This leg of the trip was all about the drama...
Luderitz is a poor town. I think I expected it to be as well managed and have the same feel as Swakopmund but there is a lot less money in this area now that modern shipping uses the more northerly port of Walvis Bay, and fewer tourists come here. We explored the town and whilst there isn't loads to see, we found some nice buildings with German architecture and found a great and affordable Portuguese seafood restaurant with a relaxed vibe by the sea. A Portuguese restaurant is not as unusual as it may initially seem as the Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit this part of Africa, specifically Bartolomeu Dias who first landed here in 1487, and erected the Dias stone cross on the tip of the peninsula to the South.
You can take fishing trips and go whale watching from here but we decided not to splurge as our budget was being stretched by the cost of the 10 day roadtrip anyway. Instead we decided to jump in the car and explore Tsau Khaeb National Park on the peninsula to the South. This proved to be a great afternoon off-roading, discovering the rocky coastline with its beautiful bays, home to all sorts of birds, including flamingos. The salty wind was blowing and it really blew the cobwebs away.
Gaz was distracted by the idea that he might find a diamond; diamond mining is a thing in this area and whilst the land we were driving on isn't strictly a diamond field, there
are clear signs saying that any diamonds removed from the land will lead to prosecution. So you can imagine, Gaz's eyes were on stalks the whole time; I'd turn around to take a photo and then find him bent double sifting through the sand. Did he find one? Of course he didn't.
The land was very barren and rocky on the peninsula but apparently there are Brown Hyenas there. We didn't see any but they are more active in the evening and we were there in the heat of the day.
We drove out to Diaz Point lighthouse and site of the original Diaz cross, but didn't bother exploring because I'd read that there wasn't a lot to see there and someone was charging you to walk the last 20 yards to the point and that just irritates me, so out of principle we didn't go. Instead we popped into the only cafe that exists on the peninsula and decided to have a drink and snack. This ended up being one of those times that you wait for 20 minutes and then 30 minutes and just wished you hadn't placed your order because they are taking so long that irritation is now the consuming desire rather than thirst or hunger. Another 15 minutes later and the waitress came over to tell me that they couldn't make my omelette because they didn't have any eggs! I won't even bore you with the rest of the saga because this could happen to anyone and it isn't relevant to our travels particularly. But worth noting that you will occasionally encounter useless cooks and/or wait staff the world over. Thank goodness it doesn't happen all that often.
After a lovely afternoon exploring, we headed back to our accommodation only to find the door to our room wide open and from the pavement we could see that our bed was not there. Luckily before we could get an more confused, the manager came out to explain that while we had been out for the day, the water that had been turned off earlier in the morning had come back on and the tap in the bathroom had been left on (by us unknowingly) and had caused the entire guest room and en-suite to flood.
Apparently the water was pouring out of the main door and down the street! The owner luckily was on site with spare keys and was able to get into the room to turn off the tap. Our rucksacks and all our things were however on the floor at the time, so we had some damage and a lot of our clothes were wet, but the manager had moved all of our things to another room and then took all of our wet clothes, washed them, dried them and returned them to us the next morning clean and dry. She was so kind making sure that the problem was sorted and that we were minimally effected. She had also put us in a much bigger, better room. What could have been a disaster was actually handled really well and ended up being just a minor blip.
Also while we were in the Luderitz area we visited the infamous abandoned mining town of Kolmanskop which was a truly fascinating place and undoubtedly a real draw for photographers. The small town was established by German settlers after a diamond was found during the construction of a railway line in 1908. The surrounding area was found to be rich in diamonds and the emerging town generated enormous wealth for the small number of residents and their families. Within 15 years the diamond fields were largely depleted and the settlement began to decline, then by the late 1920s many residents abandoned the town following tales of diamond discoveries further south.
The settlement continued to decline and by 1956 it was officially abandoned and left to the elements. Today the ever shifting sand dunes have engulfed the town and in some areas completely infiltrated the buildings. Once families lived and worked here; children played in the halls and in the street outside that doesn't exist any more. The larger homes on the outskirts of town that once belonged to the prominent people in the community are less affected, and it is possible to climb the steps and go inside. Some rooms are unsafe, but many areas can be fully explored. Nature is still in the process of reclaiming this place.
The buildings further down the hill towards the centre of the settlement have deteriorated further and in some cases have been completely swallowed by the sand, but some you can enter and explore a little. It is strange to find so much sand filling a room, that only the top of the door frame is still visible, and there isn't room to stand up. Where the light filters through the broken rooves and windows, it creates a stark and strangely ghostly emptiness, whilst at the same time being quite beautiful. This is a unique and eye-opening place and one that is a must-see to anyone coming to this area of Namibia.
Almost in the blink of an eye day 6 of our trip arrived and it was time to leave Luderitz and head out on the 2nd half of our road trip. The journey from the coast to Betta Camp was a straight forward but long 329km. After the first hour on the B2, we turned North back on to the gravel roads of the C13 towards Helmeringhausen and the vast empty landscapes we'd seen much of a few days ago. I thought this journey might feel a bit repetitive given that we'd driven some of this route before, but approaching it from a different direction meant seeing new angles of these beautiful landscapes and it genuinely didn't feel repetitive at all.
We took the opportunity to revisit the Garub horses and they were more active this time around. I was even able to approach one and offer it an apple which it happily munched on. I had read that these horses are used to people and vehicles but even so I was surprised how relaxed he was with me. This time around we also saw a herd of Oryx in the distance and a couple of Ostrich. This stop on the B2, around 20km from Aus, is an absolute must if you're passing. It's free and there are very few people about; we only saw one other vehicle both times we visited, and it really is a special place.
The drive up the C13 and C27 provided more sightings of Oryx and Ostrich and livestock at the occasional farm. There is barely any shade on the C27 and in 36C heat we needed some shade if we were going to stop for some lunch. Eventually we found a tree in the driveway to a farm and pulled in. Our little stove boiled us some water for coffee and we munched on salami sandwiches fighting off the flies and slowing cooking in the heat. Continuing on, we arrived at Betta Camp in the mid afternoon to find it empty - we were the only ones staying. No Wi-Fi, but there was an outdoor kitchen and barbeque area for us to use which was very handy. There was a fuel station, a little shop manned by the two guys who lived on site keeping the place running. It was an uneventful but nice evening eating outside as the sun set and I made a fuss of the two camp dogs that kept coming over to see what we were doing.
The next morning loomed bright and we started packing up to head up the C27 to Sesriem and the Namibia Sand Sea, a major destination on our roadtrip. Gaz took the first bag out to the car only to find that one of the rear tyres was flat as a pancake. He set about putting on the spare, which went on fairly easily, but without another spare and with at least 600km left on this trip, Gaz was unhappy about setting off without a back up.
A chat with the guy at the fuel pumps produced a solution; they wheeled the flat tyre away and used a string and glue method to seal the hole in the tyre - Gaz had never seen this done, but it repairs the tyre and makes it usable almost straight away. Once they had put air pressure back in the tyre, we put it in the back of the truck and headed off feeling a little more prepared.
The road was very rough and we passed only one other vehicle in 2 hours. But then out of the blue, disaster struck. We had blown not one, but two further tyres. We must have driven over something nasty, but there was nothing obvious. One of the tyres was completely shredded, the other you could hear leaking air but was still up. Thank goodness Gaz had gotten the damaged tyre fixed! So in 40C heat, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, with no human life in sight, Gaz got to work and switched the shredded tyre as quickly as he could, before the other tyre
went flat. We had to get to civilisation before that 3rd tyre went down or we would seriously be in trouble.
It was at this point of course that we were cursing the SIM card we had bought. We had no way of calling for help and there was nothing for miles around. But we didn't panic, we stayed calm. After a little while we stopped for me to hop out and check the tyre pressure - it was very low. Looking at the rest of the tyres, it was clear that another tyre looked like it might be losing air as well. That would be 4 tyres damaged in one day! Is that some sort of record?
We talked about strategies should the worst happen. Gaz said that given there didn't seem to be any traffic on this road, we may get to the point where he would have to go for help. He could walk further than I could and if he took the water, i could stay with the car. It was not ideal and that would be last resort.
We drove slowly onwards, with every minute we knew we would be getting closer to our destination, but that was still maybe 60km away. And just when the tyre that was on its last legs a dust cloud surfaced on the horizon; a car was coming. We stopped and jumped out and both flagged it down. Thankfully it was a Namibian family who were only too happy to help us. The guy Alex immediately got to work fixing the bad puncture using this string and glue approach. I chatted to Carola, the mum to their two kids who were sat in their car staring at iPads and not at all interested in the drama that their parents were dealing with on the side of the road. Carolla explained that Alex loves saving people stranded on the highway and they'd already stopped that day for another car, just 2 hours before. We were so grateful for their kindness. They really did save us.
With a patched repair we finally made it to Sesriem and checked into our Desert Lodge, where we were able to use the reception landline to call AVIS and tell them about the damaged tyres. AVIS were great and directed us to the local Fuel Station (the only thing in Sesriem other than expensive accommodation), where the workers jumped into action replacing or fixing all the tyres including the spare, while we waited out the front enjoying a cold bottle of coke, chatting to all the other people that arrived needing tyres replacing (it became obvious that this was a common occurrence in these parts) and watched a sandstorm roll in from the West. Within an hour or so, we were good as new.
We headed back to our accommodation that was 3 x our budget and was still the cheapest available in the area, enjoyed the sunset and by the power of torchlight watched herds of Oryx congregating around the watering hole nearby.
The next day was to be a day I will remember for a very very long time ... Check out Part 3, the final part of this road trip saga!
see also:
Comments