This is the claim of our guide book and I have to say it was stunning driving north with the Namib desert on the left and the Tiras mountains on the right, 2 hugely contrasting worlds. What was also stunning was the wind – holy moses – it felt as if we were in a boat not a land rover the way the side winds were slamming into us. This carried on for many miles with Kevin gripping the steering wheel and doing his best to try and stay on the road. Finally we turned into the mountains looking for our campsite.
This is an area that has not seen rain for 3 years, the farm no longer has livestock as it’s just too dry and costly to feed them by alternative means. There is a lot of wild life in the form of Oryx, springbok, and several cat’s both large and small. While the Namtib campsite was small and very eco friendly we parked into the wind and behind the biggest tree we could find in an effort to get some protection then we headed out on our bikes. This is the first place that as the arid savannah and we were keen to stretch our legs. We saw the oryx and springbok on our loop though thankfully only saw some small cat tracks probably a lynx or something similar. All in all it was a lovely 14kms around the base of the mountains that marks the edge of the farm.
That evening as the wind finally start to die we watched a sunset over the Namib desert and with the new moon it too was soon mingling with the fading light on the horizon.
Heading towards Sossusvlei the next morning we found ourselves having to tow a few german tourists and their Honda out of the soft sand which had blown onto the road the previous day. Sadly it wasn’t a Toyota otherwise I would have been sure to take some photo’s.
misteroverland 