And finally…

You simply can’t end a trip like this without a few last thoughts!

On the first of May we left London with Orphea’s mileometer on 58 765 miles. Six and a half months later we’ve reached Windhoek in Namibia with the clock on 76 663 miles. This means that if you add the +/- 2400 km that was done with her speedometer broken, we’ve covered 19 398 miles or 31 036 kilometres through 17 countries!

Of course Orphea was the true star in this adventure story! With already one trans-African trip under her belt and nearly 60 000 miles on her clock, she just soldiered on with only a broken shock absorber as the main problem. Naturally we had to do regular maintenance along the way like cleaning the carburettors, changing oil and plugs, but all that is to be expected.

What is also amazing is the fact that we’ve covered all of this distance without a single puncture! It was something that we were sure was going to happen, but to our big surprise our luck held. In fact, we got the most amazing service from our first set of tyres as the Pirelli MT 21 on the front lasted for 19 385 km and the rear Continental TKC 80 lasting for a massive 21 000 km!

Generally we’ve been very happy with the equipment we’ve brought along. One mistake though was to underestimate the amount of cold weather that we would come across! Especially Heino (who of course grew up in the hottest, driest part of Namibia!) made a big mistake when he decided to leave behind the waterproof lining of his motorbike jacket!

The border crossings proved to be no real problem at all! Although time consuming in North Africa it never really escalated into anything problematic and not once did we have to fork out a bribe!

Security was not the big issue that everybody warned us against either. The pick pocketing incident in Addis Ababa was the only real problem and it wouldn’t have been so serious if it wasn’t for the fact that we carried both of our main credit cards in one wallet! With the usual precautions (avoid going around in the dark) and a generous dose of common sense, travelling through this part of Africa can be regarded as quite safe.

The worst roads were definitely the 500 km stretch between Moyale on the Ethiopia/Kenya border and Isiolo in Kenya! Apart from this there were the usual asphalt roads full of potholes, animals and people on the road as well as dangerous driving. On the whole though, on the main roads there is only about 2 000 km that is not tarmac and very soon Cape Town to Cairo will be possible with a two wheel drive vehicle!

Of course there were lots of highlights! Even a summary will be quite lengthy but here is a list of what stood out in each country:

Tunisia: Most amazing blue sky and the Roman ruins

Libya: Fantastically hospitable people and of course the Mediterranean!

Egypt: The White Desert and Karnak Temple

Sudan: The remoteness and rough beauty of the northern part.

Ethiopia: Blue mountains in lush green landscape, and of course njera!

Kenya: On safari in the Masaai Mara.

Uganda: Walking through banana plantations and Sipi Falls

Rwanda: The hope of a nation shaking off a troubled past into a new future.

Tanzania: Sandbanks in the middle of the sea.

Botswana: Sleeping amongst elephants in the Okavango Delta.

South Africa: Golden Gate National Park and Cape Town.

Lesotho: Desolate mountain roads.

Namibia: Constant changing of the landscape in the south.

What made the trip so special was the fact that every day was so rich in new experiences. To wake up every morning knowing that ahead lies a new stretch of road, new landscapes to be seen and more people to meet is something that will undoubtedly stay with us forever and help us through many a boring work day!

After these six months and having seen quite a bit of Africa, it is with a generally optimistic feeling that we are saying our goodbyes and preparing ourselves to leave behind this beautiful place. If this is the Dark Continent of the earth then there is hope for the human race!

9 November, Khorixas – Windhoek (Namibia), 462km

 It is much more emotional than we ever thought it would be! Today is our last travelling day on this trip and from Windhoek Alessandra will fly back to Europe, breaking up our little trio that came together such a long way!

It is maybe for this reason that we plan to have a long day, dragging it out for as long as possible! First we will head back west to Twyfelfontein where there is lots to see before we go south-eastwards towards the capital city of Namibia. Again the road is in not too terrible a state and not before too long we reach the signs directing us to the Organ Pipes.

 Around 120 million years ago the giant continent of Gondwana broke up to form what is now known as the continents Africa and South America. As this happened molten rock pushed up through the earth and it is from this process that these columns of rock were formed. Set in a small valley, the walls consist almost completely of these high, vertical rock columns that is quite beautiful in the early morning sunlight!

 About one kilometre further on is Burnt Mountain. Some describe it as an industrial rubbish heap, which is of course highly unlikely as this place is very far away from the nearest industrial area! It is clear from the beginning though that this mountain did burn, but from what? Again the answer is found around 120 million years ago when the continents broke up. In the resulting volcanic activities immensely hot rock magma in the excess of 1000 degrees Celsius pushed through the crust of the earth. When it came into contact with the surface rocks it ignited everything around it, resulting in the Burnt Mountain in front of us. Visually not overly impressive, it still is very interesting to see the remnants of activities that happened millions of years ago!

 Retracing our tracks we come to our last stop, Twyfelfontein, the site of one of the largest collections of Bushman rock art in the world! At the little office we pay for our tickets and our guide, a nice young Damara lady, takes us out on the half-hour long trail. We’ve of course seen Bushman paintings in Lesotho, but what makes these works of art different is the fact that they are not paintings, but engravings. Therefore they are a lot clearer and it is amazing to think that these engravings were made up to 6000 years ago!

 The purpose of these engravings were mostly educational. They were used to educate the young on how to distinguish the various animals and their tracks as well as the various influences that the animals and rituals had on their everyday life. Therefore there are oryx, ostriches, lions, elephants, kudu and even seals depicted on these rocks amongst many others! A very interesting picture is the one of the Lion Man that was transformed in the half-human-half-lion creature during a ritual dance, in the process giving him many magical powers.

With this our sightseeing is finished and we get back onto the road to Khorixas. Here we fill up in the hot midday sun before we get back onto the gloriously smooth, black tarmac for our last stretch of road. First we reach the small town of Outjo from where we turn southwards towards Otjiwarongo, then Okahandja and finally, in the late afternoon sun we take on the last 65 kilometres to Windhoek. It is quite dark already when the glittering lights of Windhoek welcome us into this small African city. With Henrico’s detailed directions we reach his house quite easily and here we are welcomed with, you guessed it, a braai!

And so we’ve successfully completed the travelling part of our journey! From here all that is left is some sightseeing of the city of Windhoek before Alessandra heads back to Europe and Heino returns to his parents for the Christmas holidays. As for the true hero of this tale, Orphea will start her retirement after two trans-African trips at Heino’s parents’ house from where she will be taken on short recreational trips only!

8 November, Swakopmund – Khorixas (Namibia), 321km

 The road today will lead us into the heart of the Damaraland. Around the little town of Khorixas there are some world class attractions and it is also in this little town that we’ve arranged to meet up with Henrico, Heino’s brother who is in the area on a business trip.

The first part of the road is straight north along the coast on a salt road. As the name says this road is made of salt, is rock-hard and in wet conditions can be quite slippery. Luckily it is a dry morning and it is like riding on tarmac as we speed through the typical Skeleton Coast landscape. This part of coast line is rated amongst the most inhospitable places on earth and it got its name from all the ships and its survivors that ran ashore here. For somebody who got stranded on this coast there was but one realistic outcome!

It is flat, windswept and sandy with only a few little bushes growing next to the road. It is not long before we reach the little town of Henties Bay, the last biggish town after which it is nothing more than a hostile, desolate stretch of coastline to the north. The Atlantic sea breeze makes it quite cold on the bike and we decide against going further north to Cape Cross.

 Instead we head inland on the wide unpaved road towards Uis. It is only after about half an hour that the landscape starts to change from the sandy, desert environment to a rockier, hilly countryside that suddenly produces the Brandberg Mountains.

 We fill up in Uis and as, thankfully, the unpaved roads here are in superb condition, it is a little after midday that we reach Khorixas. After the cool coastal breeze, it is quite a shock to feel the heat here! Equally warm is the welcome we get from Heino’s brother Henrico. Even though they are 8 years apart (Heino being the younger) they are very close and it is fantastic to be reunited after such a long time!

 After unpacking everything at the lodge we decide to head out for some sightseeing. It is hard to describe the luxury of being in an air-conditioned car with soft seats after a long, hot, dusty journey on the bike! About 40 kilometres outside of Khorixas is the well known Petrified Forest. A forest is maybe not the right word here as it consists of parts of trees that over 2000 to 6000 years turned into rocks. It is amazing to see especially one tree that measures around 30 metres long that positively dwarfs all the other ones around it!

Naturally the question arises as to how these tall trees ended up here in barren, arid Namibia? The answer lies in the ice age that enveloped this part of the world a long time ago. As it thawed the resulting slush, made up of water, silt, rocks and other debris formed a big flood. This felled huge trees that were swept along in its way and eventually came to a standstill in this area. Some of these trees were buried underneath metres and metres of this debris, protecting it from the normal decomposing process and giving it the opportunity to eventually turn into rocks through chemical processes.

 Another interesting inhabitant of this area is the Welwitchia Mirabilis plant. Only found in Namibia and some parts of Angola, this plant can survive in waterless environments where no others can! This is because of their amazingly long roots that can stretch down as deep as 20 metres underground to access what little water is available. As a result the leaves grow only about a centimetre every year (in very good years it is a centimetre a month) and these plants get up to hundreds of years old!

We’ve only spent about 30 minutes in the sun but it is enough to convince us that it will be better to leave the rest of the sightseeing for early tomorrow morning! Back at the lodge we spent the rest of the day at the lounge area next to the swimming pool. There is so much catching up to do that it is with great surprise that we notice later on that it is already dinner time! A group of traditional dancers entertain the guests during dinner and it is as the last beat of the drums fade away that we decide to call it a night!

6-7 November, Swakopmund (Namibia)

 Tuesday: We couldn’t ask for a nicer day by the sea! Swakop is well known for the fog bank that envelops the town first thing in the morning only to be burnt away by the sun around midday. This morning, however, there is not a cloud in the sky and we can’t wait to get outside!

First though we have breakfast and arrange for our laundry to be done. Only thereafter do we get outside and it is a nice stroll through the town to the beachside. Most people are surprised to find that it is almost a little bit of Germany within this African country. The typical German architecture is complimented with typical German names such as Woermann & Brock, Namibia Buchdepot and the Europa Hof Hotel, creating the feeling that you are walking through a little German village.

We stop for a coffee at the well known Café Anton from where you have a good view over the beach area below. The beach itself is quite deserted as it is just before the mad December school holidays, during which the main beach will be packed! A stone’s throw from the beach is also where the municipal tennis courts are and it is from here that Heino’s friend Dolf is trying to train the next generation of tennis stars. We watch him in action and before we know it a tennis match is arranged for Heino against some of the tennis students for later this afternoon!

Since doing sport was not exactly a priority over the last six months, this means that we have to hit the shops for a cheap pair of shoes. This is not too difficult and we even manage to have lunch and do a bit of internet before we return to the courts for 4 pm.

Heino’s opponents for the day are a 14 year old girl and a sixteen year old boy, both amongst the top players in the country under their age group. Deciding to take on the older boy whilst fresh, Heino manages to beat him 6-1 before a much needed rest break is taken. Midway through the set against the girl a blister the size of a coaster appears under Heino’s foot but he still manages to finish the job 6-2. We quickly escape (as quickly as a limping Heino can manage) before any re-matches can be arranged but it is a good feeling to know that experience can still triumph over youth!

Along the way back to the B&B we stop off at Outback Orange. This company is one of a few that organises adrenaline-filled activities ranging from fishing trips to sky diving. We decide on a quad bike trip as this means we can explore the desert a bit since it goes up and over the sand dunes and it will also mean that Alessandra can drive herself for a change!

Dinner is again at Napolitana and here we meet some of Dolf’s local friends. It is clear that tourism is a big provider of jobs in this town and it is interesting to hear exactly how much is on offer from here. We get some good advice from one friend who is a tour guide on the roads further northwards to Khorixas, our next destination. It’s been a useful and enjoyable evening but greater even is the enjoyment of lying down weary bones for a good night’s rest!

 Wednesday: Excitedly we make our way over to the Outback Orange office for our quad bike trip. We are slightly suspicious when we are asked to sign an indemnity form (last time that happened was before a very nervous boat trip at breakneck speed!) but we are again reminded that it is perfectly safe.

A small minibus takes us to the mouth of the Swakop River from where the trip starts. Here we choose our bikes (Alessandra goes for an automatic one) and our guide, Anton, proceeds to explain exactly how it works. A few spins around the car park and we decided that we are as ready as we will be and Anton leads us out of the car park. We don’t get far, as just outside there is a small ditch of a few meters in front of which Alessandra comes to a stop, refusing to go any further!

In the end it takes Anton to get on the bike with Alessandra and to ride the bike down for her. Heaven knows what reservations he must have now about this trip but luckily from here on it is relatively flat. As we go deeper into the desert it becomes easier on the sand and Alessandra grows in confidence. Later on Heino must really speed up to keep up with her, eating mouthfuls of her sand in the process!

There is something hugely exhilarating about flying down the side of a dune, only to go up another one to have an amazing view of the desert from above. All too soon it is half time and time for break! It is especially beautiful to see where desert and sea meet! It is a beautiful contrast between the deep blue of the sea and the red of the sand, divided by the white foam of the breaking waves!

It is with great regret that we start to make our way back to Swakopmund and as Alessandra confidently parks her bike after the two hour ride, it is difficult to imagine that it is the same person who started so shakily earlier!

Yesterday we’ve met one of Heino’s old primary school teachers who retired here in Swakopmund. We meet up with Johan Swanepoel and his son again today at lunch and are very pleasantly surprised when they invite us for a braai (what else!) tonight.

It is just after sunset that we make our way out of town on the Windhoek road towards the Swanepoel residence. It is a beautiful setting as their house is in the desert just off the main road, yet it is only a ten minute ride to town. It is the perfect combination of being secluded but still having everything you need close by.

The conversation around the braai fire ranges from old mutual friends (Heino used to be in the same class as the Swanepoel’s daughter) to Namibia in general and how beautiful a country it is. The Swanepoel’s son, Johan, also works in the tourism industry and it is interesting to hear from somebody on the other side of the fence from us who for six months had the privilege to be tourists in Africa.

We’ve had a lot of invitations from various people to stay longer in Swakopmund. In the end though, it is time to move on again and tomorrow we will head north east inland ever closer towards what is the inevitable end of a great journey!

5 November, Sesriem – Swakopmund (Namibia), 360 km

 We are ready at the park gate at 6 am! The magical sight of seeing sunrise over the dunes of Sossusvlei is rumoured to be amongst the best in the world and we are about to find out if it is true! As we ride out the 60 or so kilometers to Sossusvlei the sun is rising slowly behind us. Very soon we are flanked by high dunes on both sides and it is amazing to see the dune painted red on one side by the early morning sun, just for the other side to be still in complete darkness! Just after sunrise we are at the famous Dune 45, so called because it is located 45 kilometers from Sesriem. Unfortunately, even so early in the morning, the area is teeming with tourists (obviously with some panting their way up the steep dune!) and after a few quick photos we get onto the road to more quiet pastures!

 The landscape is quite surreal, exactly how you saw it on all those postcards and coffee table books! The dunes change constantly during this time of the day as the sun playfully casts different shades onto it as it makes its way up higher. The only asphalt road in the area takes us all the way to a car park from where it is 4×4 only. A small footpath with signs leads us to a place called the Hidden Vlei and finally here we have the place completely to ourselves. We enjoy a quick breakfast of juice and biscuits whilsts drinking in the peace and quiet of this desolate place!

  Back at the parking area we decide not to punish Orphea with the 4×4 only road and board one of the shuttles in stead. A sandy ride later we arrive at the drop off point and from here it is a 20 minute walk to the famous Deadvlei. It is not even 8 am but already it is baking hot! Sweating all the way we make it up the last dune before we look down onto the Deadvlei, revealing one of the most beautiful sights we’ve seen on this trip!

 Completely surrounded by high dunes on all sides, the vlei itself is a flat, circular pan in a brilliant white color with bare, dead trees scattered across it. These trees are reputed to be hundreds of years old and really adds to the eerie atmosphere of the place! The scene below us consist of almost all the primary colors: red of the dunes, white of the vlei, black of the dead trees all underneath the bluest of skies!

 Making our way back over the dunes we find our shuttle again at the parking area. Next on the schedule is the Sossusvlei itself but after the Deadvlei it was always going to be a disappointment. We almost straight away get on the shuttle again back to the parking area but about 2 kilometres before, we decide to get off the shuttle and walk the last bit. With the sun completely up now the landscape changed yet again and as it is shining strongly from high above there is no shade to add dimension and the area looks a lot flatter as a result!On Orphea again we quickly make our way back to the campsite where we get packed up again in what is now a sweltering heat! Armed with enough water we make our way out onto the wide corrugated road again. It is pretty much more of the same of the treatment we got from the road yesterday. As Sossusvlei is a world famous site, the traffic that this road has to cope with is simply too much for the maintenance efforts. Still we make relatively good speed and soon we reach the isolated little town of Solitaire.

As we fill up a nice group of British tourists come over to talk to us. They naturally want to know more about our trip as they can appreciate exactly how far we’ve come since London! We’ve thought about spending the night here in Solitaire but since it is only early afternoon we decide to push on and brave the rest of the unpaved stretch of road to Swakopmund.

 It is late afternoon when the landscape turns into the sandy, windy and desolate piece of earth which further up north will be known as the Skeleton Coast. We can feel it becoming cooler as the sea winds bring down the temperature, eventually forcing us to stop and dig out our sweaters! Just outside the town of Walvis Bay we are finally on tar road again and the 30 kilometres to Swakopmund goes by in a flash!

Swakopmund, or Swakop for short, is the most popular holiday destination for Namibians. With a distinctly German atmosphere, this town is also the adrenaline junkies’ heaven as from here all sorts of activities can be arranged. It is also here that Heino’s friend Dolf (son of Dolf and Kinna of the White House Guest Farm) is a professional tennis coach and as we stop in town we give him a quick call. He suggests a few accomodation options and with the third attempt we strike it lucky and check into the Villa Wiese Backpackers.

A long hot shower cleans us up from the dust of the previous two days and after this the focus shifts to dinner. We meet Dolf at the Napolitana Restaurant and soon the biggest pizza we’ve ever seen is put in front of us! With bulging stomachs and drooping eyes we part ways, but not without lots of plans for the morning!

4 November, Aus – Sesriem (Namibia), 380km

 There is no sunshine to wake us up this morning. For a change it is not due to bad weather but the fact that we are in a valley which the sun only reaches at around 8.30! After coffee Alessandra starts to get all our things packed while Heino does the normal checks on the bike. The oil level is still fine but when he inflates the tyres a little bit he accidentally pulls out one of the little wires of the 12 volt compressor. There is no way of fixing the little wire back into place and after about half an hour he gives up. Ahead of us is nearly 1000 km of unpaved roads and the idea of doing it without a pump is not a pleasant one! Back at the main lodge building we settle our bill and have a final coffee with Francis and her husband Danie. It is only around 9 and with the sun shining warmly that we get onto the road to Sesriem, about 400 km North West. This dusty little settlement is the gateway to the world famous Sossusvlei where the highest sand dunes in the world can be found. The first hundred kilometres or so is a beautiful, wide, smooth road and it only takes a little over an hour to reach the first little town of Helmeringhausen. We fill up and have a quick snack at the coffee shop across the road where we also enquire about the road further ahead. There are two roads to choose from roughly the same distance and we decide to go for the more scenic road as advised by the coffeeshop owners.We head out to the next town of Betta and from the start it is clear that the quality of the road is not nearly the same! Corrugations à la Sudan together with unexpected patches of sand make it quite hard going and it is only a few hours later and exhausted that we reach the dusty little village (nothing more than a petrol station really!).

 The worst is that the landscape is not all that scenic either! After the far south of Namibia where the landscape changed constantly entertaining you with different fusions of colours, the mostly flat and brown landscape makes us feel that it was not worth taking this much worse road at all! Heino especially is very disappointed with the state of the road as it is well known that the unpaved roads of Namibia are generally of a very high quality!

We finally reach Sesriem (meaning six reins which apparently was needed to haul the water buckets from the very deep wells in the old days) around 6 pm. It’s been a rough trip made more difficult by the fact that it was totally unexpected since we thought we left rough roads behind in the north of the continent. It is with huge relief then that we stop at the government managed campsite and Alessandra makes her way to the office to enquire about a sleeping space. Massive is our surprise when we find out that it costs a whopping 600 Namibian dollars (around 80 dollars US) to pitch our tent!

The Namibian government under the Namibian Wildlife Resorts (NWR) recently adjusted their prices for all government run tourist facilities and parks. We’ve been shocked by this before but generally privately run options were always available which in the end turned out much cheaper (with much better facilities!) Here however, the government has the only campsite close to Sossusvlei and the only other alternatives are tremendously expensive luxury lodges. After a bit of enquiring around we have to admit defeat and decide to bite the bullet and fork out the 600 Namibian dollars for the night!

 Barely is the tent pitched before we are on Orphea again. This time we head out into the park in the direction of the high dunes. The actual Sossusvlei is located around 65 kilometres west, too far for us to reach before sunset but about 25 km outside of town we find a lovely old, dead tree under which we watch the sun go down behind the dunes. It is fantastically beautiful, amazingly serene and peaceful making us unable to wait to head out into the real dunes tomorrow morning!

There is no energy to cook dinner. We snack on a few pieces of biltong with a drink or two before we retire to the tent. As we lie down we can feel exactly how tired our bodies are and we realize just how spoilt we’ve become with all the easy tar roads!

3 November, Lüderitz – Aus (Namibia), 128km

 Nine o’clock sees us in front of the local tourist information office. This is to get our ticket and permit to visit the little ghost town of Kolmanskop about 10 km outside of Lüderitz.

Around 1909 a railway worker picked up a shiny rock in the desert outside of Lüderitz. Not knowing what to do with it, he gave the rock to his supervisor who immediately staked a few claims for himself before informing the German authorities about the find. Not only did this make the supervisor a millionaire within weeks but it was also the start of a massive influx into the area by money hungry Europeans. And that is how the town of Kolmanskop came into being and soon it grew to become the richest town in the colony! 

We join the organized tour included in the ticket and start off in the little museum. Here the history of the town is chronologically laid out and especially the old pictures are really interesting. One shows a line of men lying on their stomachs in the sand as they collected the diamonds that could be found lying loose on the ground!

It is also amazing to see how well organized this little town was. Water was imported from Cape Town and each family had a free ration of 17 litres per day, delivered with their bread with the little train that made its way through the town. Some of the water was also made into huge ice blocks and the big ice machine can still be seen today. With typical German efficiency the same water that was used to cool down the ice machine was also used to cool down the butcher’s cool room next door!

For entertainment the townspeople had a casino and even a bowling alley that is still sometimes used today, of course because in the dry desert air everything is so well preserved. 

 After the Second World War the price of diamonds dropped spectacularly and with the discovery of even richer diamond fields further south at Alexanderbaai the writing was on the wall for the town of Kolmanskop. In 1957 the last residents closed their doors for the last time and since then the desert steadily started to reclaim this town. One or two of the houses have been restored to illustrate what life was like in the little mining town but the rest are all half filled with sand.

 It is surreal to walk through the rooms of the houses of the mine manager, his bookkeeper and the teacher and to see how the fight against the desert was lost!

  On our way back to Lüderitz we turn left on the road that leads to the beaches outside of town. Our first stop is Grosse Bucht (meaning large bay) and it is here that we take Orphea for a swim! It is nice to be able to ride her on the hard sandy beach in the shallow water before we get on the road towards Diaz Point. It is of course here that Bartholomew Diaz first landed with his ship in the 1400’s and on a big rock overlooking the sea there is a replica cross of the one he planted. It is quite awe-inspiring to see how ferociously the sea pounds the rocks, sometimes with the foam flying metres into the air!

 From the little coffee shop we again marvel at the dramatic contrast between the blue sea, the black rocks and the yellow/reddish sand of the desert at the back! To make it even more special it is a perfect, windless, sunny day perfect for being next to the sea.

As we make our way back to Lüderitz we stop off at another little bay and it is here that we see a group of about three or four dolphins jumping energetically out of the water! They are putting up a fantastic show for us but unfortunately it is virtually impossible to capture it on camera. It will surely be with us forever though!

It is late afternoon when we are fully loaded and on the way to Aus again. At Klein-Aus Vista we get the key to our cabin and start to make our way out on the 6 kilometre, little, two-track path.

The cabin is located in the Geister Slucht (meaning valley of the ghosts) valley and it is about as remote an accommodation that you can find in Namibia! We quickly offload as it is already dusk inside the valley and make our way out again for sunset, making it just in time! 

 For dinner we opted for the braaipack which we barbeque ourselves at the cabin. It is fantastic to be just the two of us without any other tourists surrounded by the high rock walls of the valley. Tonight we will find out if the legend of the decapitated German riding his horse with his head under his arm is really true!    

2 November, Fish River Canyon – Lüderitz (Namibia), 395 km

 It is nice to be woken up again by the sun streaming through the tent door. However, we soon realized that with the few weeks that we spent in houses, we have become slightly unused to the whole business of repacking the tent and other stuff. It is almost difficult to believe that this has been our routine for nearly six months!

Before we set off we fill up Orphea and for good measure the extra 5 litre tank as well. Our plan is to reach the little coastal town of Lüderitz and on the way make a stop at the even smaller village of Aus. It is here that Francis, an old friend of Heino, works at their family-owned Guest Farm.

 The Namibian landscape, although mostly classified as either desert or semi-desert, changes constantly and is not boring at all! All around there are blue mountains sticking out in the distance, most of the time against a backdrop of a pinky mist coming from what must be dust clouds. This is further beautified by the sands of the desert that come in different shades of brown and yellow. It is almost as if a professional painter accurately calculated the right colour scheme to ensure a landscape perfect for pictures!

After stopping for a cup of coffee at the pretty little Seeheim Hotel we get onto the tarmac road towards Lüderitz again and after another hour we reach Aus. Just outside the little town is the Klein Aus Vista guest farm owned by the Swiegers family. In the restaurant we meet Francis and immediately we are offered lunch. Enquiries are made about old mutual friends and of course we tell her all about our trip. We also plan the next two days and decide to push through to Lüderitz today, but to return tomorrow and spend the night here on the farm.

 This area is also well known for the feral horses that made this desert their home. Originally they were imported from Cape Town and Germany by the Germans when it was still their colony. Many of them escaped as they were offloaded at Lüderitz and fled into the desert. Here they grouped into small herds and over the years adapted to be able to survive in these almost desert-like surroundings.

About 20 kilometres after Aus we turn off into the desert and soon reach the small building of the viewpoint. As we arrive there is a small group of about seven horses at the water point (these days there is a permanent waterhole for them) and we are just in time before they make their way into the desert again. They look just like ordinary horses but it is amazing to see them go into the desert and to know that they survive here completely independently! We only realize how lucky we were to see them at all when we read at the information point that they can go without drinking for up to 72 hours!

The road to Lüderitz is quite windy but luckily it is downhill all the way so it is only about an hour and a half later that we start to see the landscape change dramatically. The road is surrounded by huge, black rocks with sand dunes filling up the gaps in between and again it is clear to see that this was the ocean bed thousands of years ago.

Our stay here in Lüderitz is a much appreciated present from Heino’s parents and it is nice to know that we don’t have to camp in this windy little town! It is no problem at all finding the Hansa Haus B&B and in no time at all the bike is offloaded.

 Lüderitz has been the holiday destination of Heino’s family for years but of course the town has changed a lot since then. It boasts a very nice waterfront next to the harbour and as we walk next to the sea towards the new 5 star hotel we notice a lot of new shops where the old favourites used to be. The biggest difference is the fact that the town seems almost deserted compared to the crowded December holidays that Heino has always been used to!

Dinner is a completely seafood affair complete with oyster and snails for starters! Afterwards we walk back to the B&B in the cool sea breeze and the smell of the sea is as always fantastic and will undoubtedly be in our dreams tonight!

1 November, Grünau – Fish River Canyon (Namibia), 180km

 With the preciseness of a true farmer we are woken up at exactly 6 am! We don’t mind this early start at all as we have a very long day planned: first we are going to have a look at the rose quartz quarry on the De Wet’s farm, then we are going to visit Heino’s family’s farm before we ride to the second largest canyon in the world, the Fish River Canyon.

After a quick coffee we jump into their minibus and off we go to the eastern part of their farm. The farms of this area are generally vast (there are only about 2 people per square kilometre in the whole of Namibia!) and this one is no exception, about 15 000 hectares in total! As we go through the various camps we see some springboks and of course a few flocks of sheep grazing lazily in the early morning sun.

As we get closer to the quarry we can already see the huge rock walls with light pink colours. As we arrive we get out to walk the last few metres before we arrive at a huge hole in the mountainside. The whole rock wall is pinkish in colour and in some places you can see pockets of a deep pink, almost purple colour. It is of course this beautiful rock that is mined here and it is used for various purposes, but mostly to make jewellery, ornaments and even beautiful lamps!

The most amazing thing is that all these semi-precious rocks are just lying here! The De Wet family are eager to mine and develop this site but before they invest money into it, they first want a confirmed market or buyer for the rocks. As the location of this mine is quite far away from all the major ports, it proved to be surprisingly difficult to find a serious buyer. In the mean time all this money is just lying here on this rocky hill overlooking the grassland of southern Namibia!

 On the way back we make another quick stop on a nearby koppie (little rocky hill) to inspect some of the succulents typical to the area. Officially named Lithopps these little plants are hidden between the rocks so well that it takes a bit of time before oom Dolf finds us one. Heart shaped and light grey in colour, they are even smaller than usual since it is the driest part of the season, but it is interesting to see how well they survive in this waterless environment.

Back at the house tannie Kinna already has a typical farm breakfast of pap (porridge), biltong, toast and juice ready for us! Next is a tour of the actual White House building that has been operating as a bed and breakfast for the past eleven years. The house itself is a huge building originally built by a German farmer early in the last century before he realized that there is no permanent water supply source for the farm! He subsequently gave up on the farming idea and returned to Germany!

With the customary pack or two of biltong we say our goodbyes and get on the move again. The destination is another farm, but this time it is the Von Wielligh family farm. It has been in Heino’s family’s hands since 1929 but since they don’t actively farm on it themselves, they rent it out to the neighbouring farmer, Louis Potgieter and his wife. It is their farm that we reach after about an hours’ riding and here we trade Orphea for a farm bakkie (pickup) to make the rest of the journey.

 Another 20 minutes later we arrive at the gate leading into Haruchas farm. The area is still the typical arid landscape with a few rocky mountains here and there. On the way to the main house we pass the family cemetery where Heino’s grandfather and other members of his family are buried. Although typical, it is a bit impractical to have the family cemetery on a farm since if sold, the cemetery goes with it!

 The old farmhouse is of course quite derelict since it has been vacant for quite a few years. In the otherwise dry garden are a few quiver trees and one in particular is a fantastic specimen with six trunks sprouting from one massive main trunk! The quiver tree got its name from the Bushmen who used the hollowed out branches of these trees to carry their arrows for their bows in.

From here we drive on to the other side of the farm. On the way we stop at all the dams to check if they have water in them (this is about the only piece of farming technique that stuck with Heino from all his visits as a small boy!) as well as checking the condition of the fences. Along the way we spot yet more springboks as well as a few heads of cattle and sheep. After having done about 18 kilometres of driving we reach the furthest point of the farm. Alessandra, having grown up in crowded Rome, finds it amazing to see that such a big piece of land belongs to only one family! From a high point we look out over a grassy valley below before we make our way back across dry riverbeds and rocky hills.

And still the day is not over yet! Back at the Potgieters’ farm we are offered a cold drink (as well as another two packs of biltong!) before we point Orphea’s nose in a westerly direction again. With the beautiful unpaved road it is only about an hour before we reach the Canyon Roadhouse, a lodge about 20 kilometres before the canyons itself. As well as lunch we also find out how much their campsite is before we head to the gate and ticket office of the Fish River Canyon.

 It is about 4 pm when we reach the main viewpoint. The sun is directly ahead of us over the canyon but it does nothing to take away the greatness of this view! With only the Grand Canyon of America outsizing it, it measures 160 km in length and 550 meter deep in some places. The grey and brown rock walls falls down all the way below where the tiny stream of the Fish River is barely visible!

It is not allowed to walk down the canyon (in the summer it AVERAGES around 50 degrees Celsius down there!) but in winter times it is possible to do the fantastic 90 km, five-day hiking trip all along the river to the little resort of Ai-Ais at the end of the canyon. With Orphea we ride along the edge of the canyon to another viewpoint from where the view is equally breathtaking!

Since Heino’s childhood visits, when there was only one campsite, numerous lodges and guest farms opened up in the area. It is to one of these, the Canyon Lodge, that we make our way for a sundowner. Beautifully set amongst huge rock boulders, this is about as stunning a location as you can ask for from which to view an African sunset!

Back at the Canyon Roadhouse we pitch our tent in the dark before we have a light dinner at the restaurant. After weeks of sleeping in nice, comfortable beds we realize that our little tent is not the softest sleep, but it will be hard to beat the view of the clear, starry sky we get glimpses of through the tent door!