ROAD TO KEETMANSHOOP - 22/02/2012

After being shocked by the lack of vegetation, we noticed how the terrain was changing - a few plants here and there, some grass growing and the occasional boulders and 'koppies' were becoming more prominent. This land was growing on us!

Also what we noticed was the build-up of the clouds as the day wore on.  They were forever changing. I started wishing I could remember my geography and asked Robyn to fill me in on all the different clouds!  

When you are in the wilderness you start to absorb so much and appreciate the beauty in little things and you start to realise what a beautiful world we live in.  

Namibia has to much to offer - if you are able to get past the starkness of the land around you - it just gets better and better!

CROSSING THE BORDER INTO NAMIBIA 22/02/2012

I have flown to a few countries around the world over the years but have never driven over the border on my own with my daughter. In my mind I had all the documentation in order but I was still nervous in case I had forgotten something.


Anyway, the worry was all in vain, and it was a pretty painless crossing. The officials at the Border were very helpful and polite and they even assisted in letting me know of some nice places to go in Namibia. 


Everything was so new and unknown - I had to take a picture on the bridge in 'no-man's' land as we crossed over. I was amazed to think that the Orange River could separate two countries. 


We were immediately shocked by how flat the land was, apart from some very low mountains with little or no vegetation - just a vast open piece of land - with lots of sand - and a very straight road! We knew we were heading into a desert - but so suddenly?   Both Robyn and I immediately thought to ourselves, "oh no, is this the way it is going to be throughout Namibia?"

TRIP TO NAMIBIA FROM SOUTH AFRICA 21/22 FEBRUARY 2012

Today is the day we leave on a trip to Namibia. It’s not been a long planned adventure. It’s a ‘let’s go to Namibia and we did’ kind of holiday.

I had been putting away camping equipment for the last two weeks as I thought of it. I guess part of me wondered if I was actually going!

Anyway, the day had come and I packed the car. First I had prepared the bikes, and that fell away, and then I prepared the jeep and that fell away, after seeing how much I needed to take with to spend a month away from home, so I put new wheels on old Trustee, the old 2.6 VW Microbus and hit the road.

I was meeting my husband in Windhoek so I took along Robyn, my 17 year old daughter. I had thought I would leave on Wednesday but she was adamant we leave on Tuesday, so after haphazardly throwing a bunch of clothes in the last remaining box, we were on the road.  The car had been looking so organised until I added the last minute ‘may needs’ for the journey.

Music loaded on the flash drive, car bulging at the seams, we headed for our first stop, Clanwilliam. We have a holiday cottage there which was easy, until we found that the water had stopped working. After words of encouragement and guidance from my husband, I felt like I had found oil when the water started fountaining confirming success and we were back in business! You would not believe the feeling of relief when we actually had running water from the taps!

Wednesday morning we were up bright and early and back on the road. From here on was unchartered territory for me. Robyn had been to the Orange River before me – so constant chirps from her let me know what we were about to encounter.

She kept on telling me about these ‘piles of stones’ which looked like they had just put there, and I knew exactly what she meant when I saw them!  I had been concentrating on the road and had not taken a single photo and suddenly I whipped my camera out and starting snapping away.

The road to the Namibian border was unlike anything I had seen before. Flat land and as Robyn has indicated, piles of stones, placed randomly on either side of the road. All I could think of was that at some time so much water must have rushed through here rolling stones into these piles. It was  so humbling to see nature in this way.  There was a deafening silence as I was in awe of the beauty! I think the only sound was my jaw as it dropped to the floor!

NEXT CHALLENGE - CROSSING THE BORDER