Thursday 8 September 2011

Catch up Post...

Well, well Windhoek, Capital of Namibia.
Welcome to new readers from Canada and Mexico, and elsewhere!
And sorry to all for delays in posting: no connections till now.
We’re now 1,600 km along the way, 11,000 to go.
Tuesday morning, 6th, we took off at 06:30 for a 650 km run up the middle of South Africa, to the border of Namibia, where we camped with Neville, his dogs and pizzas. Next morning crossed the Orange River, the border into Namibia, up to the town of Helmering and its delightful hotel.  Springbok for dinner.
Beautiful country, from the Margaret River of Africa in the Cape gaining height and dryness as we move into the American mid west of Africa in Namibia, just bigger, wider, huger.  Huge skies, mesas and butes to the far horizons, mountains of rolling boulders, wild flowers, desolate.  If you put a purple filter on your movie camera, you have the alien world.  There is nothing: just hardscrabble scrubby grass; no animals, no people, nothing. 
The route yesterday took us about 500km on dirt, down to the Fish River Canyon, the biggest in the world after the Grand.  
Photos below, in rough order...
Rally organiser Roger Pearce, hugely experienced in Africa
and round the world rallies, and his....

.... MG Magnet, lovely car travelling well.
Early morning Day One: at "Table View Beach".  Guess why the name...

Gordon and Peter, with the magic Mustang

The "Namibia Expedition Team", with Mercs and Czar, the Borzoi

MGB.  Blew gasket on day one and is still (8 Sep), playing catch up after rapairs

Sandi and Chris with the Volvo Amazon, 1800cc

Ron and Wendy, Canada living in Mexico and their 1970 Campervan
Merry Mustang at Neville's Camp on Orange River, North Cape, Day One
Gordon and Peter, at the lookout, Fish River Canyon, Nairobi

Gordon tests the edge of my bravery (not), Fish River Canyon, Namibia

A whole lotta nuthin,...
PF at the Fish River Canyon.  Note the horizon..... forever....

Ooolomollo, the singing Galah, at Seeheim Pub, central Namibia.  Surrounded by.... nuthin'...

Aina Joshep, lives and serves at the pub
PF at the Seeheim pub, Aina in background

Dinner at Helmeringhausen Hotel, nice pub, Day Two

The caption says it all....

The Helmering Hausen Hotel

PF showing off deft mechanical skills, tightening nuts on the wheel change
Near the end of the dirt, about 500km of it, Day Three.