So, leaving day dawned… of course it did.
Irritated  ?  Agitated ?
Yup.

Lucas'd washed Nyati down…

I hadn't noticed the slow accumulation of dust & salt. Nyati was covered in a thick coating, built up over the month we'd been happily parked in our prime spot…
Camouflaged…
Part of the island…
Blending in…

Gleaming now though.

Leaving Luderitz, I started to wonder what the hell I was doing out here again.
Still alone.
That bitch Cindy had only been in it for the turkey…
No fool like an old fool… Oh yeah.

I should'nt allow myself to settle.
It was like this, lump in the throat stuff, leaving De Rust, I'd settled there too.

Luderitz had everything I needed…
Well… nearly everything… You know ?

The 14kgs of gas from Upington finally ran out…Haircut too…Not bad…3 months.
I switched over to the second bottle & Matthew fetched a refill…
Life's easy here.
I won't try the "black brothers" hair salon though…
No no… Windhoek's close enough.

I've used some of the time to make a belt each for Zoe & Aidan…
They're complete now except for staining, & I'm happy to have produced something tangible, something real, other than just a string of words.

After topping up with fuel & carrying full water tanks, Nyati rolled out of town…
Heavy.

Oh how quickly we forget…
I'd badly underestimated both the incredible heat & the long, long climb, through the Namib Desert, away from the coast, up to the Huib-Hoch Plateau.

After about 120 overloaded kms, Nyati's temperature gauge had gradually climbed to over 100c.
The wind was behind us… Helping, but not cooling at all, so I stopped for a while.

"If you're flying or sailing, always err on the side of conservatism".
So said Kilroy in the Maldives…
I can now add, "Driving in the desert".

The last thing we want are engine problems.

Climbing down to stand under the midday sun, in this ancient desert, I realised just how vunerable we are without our technology.
The wind burned my skin…
I couldn't touch Nyati… I wished I had an egg.

What a hellofa place…
This's raw nature…
A hard place, with lots of rocks…
One mistake & you're between them…
We all claim to love it…
I'm wondering why.

It only took a couple of minutes, & I was pulling another ice cold waterbottle out of the fridge… Thank you Nyati.

Feeling despondent, missing the daily passing of dolphin & the cool Atlantic breeze, I decided to cut the day short &, once Nyati'd reached working temperature, ducked into Klein Vista's campsite…
I feel like a local.
It's familiar, & they've got Wi-Fi at the reception, maybe there'll be cheerful news.

Oh God, I wish I hadn't…
One of my tenants hasn't paid his rent, & another got mugged, high-jacked or something… All very sketchy… No details… I hope everyone's okay.
Maybe it IS safer out here, deep in the burning Namib.

Rain !!  We had rain last night… Not enough to dampen the sand… But it was rain, a good sign.

Giulio's a young Spaniad cycling around the world… Around the WORLD Man !
He's been doing it for over 5 years  !
Today was a rest day & he took a fancy to Nyati… It must've looked like a hotel to him.
A terrific Guy, I wish him luck…
Of course, Guys like him make their own good fortune…
His glass's always half FULL.

Nyati's had enough moping, so we got out onto the road early, headed towards Soussus vlei.
There's a D road, D707 that skirts between the mountains & the desert…
Reputed to be the most scenic in Namibia…
We found & followed it…
Very lekker, everywhere's dusted with green…
Almost subliminal, but it's there.
This's a big deal out here, it's life & death stuff.
The Gemsbok are EVERYWHERE more than I've ever seen… Many of them're trapped on the wrong side, between the fence designed to keep them off the road, & the road.

Hey hey, they can't outrun Nyati, not downhill anyway.
It's spectacular the way they kick their front legs into the sand & switch direction at full speed… Big animals… Amazing evasive tactics…
Obviously instinctive, because they ALL do it… Young & old.

Wild horses too. This area's renowned for its desert horses… Wild… Feral.
They're obviously happy here, because there're more wild horses than you could poke a stick at in a long day.

Nyati'd just pulled into the shade under a huge camelthorn tree to overnight, when I noticed a lovely rain squall approaching from the West…

If this was the S.Y.Enigma, we'd eagerly change course to intercept that wonderful gift of fresh water.
Wash down the decks, close the scuppers, fill the tanks & then all dance around taking unlimited fresh water showers in the flow off the sun awnings.
Great days… Simple pleasures.

I always thought THAT water would be what Angels pee tasted like, but couldn't say so…
You know why.

Have you ever run around in the rain, mouth open, trying to catch a drop on your tongue  ?

This squall passed by though…bugger…
It's okay… There'll be others…
We're starting the rainy season.

www.rv-nyati.com