Head over Heels 2014

(Apologies for the lack of photos but the internet connection is too slow to upload them).

Whilst Emma and Mike are flying to Windhoek, Woocash and I head to the coast to pick up Cleo. We’re hoping that she has all the kit still with her. Sending Cleo by Ro-Ro (roll on roll off) instead of container became the only option as sponsorship failed to come in and the dates started to slip. Ro-ro is faster and I’m conscious of the coming African summer, but you have to leave the car unlocked. We locked everything up in a big old chest and we padlocked all the items together and gave the key to the Captain.

We head to the coast in a combi, which I would definitely recommend to other travelers. You can catch the minibus taxi from Rhino Park in Windhoek. The 14 seater minibus waits until all the seats are filled for the journey. It costs N$150 each and takes 5 hours. There is a locked trailer into which your luggage goes. We had one bag but they might charge if you have more. One of the other travelers, as he got on the bus, made a comment about preferring the back to the front … because in the front there is nothing in between you and whatever you are going to crash into. Naturally, then, someone else happily piped in about how a car crashed into the side he was sitting on when he last traveled in the minibus.

The driver turns out to be awesome. Highly skilled at predicting other people’s bad driving. The travelers are friendly, and the lady behind me starts singing (beautifully) to pass the time. Its hot and and I put up a hoody as a screen from the sun. The road is smooth tarmac.

The journey entrances me. I have never been in a desert before. Beautiful and uncompromising, overlapping brown and crème sand dunes, some small, some huge, and in the distance blue mountains.

There are warning signs for “Sand” and “Fog”. My mind wanders to thinking about water tanks, how much water we can carry and where we will be able to fill up. We arrive at the coast and turn left. This area is famous for shipwrecks and I feel sorry for the sailors who landed here.

When we get out the taxi, it is cold and windy.