Upon packing the wagon and loading Pina up, we meet the hosts again who want to see the car, and chat with us before we head on our way, this is sometimes tough to do as you want to chat, but it will turn in to a meal and 5 hours so you sometimes do have to cut it short and make your way. But before we go I am instructed to go check out some very cool rock formations the opposite way of which we are going. It is a massive rock that looks like it has been cut in half, we spend about 15 minutes laying the cool grass in the second location around the trees and let the cat run for a bit. Was worth the detour.
The road itself to our nightly stop which is planned for nowhere yet is a real winner again, the more twists on the map the better the road it seems. We climb and fall at a nice slow pace enjoying the green colours and clean smells. This area has serious issues with illegal logging and there are police and army everywhere on the look out with many check points. Which is great to see they are trying to protect it.
I saved a small tortoise, so feeling good we decide it is time to eat after another 2 hours on the road. We find a small shaded area by the river after a small foray offroad, the water is so cool, and in 38 weather it’s a life saver. Pina is struggling a little bit in the heat as he still has his winter coat on. So we are leaving the car running with the A/C on for him as required. Next time we will try to plan our moves better with the seasons so he is more prepared.
Looking for camp, of course we find a lovely little offshoot, that leads to a flat around on a finger with the hill rolling off in all directions around. The perfect camp spot. Now it may be worth noting the “road” down was a bit rough, well quite rough. I just get the tent out and a green motorbike comes down.. oh no… here we go. “You cant be here with the car, but you can camp” so it came down to yes, we could camp there, but only if we moved the car back to the road. After some back and forth this guy put his foot down. The whole time filming. It was time to pack up and move now. His last question was how do you plan on getting out? Easy, 4wd with a locker, we climb up the hill no problems and continue on our way. I’m sure the video of the climb he took got shared around a bit.
But luckily 4kms down the road we find their security hut and go talk to the guard to get permission to camp on the edge of the road that is gated off. He allows, and we are set. The guard even stops by for a ciggy later in the night and a bowl of food Asareh had prepared. He is clearly happy and enjoying himself. Any conversation when you work in the bush is good conversation. Lol.
