers, to their vehicles
an off back to the Canyon. A big attraction - allegedly -
is the sunset over the canyon. So we dually got organised
and off we headed. We had to give old Nyathi a bit of a flogging
to get to the Canyon in time for the sunset, but with a last
wheeze and groan we finally pulled in just as the sun was
touching the horizon. It turned out that the full moon rising
opposite to the sun setting was actually more spectacular
that the sunset itself.
Back at the campsite once again we embarked on a strategy
of socialising with all our fellow campers, just in case we
needed help starting up Nyathi the next morning. Use and abuse,
gotta love it. One interesting couple we met - Elizabeth Lewis
& Peter Robinson - were down from Zimbabwe. Mom and Elizabeth
were chatting away for a while. They established that they
were both from Bulowayo and that they both went to the same
school. After an exchange of names - hey presto - they knew
eachother from way back when. Another small world story.
The next morning - with plenty of grunts, whines, swearing,
etc. - we finally managed to get Nyathi going and off we set.
We were now aiming for the South Eastern region of Namibia.
We only managed to get as far as Keetmanshoop and the Kokerboomwoud
though.
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