Moar Southern Namibia (Again)
Posted: 13 May 2021 12:08
Many years ago, I bought my first Patrol. Shortly after this, my father instructed me to find him one, as he had totally fallen in love with my vehicle. At that point, Petri Oosthuizen was selling his blue GRX, and my father snapped it up. In any case, what has happened subsequently is that I frequently have excellent company on my trips and I'm very blessed to be able to share some of them with my parents.
Lockdown was difficult for the folks. My folks are both 71 this year (very active 71, I must say) and they have reached the point where they want to see everything whilst they still can. So we've been touring more regularly as time goes by. As such, we did Namaqualand and Southern Namibia in 2018. Last year November, the Richtersveld and Namaqualand. Since my sister and her husband were hiking the Fish River Canyon and my parents were going down to give her some support, my father asked me to put together a trip for things that he and my mother still wanted to see in Southern Namibia whilst my sister and BIL did the hike.
So, I knocked together a trip at short notice. It's not the type of trip I'd normally do. I prefer travelling shorter days, spending longer at places and seeing more. However, I had to work within the confined of what my parents wanted to see (non-negotiable: Luderitz, Kolmanskuppe, Sossusvlei, Seriem) fitted into the time constraints of how long my sister and BIL would be hiking for. So, in short, we've done 4865 kilometres between the 29th of April, and the 10th of May. We've not camped as much as I normally do either - specifically because of the longer distances we were travelling and the fact that my folks are getting on in years... We felt it better to do more chaleting than camping because of the distances we'd normally be running up most days.
Basic itinerary was as follows:
29th April - Potchefstroom
30th April - Redsands (Kuruman)
01 May - Augrabies
02 May - Ais-Ais
03 May - Luderitz (via Aussenkehr and Rosh Pinah)
04 May - Luderitz
05 May - Sesriem
06 May - Sesriem
07 May - Ais-Ais
08 May - Augrabies
09 May - Redsands (Kuruman)
10 May - Pretoria
As with all things Namibia, there are too many highlights to mention. I've seen them before in any case. But it was special seeing that the areas were a hell of a lot wetter than the last time I was there in 2019. It was amazing to see water in Sesriem Canyon and Sossusvlei. This time, I visited the "Hidden Pan" as opposed to the "Dead Pan" and found an absolute wonder. And then I saw bits of Kolmanskuppe I'd not see before, and I got some time to do some driving out South of Luderitz - Grossebucht, Dias Point etc. A few teaser photos follow.
Vehicles: Two Nissan Patrol 4.5 GRX, and some version of an AWB Subaru platkar before and after Ais-Ais.
People: My folks, Hilary and Danie. My sister and BIL Shirley and Stephan. My lady friend, Liana, and myself.
Some statistic.
Total Kilos: 4865 km
Average Speed: 79,23 km/h
Travel Time: 59H13M
I'll be adding my report here in sections, as I get time, as I normally do. But don't hold your breath - it will take me a while to get it all done and I am super busy with other things too.
Lockdown was difficult for the folks. My folks are both 71 this year (very active 71, I must say) and they have reached the point where they want to see everything whilst they still can. So we've been touring more regularly as time goes by. As such, we did Namaqualand and Southern Namibia in 2018. Last year November, the Richtersveld and Namaqualand. Since my sister and her husband were hiking the Fish River Canyon and my parents were going down to give her some support, my father asked me to put together a trip for things that he and my mother still wanted to see in Southern Namibia whilst my sister and BIL did the hike.
So, I knocked together a trip at short notice. It's not the type of trip I'd normally do. I prefer travelling shorter days, spending longer at places and seeing more. However, I had to work within the confined of what my parents wanted to see (non-negotiable: Luderitz, Kolmanskuppe, Sossusvlei, Seriem) fitted into the time constraints of how long my sister and BIL would be hiking for. So, in short, we've done 4865 kilometres between the 29th of April, and the 10th of May. We've not camped as much as I normally do either - specifically because of the longer distances we were travelling and the fact that my folks are getting on in years... We felt it better to do more chaleting than camping because of the distances we'd normally be running up most days.
Basic itinerary was as follows:
29th April - Potchefstroom
30th April - Redsands (Kuruman)
01 May - Augrabies
02 May - Ais-Ais
03 May - Luderitz (via Aussenkehr and Rosh Pinah)
04 May - Luderitz
05 May - Sesriem
06 May - Sesriem
07 May - Ais-Ais
08 May - Augrabies
09 May - Redsands (Kuruman)
10 May - Pretoria
As with all things Namibia, there are too many highlights to mention. I've seen them before in any case. But it was special seeing that the areas were a hell of a lot wetter than the last time I was there in 2019. It was amazing to see water in Sesriem Canyon and Sossusvlei. This time, I visited the "Hidden Pan" as opposed to the "Dead Pan" and found an absolute wonder. And then I saw bits of Kolmanskuppe I'd not see before, and I got some time to do some driving out South of Luderitz - Grossebucht, Dias Point etc. A few teaser photos follow.
Vehicles: Two Nissan Patrol 4.5 GRX, and some version of an AWB Subaru platkar before and after Ais-Ais.
People: My folks, Hilary and Danie. My sister and BIL Shirley and Stephan. My lady friend, Liana, and myself.
Some statistic.
Total Kilos: 4865 km
Average Speed: 79,23 km/h
Travel Time: 59H13M
I'll be adding my report here in sections, as I get time, as I normally do. But don't hold your breath - it will take me a while to get it all done and I am super busy with other things too.