Ah, yes, we're back to spectacular beauty.
Desolate & barren, but here we go again… WOW.
After climbing up from the desert onto the plateau, Nyati rolled across hundreds of kilometres of flat country, wedged between mountain ranges & massive sand dunes, some red, some not so…
A wonderful sight.
This's such a tough place…
Everything survives on the absolute minimum here, maybe less.
The animals, plants, & to some extent, the people too.
At the first drop of rain there's a shift, from survival, to growth by miniscule increments… Nothing flashy.
The water doesn't lay around in dams or lakes evaporating.
It's swallowed, held in secret…
Underground, kept for the future…
Hell, there might not be any more for 10 or 20 years.
What an amazing place…
SO completely different from sub-tropical Natal.
Soussus vlei's got a hellofalot of red sand dunes & some very old dead trees…
Us tourist types love it… Of course we do… It's NATURE Man…Bloody hot too.
Driving North, up & over the mountains, this awesome Namibia changes from hostile, utterly intimidating desert, to green bushveld… Still empty, but more like planet Earth.
There's no "cut & fill" here, no REAL civil engineering, the roads're simply a hardened strip up & over the hills, down & through the valleys…
Like a roller coaster Man… Exciting driving… Yee haa !!
Nyati's still mostly following the roads less travelled… C & D roads.
I think they're designated C = Corrugated.
& D = Destructive.
The Gypsy's got other ideas…
Unprintable of course.
Got a bit carried away with himself…
Mmmm… Call it over enthusiastic, if you will…
Oh Yeah.
"Fuck Kilroy, we're out of the desert".
Buck jumped Nyati over a hidden ditch.
Utterly destroying any semblance of order in the back… Utterly.
Broke a window too…
Stuff flying everywhere…
Bloody naughty.
"Oops".
Some "roads" need a sign…
"If you can find it, you can drive on it".
Then the tropic of Capricorn took me by surprise… Lousy pic… I hope it "zooms".
Nyati overnighted at the Soussus oasis desert campsite. Check out the ablution buildings, especially the roofs… Eish.
Nyati's never had good brakes…
Thank God for the gearbox, vacuum brake & a sense of anticipation.
Perhaps it's my imagination, I don't think so, they're getting worse.
I've decided to make a slow run for Windhoek & get them sorted out.
Hennie of BLV fame's recommended a mechanic there, so it won't be a "hit 'n miss" affair… Thanks Hennie.
Windhoek's up & over a couple of steep mountain passes.
Going up's not what I'm worried about.
You’re driving on another planet man……………..
You know… Some times it feels like it Man.
Sure… This's a very big country…
It's a big world… but so much of its uninhabitable.
Why bother going to Mars… Spend the effort rehabilitating places like this.