7/24/19
Drove to a campsite near Fish River Canyon. We chilled at the campsite for awhile, did a little bit of laundry. In the afternoon we headed out to the rim of the canyon. It was very picturesque. Supposedly it's the second largest canyon in the world. We walked along the rim for a bit, enjoying the view and taking some photos. There was water in the river far below, but there wasn't a continuous flow. We then went to a spot where we watched the sunset with chips, crackers, cheese, and wine. For dinner we had beef stew and we enjoyed a nice hangout time around the campfire.
7/25/19
About 40 minutes into the drive, out on the desert plateau, Florence our truck broke down. It took us less than an hour to do a quick fix--some problem with the alternator (They replaced it at our next stop). We continued on to Ai Ais hotsprings where we enjoyed a soak in a nice warm pool at the base of a canyon. After the swim, we continued on through more lonely, desert dirt roads with stunning desert scenery. The roads in Namibia are simply spectacular! You drive for miles and miles and miles without seeing a passing car. Just desert, sand, sand dunes, craggy mountains, and unique geologic features. Along the route you will occasionally see road graders. As there is no civilization for miles and miles, they tow rectangular trailers behind them that are their living quarters as they plow the endless desert roads. It reminds me of the South Pole traverse.
We arrived to our campsite along the Orange River at Noordoewer after driving by a huge winery region in the middle of the desert. We washed some clothes, chilled, and walked a bit along the river. It was Denford's last day with us. He made a big meal with bbq pork chops and chicken. I presented him with the tips from the group and gave a little speech to thank him.
7/26/19
We all said a sad goodbye to Denford and then headed to the border with South Africa. Elisha only had one page left in her passport, but she made it through smoothly (some countries require at least 2 blank passport pages). In the morning we had to get on a new overland truck to go through South Africa. The truck border formalities and taxes to have a British overland truck go through makes it more expedient and cheaper to use a South African truck. The new truck, a big yellow overland named Calypso, wasn't near as nice as Florence or Xara, so we were all thankful that we had had those trucks before. We camped the night at a winery near Citrusdal, called Highlanders. There our group did a wine tasting with cheese and biltong (wild game jerky). For dinner the winery cooked us bbq chicken with ice cream for dessert! The winery had a nice agricultural setting. The drive there was also very beautiful, through rocky mountains.
Drove to a campsite near Fish River Canyon. We chilled at the campsite for awhile, did a little bit of laundry. In the afternoon we headed out to the rim of the canyon. It was very picturesque. Supposedly it's the second largest canyon in the world. We walked along the rim for a bit, enjoying the view and taking some photos. There was water in the river far below, but there wasn't a continuous flow. We then went to a spot where we watched the sunset with chips, crackers, cheese, and wine. For dinner we had beef stew and we enjoyed a nice hangout time around the campfire.
7/25/19
About 40 minutes into the drive, out on the desert plateau, Florence our truck broke down. It took us less than an hour to do a quick fix--some problem with the alternator (They replaced it at our next stop). We continued on to Ai Ais hotsprings where we enjoyed a soak in a nice warm pool at the base of a canyon. After the swim, we continued on through more lonely, desert dirt roads with stunning desert scenery. The roads in Namibia are simply spectacular! You drive for miles and miles and miles without seeing a passing car. Just desert, sand, sand dunes, craggy mountains, and unique geologic features. Along the route you will occasionally see road graders. As there is no civilization for miles and miles, they tow rectangular trailers behind them that are their living quarters as they plow the endless desert roads. It reminds me of the South Pole traverse.
We arrived to our campsite along the Orange River at Noordoewer after driving by a huge winery region in the middle of the desert. We washed some clothes, chilled, and walked a bit along the river. It was Denford's last day with us. He made a big meal with bbq pork chops and chicken. I presented him with the tips from the group and gave a little speech to thank him.
7/26/19
We all said a sad goodbye to Denford and then headed to the border with South Africa. Elisha only had one page left in her passport, but she made it through smoothly (some countries require at least 2 blank passport pages). In the morning we had to get on a new overland truck to go through South Africa. The truck border formalities and taxes to have a British overland truck go through makes it more expedient and cheaper to use a South African truck. The new truck, a big yellow overland named Calypso, wasn't near as nice as Florence or Xara, so we were all thankful that we had had those trucks before. We camped the night at a winery near Citrusdal, called Highlanders. There our group did a wine tasting with cheese and biltong (wild game jerky). For dinner the winery cooked us bbq chicken with ice cream for dessert! The winery had a nice agricultural setting. The drive there was also very beautiful, through rocky mountains.
