and so we continue

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The second day dawned at what I have come to realise is the ideal time of the day in Africa-just after sunrise. Being the odd one out I had a 3 man tent to myself, the downside being that I have to put it up and down alone. Not mentally challenging, but that thing weighs a tonne, and is taller than I am. If I go back to Australia without significantly smaller bingo wings I will be very disappointed.

So we had a pretty standard breakfast of cereal and bread. Followed by more driving than I thought one truck could do in a day. We drove from 7.30 until our lunch stop on the side of the road, followed by more driving. My bus buddy has come down with a cold, so managed to sleep a lot of the time, while I read or watched the monotonous landscape go past.

The final stretch to the campsite, which ran past the border crossing we would traverse tomorrow, was some of the worst roads I have ever been on. Flanked on one side by giant piles of rubble and the other by the Orange River, the road has been worn away to a corrugated path of dust that I was convinced would shake our truck or us to pieces. So you can just imagine our amazement, pulling off this "road" into what was practically an oasis of green lawns and thatched huts next to the river.

It took about 2 minutes (after setting up that bloody tent of course) for me to find the campsite's pet dog and take him to the river for a swim. Trying to convince the dog into the water, one of the boys threw his rock, that he had been carrying around in his mouth, into the river. When this didn't work, he tried the rugby ball instead. It was technically successful, as the dog jumped in after it, but he spent the next 15 minutes chasing this ball around the river trying to pick it up in his mouth. Which he only did successfully once he had chewed through it. So the boys lost their rugby ball, and the dog gained some sort of chew toy.

When we were bored of the river, Lori (my Sydney friend) and I joined the Swedish gentleman in the pub overlooking the river, for $2 beers and the stunning view across the river to Namibia. Which is where we were headed next.

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