A Dam, A Canyon and A River

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June 15th

It was the normal morning routine for us before we left with me on dish duty, Kelly and David had let me off of cleaning up the night before so I could watch the rest of the Italy versus Paraguay match.

So after the dishes were scrubbed and the tents were packed away we jumped in the truck and headed towards South Africa. The terrain had changed after the first hour and it wasn’t the most interesting or intriguing of drives. The sleep was contagious as the land passed us by, mostly flat plains without much wildlife to see. After a few hours went by we had reached a small one horse town to stretch our legs and empty out bladders. I stayed on as truck security and had my lunch while the rest of the group bought there coffees and teas.

We continued on through the south of Namibia and our next stop was a small town called Bethanie. The small supermarket that we shopped at didn’t offer much but we were able to get enough supplies for dinner. I’ve got to be honest the 15th wasn’t the most entertaining days of the trip so I won’t bore you with the rest of the details of the day but by around 3pm we had finally reached our destination.

The Naute Dam was our camping spot for the night and it was a new one for Farron to use. We were the only people at the campsite which was nice, we enjoyed the views and the serenity of the area without the hustle and bustle of many other previous campsites. Before the dinner group got started on supper we each picked our spot in the area to watch the sun go down, as always it was a special one. Afterwards we had a nice braai, (Afrikaans for barbecue) and we all stuffed our faces full of chicken kebabs and potato salad. Post dinner we sat around the fire and chatted while trying to keep warm from the cold Namibian wind. We had setup a canvas wind shield at the back of the truck and then put tents around that, along with a small plot of hot coals in the middle to keep us warm. We all slept well that night, though I still don’t know how Farron managed to get sleep, (he had decided to sleep outside next to the bed of coals).

June 16th

The next morning we tried having a nice breakfast with the remaining gas but only managed to get the water hot enough for tea and oatmeal, no eggs for us!

We had camped at the Naute Dam because it was relatively close to the Fish Canyon, supposedly the second largest canyon in the world. I had my doubts because the Copper Canyon in Mexico is pretty large and I was told that it was the second largest after the Grand Canyon. Regardless when we got to the Fish Canyon I was convinced that it was the second largest! The views were impressive and it was great to go on a small stroll from one point of the canyon to another. Unfortunately my camera batteries were low and so I wasn’t able to get a lot of photos but enough for you to get an idea of how spectacular the place was for us.

After we spent an hour at the canyon before we headed out of the park and further south. There weren’t a lot of stops along the way, maybe one if I can remember correctly. The drive was particularly better than the days before and we passed mesa after mesa, plateau after plateau on our way south. Our destination was the Orange River, the natural border that divides Namibia and South Africa. We arrived an hour or two before the sun went down and since the trip would be ending in four nights time it meant that the truck needed a good cleaning. The eleven of us got to work straight away and had the cleaning done in record time with the amount of teamwork involved.

Dinner group for the night was Kelly, David and I, and in typical fashion we cooked a great meal, with very little supplies left in the truck. Everyone enjoyed the meal and it was cooked in time for everyone to head down to the bar and watch South Africa play Uruguay in their second group game of the World Cup. I was supporting the Latin American nation and after the Uruguayans first goal it was clear I wouldn’t be making any new friends that night! After a beer in each half we all headed back to our tents to get warm and in what would be one of our last nights sleeping in the tents.

Hope you enjoyed the post and photos! Until next time, Pura Vida

-Brendan

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