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Published: November 15th 2010
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Day 4, another driving day so no sights to mention but plenty of excitement. Breakfast at the crack of dawn for a early leave. The ginger truck is still there and have complained about us, but we take no notice. We are wary of the baboons everywhere stealing any food they can find. Another side of the road stop for food, we have this down now. The unpackers get 2 tables out and chairs if necessary, this day it is necessary as literally in the dirt by the side of the road. Then the cooks wash the salad and chop and lay out ham or tuna and condiments. Washer uppers get water bowls for hand washing, the actual washing up is done later at camp with hot water. Today takes longer than usual, not because of prep time or eating, because out of nowhere we attract thousands of bees. Suddenly there is screaming everywhere, the food is covered, even the water bowls are full of bees. It also means bush pees are a no no as no-one wants an unfortunate placed bee sting. Luckily the boys are tough so they pack everything up while the girls walk around trying to avoid
bees. Before we can ever drive off, one person does a head count, when all there they shout 22 to either Tony or Sammy and we leave. Today the truck is full of bees which we cannot get them out until we start moving as they just fly back in. While everyone is in the aisle, we all shout 22, 22!!! to leave as soon as possible. The truck then becomes bedlam, girls crouching on the floor to avoid the bees in the air, boys trying to swat or bat bees out of the windows, Tony driving round corners so people flying everywhere whilst screaming, hilarious, but exhilarating. Finally the only bees left are around the emergency exit so the boys stand there to make sure they stay and we make a second pee stop in a safer location. Once the truck is calm again it's back to cards, phew!
The camp site is a welcome sight, especially the pool. Unfortunately I don't notice my loose bikini top and flash everyone!
We are in the heart of the Namibian Desert and plan to see sunrise from dune 45, which means leaving the camp site at 5:15. We stumble out
of bed straight into the truck, armed with cameras in plastic bags and only socks on our feet. We aimed to be the first truck there, but Tony drives safely so the more dangerous drivers overtook us. That just means more running once we get there, although we soon realise that is ridiculous as running in sand is exhausting. Dune 45 is 300m high but we make it in time for sunrise. Not the best one I've seen, would have been better to see the sun rise over the dunes rather than be on one. All good though. Piggy does a fake fall on the walk back down, just a sly ploy to lick a gingers foot, good work! At the bottom of the dune, Sammy and Tony have been working hard on a full fry up for us, fantastic!
Onwards to Sossusvlei park where we meet our crazy Japanese guide, Uri. She clearly loves her job as she oozes enthusiasm and runs everywhere. She explains the environment and how the lakes are formed, there is only 20mm of rain per year on average so the lakes only appear every 20 years or so. We visit the old location of
a lake, now dead. The river path has changed over the years so only a salt pan remains with dead trees. We also see some creepy crawlies including a spider which lives in a hole with a hatch roof made of web and covered in sand. There are also numerous poo stories, we've never realised it could be so interesting... The guide's demonstrations are unusual too. We get a re-enactment of a female kudu weeing and pooing, then a male, all to describe why there is a concentrated pile of droppings in one area, to mark territory. We then have a tale of the bushmen who used to live in the Namib desert, the story goes that a man will never understand a woman as a man only has one compartment in his heart therefore can only have one mood at a time, a woman has many compartments in her heart and any one can surface at any time making her mood change accordingly...
Back to camp for a quick lunch and shower then off into the wilderness for our first bush camp. The Namibian roads are basically stone and gravel with few markings, the country has a tiny population
for its land mass so we rarely pass another vehicle. After dark we pull off of the road next to some boulders and set up camp. Our tents have no boundaries this time as there is nothing around, we set up a fire for kudu steak braai and the boys attempt to dig a hole for a toilet but fail so we're left with hiding behind rocks. The second game of killer has started and I am killed by the truck with a log by Megan, grrrr! It's a crazily windy night but not too cold, in the morning Ben is almost taken out by a run away tent, but Jon, forgetting we are on rock, dives at it to save it, painful!!
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