Namakwa 4x4 & South Namibia

[OOOOMS]

Oja is die antwoord op die quiz dalk Limestone - Kalksteen???

Dit is korrek Kalksteen oond 100%

Hulle het kalk klippe en marmer tipe klippe bo-op hout gepak wat dan aan die brand gesteek word. Sodra die kalk deurval na onder het hulle dit uitgeskep. Dit is dan gebruik vir bouwerk - soos ek verstaan as dagga tussen die rou klei stene. Kalk in die mengsel het dit sterker gemaak sodat hulle dubbelverdiepings kon bou. Die kalk help ook vir termiete. Die foto is by Holoog geneem

[Ou vale1]

OOOOMS, ek neem aan jy bedoel dagha, want daai omkyk twak laat alles wabble!

[OOOOMS]

OOOOMS, ek neem aan jy bedoel dagha, want daai omkyk twak laat alles wabble!

Jy sien.....als

[OOOOMS]

We moved on to small town called Aus and deided to camp at Klein Aus just a few km's down the road, lovely ampsite they have in the hills
Fish river bridge

Church in Aus

Camp site Klein Aus S26 39.093 E16 14.717

And plenty of these around.....this really made Koos happy.....

Let me tell you these creatures are everywhere and had us all in stitches.....

The following morning we headed towards Luderitz, but first a stop to see the wild horses

At first nothing, then they slowly came in to drink

Quite amazing how the have survived here in the desert.....

Off towards Luderitz S26 38.897 E15 09.248

[OOOOMS]

On route to Luderitz some interesting station houses

Change of scenery

Initially the plan was to amp at Shark Island, but the wind was blowing so bad, it would have blown our RTT off the vehicles....I think....?
So we opted to look for a bakpakers And Franken found a nice place for us

Some interesting buildings around Luderitz

Churh where my gran was baptized

Harbor

Shark Island campsite.

Then we headed for Dias point....after a quik fish and chips lunch

Off to Dias!

Some more campsites here! Sleeps approx 6

Lower deck

or

Sleeping arrangements with fold up beds

Abutions

Time for a hot cuppa

[jacques kotze]

As ek so na jou report kyk dan kon ek sweer ons was saam met julle daar! Ons het ook In Luderits geslaap by Shark island waar julle nie wou nie omdat die wind te erg was. Ek het probeer om my ou tentjie op te slaan maar toe sien hy gaan soos n kite oor die see trek, het maar besluit om my bakkie agter leeg te maak, die matras agter in gegooi en die aand agter in die canopy geslaap en die kiddies voor in die bakkie. Ons het by dieselfde tafel gesit en eet by daai eet plekkie onder Ritzi's restaurant. Vandaar is ons ook na Diaz punt gewees.
Ek sien jou foto van die kamp plek by Klein Aus Vista waar julle geslaap het, is presies ook die staan plek waar ons geslaap het na ons uit Luderits weg is.

[Mud Dog]

Nice pics and interesting buildings. Was never in Luderitz. Must definitely go up that way sometime again and pop in there.

[Bulletjie-3]

Did you guys have to use solarpanels and jerrycans for water and fuel ?

[OOOOMS]

Dit lyk lekker en mag jul almal 'n vreugdevolle jaar he, ek wil net uitnodiging rig aan almal wat by my voordeur verby ry. Jul mag hier kom oorslaap en ek sal jul rooi duine wys. Ek is in Namibie naby Stampriet, pad vanaf Mariental na Gochas en Mata-Mata of Rietfontein grensposte.

Baie dankie vir die uitnodiging Hannes, sal beslis so maak as ons weer daar verby ry

As ek so na jou report kyk dan kon ek sweer ons was saam met julle daar! Ons het ook In Luderits geslaap by Shark island waar julle nie wou nie omdat die wind te erg was. Ek het probeer om my ou tentjie op te slaan maar toe sien hy gaan soos n kite oor die see trek, het maar besluit om my bakkie agter leeg te maak, die matras agter in gegooi en die aand agter in die canopy geslaap en die kiddies voor in die bakkie. Ons het by dieselfde tafel gesit en eet by daai eet plekkie onder Ritzi's restaurant. Vandaar is ons ook na Diaz punt gewees.
Ek sien jou foto van die kamp plek by Klein Aus Vista waar julle geslaap het, is presies ook die staan plek waar ons geslaap het na ons uit Luderits weg is.

Snap!

Did you guys have to use solarpanels and jerrycans for water and fuel ?

Only water, no one had solar panels, jerrycans were for show only :wink2:

[OOOOMS]

We decided to stay over at a backpackers and found this old 'still running' Deutz overlanding truck parked in the driveway. The owner travels through Africa and was doing some preparations for his next expedition......! On their last trip they got stuck somewhere in Botswana for 3 months, hence the boat on the roof and used it to paddle to town to get supplies...! Who needs a vehicle

Possible new entry for the 2013 Dakar :roll: :roll: :roll:

....and the scooter also goes along....

The following morning we visited Kolmanskop Very interesting indeed, I would really recommend a guided tour if you have not done it yet

More info on Kolmanskop ghost town:
http://www.encounter.co.za/article/87.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.wilkinsonsworld.com/2010/09/ ... olmanskop/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Strange how most visitors were looking around on the ground, in hoping to spot a lost forgotten diamond......

Well, the following day it was time to say goodbuy (sadly) to my Mike and Sonya as they had promised to be home before xmas with the family.
Franken also wanted to spend time at Etosha so we said our goodbuy's

We, (Koos / Rita & us) headed for Sesriem

We chose the scenic route

[OOOOMS]

Down the C13 and left on the D707

We passed a farmhouse approx. here (S26 28.594 E16 28.981) not listed on T4A, the board said Coffie, Biltong & Camping.....so we stopped and popped in! Very friendly reception by the farmer and his wife (Will post details when I find 'em). The lady showed us her new campsites (nice ) clean ablutions. They will be offering day trips into the dunes (red dunes) very cheap, something like R125.00 pppd which is part of their farm, soon

Breakfast on the go

We headed for Bathesda lodge S24 37.165 E15 59.468 as recommended by ChrisF (I think?) as being a nice camp site And nice it certainly was Lovely clean pool, friendly staff and we just chilled. We stayed here x2 nights.

The following morning it was up early a 40min drive to the dunes Sossusvlei S24 29.178 E15 47.880. (permit office)

Water........still from the recent unusual rains

Rita, Tommy and Crysten walking to the top......

And made it

Crysten on her way down

Then Rita, where she gets her energy from......I have no idea

Dune buggy

The we headed towards Sesriem Canyon S24 31.114 E15 48.014

Quick Q? Q: Where does Sesriem Canyon get it's name from?

A: Sesriem Canyon, on the Tsauchab River, gets its name from the days when the early travelers needed to draw water from the river in the canyon and, because of its depth, tied six leather thongs together, fastened a bucket to the end and lowered it to the pools below. In Afrikaans “ses” is six and “riem” is the name for the leather thongs; hence Sesriem.!

Click here to show the answer!

http://www.wilkinsonsworld.com/tag/sesriem-canyon/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From here we headed toward Walvis Bay S22 56.985 E14 30.900 via the C14/M36

[Mud Dog]

Nice pics Mark! A beautiful land!

[Bulletjie-3]

Nee, nou wil ek nie meer by die huis wees nie.!!!

Dit lyk nie of baie van julle kampplekke krag gehad het nie. Het die altenator dan maar die yskaste aan die gang gehou. Het die ander voertuie dieselfde setup gehad ?

[The Legend]

Oooms,As ek dit alreeds gese het,dan se ek dit weer.Jou trip report is uit die boeke.Ek kan eenvoudig nie op hou lees nie

[OOOOMS]

Nee, nou ek ek nie meer by die huis wees nie.!!!

Dit lyk nie of baie van julle kampplekke krag gehad het nie. Het die altenator dan maar die yskaste aan die gang gehou. Het die ander voertuie dieselfde setup gehad ?

Die meeste kamp kamp plekke het wel krag gehad, tot dus ver was net die Namakwa roete sonder krag en Potjiespram

Bly jy geniet Dawie

[Ou vale1]

And OOOOMS was about to demonstrate to us his mountaineering skills to see if the eagle had chicks in the nest

Missed the shot where he saw his AGT however........................

[Mud Dog]

Pity you missed that one!!

[Doom]

Report =

[Doom]

Gee jy die man krediet, laat le hy slap.

OOOOMS, wat is fout, jong Jy's darem skaars vir 'n man van jou statuur.

[OOOOMS]

Off to......S23 53.480 E16 00.484

And you can get some nice treats

See some interesting things

And fill up with some gazolene

There are also camp sites available here should you wish to stay over, nut we were heading towards Walvisbay

A very scenic route indeed! Route C14/M36, next time we would however get the permits and explore into many 'restricted area's / permit required' roads

Walvis bay! Nice neat clean town and we stopped here at the P&P for some supplies

We noticed a lot of new development going up around the area, mus be due to the oil they found along the coast....

We decided to camp at Sylvia's (not my kinda camp site as it was very over crowded and pretty noisy) but options were few...... ) as all the places were full in and around Swakop S22 40.712 E14 31.353

Most shops were closed in Swakops, so we spent the day on the beach with the kids

Koos and Rita advised that they had to start heading home as 'work' was calling, so we would now travel on our own.

We chatted with some camp buurman, who was afraid to drive the riverbed alone, so we decided to show them the beautiful riverbed the next morning.

Drive approx. 70km towards Usakos and there is a very nice 'twee spoor' road leading into the canyon. PM me for details or co-ords. Then there is a short but tricky section you need to go through (not to be done alone) as my friend with his Navara almost....almost rolled his vehicle here. Luckily we managed to get him out of the situation..... frikkadel dit was amper en daarna moes hy sy rocksliders maar beskadig.... :roll:

Man all I can say was he was damm lucky...the rear wheel was approx. 1m off the ground and the front wheel barely touching the ground....

It took some time to calm him down, but after the first turn I heard his voice over the radio.....dis flippen nice hier

...and for our second time, it truly was

Breakkie

We drove approx. 40km's in the canyon towards Swakop and exited here at this mine

We said our goodbuy's and headed for town for some B&B accommodation which was not that easy to find as everything was fully booked, however we managed to find a cancellation made earlier that day :wink2:

The next day I called Trevor 'Hi-Hilux' who was in Henties and advised that were would be passing through adn he kindly invited us for some coffee.....or shall I say I invited myself Tx Trevor, gerat seeing you guys again!

Willem 'Doom' and his family kindly nagged us to come and say hello at Mile 110 and after a brief discussion with my wife agreed that we would go and visit them as we were in the area only 180km from where we were.

[Family_Dog]

Gripping stuff, Mark! Now you have the whole weekend ahead of you to post the next 10 pages ;)


-F_D

[Mud Dog]

[GI Jane]

Thanks for the stunning photo's and report. For those of us that never got away this holiday, feels like I have done the trip with you all...

[000MSS]

Nice Work dad

Hopefully the end of this year we'll join you!!!

[OOOOMS]

Nice Work dad

Hopefully the end of this year we'll join you!!!

That will be great Ek sien jy kom so staaaaadig maar seker reg....

[Doom]

Nice Work dad

Hopefully the end of this year we'll join you!!!

Dis die gees :!: :!:

[OOOOMS]

Upon our arrival at Mile 110 (St Nowhere) we were directed to the VIP stands where Willem - Doom and his family were camping! Certainly has it's advantages with a man of his stature

We quickly introduced ourselves and I new straight away 'hier gaan ons lekker kuier' :!:

And so we did

This place is not a camp site for every Vaalie and his wife.....you need to be pretty well rigged for wind, rain and some cold air But clearly it was not their first time here, Willem had everything including the dishwasher

Who said it was hot in Dec.....?

The following day we decided to take a drive to the Messum Crater: Satellite view: http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/w ... wa&DG=CRTR" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

On route to the crater we stopped a many Welwitchia plants along the route

Lizzy:

Back on the road again, first to the Ugab River

The most beautiful mountains :!: :!: :!:

Then we came across this... Never seen an underground water vein before :wink2:

Heading towards the crater we stopped off at an old mine. Amazing how these miners survived here and the structures (small settlements they put up :!: )

On route to Mussem Crater!

[african dust]

wot a great trip ! thanks for sharing.

[Mud Dog]

Those mountains are something else and never cease to amaze me with the different coloured layers. Even more amazing is the force that was required to tilt them up like that. The water vein is also spectacular.

[OOOOMS]

When viewing the area / crater is you need quite some imagination as to the size of the area as it apeared some 130 million years ago! (Andy may remeber this though.... ) The crater is large estimate 7km across...? Could be more!

Not exactly exiting stuff for kids....

Pretty place though :wink2: We searched for the so called bushman paintings but were obviously looking in the wrong place.....

Others also.....

So we made our way past the Brandberg, and headed home as time was catching up...!

Doom's campsite at night

We had a really good time with Doom and his family and hope to see 'em soon again

The following day we headed for Spitzkoppe:

And then to Okahandje via Usakos

In Okahandje we headed for the Hotel....... :wink2:

...........but found only this little sign on the gate....'Sorry we are closed....!!!'

In December......

So we headed for another campsite, which was pleasant Okahandje rest camp.

Kids seemed happy enough ........and clean.....

Sunset!

The following morning we were off to Mariental via Windhoek.

We contacted Franken to see how he was doing (in Etosha) and advised that he was also heading South.

Pit stop.

Then the earth got flatter and flatter!

A quick stop at the Spar for supplies in Mariental and were off to Stampriet S24 20.747 E18 24.456 farm. Lovely place :!:

We spent the rest of the day lazing around the pool!

At around 18h00, a familiar looking cruised pulled in! Franken had joined us

The day ended once again with a beautiful sunset :wink2:

[Mud Dog]

Yes, I remember the place .... actually the Messum Crater!
Lekker pics again!

[OOOOMS]

Just a few km's up the road we passed the Kalahari Anib Lodge and wify wanted to stay over here as the pics from a brochure was pretty nice! And so it was There are only x3 campsites here so best you book this one.
They also have x2 swimming pools and horses, a zebra wandering about the pool area, restaurant, bar & game drives The kidz liked this :!:

They are also part of the Gondwana Collection and we have joined! It's a no brainer, for more info read here: http://www.gondwana.collection.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Campsite:

Very friendly staff, will certainly recommend it

After a nice breakkie it was time to move on the C15 towards Koes S25 56.045 E19 07.264 (pronounced Kwes) :!:

Very scenic route indeed :wink2:

That they can say again!!!!

And bumped into Forum member Jackal and his wife at the garage :!:

On route

Salt pan

Nam / ZA border control

Reality sinks in.....oh darn the holiday is almost over.....

We headed to Molopo Kalahari Lodge...options are few here....place nice indeed!

[Doom]

Ongeag van wat die mense se, is Mark entlik nie so 'n slegte outjie nie (al is dit Danelle se invloed wat hom op die pad hou ) en het ons julle besoek net soveel geniet! En ek het ook baie geleer, veral daai chips-makery, dit was lekker!
Dankie vir die besoekie en ons sien alreeds uit na die volgende (beloofde?) besoek

[OOOOMS]

Ongeag van wat die mense se, is Mark entlik nie so 'n slegte outjie nie (al is dit Danelle se invloed wat hom op die pad hou ) en het ons julle besoek net soveel geniet! En ek het ook baie geleer, veral daai chips-makery, dit was lekker!
Dankie vir die besoekie en ons sien alreeds uit na die volgende (beloofde?) besoek

As ek reg onthou....is dit by ons....

[Ou vale1]

Baie dankie vir 'n uitstekende trip report Oooms, maar om die trip met julle te kon deel was nog lekkerder! Wanneer ry ons......?

[OOOOMS]

Baie dankie vir 'n uitstekende trip report Oooms, maar om die trip met julle te kon deel was nog lekkerder! Wanneer ry ons......?

Was lekker gewees om julle saam te gahad het So dra die TR klaar is kan ons weer begin beplan :wink2:

[andrevt]

markie baie impressive,dis wat ons heeltyd moet doen, great report

[Hi-Hilux]

Baie nice report Mark

[Enrico]

Great report Mark. As 'n Namakwalander vat ons die berge en riviere rondom ons as vanselfsprekend. Baie dankie vir die mooi fotos wat jy met ons gedeel het. En net om ons oë weer oop te maak en te waardeer wat ons hier in ons agterplaas het.

[Ou vale1]

All good things come to an end, and we had to break away from our wonderful travelling partners (duty calls). Headed from Swakop through Windhoek (unfortunately on a Sunday because I still have an argument with their local brewer about the cost of their product compared to what we pay in SA for imported stock) and camped over at Gobabis .

And a sudden thunderstorm forced us to take shelter under an unpaid and unoccupied safari tent

Storm gone and the most beautiful sunsets

Into Botswana and heading home we aimed for Kang and decided to book a log cabin rather than setting up camp. Had some great Botswana beef fillet on the coals and watch the sun go down on the Kalahari

The rest was donkeys, donkeys, SA border control intimidation for a bribe, toll roads, potholes and .................... maar dit was great Ooooms, Ooods, kids, Franken, Mike & Sonja

[OOOOMS]

Janee kyk, ek's weer reg om te ryyyyyyyyyy.........

[FUDGES]

Thanks vir die nice report julle!

[Jansie]

Baie nice trip gewees! Die fotos vertel 'n mooi storie van die trip. Great!!

[C.R.Gillmans]

Lovely report and loads of awesome pics...Yip...I can go any time, and a TR like that makes me wanna pack and leave pronto.
Glad to hear you joined the Gondwana collection thingy...Definitely a no brainer to my wife and I too! Worth every cent and you are assured of a quality camp site!
Thanks for the report...took me a while to get through this on my dodgy internet connec.

[OOOOMS]

Lovely report and loads of awesome pics...Yip...I can go any time, and a TR like that makes me wanna pack and leave pronto.
Glad to hear you joined the Gondwana collection thingy...Definitely a no brainer to my wife and I too! Worth every cent and you are assured of a quality camp site!
Thanks for the report...took me a while to get through this on my dodgy internet connec.

Took me linger to complete.....

Glad you njoyed :wink2:

[mushroom]

Hey Mark - glad too see you did the D707 and the C15 - my best experiences ever.....this excellent trip report has made me want to go back, like yesterday......