Wednesday Sept 7 2011 Ai-Ais – Namklut

THE LONG AND BUMPY ROAD

Another very long day on the road driving through the desert landscape. Wildlife viewing included three wildebeest (didn’t they get the memo about the migration?), some ostriches and springboks.

Near Fish River Canyon in daylight

Kwiva tree - which the San use for their weapon making

Some of the scenery reminds of the area around Monument Valley, but without the rich ochre colours. Here the colours are more subdued. We made a short rest stop in the little town of Bethanien and bought water in the small general store where the owner was chain-smoking behind the cash register – not a scene you see much nowadays!

Lunch was a picnic along the way, taking cover from the sun in a camping ground, as there really isn’t much else around here. The population is as sparse as the wildlife!

My first 'real' African sunset

Our accommodation tonight, like last night, seems to be stuck in the middle of nowhere so we had dinner in the restaurant. We’ve got a good group of passengers so we had a lot of laughs throughout the meal. My only complaint is that hasn’t the management heard that you can get higher wattage than 10 watts for lights. In the restaurant you can get away with it but in the room it makes it hard to find things in your luggage.