Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Day 7 - Luderitz to Sesriem

Distance: 480km
Travelling Time: 5 Hours 54 Minutes Another one of the longer travelling days, we were up early to head Eastwards back to Ais. Just after Aus, we turned left onto the C13. We opted to refuel again in Helmeringhausen, as well as have a cup of coffee there and bite of "Apfel Strudel". I personally believe that it is better than the strudel at Solitaire. I do, however, *hate* apfel strudel as much as I dislike anything sweet. I've eaten it before (at Solitaire and Helmieringhausen) - just becuase I was there and this is the thing to do - so my opinion on this is probably lacking... In Helmeringhausen this time, I had coffee only... :)

Refuelled vehicle wise, and refuelled person wise, we hit the road again. Back on the C13 until the turn off North on the C27. We followed the C27 all the way to Sesriem, although we did stop for another cup of coffee at Betta.

We got Bat-Eared foxes along the road - which were awesome and a first for me. We got even more of them on the way back, but that will come later. Right after Betta, we also found a whole herd of Tsama Melons next to the road. First time I've seen the melon with the rest of the plant attached... :)

Arriving at Sesriem, we checked in (we were camping in the NWR that night). But we had an ice-cold Hansa draught at the pub before heading to our camp site to set up campe. It was literally ice-cold. It froze as it was poured. And the glasses were also in the freezer. It ranks as one of the most tasty beers ever, in my humble opinion... After setting up camp, I wanted to grab a shower, but the water was off. It was luckily back on again shortly before dark. The geckos are awesome...

We braaied the evening. For the first time ever, we ate medium-well steak. Whilst I was braaiing, my mother and Liana were annoyed about the Swiss-German couple at the camp-site across from us. The lady was lying in the sun in a tiny, skimpy bikini. My father and I managed to get the point across that cultures differ across the world and that it was not distracting... :)

We turned in later, as we wanted to be up early early to head to the pans.

Lekka Trip Ian and really fun to read.

Day 8 - Sesriem

Distance: 159km
Travelling Time: 3 Hours 46 Minutes We had camped inside the NWR park, which meant we had a 30 minute lead time on getting to the pans in the morning. So we broke camp in the dark before starting the 60km drive to the pans, getting there very early AM. My folks, who had not been there before, stopped in the 4x2 parking lot to deflate before heading straight for the dead pan.

Liana and I had both been to here before, and had seen both Sossusvlei and "Dooievlei", so we opted to go looking for the "Hidden vlei". This is apparently the least visited pan. We left my truck in the 4x2 parking lot and took a walk. Hidden vlei is about 2.5km South-South-East of the 4x2 parking lot. And it is a gem. It knocks the socks off the dead pan... Even better than everything - there is nobody else there. We were the only people in the pan. And this was awesome.

In any case, we watched the sun rise, and then headed back to the truck, deflated tyres and drove out into the 4x4 stretch - arriving at the dead-pan parking lot as my folks were arriving back at the truck. So we drove further until Soussusvlei. It was still full of water - which is incredible to see. We stopped at one of the picnic sites to make some coffee, and a jackal came around to visit. I presume people feed him or something, but he was very curious in terms of what we were doing there... :)

Coffee done, we headed back to Sesriem, stopping along the way to look at the fairy circles. With the long grass, they are very apparent at the moment. That done, we headed to Sesriem Canyon, which also turned out to still be full of water. This meant that we could not get into the canyon, which is a little sad as the canyon is incredible. However, it was absolutely amazing to see water in the canyon... All sights accomplised, we had another ice-cold Hansa draught at the Sesriem pub, refuelled and checked in at Desert Camp where we would be overnighting - a fantastic place.

Since we would be driving a very, very long stretch the next day back to Ais-Ais, I did a pork roast in the Cobb for an early supper.

Day 9 - Sesriem to Ais-Ais

Distance: 659 km
Travelling Time: 7 Hours 27 Minutes We were up early at Desert Camp, packed and hit the road. It was one of the longer stretches we would be pulling on this trip, and the majority of it was dirt road. Namibian dirt road - I should say - not "Twee spoor paadjie" type dirt road. But dirt road nonetheless.

We left Solitaire on the D826 East until the T-Juntion with the C19, where we turned right, heading South. We continued with the C19, and decided to check in at Maltahohe as I'd not been there before. We also needed to restock on beer... Maltahohe was a little depressing. Very poor. One could feel the poverty...

Beer stocks resupplied, we turned around again, and turned South onto the C14 just outside Maltahohe. We stopped in Helmeringhausen again for coffee. Well, I did. The rest of the party had coffee and Apfel Strudel. And then we continued South, refulling in Bethanien. A note: never feel in a rush in Bethanien... It is probably the slowest service and fuel pump in the Southern hemisphere. We had seen dozens of bat-eared foxes (and a few rhino) next to the road since we had left Sesriem. It was really amazing.

We joined the tar B4 at Goageb, and turned East for about 50 kilometers before we grabbed the F-road (645 I think??) which runs past Seeheim. This was epic. The road was a reasonably bad (I've seen manyh worse...) road which eventually joins up with the C12. The nice part was that the recent floods had wrought havoc with the road. And the Lowen river was still flowing. Which meant a very small detour and a minor water crossing. It was amazing though... That done, we joined up with the C12, continuing down South until taking the turn off for Hobas, and later on for Ais-Ais. We got there in the late afternoon.

We met up with my sister and BIL, who had had an awesome hike down the canyon. Set up camp, and braaied. We would be heading back to ZA the next morning.

Day 10 - Ais-Ais to Augrabies

Distance: 441km
Travelling Time: 4 Hours 50 Minutes
We parted ways a litte in the morning at Ais-Ais, as my father wanted to leave a little earlier, and I felt like packing up all relaxed like after a cup of coffee and breakfast. That, and we'd probably run into each other at the border.

This time, we took the C10 up until the B1, turning North towards Grunau. We turned off the B1 onto the B3 heading East to Karasburg just after Grunau. Refuelled in Karrasburg. Must say - we used the fuel station just around the corner on the B3 this time around. The one we refulled at on the way in was the Engen opposite the Spar - that was scruffy...

The shell on the B3 just around the "bend" is clean and spotless and has a fantastic shop as well. I'd refuelled there before in 2018 (I think), but it has been completely rebuilt. Refuelled, we headed to the border at Ariamsvlei.

We arrived at the border, and met my parents there. Exiting the Namibian border in COVID times is easy-peasy lemon squeazy. Complete arrivals / departure document. Clear emmigration. Declare anything at customs. Drive through. The controlled chaos starts at Nakop (ZA side).

At Nakop, you park. Looking at the border post with Namibia behind you, the first stop is the port health office. This building to the left of customs and immigration. The place where they do the COVID tests is the big hangar like structure further to the left of that. Get your "Entry" form at the port health office, complete it, and then head to where they do the rapid antigen tests and have the test taken. Report back to port health office, where he will complete the form, take temperature and give you a ticket.

Next, take the ticket issued to immigration and get processed for arrival. You will get your gate pass. Take the gate pass to customs. It needs to be stamped there. Finally, join the queue for the SAP vehicle arrival register. Only the driver can enter the arrivals office, so they must have the passports of all passengers too. Once this is done, your gate pass is stamped by the police, and you are free to proceed. Completing the SAP vehicle register took the longest out of everything else. We had company in the queue though, as we met up with my folks there. Just before we were finished, my sister and BIL also arrived.

Once all is done, drive through where you may have your vehicle gone through by the police or not. We were lucky - we just had to have our passports and my license checked, and we were on our way.

We'd arranged to RV with my folks at the Lutzputs turn-off, so we drove the 54-odd kilometres and made coffee next to the road whilst waiting for my sister and BIL. When they arrived, we headed off for Kakamas.

This bit of the trip, whilst uneventful, did come with issues of its own. The factory-fitted sub-tank system on the Patrol has various "checks and balances" to prevent any current being provided to that "big bomb under your car" when any faults are logged. Driving on the dirt road, my sub-tank failure light came on - indicating that my sub-tank was now disabled. I had enough petrol to make it to Augrabies, so it did not bother me too much. But it was a problem that would remain with me until I got back to Pretoria and had time to fix it. Those 40 Litres of fuel thatg were no longer available do however make a massive difference in the effective range of the vehicle, and this would make for great fun driving back to Pretoria a day or two later...

On the dirt road, just after the Biesiespoort Pass, we spotted a pair of sectretary birds next to the road. Fantastic to see them. We got to Kakamas, where my folks headed back to Augrabies, and I stopped at the SPAR to restock / similar. We'd also been living in each other's "space" for 10 days already, and Liana and I felt like some "us time" so we headed to "Die Mas" to have a beer or two and unwind. It's a lovely place, made even nicer by the fact that, whilst there, the resident labrador came to say hello to me... I love labradors. I had two many years ago which passed on several years ago. And I used to have two younger ones. Sadly, when I seperated with the ex-wife, I had to leave my labradors on behalf of the kids. My kids are very attached to them. I miss my labradors almost as much as I miss my kids. The sad part is I don't have visitation with the labs... :(

Checked in at Augrabies and braaied.

Day 11 - Augrabies to Redsands

Distance: 406km
Travelling Time: 4 Hours 16 Minutes We headed out from Augrabies relatively early. The two Patrols would be heading East. My sister and BIL wanted to first check out the Falls and the National Park.

I refuelled in Kakamas (no sub-tank) and we travelled Upington, Olifantshoek. There was, however, a place I wanted to see in Deben. I'd heard a lot about it - I seem to recall hearing about it on a local radio station once upon a time when I was doing a project in Postmasburg several years ago. However, since we had plenty of time available, we turned North just before Kathu and drove into Deben about 20km later, where we found the "Doringdraad Kontrei Kuierplek". What an absolutely fantastic place. I'd been hoping to spend a little more time there, but my father was anxious to get to Red Sands, so we were there briefly. But it was awesome. Checked in at Red Sands. My sister and BIL arrived in the afternoon and we had dinner at the restaurant that evening - the last evening of our trip.

Day 12 - Redsands to Pretoria

Distance: 577km
Travelling Time: 6 Hours My sister and BIL opted to take a different route back to Jo'burg, so we refuelled at the Leach fuel station in Kuruman before travelling back on the generic N14. There was a massive accident about 15km West of Vryburg which is not surprising considering the manner in which the majority of people drive on this stretch of road... Vryburg's main road through the town was also being excavated - with all traffic being diverted on back roads. It was a bit of a mess...

I refeulled again at Mams in Vryburg. And all of a sudden the truck no longer wanted to start. Lights came on, everything worked etc, but it would not start... I got a pull-start from my father, and decided to bite the bullet and head directly back to Pretoria. The biggest issue is I'd have to refuel again before Pretoria (that missing sub-tank....) and I'd have to switch the truck off to do so... :(

Anyways, travelled back the normal N14 way. Delareyville (where my father turned off towards Ottosdal to head back to Potch), Sannieshof, Coligny, Ventersdorp, Krugersdorp. I refulled again on the N14 just passed Mabalingwe drive and managed to get push-start from the "pomp-joggies", arriving back at home in the early afternoon.

The next day, I installed my refurbed starter and I've got a new starter on it's way from PartSouq for the princely some of USD60. Courier also cost USD60 and I'll pay a few ZAR more for taxes etc. It should be here sometime this week...

I also stripped out the sub-tank sender unit over the past weekend. I discovered that somewhere the float must have clipped out of locky things that keep it in place. Presumably as a result of all the dirt roads we travelled. The corrugations just before Biesiespoort Pass were the final straw... Ultimately, all the shaking around resulted in the spring holding the variable resistor in place broke. A little bit of solder, and a reset of the ECU and the sub-tank system is perfect again... So all is good - except that the vehicle stinks of petrol at the moment... :)

Conclusion

Let's be honest - as much as I love my folks, it can be exhausting touring with them occasionally. But I'm so blessed to be able to share doing what I love with my parents. It has also been a privilege to see the South both in the drought times as well as now, when everything is so lush and green. And the Sesriem and Sossusvlei are still under water. That is amazing.

That said, I've travelled extensively in the South. There are a few things I'd possible still like to do. I'd like to do some of the concession stuff at some point. Elizabeth Bay and the Bogenfels are high on my list. As is the trip fro Luderitz to Walvisbay. I'll get around to it one day.

In the meantime, I'm shifting my gaze further North. The highest I have been is the Ugab gate, and that was over a weekend once when I was doing a project at Windhoek. I think the next trips I do to Namibia will now start focusing on central and Northern Namibia. Looking forward to that.

A final thought is the fact that my photographs are pretty sucky. I took the better camera with for this trip, but it seems as if something is awry with the lens. The lens appears to be clean, but most photos have a "halo" around them, and a number of them appear to be out of focus. This cannot really be, as many photographs were set to have a very deep focal field. So I'm not really sure what is wrong. It might be the fact that I transferred the images as lower quality JPEGs from the camera to my phone using wifi. I've no idea. I'll be sad if they are all mess but I'll see when I get around to transferring the photographs to my laptop in RAW.

Been a fun trip. I've relived it typing up this report. Thanks for reading. :)

It's been a pleaure travelling along Ian, thanks for the hard work. One day these reports will come in handy, as i have only glanced through southern Namibia.

Regarding the photos, I have been reading the TR on my phone but I can't see any sign of the halo you mention. Also didn't notice too many that seem out of focus or lacking in detail. Some of them do seem a little flat, but presumably those were taken close to mid-day when the harsh light might do that. Not sure what gear you are using, but I would be glad to assist to see if a setting here or there might make a difference? Also, if you are using a protective filter on the lens, that might well be contributing to both problems.

I would expect compresssion to small jpegs for transfer to cause some issues such as posterization and reduced detail but not halos...

Peter Connan wrote: ↑18 May 2021 13:50 It's been a pleaure travelling along Ian, thanks for the hard work. One day these reports will come in handy, as i have only glanced through southern Namibia.

Regarding the photos, I have been reading the TR on my phone but I can't see any sign of the halo you mention. Also didn't notice too many that seem out of focus or lacking in detail. Some of them do seem a little flat, but presumably those were taken close to mid-day when the harsh light might do that. Not sure what gear you are using, but I would be glad to assist to see if a setting here or there might make a difference? Also, if you are using a protective filter on the lens, that might well be contributing to both problems.

I would expect compresssion to small jpegs for transfer to cause some issues such as posterization and reduced detail but not halos...

Thanks Peter. Its a Canon EOS4000D with the generic EFS18/55mm lens. I didn't notice the issues on the phone - only when posting the TR did I notice there are some issues with the photos. I'll zoom in on one or two when I have a moment and post examples.