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28 June - 2 July
After Duwisib Castle we made our way to the Namib Naukluft
National Park. The National Park consists of part of the Namib
Desert (including the dunes around Sesriem and Sossusvlei)
as well as the Naukluft Mountains. We headed for the mountains
first and managed to get there without any troubles from Nyathi.
The campsite at the Naukluft is small and rustic with only
8 sites. It was also fully booked when we arrived. Fortunately
Johnny - the cheerful camp manager - let us stay in a new
but uncomplete site. On our drive from the office to the campsite
(about 1km) we saw klipspringer, dussies and a magnificent
kudu bull. More game than we had seen in one place for a while.
The Naukluft Mts have a good water supply which supports a
large mixture of animals, birds and plant life.
The first night in the Naukluft was absolutely freezing -
literally. At 8:30am the next morning we were tiding up after
breakfast and water was still freezing. There was a layer
of ice on the table after we wiped it down, the dish towels
froze stiff when hung up to dry and the hands and feet were
just blocks on the ends of our limbs. Scott and Rob had slept
the night in the Landy on top of the ammo crates, which don't
make for the most comfortable matteresses.
We spent two nights in the Naukluft and did plenty of walking
around the area. Walking up the riverbed was like walking
under a cloud of birds. There were so many birds everywhere.
All in all we really enjoyed these mountains (but didn't get
to see the illusive Mountain Zebra).
The next morning Nyathi behaved very well and started up
first go. We then set off for Sesriem and the sand dunes.
A blowout in one of the rear tyres made the trip a bit more
interesting. The wind was blowing fiercly, and getting under
the Landy to place the jack was an exersize in facial sandblasting.
Not an experience that is highly recommended.
Somewhat jaded from grovelling around under the Landy, and
the strong winds, we arrived in Sesriem. "Sorry, the
campsite is fully booked". Bugger. So we set off to see
the dunes hoping that we may be able to score a site later
in the day. The drive into the dunes towards Sossusvlei was
magnificent - these huge red dunes on either side of the road.
We were even lucky enough to spot Springbok and Gemsbok. The
last 4km into Sossusvlei was a 4x4 road with deep sand. We
decided that it was time to induct both Nyathi and ourselves
in the art of sand driving. After an initial hickup where
we learned that Nyathi likes her rev's high when ploughing
through deep sand, and we were off. Sossusvlei was absolutely
spectacular - a small salt pan with huge great big sand dunes
all round. It really was quite something to see.
Unfortunately Nyathi decided to rebel again. The arms which
turn in the hubs to engage/disengage 4 wheel drive had come
loose when driving and were bend. With a hammer and some farmyard
mechanics we managed to fix that one up. A while later and
the overflow tube between two of the injectors split, with
diesel leaking everywhere. Fortunately we had some spare tubing
and could patch that one up. Another one down for teething
problems - we're hoping.
We spent the night in Sesriem and got off to an early start
the next day to a campsite in the northern part of the Namib
section of the Namib Naukluft park. We arrived a good few
hours later with our teeth still merrily chattering away in
our jaws. About 250km of badly corregated dirt road has curious
effects on ones physiology. Fortunately Nyathi stood up to
the task very well. Nothing at all went wrong. Quite astonishing
really. The old bag really is quite conceited - breaking down
on good roads and performing perfectly on pretty average roads.
Our campsite for the night was completely deserted and out
in the middle of a grassland, on the border of a dry wooded
river. There were absolutely no facilities and it was absolutely
perfect. A picture perfect sunset (with all the dust in the
air from the wind) just topped off the whole setting.
The next morning we lazily packed up - after our first barmy
night - and headed into Swakopmunt.
It was a great relief to have had a good night sleep and be
fresh and awake in the morning.
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