Swakopmund to Sosusvlei (not!)

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Swakopmund to Solitaire, 

This was a day of surprises. We set off early enough, towards our destination of Sesriem, but arrival was just not to be. As we drove away from Swakop and out of the fog, the flat barren land turned into hills of layered rock. First stop in the hills was to photograph a few quiver trees, which have a star shaped leaf. Kayla took advantage of the deep blue sky to indulge in quite a few photos.

Next was a stop at a high pass, where we walked a little higher to a nice viewpoint. Richard was in rock-hound heaven.

Then we reached the Tropic of Capricorn, and the day all went downhill from there. We got out for the obligatory photos with the sign, only to hear a loud pop as one of the rear tires blew a large hole in the side. The road had been very rough, so no surprises when a tire blew.

Our leader Allan and driver Thinkwell got to work on changing the tire, which was the inside of the two doubles. Our chef Benson decided that this was a good place for lunch. So we got out the chairs in the hot sun, and proceeded to make lunch, reserving platefuls for the guys after they changed the tire. As we sat in the shade under a tree between the gravel road and fence, a farmer passed in his field on an open land rover, complete with shorts, large bushy beard and rifle on the seat beside him.

Back on the road, but not too much farther, we smelled burning rubber and saw smoke. The hydraulic lift for the truck carriage had failed and it was riding directly on one of the rear tires. Not a pretty picture. 

Out come the chairs, where we found a sparse tree with a bit of shade, and spent our time entertaining the local scorpion that decided to have a look at what all the commotion was about, while our crew got on the phone (gotta love cell phones!) with the truck manufacturer, who walked them through a temporary repair that would get us to the nearest shop. Ha! This is the middle of the Namib Desert. What could possibly be here that would repair a major breakdown like this? The little town of Solitaire, just 5 km down the road, that's what. 

And that's where we went after the guys got the truck going again. By now it's 5:00 pm and our destination of Sesriem is looking very far away. The plan was for a sunrise on one of the red dunes the next morning. That went quickly down the drain as we settled in to the grim reality that Solitaire would be our camp this night.

Oh well, the guys from Long Way Down also stopped here because Solitaire is supposed to have the best apple pie in Namibia. And the bakery lived up to it's reputation by delivering nice large pieces of delicious pie to all who wanted it. Luckily Solitaire has a campground too. So we watched the sunset while our crew did a more permanent temporary fix on the truck, then had barbecued pork chops, coleslaw and boiled potatoes for dinner. 

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