Day Eight:    Our first day on the Road as we head to Sossusvlei

On the road at 8:10 am with coolers full and all gear safely stowed in the back.  Hardly out of Windhoek when we started seeing the new Big 5 of South Africa....cows, mules, sheep, goats ....and baboons!!!  Yep, we were hitting the big time in the farm country of Namibia. 

Hot off the press by Lynn in our vehicle upon the first sighting of a baboon..."Look! A baboon on the road! And it's not dead!"  Ok - possibly a little morbid but when you are driving and baboons are literally running freely around your vehicle, not hitting them is a high priority!

We were headed for our first destination....Sossusvlei...about a 5 and 1/2 hour drive and all we could think about is what animals we would see on the way.   The terrain soon opened up and the rolling plateaus and hills of golden grass lay out before us as far as the eye could see.   Small dead brush dotted the horizon with the odd bright green tree that stood out as if someone had reached down with a paintbrush and splashed it gingerly.

Off in the distance, the very FAR distance, you could see the dark mountains that spread
across the horizon like giant, long tables.   First stop, Rehoboth, a small little town hardly discernible. Then 20 more minutes and we were on a dirt road heading for the Coast.  There was barely a car on the road.  The only other traffic we saw were two vans with trailers full of goats and a family of four in a tiny ancient wooden wagon being pulled by a mule.

After driving through vast lands of gold flecked with black and green that stretched on for miles, we were about to come to our lunch stop when our lead car pulled over and informed us that the rear car had suffered a blown tire and he had to go back to assess the situation.  Given that we were only a km. from our lunch stop, he told us to go ahead and get started (normally the rules of the entourage are to stick together at all costs). So five trucks went ahead and two were held back.

The lunch stop was a little oasis of a civilization aptly called Solitaire, a delightful little mini resort area with restaurant, gas station, bakery, gift shop and park areas. There we enjoyed a prearranged lunch that included a carrot fritter topped with tartar sauce followed by a buffet of salads and vegetables that accompanied our choice of meat from an open brick BBQ.  Meat being Oryx, Springbok or Kudu.  Ok, when in Africa, do as the Africans do.   I chose Springbok, not having any idea of what it would taste like, and was pleasantly surprised to find it very tender and very similar to a lovely piece of veal.

We were just into our meals when the two other trucks pulled up and joined us.  Needless to say, they were hot, tired, thirsty and starving!  Molly (of the "Mona Lisa" smile) sat down beside me and I explained the lunch rundown to her and suggested she have the Springbok as it was really tender and not gamey.  Without missing a beat she said, "I don't eat anything I take pictures of." and that was the end of THAT discussion!  (You know it doesn't matter what you say, Mona Lisa doesn't change!).

I then asked about the tire incident and she told me how they couldn't get the regular jack to work so had to remove the big daddy from the front grill.   The truck was jacked up so high, she feared it would roll over the "embankment" (the slight ditch off the side of the road). Then, when the "deed" was done, the jack jammed and wouldn't come down until finally it came down with a crash and caught the travel agent's hand.  Looking for something to help with the bleeding, Molly offered a tissue. When the travel agent had cleaned his wound, he looked back to Molly and asked, "Don't stewardesses pick up the cloth after it's been used?" Needless to say, he did not get a cheery reply.

Back on the road after lunch, we were only about 40 minutes from our destination for the night - Desert Camp.  And that was truly what it was.  Twenty small wood-framed tents set on cement bases with little patios that housed your own little kitchen counter zipped securely behind another tent flap. On the patio was a small little picnic table from where you sat and looked out over the vast expanse of desert that stretched endlessly out in every direction until finally it stopped at the black, table top hills that were so far away, they looked like misty mirages.

Desert Camp

It was hot. Very hot. We soon replaced the cold water we had been drinking in the car with nice cold beer and white wine that had been chilling in our coolers during the long drive to get there. Our group broke into smaller groups depending on the location of their tent or their truck mates (or whoever they figured was best at cooking on an outdoor BBQ over wood and cooking on a makeshift stove with two burners and one pot!)

As night fell and the heat of the day started to subside, the flames from the BBQ became our light and our heat.  Deciding when the meat was cooked was the next biggest challenge because, all of a sudden, everyone was the cook with a different opinion, and the conversation took on a whole new energy!  But, we finally dined on well-done chicken and medium-well steak, boiled new potatoes, fried onions with peppers and a wonderful medley of corn, broccoli and other veggies - a delicious feast (yes, feast!) given the tools we had to work with.

The finale of the day was just above us as we took in the unobstructed view of the sea of stars that flooded the sky, paled only slightly by the glowing moon that was close to full and shining like a beacon.

Pinch me! Is this real? Yes!  It's Africa and everything you've ever dreamed of!

Must sleep as safari starts at 6:15 am..........JT