Sitting and enjoying coffee we feel it, a slight breeze, then a less slight breeze. Boom, chairs tip over, dust is blowing in our eyes.
The ultimate struggle begins, packing up a RTT in wind. One down side the brochures never mention. With the struggle complete and the relationship intact we motor back to the group of baobabs, no one is there, due to our late starts I guess, which makes tourist attraction quite enjoyable for us. Climbing back into our trusty steed we head south to the highway. Some soft sand is encountered.
We trek 60kms to Gweta for sugar and milk at the actually well stocked shop, especially the coca cola fridge. Its like something you see in an ad. Stocked to the T. If there is one thing that is certain in Africa is that you can get a coke anywhere, literally anywhere. It might not be ice cold. But you can get one.
While relaxing and getting caught up on the cell reception I wonder over and chat with a couple from Spain who were waiting for a tow as they had snapped a leaf spring clean in half, 50k on the clock. These poor hire cars.
Top tip: If the roads are rough, air down a bit, save your vehicle and your spine.
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- On route
After the struggle to book our nights at Elephant Sands, we head down the trail. We have left any form of road behind. In the process we hit bull dust, straight bull dust, apparently there are still quite a few holes in the pajero where dust is getting in. We stop and buy some wood from locals and enter the pan.
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- Entering the pans
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- Just because we travel doesn’t mean we cant dress up
What a view, endless white salt as far as you can see with the odd willy willy tearing across and a lost ostrich or 2. Further up we hit black volcanic rocks, this place seems to change quite frequently. We push on for another 5km to camp and find a spot on the edge of the pan to pull up on. I begin stripping the wagon and sealing holes with electrical tape covered in silicone before Asareh kills me.
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- Chicken Livers
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- Fixing all the bolt holes that let dust in.. 32 in total
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- I have had enough of clothing or maybe I didn’t want to get it dirty working on the wagon
The afternoon sun slowly falls and meal prep continues, Spicy chicken livers for lunch, kebabs for dinner, block of fillet for stew, and finishing with gheymeh for the rice. With that completed we sit and watch the sun set over the flats. The colours are vivid. We start a small fire and prep the charcoal for steak and even have a crack at bear bread, its alright, but very heavy. We sit under the stars with quiet music playing.
Editors note: Asareh got at least 10 comments on her dress in town. A big hit!!
