D 707 – a spectacular road
When we left Klein-Aus Vista, we had no clue what to expect.
On our way to the Tiras Mountains we had planned to drive along the ‘D707’. This D-road is legendary. The colors, the mountains, this vastness.
It is simply unbelievable how beautiful this impression is while driving.
Namibia challenges us – there are things that cannot be captured on a photo. The impression while driving this road is one of those things for us. It is the combination of vastness, constantly changing mountains on the left and on the right and a horizon screaming for attention again and again due to completely over saturated, loud colors.
The contrast is impossible to describe. Our rhythm is slowly changing. We get into the rhythm of the trip and adapt to the pace of a long-term trip. We stay longer in one place and/or travel less far to the next destination.
The Tiras mountains invite you to switch off
We are now in the Tiras Mountains for a total of four nights. The days are so hot by now that we don’t think about hiking. We enjoy the campsites and the surroundings, go to bed at 8:00 p.m. and are awake at 5:00 a.m. The night skies are already great, but this gets even better – right now the moon is rising and indeed it’s very bright.
We are already looking forward to the time of the new moon and the darkness that comes with it. Now we use the hammock with the e-book reader or just sit in our chairs and stare into the distance. We can’t quite get this incredible beauty of the country yet – but we’re trying.
The two nights in Namtib were wonderful. The first night we are completely alone, and we still had this endless expanse in front of us and some mountains as a boundary behind us. We can just sit and watch.
Within, a feeling of bliss is spreading and the only creatures that care about us are the birds. Some of them come close to us, sit on a branch close to us and sing us an enchanting song, while others hop around wildly, hoping to find something to eat.
Nature spoils us
The sun sets somewhere on the far horizon and makes us stop what we are doing. On the second evening we had an extra early dinner so that we could just sit down in the open with a white wine to enjoy this spectacle – we are one with nature – amazing!
On the Ranch Koiimasis, which is only about 50 km away from Namtib, we spend another two nights. Here rocky outcrops dominate the landscape at the campsites, and we feel a bit like at the Flintstones. The shower and the toilet are beautifully built into the rock (Campsite #4), in Addition there is a large place to sit and a wonderful fireplace, and we enjoy every minute again.
For the first time we get to know our neighbors and enjoy exchanging ideas and chatting. The two are very Namibia experienced and extremely sympathetic – we have a good time.
When the battery fizzles
When suddenly our fridge dropped dramatically in temperature, we started to search for the cause. We became concerned rather quickly because our solar panel should be able to supply the fridge with enough power even over longer periods of inactivity.
When we opened the hood, the utility battery was wet and hissing. We didn’t suspect anything good and called Christian in Windhoek. He instructed us to remove the battery immediately, which we did.
We secured the cables with a bag and wrapped them with a strong tape so that nothing could happen.
From now on, we lost our utility battery, which is equivalent to warm drinks and the loss of any perishable food. We called our friend in Swakopmund, and she arranged a new battery for us and managed to find a tour guide who drove from Swakopmund to Sossus Vlei the next morning and took our battery with him as a lift – great, just great! We spent all of our perishable goods to our neighbors and were satisfied – things like that can happen.
The next morning it was time for us to leave, and after we have packed everything we wanted to drive towards Sossusvlei to pick up our battery and to have a working fridge again.
The total breakdown
Guido took a seat and turned the key – root root root… beep … beep
PLEASE – No!
The starter battery was empty for some unknown reason. Ok, our battery will arrive in Sesriem between 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. and we only have to drive appx. 120 km. There is plenty of time. Guido walked the 2 km to the reception and explained our dilemma. A young man with a starter cable is going to come and help us. All right – about 20 minutes later he actually came, and we tried to start the car but nothing happened. The problem was the jumper cable.
It was a normal cable what you use for a passenger car (200-400 AMP). This is not enough to motivate the big diesel in the Land Cruiser to start. Memo to ourselves: buy a jumper cable with 1000 AMP at the next opportunity! Fortunately, there was the possibility to charge the battery at the ranch. We also removed the starter battery, the young man disappeared and came back after an hour with a partially charged battery. The feeling when the engine starts after a short turn of the key is amazing. We paid for the campsite, tipped the young man and set off for Sossus Vlei.
