Another Amazing Drive and a Bush Camp

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June 9th

With the memory of cheetahs on my mind I rolled out of my tent and got the day started. The eleven of us were looking forward to the coast but before we would reach there we had a bush camp night in Namibia to fulfill. Basically a bush camp is when we find a spot off the road and setup our tents and kitchen there, without the facilities of showers or toilets. We were in for a treat if the last two bush camps were anything to go by.

Farron appointed me to be “tour guide” for the day, an honor I thoroughly enjoyed. Basically all I did was explain to the group where we would be going, when we would get there, what facilities would be available and how long we would be in each spot. I sat in the front cab with Farron and kept him company on one of the best drives of the trip.

The scenery was quite stunning, a lot of rock formations that make you wonder, “oh I wonder how long it took for nature to take it’s course and create something so amazing looking”. Farron and I listened chatted about Africa and our travels while The Beatles kept us company for the silent bits. By around lunch time we arrived in a small village called Khorixas and picked up supplies for lunch and dinner. Afterwards Farron found a good spot for us to have our lunch before we continued on down the road towards the Namibian coast.

It was a new route for Farron to take and he had heard about a petrified forest (oooh scared trees!) that we stopped at along the way to our yet to be determined location for a bush camp. The petrified forest guide named Justice was very knowledgable and explained to us how long some of the trees have been there and how old they were. Some of them were 280 million years old and were in great condition! The views from the hillside path of the tour were incredible and it was nice to stretch our legs and get a bit of exercise.

After the tour we jumped back in the truck and enjoyed the best part of the drive. The landscape just got more and more breathtaking and Farron and I looked forward to finding the bush camp spot amongst all the rifts and valleys of what reminded me of areas of northern Arizona and the Grand Canyon. At one point we stopped the truck and Farron pulled it off the road to test out how soft the ground was for driving. We were able to get out and take some photos, but when we got back in the truck and were ready to take off down the road, the truck got stuck and there were a few nervous faces around. Farron, Nicio and I got to work shoveling out sand from behind the last set of tires and before long we got out a few metal “mats” to put behind the wheels. These mats helped the back wheels catch on what otherwise would have been fine sand, and allowed us to back out on to the road.

We lost a bit of time doing all the work getting the truck out but in the end we still had enough time to find a good bush camp before the sun went down. And find a good spot we did, a great spot actually. It was way off the road and in this great canyon, after pulling the truck over I climbed up a cliff to get some shots of the sun going down. It was pretty windy until after dinner but noone seemed to mind that much after we had all bundled up in our warmest clothes.

Kelly, David and I got started on dinner and I was happy to slice up the loin of Oryx meat that Farron had purchased from Marco at the Cheetah Farm. We cooked up a delicious curry stew on the poitjie with the game meat and even had enough to cook up some steaks that turned out delicious, saving some for lunch the next day as well. I took charge of the poitjie and sat next to the fire stirring it every few minutes while chatting with the others. Dafydd took charge of the rice because we had decided he knew best how to cook it without messing it up as we had in the past.

After dinner we all sat around the fire and told stories and chatted and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. Everyone except Nicio, Bridget and Paul slept on the truck and enjoyed the star ceiling while getting nice and warm in our sleeping bags. It had been a great day and was complimented very well with a great night and a great view.

I hope you like the story and photos, until next time, Pura Vida!

-Brendan “Avila” Mahoney

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