Day 9 – Brandberg to Palmwag
Sunrise the next morning and Brandberg shows where its name comes from. Check out the 4x4 with rooftop tent. This is the most common rental vehicle in Namibia. People hire them fully kitted and spend a week or weeks travelling the land camping where there are no other facilities.
This is our camp.
Our peace gets disturbed by the German woman at the next camp screeching in what sounds like a demon possessed falsetto bass voice. Apparently those are the sounds they make when their children are gored by wild animals, more specifically, this wild animal.
Like I said, springbuck are combative little bastards. Ten minutes after the sounds from hell next door subsided and the kid stopped crying this okie also took me on.
Let me give you some springbok fighting tips. They go in low and normally get you on the shins, the immediate reaction is to grab hold of the horns to get the pain away from your shins, but that is a mistake. That’s what they want, now you are fighting them the way they know how.
What you should do is lean right over and give him a mighty smack on the flank. Takes him completely by surprise and gives him sudden respect for his opponent.
Otherwise they are the cutest pets.
When I was here in 2004 there were elephant all over the camp. The camp is not fenced. I had hoped that we would get elephant here but all the tracks and dung I see are too old. Yesterday in the riverbed we came across fresh tracks a couple of times but we saw nought.
Not 5 km from camp, as we cross the Ugab on our way to our next destination, we run into very fresh tracks, fresh enough that they were probably made as the sound of the bikes drew nearer.
We proceed very slowly, I have no intention of crowding an elephant. Less than 200m on we catch sight of them.
We get out of the sand and onto a lekker track, but not long and I spot an ellie right next to the track.
We are not going to get past this one, unless he moves off.
So we get off the bikes (hurriedly) and onto a rocky outcrop where we get a nice view.
Excuse me while I powder my nose.
About half an hour later he wanders off and we can get down and continue.
Brandberg in the background.
Very scenic and very entertaining riding.
Check out the rock growth.
Once on the gravel we almost get caught out by washaways. Tharina in fact stopped in the rocks, coming from the far side of this one.
We stop in at Aba Huab for a quick beer and pull in for fuel at Palmwag. Not what one would call a metropolis and cash only.
Our overnight stop is at Palmwag lodge where we get a nice secluded camp (there is only one, the others are all on top of one another).
We eat in the restaurant before we turn in for the night.
Topic: The Wife, the Ex and the Kid (Read 83515 times)
