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Published: November 1st 2012
Waking up there is still time till breakfast so we take a short hike up the closest mountain to get a better view of the farm and the surrounding area. We see the goats again, this time cooped up in an enclosure and the mountains are illuminated beautifully by the sunrise. There are birds waking up and chirping in the bushes.
The breakfast is buffet style and quite good and then we leave going south. However before leaving the farm we pay a closer visit to the goats and take a few close up pictures.
The dirt road is empty of other cars but we notice quite a few ostriches enjoying the spring and some of them dancing in the savannah for each other or even for oryxes.
And then we reach a group of springboks on the road who start to run away and because the road is bounded by fences they become more and more agitated as they run away from our car. Some of them make it through the fence but the last few ones start to pronk (jump vertically) and finally stop and let us pass without continuing to run in front of us.
The area is even drier than usual with the soil being cracked but there are still quite a few birds and antelopes until we reach the paved road near Aus.
Near Aus there is a cemetery from World War I when South Africa had a prisoner camp for German captives until the end of the war. We visit the cemetery and there are quite a few flowers nearby which again remind us that it is spring here.
We then drive towards Luderitz for about 20 kms to see the famous wild horses at Garub. There is a really rutted side road towards the viewing area for about 1 km from the main road and to our surprise all the horses are in the viewing area so we don't have to look for them with binoculars. There are other tourists also some of whom appear to be stuck in the enclosed viewing area as to exit they would have to go through a huge horse who is waiting in front of the door.
On the way back we stop in Aus to get gas and check the tire pressure as well buy some provisions. The town looks quite nice with a few well preserved and maintained buildings including the old church.
From Aus we drive on the paved road towards Keetmanshop. It is great to drive on pavement for some time without all the bumps and ruts and the traffic is light even here. Right before the city we pass an ostrich processing plant which is relatively new and one of the job creators in the area. After reaching Keetmanshop we drive a few more kms to the Quiver Tree Forest. It is a bit difficult to find the access and finally we park at the campground and walk to the quiver trees. It is quite impressive to see that many quiver trees together which is a rare occurance.
Looking around we see some large rodents and looking more carefully we see that they are dassies one of the animals that we really wanted to see. They look lazy but their expression looks frightening sometimes so it is an interesting mixture and we are captivated by them.
Our entrance fee for the Quiver Tree Forest also includes entrance to the Giants Playground which is a bit further away. This area doesn't appear to be visited often but it is quite spectacular with lots of interesting rock formations. We hike a bit following the trail through the formations and then go crosscountry back to the car.
We drive back to Keetmanshop and then towards the intersection with C12 that we take south towards the Fish River Canyon. C12 is a dirt road however it is in great shape and we can reach speeds similar to the paved road. The road is built along a train track and we can see a few abandoned train stations and other structures along the way. After leaving C12 toward Fish River the road becomes more rutted so we are more careful but still make good time.
Tonight we stay at Canon Lodge and for the first time since we arrived in Namibia when arriving at the reception there is no one there and we have to wait for 15 minutes until somebody notices and helps us. We get a bungalow relatively far from the main building which is nice however there is another bungalow further up that has a direct view into ours and there are no drapes which makes us a bit uncomfortable. The accomodations are spread out between a few red hills and they are scenic...ours even has a boulder built into the wall.
Tonight we decide to eat from our provisions on the table in front of the house and enjoy the beautiful sunset. As we are eating we notice a few birds entering our house through the roof..in the end we find out that they actually intend to sleep on the rafters and given that they are quiet we let them stay. As the darkness falls we look at the stars and planets that are out and then retreat for the night.
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