Our trip led us to Aus after crossing the border at Oranjemund, where we met a friend who was staying there with his guests. We haven’t seen him for a while and now we had the wonderful opportunity to meet him again. Besides, Guido found out in Aus that he had become a grandfather. What an indescribable feeling! We immediately toasted to it and told the news to everyone – really everyone 😉
An overnight stopover in Mesosaurus
When we left Aus, our goal was to get to Windhoek within four days. We decided to drive to Windhoek via Keetmannshoop and stopped at the (legendary) Mesosaurus Fossil Camp. We had not stayed there before and only knew the Quivertree Forest Rest Camp about 30 km away. We liked the bush camp much better than the campground at Quivertree Forest. We had a pleasant night, with beautiful silhouettes at sunset and sunrise, and left the region the next morning for Lake Oanob. The resort at the dam is worth a trip. We relaxed there for three days, let our souls flow and let ourselves go. Doing nothing, just relaxing and processing the impressions of the past time is an important aspect of long-term travel to not get travel sick. Guido had picked up this place sometime in the past and now remembered it. It was a perfect hit and the perfect place to regenerate and prepare for the upcoming trip with Uwe and Geli.
The reunion
We met Uwe and Geli at Erongo Plateau Camp in November 2018 and spent one of the most enjoyable evenings of our trip at that time. We have always stayed in touch, but despite various attempts we have not managed to meet again. Although such a progress is usually doomed to failure, we have managed to maintain contact and keep it active. They also have a car stationed in Namibia and we arranged to go on a tour together to the lonely northwest of the country. In May, while passing through Windhoek, we had already booked two campsites for the four of us for the end of August. When their plane took off on time in Frankfurt, it was clear that we would meet again the next day, Sunday, August 29, at Urban Camp in Windhoek. The joy was great and it was as if the four years between our meetings had not happened at all. Great!
A trip to the south
Although we wanted to go to the northwest, we decided to go south first. Uwe and Geli had to drive via Swakopmund to pick up documents for their car. Since the tar road was too boring for us and we all had plenty of time, we drove south to Rehoboth. There we left the tar road and after another drive over different gravel roads we reached our destination, the Spreetshoogte Pass. Once there we moved into a campsite and enjoyed a fantastic view and had a wonderful evening. A great spot of Namibia! Unfortunately a storm started shortly after sunset. The wind was gusting from all directions and we were forced to put out the fire for safety reasons. It became extremely uncomfortable and we went to sleep quickly – we thought. The weather had something against it. We slept for a few hours, but Uwe and Geli hardly slept a wink and spent most of the night stabilizing the roof tent from the inside so that the poles would not be damaged.
The onward journey into the Namib Naukluft Park to Gobabeb
In the morning we were all a bit tired and ultimately glad that this night was over. We enjoyed the first rays of sunshine and our coffee and then set off, drove down the pass and finally arrived at our destination, a luxury lodge, to pay for the overnight stay there. We learned that the campsite was closed for upcoming renovations, but this was not apparent anywhere. This explained the condition of the ablution block to us. We followed the gravel road and finally reached the C14, one of the worst roads in Namibia. This road is the main axis to get from Walvis Bay/Swakopmund via Solitaire to Sossusvlei and this is what it looks like. Worst corrugated wherever you look. A challenge for man and machine. We were glad when we reached the turnoff that guided us through the Namib Naukluft Park to the Gobabeb Research Station. The station is open to the public and maintains – what hardly anyone knows – a campground. It is beautifully situated at the dunes, next to the riverbed. We enjoyed the evening and drove the next morning, always along the park border, to Walvis Bay, refueled the cars there and arrived in good spirits in Swakopmund. Our actual tour was to start two days later. We could hardly wait!
