Day Ten: We head north to Swakopmund, Namibia
Up at 6:30 am, still revelling over the night before but excited to be continuing the journey. Made another quick breakfast of home fries, toast and eggs before cleaning up all the kitchen supplies and leaving it ship shape for the next party. Loaded up our truck with Noel and Lynn and they excitedly told us about their leopard spotting at 4:30 am in the morning when Lynn was woken by something crashing into the BBQ on the patio, followed by a deep low growl of a large cat. She reached over and held Noel's arm firmly to wake him and let him know something was up but not to make a sound. They both carefully got out of bed to peer out the flaps and, although they couldn't see anything, they could hear the thundering sound of a large animal running past. The sound faded out and then gradually grew louder as the animals came back towards the tent. Noel saw two dark cat shapes sprint past the tent, about 20 feet away. He discerned they were larger than a lab but smaller than a mule. The cats turned and thundered past again and, this time, they breaked hard and stopped. A few seconds later, Noel and Lynn heard a faint squeal and then all went silent. A few hours later, when the sun came up, Noel went out to look for paw prints and found distinct cat prints that were half the size in length of his size 10 foot and about 5 inches in width! If Alesa and I hadn't slept so soundly, we would have heard all the excitement!
Today was my first time driving. On the left side of the road, don't forget. Being as there was little or no traffic, no traffic lights, no markings on the roads and broad shoulders, there was very little trouble I could get into. It was just pure exhilaration driving in a 7 vehicle convoy across the open roads of Africa!
We made it back to Solitaire, our lunch stop from two days before, but this time for coffee and pastries in their renowned bakery. Everything was amazing except for the delicious-looking cinnamon buns that, unfortunately, ended up being hard as rocks. Once everyone was sufficiently coffeed up, we got back on the road and headed North for Swakopmund. And once again,we were blown away by the vast expanse of terrain that is hard to imagine in size. If you've ever driven through Saskatchewan, try multiplying that by 5 times and you'll come close to the vastness. The scenery changes in such an unusual way that you notice but don't notice until you realize you are looking at an entirely different terrain and you wonder when it changed. We went from dry desert sands and black hills in the distance to low-lying rolling hills with pale bits of green shrubbery to bigger hills sprinkled with black shale-like rocks jutting perpendicularly out of the ground.
The next thing we knew, we were driving through a barren stretch of land that was white, gravelly rock and sand for as far as the eye could see, and, when I say that, it truly means that! Suddenly, we were coming to a stop and we didn't know why on earth we would because there was no living thing, plant or animal, for miles. Then, we saw it! A sign! A BIG sign! It said, The Tropic of Capricorn!!! We all piled out of our vehicles and crowded around the sign for the photos that everyone was excited to get! There was no other indication of any kind that we were there, just that huge sign but it was cool and we all wanted a record of it!
It wasn't long before the barren white gray terrain slowly turned to rolling gold hills speckled with sparse trees and foliage. Heading for the coast, the temperature started dropping and by the time we got to our destination, Anchor Restaurant at Walvis Bay, it was about 15 degrees and we were all surprised to have to don our sweaters and jackets because of the cold wind. The restaurant was ready and waiting for us with a big long table and the service was efficient and pleasant.
We had only been sitting for a few minutes when we spotted out the window a porpoise and her calf swimming across the bay in front of us only about 20 feet from shore. She swam back and forth a few times until she simply disappeared, leaving us holding our cameras ready in vain.
Following our delicious lunch, we got back on the road (after a quick battery charge for one of our vehicles' lights that had been accidentally left on), and headed Northeast to Swakopmund. We continued on through vast expanses of land that is so vast, it's "uber-vast", to the point of being surreal. Imagine Planet of the Apes, Land Before Time, and Moonscapes all rolled into one and you have a taste of Africa.
Pulling into Swakopmund, a quaint little German-influenced town, was a juxtaposition after such immense landscapes. We found our hotel, Deutsche Haus, quite easily and poured out of our trucks tired and thirsty for a cold German beer and a good, hardy German meal and we were soon enjoying both. Then we all tucked into our rooms with fresh clean sheets, down pillows and duvets for a good night's sleep after a full and exhilarating day!
Sweet dreams......JT
Up at 6:30 am, still revelling over the night before but excited to be continuing the journey. Made another quick breakfast of home fries, toast and eggs before cleaning up all the kitchen supplies and leaving it ship shape for the next party. Loaded up our truck with Noel and Lynn and they excitedly told us about their leopard spotting at 4:30 am in the morning when Lynn was woken by something crashing into the BBQ on the patio, followed by a deep low growl of a large cat. She reached over and held Noel's arm firmly to wake him and let him know something was up but not to make a sound. They both carefully got out of bed to peer out the flaps and, although they couldn't see anything, they could hear the thundering sound of a large animal running past. The sound faded out and then gradually grew louder as the animals came back towards the tent. Noel saw two dark cat shapes sprint past the tent, about 20 feet away. He discerned they were larger than a lab but smaller than a mule. The cats turned and thundered past again and, this time, they breaked hard and stopped. A few seconds later, Noel and Lynn heard a faint squeal and then all went silent. A few hours later, when the sun came up, Noel went out to look for paw prints and found distinct cat prints that were half the size in length of his size 10 foot and about 5 inches in width! If Alesa and I hadn't slept so soundly, we would have heard all the excitement!
Today was my first time driving. On the left side of the road, don't forget. Being as there was little or no traffic, no traffic lights, no markings on the roads and broad shoulders, there was very little trouble I could get into. It was just pure exhilaration driving in a 7 vehicle convoy across the open roads of Africa!
We made it back to Solitaire, our lunch stop from two days before, but this time for coffee and pastries in their renowned bakery. Everything was amazing except for the delicious-looking cinnamon buns that, unfortunately, ended up being hard as rocks. Once everyone was sufficiently coffeed up, we got back on the road and headed North for Swakopmund. And once again,we were blown away by the vast expanse of terrain that is hard to imagine in size. If you've ever driven through Saskatchewan, try multiplying that by 5 times and you'll come close to the vastness. The scenery changes in such an unusual way that you notice but don't notice until you realize you are looking at an entirely different terrain and you wonder when it changed. We went from dry desert sands and black hills in the distance to low-lying rolling hills with pale bits of green shrubbery to bigger hills sprinkled with black shale-like rocks jutting perpendicularly out of the ground.
The next thing we knew, we were driving through a barren stretch of land that was white, gravelly rock and sand for as far as the eye could see, and, when I say that, it truly means that! Suddenly, we were coming to a stop and we didn't know why on earth we would because there was no living thing, plant or animal, for miles. Then, we saw it! A sign! A BIG sign! It said, The Tropic of Capricorn!!! We all piled out of our vehicles and crowded around the sign for the photos that everyone was excited to get! There was no other indication of any kind that we were there, just that huge sign but it was cool and we all wanted a record of it!
It wasn't long before the barren white gray terrain slowly turned to rolling gold hills speckled with sparse trees and foliage. Heading for the coast, the temperature started dropping and by the time we got to our destination, Anchor Restaurant at Walvis Bay, it was about 15 degrees and we were all surprised to have to don our sweaters and jackets because of the cold wind. The restaurant was ready and waiting for us with a big long table and the service was efficient and pleasant.
We had only been sitting for a few minutes when we spotted out the window a porpoise and her calf swimming across the bay in front of us only about 20 feet from shore. She swam back and forth a few times until she simply disappeared, leaving us holding our cameras ready in vain.
Following our delicious lunch, we got back on the road (after a quick battery charge for one of our vehicles' lights that had been accidentally left on), and headed Northeast to Swakopmund. We continued on through vast expanses of land that is so vast, it's "uber-vast", to the point of being surreal. Imagine Planet of the Apes, Land Before Time, and Moonscapes all rolled into one and you have a taste of Africa.
Pulling into Swakopmund, a quaint little German-influenced town, was a juxtaposition after such immense landscapes. We found our hotel, Deutsche Haus, quite easily and poured out of our trucks tired and thirsty for a cold German beer and a good, hardy German meal and we were soon enjoying both. Then we all tucked into our rooms with fresh clean sheets, down pillows and duvets for a good night's sleep after a full and exhilarating day!
Sweet dreams......JT
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