Namibia Day 2

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Our first full day in Namibia and certainly a day of firsts. We woke up this morning well before the alarm finally feeling refreshed after the 22 hours spent travelling. After a lovely breakfast this morning we headed off from Windhoek and leaving the metalled roads just outside of the capital, we hit the gravel. Well not literally, but swayed and swung along, catching sight of ostrich, baboons and the most fantastic weaver bird nests that seemed to consist of colonies of birds rather than the single nests we had seen in South Africa a couple of years ago. We also came across a cross at he side of the road as a memorial it does make you think that if something did go wrong out here you are a long way from any assistance. Then we came to the Gamsberg Pass, and I was so grateful we had followed our friend Kate’s advice and had hired a 4x4. With the tight, twisting bends, sheer drops and majestic views it rivals the Amalfi Coast road that we had travelled a few years ago (without the scooters and coach loads of tourists), but it still held its own unique thrill of deep gravel and corrugations that upset the balance of the car and seem to make it want to swap ends at every opportunity. About half way through the pass the iphone, which we had hooked up to the car sound system decided to play helter-skelter by U2, perhaps it was enjoying the ride. But we made it through all of the dry river beds and switch back bends to our second nights’ accommodation at Corona Guest Farm. The last 15km from the main road to the house rivalled the 4x4 course that I went on a few years ago for steep banks and drops we could have sold tickets at UK fairgrounds as an alternative to the roller-coasters.



We were greeted with cold drinks to clear the dust and, after a short break, coffee and cakes were served by the pool, much to Meg’s approval. This was followed by an afternoon scenic drive around the farm. Now, when we think of farms it’s cattle, or arable that immediately spring to mind not 6,000 hectares of land including mountains turned over to the native species just for tourism. We were the only two people stopping tonight so we had the driver to ourselves. We only saw a small proportion of the farm but we got to see springbok, kudu, mountain zebra, oryx, a Verraoux’s eagle, marshal eagles and kori bustards amongst other birds, followed by sun-downer drinks before the sun disappeared behind the clouds.



We returned to the farm for a quick shower to clear the dust before a lovely dinner that included oryx steak and lovely wine.



I am not sure when we will be able to post this as the internet is down here, but we are off again tomorrow to leave the tropics and head to the biggest dunes in the world at Sossusvlei.

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