Day 40 on the road, This has been great so far. We pack up as 2 locals walk past camp, I ask to confirm that this track does in fact meet back up with the highway. It does so we continue on, We hit the highway for a small amount then head back into the dirt to make our way to Opuwa. This stop is a full restock, we figure we will be in the bush for 5 days and restock on route. Wrong. But that’s for a future blog. We grab all the food we require for 8 days in the bush, money, alcohol and some internet. Sadly in front of the shops is a few Himba women drunk who agree for their photo to be taken to show the decline of the culture.
The town is a dust bowl, there has been no rain for 5 years according to some. And it shows. On route out of town we grab fat cake, as you do and we continue on. Looking for our road it takes 30 minutes of back and forth in the bush before I decide to head to the power distribution system. That was the key, found the start, we discover it’s not on any of my maps, or is broken between all my mapping software. 4 programs and I build a track. We start down this track and quickly start struggling with washout, and brush. We have to bush bash, dent the wagon, the poor thing is working overtime.
I get stuck trying to get out of a wash out, airing down allows me to drive out without an issue. Judging by the trail I reckon not a lot of people use this route. One bit gets so tough we end up side tracking for 3kms cutting back and forth through the brush to figure out a route through.
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- New dent on the fender
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- Rear bumper damage
Pushing on we find a village and walk in to ask to drive through the fence. We pull in and Asareh quickly heads out to talk to the locals and hand out a few treats, this was interesting, where tourists are a prominent feature the kids come running, and even jump on the vehicle where as here, they were scared and stayed away till Asareh talked to the mothers. One kid approaches me and shows off the Goats new born. Hilarious.
2 new babies fresh out of the oven
We can’t find our cross road so we continue north along the power lines. With a new marker set we push all the way till 4pm, a very late stop for us. Parking up on the flat we quickly get to work setting up and Asareh quickly cuts her leg open collecting wood. Some first aid later we are good.
Setup for the night, time for a drink
Dinner is special tonight, celebrating day 40, we have kebabs and Champaign followed by a few games of backgammon. The stars look amazing and we settle in for a relaxing night.
Kebab on route 
Celebrations!!!
