The Namib & Etosha - Namibia

Our route from Sesriem for the drive to the Namib National Park would be via Solitaire, where we hoped to pick up provisions, then we would climb through a number of mountain passes to the Namib proper. There are a number of designated bush camps within the Namib which you need to book in Windhoek. We planned to stay on a site called Groot Tinkas which Sue and I had camped at seven years before so we knew it was isolated and quite tricky to find but it was also about the furthest we could hope to reach in a day.

It had been a  stormy night but it was now very warm and humid as we left Sesriem. At Solitaire there is a general store, cafe and petrol pump owned and run by a big guy who looks like the aged Hells Angel from Hell. Actually he is quite a nice guy who is renowned for his apple pies, however he brooks no hassle from the overlanders who constantly pass through on the way North and South.   

When we arrived he was rushing around sorting out a multitude of orders from a truck load of young travellers who seemed to want just one toasted cheese and tomato sandwich and a glass of water each!

For our part we needed to re-stock with what fresh food we could get plus get more booze (gin/beer and Hunters) so his eyes lit up as we started to read out what we needed at which point the overlanders where promptly left to wait for their toasties. By the time we had everything it was 1pm so there was just time for a quick slice of pie and a cup of coffee before heading into the mountains.

The weather was looking very ominous again as we hit the Spreetshoote Pass, the road through here is very, very steep with sharp bends and sheer drops on one side - just the sort Sue loves!

It can be tricky navigating across the gravel and dirt tracks which criss cross over the high country here and sure enough probably through rushing and tiredness I misread our position and we ended up going way out of our way so by the time we reached first the Gamsberg then the Kuseb Passes it was almost 5pm and getting dark.

By now the weather was looking very ominous so there was no point in trying to press on to Groot Tinkas, our best bet was to try and locate one of the nearer campsites and hunker down there ASAP. It was almost 6pm and dark when we reached a site called Ganab, we arrived in the midst of a storm with full blown thunder and lightning all around us and heavy rain starting to set in.

By now we had been travelling for 8 hrs solid so we were all tired especially me having done all the driving (including almost 100km which was totally unnecessary) so we were not in the best frame of mind for putting up two tents in the pouring rain, still it was either that or sleep bolt upright in the Landy which to me at least was an even worse prospect.!

It rained all night but somehow we managed to have a light supper of hot soup and coffee before crawling into the shelter of the tents which were at least dry and cosy. You are on a plain in amongst high mountains here so we awoke to a cold, wet and foggy morning, similar to the foggy mornings you used to get in the UK except here through the mist we could just make out some Gemsbok and Ostrich moving about!

Sue and I couldn't believe that we had arrived in the Namib in almost exactly the same weather as when we were last here seven years before. It convinced Sue that she never wants to set foot in the Namib again which is a shame as the scenery is quite stunning (when the Sun shines), it was also a shame that Carol and Tanya did not see it at it's best.

We still had a good way to go before we would reach Etosha so we packed up the wet tents as best we could then headed North West, at least the rain had stopped and by midday it  started to brighten up. By 2pm we were out of the Namib and had hot weather and clear blue skies - such is Africa.

At 3.30pm we arrived at a fairly non descript town called Omeruru. There is not much here except it does have a really great little restaurant/cafe called the Sand Dragon where we hauled in for a late lunch of delicious chicken melt sandwiches and chips! It is used to have Internet access as well but this has now ceased but the Afro American owner kindly allowed me to try connecting up using his phone line but for some reason we couldn't get through.

However, he told us that the Omeruru rest house now had Internet access and can provide reasonable accommodation, either camping or in chalets. After the nice lunch non of us was really in the mood to push on further so we decided to take a couple of rooms at the guesthouse to recover from the Namib experience. The rooms were clean but quite basic however they  did have a double bed, hot shower, fridge (so we could clean out our fridges in Rupert) and luxury of luxury a TV, albeit with just two channels.

We left Carol and Tanya to their own devices that night as we caught up with emails etc on the PC set aside by the owners for public use. Unfortunately we could not connect our laptop so once again we were stymied from doing updates to the website but still it was nice to regain email access after a break of over two weeks.

It was late morning by the time we had done our shopping and re-filled the gas bottle in preparation for Etosha. Apart from the sheer travelling this is what takes up a lot of time as you can never get everything you need in the one shop and you know once back in the bush you need to carry everything you will need or may need.

We eventually arrived at the gate for Etosha at 4.30pm, after all the travelling we were all looking forward to doing a bit of game viewing for a change.

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