Today was to be a chilled day. A 130km trip to Opuwo, estimated 3 hour journey. We were relaxing, chilling over coffee, round the fire. The laugh this morning was on Panda, he alighted from our tent wearing a ‘2 tone’ khaki shirt – a BIG no-no in our circles. Then it started to rain, this only happens when the Morrison’s camp. As it let up, I went for an open air shower, rudimentary constricted, but warm.
Then it started raining again, so we packed up in the rain, dust turning to mud – camping can just be so much fun. As we set off off the rain stopped and the sun peaked through the clouds.
As we headed along the well maintained dirt road, we discovered the other half of Sesfontein; more houses, a school, a few shops and a police station. After a couple of kilometers we turned left onto the Opuwo road…..and it was closed, due to blasting. So much for the chilled day.
Plan B took us on a detour of the C43, it was a mountainous area, the mountains as opposed to what we were used to, were filled with trees. The road was stony and rutted. At our first travel break, I got out the car and stepped into elephant dung, wearing slops. My Salamon’s are in serious need of a clean after yesterday's stuck vehicle episode – funny all the girls have different footwear on today.
We passed a tiny village with a few scattered huts. Outside one, was a lady dressed in traditional Herero dress, sitting on a chair with about 10 children, gathered around her, seated on the ground. The local school, no playground and no facilities – our children at St Stithians do not know how fortunate they are.
The areas we passed through were very rural, dotted villages with cattle, goats and donkeys. Some of the trees had started sprouting blossoms – I guess we are a week away from spring. Our second smoke break, had the bird watches all excited with lots of the little critters flying around the area.
We had passed over the Beesvlakte and through Ombombo. We saw kudu, springbok and ostriches. As we got further north, I was excited to see my favorite trees, for the first time in Namibia, the Baobab. With 14 km to Opuwo, we turned left onto a tarred road and headed into the first roadblock of the trip, we were waved through and headed off to find a campsite for the night.
Opuwo is the biggest town in the Northern Territory and capital of the Kunene Region – it is a typical African town – rural town merging with modern centers, bustling and busy. We drove through the town, passed through a suburb of small houses, with not a blade of grass. We drove up a mountain track, according to GPS coordinates, to the only camp place we could find (according to the Namibia Book Guide). We arrived at a padlocked gate to a rather dodgy looking place. I phoned the number in the book and a central reservation person told me that they had sold the hotel and attached camp site a few years back…. Chilled day ??? Then Soxy, a guardian angel appeared at the gate, she informed us that there was a lodge was across the next hill, we made space in the car, she hopped in and took us along a rather precarious road to the Opuwa Country Hotel and Camp site.
This looked a whole lot more inviting, in fact so inviting that the girls promised the men body and soul, literally, to stay in the rooms for the night. I have always said I don't mind camping for 4 nights, then I want a proper bed and hot shower – wish granted.
We moved into our rooms and headed off to the verandah for lunch. It has a spectacular view over an infinity pool in to the valley below. Two o’clock and they refused to serve us lunch as the chef had knocked off. No problem, we ordered drinks, fetched crackers, cheese and cold meat from the car and made our own lunch at the hotel.
Tony, Al, George and Sue headed into the hot, dusty, busy town for a few necessities; like new slops and a mattress for George, the former stolen and lost - a lost mattress??...don't ask. For Al shopping is just a necessity. Gray and I chilled on the verandah, playing with their charcoal grey cat and then in our air conditioned room – bliss.
As we had defrosted meat in preparation for our camp out, we headed off to the camp area for a braai. Ironically this was the best camp site we have encountered so far – in our experience in Africa, camp areas attached to hotels are always the best and they give you full use of hotel facilities, such as the swimming pool, bar and restaurants. I think our braai was better than the hotel buffet. The meat from the butchery in Swakopmund has been amazing.
We then returned to the hotel for coffee and to catch up on admin – with an extremely slow wi-if we eventually gave up. I really appreciated going to bed in a bed.
(Apologies for the duplication of photos in Day 16. Comms, or rather the lack of them, make posts difficult at the best of times).
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