Setting off to the South

Breezing down to Betesda and on to the Cañon

Road through the 'grass' desert

They again had a most complete breakfast at the hotel and started off south. It was hot and they were in the desert. The scenery started off with the sand desert and evolved into the grass desert and then more bush desert. In these parts they passed vast farms seemingly in the middle of nowhere. 

Rock formation 

It must be quite a feat farming in these parts what with the lack of water, the dry, the dust …. But these people seem to be making a living out of it. However, the place is also very well geared for tourism and there are lodges, camps and sites indicated all over. What they also saw were signs leading to view points where it is written ‘permit required’.

They figured that there ‘permits’ were mainly for the authorities to know where people are, not necessarily as a control measure but to keep track on the people who trundle along on lonely tracks in  the barren parts and get stuck, or have vehicle problems and such. The desert is quite forbidding and if there is a problem and no one knows where you are ….. quite recently they found a vehicle with skeletons in it, the people got lost, had car problems and then ran out of water…. In the desert, it is as simple as that!

Sailing by the Tropic of Capricorn they landed in the great metropolis of Solitude where they were greeted by old cars lying in the bush and a quaint  petrol station and the town’s ‘everything’ shop. There, they filled, visited the loo and shopped for essentials before taking to the road again.

old car in the bush

Lunch at Betesda

Betesda is a Christian rest camp. A comfortable place to stop on this long sandy road. The staff is welcoming and discreet. The swimming pool was very welcoming after the hot dusty roads. They rested and then went to watch the starts and the new moon. Then they went in for a buffet dinner.

  

Watching the new moon

After breakfast the next day, they took to the road again. This time they were aiming for the Fish RiverCañon.  The aunties had had enough of the desert but they had to stop somewhere on the road and that part of the desert was new to all of them. When the Cañon roadhouse said there was room for them, they were delighted to be on the rim of the Cañon at least.

Train going up to the coast

Cañon formation

This was not endless desert. It was desert but the scenery changed with rock formations, ridges, canons and cattle and wildlife. Fascinating how man managed to brave the elements and settle in what could have been quite forbidding areas in the time when travel was either on foot or animal-back. There are wild and wonderful tales (and sometimes  tragic) of people who have/had settled in these parts such as the tale of the Dwisib Schloss built there. 

                                                                          The sky was turning grey when they reached the Roadhouse. This place, like Betesda also looked like a lost oasis in the middle of nowhere. And it also had an array of old cars as well as old road related bric-à-brac. By the time they were booked in by the friendly staff, it started raining. It actually rained in the desert!

Dinner at the Roadhouse

But it quickly stopped after quenching the thirst of this vast empty land and its little oasis of life. They rested, visited the place and check out the mules that are used to take tourists into the famous cañon and worked a bit. Then they went to dinner where the staff was already taking orders from bigger and more boisterous groups.  

The food was nice, well served too, with no fuss. Back at the room, they worked some more and retired for the night. It was very quiet and peaceful except for a mule that had a cough.

Shopping at the Roadhouse

In the morning, a good spread awaited them for breakfast. Again, with a full tummy they took to the road down to the Great South. The border crossing was pretty painless. Their system was down and forms had to be filled again but it was very swift, the border was not busy.

From there to Springbok, they had a tarred road on which they had been before. It was greener further south and cooler too.

And thus they slid into Springbok.

Scenery on the road south

A town that caters mainly for the mining and farming that goes on around it, Sprigbok spreads quite far out. It has this busy main road that suddenly goes empty after 17h00. They were booked at a nice guesthouse  - Annie’s - on the slopes of the town. It was peaceful and quiet there. The rooms were nicely decorated, the whole place was done up with a lot of taste and planning.

Sunset over Springbok

After settling in, they sat on the verandah and had a bite and tea and then retired to some reading and resting. Coen had to find some internet connection because of his online course and we found some rather pricy internet ‘café’ on the main road that was also closing at 17h00!

She also had to submit some work that she had done. So they left that aunties at the Springbok café that has a good display of stones to look at and a scratch patch too and they did the Internet thing. Quickly the aunties joined them and they drove back to the guesthouse.

Breakfast at Annie's

That evening they went to Tauren for dinner. Pretty much the standard steak house, it was quite busy when they got there but there was space for them to sit and have a copious dinner.

Breakfast at Annie’s was a nice affair in a cozy dining room. The egg Florentine was nice and filling and they met with aunty Pam the owner of the place who had some nice anecdotes to tell about life in Springbok as opposed to Johannesburg where she comes from.

Of shoes and warm baths

Signs of agriculture in the Western Cape

Long before reaching the town, they saw signs of extensive agriculture: vineyards, flowers, citrus and other fruits and what could be wheat or oats. 

Road to ClanWilliam

Down to Clanwilliam on a nice and not too busy road. They had booked rooms at the Long House, just off the main road. They checked in and sorted out breakfast with the owner; had a late lunch on the stoep while enjoying the nice garden.

Trying shoes.....

Later the decision was to go to the shoe factory and then on to the Rooibos factory. At the shoe factory, Coen and mother bought shoes. Strong, sturdy and honest shoes that have not changed in decades. Pity they have not introduced some more styles but at least they are still operating in the area after more than 100 years.

The Rooibos factory visit was interesting. They got shown a film about the tea, had a taste of it and then, got to buy some rooibos tea and its derivatives. The prices are very good, the products interesting and would make interesting gifts.

Stoep of the Long House

Back at the ranch, they rested and worked a bit more while the aunties curled in bed for a nap. After the nap, they made a decision to have dinner at the Reinhold Restaurant. Mama was having a raging headache, so the three of them trundled off there and had a great time, with great food and stories.

Dinner at Reinhold

Old post of Clanwilliam

As there was no room for them to stay longer at the Long House, they moved on to Citrusdal where they booked to stay at the ‘Baths’. A camping and lodge place graced with hot springs. The rooms that were available came with their own private hot baths. After they booked in, they had a bit of lunch and then rested while the camp slowly filled up with lodgers and campers. That afternoon, they went off to town, Coen looking for a place to repair his radiator and them looking to buy the necessary for dinner.

When they got back, the aunties got busy making dinner while they filled a bath and soaked in there. Slowly, as the sun set, the camp also settled down. They spent a quiet and peaceful night again. The next morning she went to the big hot pool just before breakfast. She had served Coen coffee in bed with rusks.

View of the valley

Sun opening on the valley

They decided to back into town later that morning to see about radiator repair. They were told about some Otto person who will be able to help. And Otto was found in one back road where Coen got a powder that did the trick. Meanwhile the ladies went walkabout and saw this little shoppie where there was a multiple of interesting products. She bought Citrusdal honey among other things.

Ox cart at the Old Village

Outside the post house

So, the radiator was patched and they took off to see about having lunch at the Old Village. This is the  old village of Citrusdal when it was only a stopping point on the road north and the old post house is now a little restaurant that serves good food. What they claim to be home baked bread turned out to be a disappointment but the rest was nice and well served too, quite generous portions in fact. 

They went back, she had another dip in the big pool and then worked a bit more and rested. They had an improvised dinner of mushroom fondue on toast and went to bed while rain was beating down. More people had arrived and pitched camp that day and a few had some damages due to the heavy down pour that came that evening.

Isabis and onwards

Breeding stallion at Isabis

The next day, after a hearty breakfast they got onto the road, again this graded dirt road up to Stampriet. From there onto Rehoboth it was tarred and then they left the tar to engage into the direction of Isabis where they were expected on Isabis farm.

The owner of Isabis farm, Joachim Crantz was in touch with Coen since their Congo times, Coen bought his Uri from him. When he mentioned that they were doing this trip into Namibia Joachim kindly invited them to visit the farm and stay the night with him and his wife. And so, they shuffled their dates around and made it to Isabis farm that day.

They got there earlier than even they expected and Joachim and Adele practically opened their house to them, gave them lunch. He does intense cattle farming while she raises horses for endurance riding. Their farm is a beautifully developed place, very peaceful and quiet. Their guest quarters if very tastefully made up from old storerooms and very comfortable.

View of the waterfall on the farm lands

They have the HESS project running on one of their farms and the people running the project often stay with them too. It is mainly for them that they made some conversions: rooms, living quarters etc.

Sunset on the lands

Adele explained that she has recently acquired this stallion to breed with her mares and it was one great experiment for her since the stallion has some ‘health’’ issues and she is really keen on this breeding idea of her.

They had a short nap and left Adele to struggle with her mares while they went on a sun down trip across the farm. Joachim took them to spots where they could see the extent of the farm but also the cliffs and waterfall they have there. As most waterways in Namibia, this waterfall was not ‘falling’ but there was water at the base.

They admired the scenery while the sun was setting and the baboons were barking in the distance. The view was absolutely stunning.

Baboons in the distance 

Back at the homestead, they showered and met for dinner. Their chef made springbok fillet to perfection. The rest of the meal was a delight. The malva pudding was excellent. After dinner, they sat talking for a bit and then the Crantz’s wanted to see their ‘trip’ pictures.

Landscape on the way to the city

It is a very quiet place and they all slept the sleep of the just. The table was set for breakfast when they got to the main house. Adele was also going to Windhoek on business that day. They made a hearty breakfast, bade their farewells and hit the road north. The whole place looked very green because of the rains.



It was a good sand road that has had regular grading. They even saw a grader working on it that day. They passed endless cattle farms that are popular in those areas and some game farms too. There were cattle grids this indicated where the one farm stopped and where the next one started.

Cattle grids on the road

In Windhoek they soon found the place where they were booked for 2 nights. Once settled, they had a late lunch of sandwiches. They booked the aunties on a city and township tour and settled to work a bit, nap a bit, work some more and then go to dinner at the Nice restaurant. This is a place run by chefs in training. It is in a great set up, very nicely decorated and fitted. The food was nice but service was rather slow.

The next day was Namibia Independence day. They had breakfast and then went to tour the city. The one stop they made was at the craft centre that has expanded quite extensively since she was last there. It had very nice things. The aunties had a grand time choosing what to buy.

Dinner at Joe's Beerhouse

Back at the lodge, they worked some more. They made some snack food for lunch and she went back to work while some took a nap. That evening they were booked at Joe’s Beerhouse for dinner. It was a hearty affair of game meat and fish.

Cruising to the Coast

After breakfast the next day, they hit the road east. They missed the one petrol station and when they realized there were none to be had on that road, they turned back and filled in town before starting off definitely eastwards.

Welwitchia mirabilis

After doing a few passes through the mountains, the scenery changed from green savannah to yellow grassland to sand desert. It was gradual but very noticeable as they progressed on the road. When they reached the Namib they found the dinosaur plant – welwitchia mirabilis. Strange plant that survived the ages in the oldest desert on earth.

Dunes close to Swakopmund

After this long road that seems to lead nowhere, suddenly, before them, the signs of civilization, Swakopmund. It is a very ‘coastal’ town but also has a German flair to it, and at the same time it is in the desert.

Lighthouse

With time the settlers have managed to grow quite a bit in that piece of desert. The town is very well laid out with trees growing on the sides of the main roads. They found their hotel, Rapmund hotel next to café Anton, not far from the beach and the lighthouse. It is a pleasant place except that they were having renovations done that day and it was a bit noisy. By 17h00 it was nice and quiet again.

That afternoon, while Coen worked on his course, she took the aunties for a walk in the shopping area. They went into some very nice little shops catering for tourists mainly. As they were getting the hang of shopping, the shops started closing – 17h00. After making up their minds where they go walking the next day and where they were having dinner that evening, they walked back to their lodgings.

They dined at a small place around the corner that evening, Farm Kitchen. Well prepared food and served by efficient and pleasant staff too. In general, in Namibia people seem very laid back, welcoming and pleasant. The staff of all the places they went were forthcoming and keen to assist.

Salt pan with red colour

The next morning, they had a most complete and very German breakfast and then set off to visit the Crystal Gallery. It was very interesting to see what they do with the crystals. They even bought a few pieces from the shop and then carried on with their discovery of the town before setting for to see Walvis bay and have lunch there.

Seagull landing

It is the port town and also very well laid out. They had lunch at the Raft on the sea front where they could see sea gulls taking off and landing. Carrying on with the main road, went on to the salt ‘factory’. They passed the saltpans and also the red residue that is said to give flamingoes that reddish tinge.

Lunch at the Raft

Lunch was tasty and the surroundings were quite pleasant too. They drove back to Swakopmund where  they worked for a while longer. Later when Coen took a nap, she went out with the aunties to browse the town.

Waiting at the bar of the Brauhaus

Dinner at the Brauhaus

They decided to dine at the Brauhaus that evening. They set off earlier in order to have an hour at the internet Café before dinner. It was Friday evening and they did not book. So when  the aunties joined them later, they had to wait at the bar for some people to vacate a table before they could eat. Here again the meal was copious and tasty. They had a good time watching the very ‘German’ pub life of the place.

Back on the Road

And so they decided to go back on the road. This time I was not going along but Tenery, Tsonga and the Pick 'n Pay savates were taken and they will tell the story of the next road trip.

The Kats of Kgalagadi

Her mother wanted to come to SA with her friend Renate, and they made up their minds to land beginning March. It was still hot in Pretoria then but since both aunties had things to see, buy and visit, it worked out. Coen also had to stay in town until after the 12^th because of the start of his creative writing course.

Road to Hotazel

And so, after fetching the aunties at the airport, they started with the shopping. Then there was a visit to the peridontist who did not have good news. In all this, they managed an outing to Bela Bela to ‘take the waters’. It was a lovely day and the spa was still quite empty when they arrived. They did the hot pool and then the not so hot one for +/- 2 hours and then went to the Ocean Basket where they had a nice seafood platter before heading for home. 

Suddenly one of her clients popped out with an urgent translation to do. It was Thursday and he needed it by Monday – 226 pages. First, the document came in garbled and when it did get in, some pages were missing. But, out of goodwill she accepted the job and told them she will do her best. Meantime, she had to feed the people at home, invite some in-laws for dinner and help organize the car for the trip ahead, make reservations in the various establishments on the way and also round up her yoga classes.

Vanzylsrus Hotel

Van Zylsrust hotel

Working until late, she managed to deliver the most urgent part of the job on time and made an  agreement that the annexures to that document will follow. 

Tortoise on the road

This way she managed to get the packing done and the road trip set out. They could not find  accommodation in Kuruman which was their first chosen stop. Finally they pushed to Vanzylsrus and slept there in the very folkloric Vanzylsrus hotel. The people were very welcoming and of great help with everything. They even sent some faxes for them. The rooms were comfortable and the food was great. The personnel was a bit slow to understand the English but all in all, a good time was had by all before they took the road to the Transfrontier park.

 Community birds' nest

This is a dirt road, good in most parts and rather corrugated in others. But it was a shorter distance to the park gates than from Upington. Soon they settled in the lodges and had a good rest after some snack lunch. She sat at the kitchen table and worked on her translation while the others rested or visited the place. Later, that afternoon they took a game drive with some interesting surprises – they saw cheetahs among others.

Working at the lodge

At first the cheetahs were next to a tree behind bushes but it rained and they came out to stretch on a flat river bed – rivers in that part of the world are usually dry. 

Back at camp, they made a quick dinner of bully beef and pasta. It was a fairly clear sky and they could see Venus and Jupiter close together and practically in a horizontal line. She worked for a while longer and then went to bed. Early the next morning they were out of the camp as soon as the gates opened. Along with the multitude of ruminants: Oryx, springboks, wildebeest, steenboks they also saw cheetahs, lions, black back jackal and bat eared foxes. It was a very productive morning.

Black backed Jackal

They took another route and saw (the same ?) 4 cheetahs walking up a ridge. Then they practically fell on a family of lions just by the road. There were about 10 of them, in all shapes and sizes. One black maned lion was sitting on the other side of the road and got irritated with all these cars coming and going around his family. He got up, charged the one car, marked his territory and joined the rest of his family. They suspect this was the same family of lions of which they saw the 6 cubs 5 months earlier.

They stopped to go to the loo at one of the picnic spots, and for some refreshments too. A lady approached and greeted them. She asked if they had seen cheetahs that morning because they were looking for one with a collar – they were researchers. Coen had taken pictures and the researchers went to see the pictures to see if they could figure out if the cheetah had a collar on.

Small world, one of the researchers happened to be Gus Mills who came to Uganda to help out with the lion project they were involved in. He actually stayed with them for a couple of days. After 12 years, they meet again in the park!

At the gate, the ranger recommended that they take the main road to MataMata the next day since there has been interesting sightings on it.

Back at camp, they had lunch and a nap, she worked some more and then they went on the afternoon game drive. It was still hot but they saw quite a bit of game on that trip too.

That evening they opted to dine at the lodge restaurant. It was ok food, nothing wow! A. Renate’s lamb was tough and mother found her ice cream too sweet.

Hyenas

Next morning, they had breakfast first and then started out in the direction of MataMata. That day, again they saw lions, cheetahs, and even hyenas along with the other game and birds: bustards, eagles, secretary birds etc. They stopped at the other picnic spot to have a bit of lunch. It was very pleasant there. 

Lioness in our midst

On this  part of the road it was another smaller family of lions that they saw, mainly females and cubs.   The one female came to check the cars, confidently walking among the cars parked there, posed for photos and went back to her family.

Further north they encountered a small group of giraffes. One had died and its young one was grieving next to it – it was quite a sight. There was another cheetah closer to MataMata and cars were lined up with people expecting to see her hunt. 

Giraffe and dead giraffe

Sunsets in the desert

Cheetah stalking her food

On their afternoon game drive, they saw her again but she moved out of sight. Afterwards they learned that she made an unsuccessful hunt that day. Next morning, early, they left for one last game drive and saw her cross the road in front of them. They reversed the car and followed and waited. Again she shifted out of sight. 

Back at camp they packed, checked out of the park and went into Namibia. The road to their next destination was a well-graded sand road. There were corrugated parts but not as shaky as in the park. 

Birthday

It was A. Renate’s birthday and she had forgotten. They were setting up at Auob Lodge for the night. When they got there, the people remembered them from their last trip 5 months ago. They were given their rooms and settled down for a nap, they had stopped for a picnic lunch on the roadside. 

In the afternoon, they had some nice tea and cake and settled by the pool. When the sun was further down, she did a few laps in the pool to cool down. Dinner was a tasty affair of game steaks followed by a small dessert. A. Renate’s share had a candle on it, she had talked to the manager of the place to see what she could do for the occasion. The staff sang for her too.