South of Namibia in April trip report

[Pierre77N]

Meeting our car again on Walvis Bay lagoon


Tents and extra tank have been fitted well by Namib Off Road center, but my fridg doesn't work any more. The fuse is burned. But even with a new one, the compressor still doesn't engage and the led still flashes red. It's a Waeco, not distributed there, so no spare parts. And we have to go tomorrow. No choice, I have to buy a new one and leave the old one there when I think it could be fixed quite easily. A pity!







Mirage…


Head up to Pelican Point.
A quite odd «ranger» (was he one?) told us to follow the gravel track up to the see and turn right up to the lighthouse. So do I. Few tracks on the beach, I follow them. But we will not go far in this sand full of water. So we get stuck on the beach. Thanks to the three diff locks, I only had to deflate the tyres to 1 bar to get out of there.

We find the good track (very sandy but doable with a good 4x4) and here is the goal!



It stinks, but my stuffed up nose helps me…

When we approach, they run to the see, but babies stay…


One could believe they're dead.


But they are not. They wake up eventually.


Hmmm… Not all of them.


Today we fulfil an old promise to Gauvain: quad biking in the dunes!
A pity that the sky stay cloudy and the weather quite cold. Gloves would have been useful!













Thursday, we leave Walvis Bay.

Who need large tyres for his 4x4?



A few green, but the desert is still… a desert, even in April.





The afternoon with the flu…:-(
Thanks Walter for your offer that really helped me to be operational again the day after!



Destiny.



Hard life in Africa…


A visitor.



Walter and family's small estate… What a nice place!





Storms will follow us the whole day.

















Picnic break. Weather is not so good.



On the road again.




A nice walk at Koiimasis farm that will end under the rain.





First camp with our new tents.



Dinner between the drops, and go to bed!
It's pouring with rain during the night. A good test for our tents: good news, they are watertight!

Koiimasis is 20 km from the D707.







Tar !



We are at the entrance of the ghost town of Kolmanskop at 12:20 when it closes at 13:00. Too late. A pity, but this is holiday, I didn't want to move everybody too fast this morning. I should have…

Shark Island, Lüderitz.







Nothing again red eyes on this camera?



Lüderitz.





Garub feral horses. Land must be enough for them…







8°C only at Klein Aus Vista tonight. It didn't take much time to get under the duvets!

[Pierre77N]

4°C in the morning. Luckily sun is warming fast.
Sociable weavers are so piggish taht they eat in our hands!



Just after Rosh Pinah.



One of our first quivertrees.



The Orange River that's the boundary.







Our day picnic area.





Gamschab River trail. Easy and nice!





Klipspringers.



An evening visitor at Ai Ais.


I heard the biggest are not the most dangerous. So this one must be OK. :-/

We didn't love much Ai Ais (except of the thermal pools for the kids). Small campsites and ablutions in bad conditions. Not much to see. And a country music evening thanks to our neighbours who had taken their PA system with them!



By bike!!!



Fish River Canyon. The 2nd in the world, but a lot quieter that the 1st one!









Quivertree.





At World's End?







More onlookers.





Hi!



A big cat. In captivity, but we are in the cage as well!





Don't nick my steak!



Quivertree Forest.







So photogenic…













A last one…



Braai and mild evening around the fire...

Giant Playground.











A bad idea from the Bradt to break the day. Hardap Dam. All is closed. You can't drive on the dam for a game drive on the other side. But you have to pay the fees!



Windhoek.







Trans Kalahari Inn where the cruiser will be parked for 2,5 months.







The End
(for this time)

[GreenDisco]

Awesome pictures Pierre, makes one long for the great expanse in Namibia! Thank you for sharing.

A rule of thumb when it comes to scorpions is when you come across one with large pincers and small tail, they are normally less harmful than the ones with small pincers and large tail.

He looks pretty nasty to be honest!

Originally Posted by Pierre77N

An evening visitor at Ai Ais.


I heard the biggest are not the most dangerous. So this one must be OK. :-/

[AboutAfrica]

Great pics Pierre. And glad you and the family enjoyed your stay with us and hope to see you guys again soon.

Regards in france!

[Chris Card]

Glad your trip went well in the end - love your photos. You can hire a fridge in Windhoek for N$50 per day.
Liz and I will be in France with our 1928 Bentley in mid June - please make the sun shine for us.

Chris

[Pierre77N]

Thanks all!

Chris, I couldn't rent a fridge. The next leg of our trips next July/August will end in Lusaka! Regarding the weather mid-june, I can only cross my fingers for you, "temperate" climate, they say… I do love English classic cars too. I own a Jaguar XJS. A lot younger (and cheaper!) than your Bentley!

[witklipbank]

Thanks, nice report and photo's.

[Traveller]

Nice report and pictures, thanks for sharing.

Peter

[JJJ]

Hi Pierre,

Good to hear from you again!

Awesome picture, that of the mirage. Never seen it like that before.

Also, I suspect you were somewhat mesmerized by the quiver trees . But it is very difficult not to admire the texture of the bark when the light gets low.

I can only imagine your kids are going to hand in some A+ projects at school this year.

So the Malawi leg of your trip is this July/August?

PS Ais-ais is really a sad story of regression. From a bustling organized destination when I was still at school, it has been mismanaged into the ground. This is one place that definitely did not benefit from the handover to own government.

When we were last there in 2006, you could not even buy bread in the shop. In 1995 though, you could even go on horse rides. That's all gone.

[Pierre77N]

Hi Johnie!

Thanks for the compliments.

Originally Posted by JJJ

Also, I suspect you were somewhat mesmerized by the quiver trees . But it is very difficult not to admire the texture of the bark when the light gets low.

How did you suspect that?

Originally Posted by JJJ

I can only imagine your kids are going to hand in some A+ projects at school this year.

I think they realize… They have been traveling with us many countries since they are 3 or 4…

Originally Posted by JJJ

So the Malawi leg of your trip is this July/August?

It was my first intention. But I realized that we would have to travel too much in a hurry. So the final plan is Windhoek / CKGR / Maun / Panhandle / Caprivi / Sioma / Kafue / Lower Zambezi / Lusaka. And hopefully we will be able to come back again end of October and drive then up to SLNP, maybe NLNP, and Malawi.

Originally Posted by JJJ

PS Ais-ais is really a sad story of regression. From a bustling organized destination when I was still at school, it has been mismanaged into the ground. This is one place that definitely did not benefit from the handover to own government.
When we were last there in 2006, you could not even buy bread in the shop. In 1995 though, you could even go on horse rides. That's all gone.

A pity…

[galius]

Originally Posted by JJJ
PS Ais-ais is really a sad story of regression. From a bustling organized destination when I was still at school, it has been mismanaged into the ground. This is one place that definitely did not benefit from the handover to own government. When we were last there in 2006, you could not even buy bread in the shop. In 1995 though, you could even go on horse rides. That's all gone"

We were there a few weeks ago and stayed in one of the Bush Chalets.
This chalet was nothing but a pleasure, flat screen tv, around sound, king size bed, nice kitchen, jazucci, buildtin braai (outside) etc. Bread and other stuff was available in the kiosk.

However there was a hell of a lot of noise coming from the campsites, gennies running, spotlights, neonlights and MUSIC mixed with the contents of glass bottles.
Perhaps the way some campers greet their neighbours.

[Let's Play]

Nice report!

[Kalahari Safari]

Hi Pierre,

Great report and great pic's, glad you are sorted with the fridge.

I had a similar experience when heading over to WDH it packed up, but luckily I got it fixed within a day from a small workshop in WDH, it lasted the trip and then the controller needed some TLC, now fine again.

Your LC looks awesome, hope you have many trouble free miles when you come back.

[Pierre77N]

I hope too!
Thanks Walter.

[KimballR]

Great report, great photos.

'Koiimasis is 20 km from the D707'. - I have heard this is an interesting place to visit?

[Pierre77N]

Thanks Kimball!
Yes, it's a nice place with nice campsites.
Even if we were there on a stormy and rainy day.
A pretty valley between red rocks…