The journey continues - Epic part 5
Some more pictures from Port Nolloth - the sunset was beautiful and we just had to get a few kitch pictures with a palm and such.
The next morning, however, the view looked very different:
Just a short while later, the fog had lifted and the sea was as flat as a pancake:
And off we went again:
A TARRED road leads from Port Nolloth to Alexanderbaai, but not many people use it. Quite a dreary landscape but it does have its attractions. no pictures, either, sorry.
You can tell that it is mining area - lots of mining heaps and every so often to warning to not disembark from your car.
After informing Mommy last night that we might be "Home for Christmas", we had a plan and a route. Alexander Bay is really not a town you wan to be found dead in. The town is falling apart and only kept alive through the mine - Oranjemund is about 10km away by car, or jsut across the river mouth. (Sorry no pictures)
In a sense, Katja and I followed the Orjane River on this tour (not right to Lesotho, but quite a bit - from Augrabies it is about 550km to the mouth :)
So, after waving goodbye to Alexanderbaai, we took a really, really, really bad road to Sendelingsdrift. There were several mines on the way and all the big trucks had corrugated the road so badly that our cheeks were wobbling, nevermind the "bacon" on our bodies. We were also slipping and sliding - so not only up and down bouncing, but left and right too. Not so good on the suspension of the car. The Richtersveld must be awesome at sunset!
But, we needed to cross the river before the border closed.
So, off we went and if you ever travel that way, take the ferry! It was fun! (People looked at my little car very funny, which was even "funner" :) )
The wind was blowing so that the flags were easy to photograph like this:
Across the way the road was gravel, but as smooth as a mirror - better even than some of the tarred roads up till now.
We followed the Oranje meandering in the river bed, framed by black, rocky hills on either side. Beautiful!
A few Oryx greeted us along the way, as well as a jackal shortly before Ai-Ais.
When we arrived in Ai-Ais, the lady was adamant there were no chalets or rooms available. But perhaps because I was not going anywhere, she asked for 10 minutes. We then had something to drink and lo and behold, there was a room!
Beautiful room above the hot spring internal pools.
Yummy dinner in the evening and some stargazing with a glass of Fryer's Cove we finished off the evening.
PS a slight warning to travellers from South Africa to Namibia - your bank cards will incur international fees, since the banks are now separated from their RSA equivalent. Travel with as much cash as you are comfortable with, especially for petrol, since the petrol stations do not take debit cards.
Just a short while later, the fog had lifted and the sea was as flat as a pancake:
And off we went again:
A TARRED road leads from Port Nolloth to Alexanderbaai, but not many people use it. Quite a dreary landscape but it does have its attractions. no pictures, either, sorry.
You can tell that it is mining area - lots of mining heaps and every so often to warning to not disembark from your car.
After informing Mommy last night that we might be "Home for Christmas", we had a plan and a route. Alexander Bay is really not a town you wan to be found dead in. The town is falling apart and only kept alive through the mine - Oranjemund is about 10km away by car, or jsut across the river mouth. (Sorry no pictures)
In a sense, Katja and I followed the Orjane River on this tour (not right to Lesotho, but quite a bit - from Augrabies it is about 550km to the mouth :)
So, after waving goodbye to Alexanderbaai, we took a really, really, really bad road to Sendelingsdrift. There were several mines on the way and all the big trucks had corrugated the road so badly that our cheeks were wobbling, nevermind the "bacon" on our bodies. We were also slipping and sliding - so not only up and down bouncing, but left and right too. Not so good on the suspension of the car. The Richtersveld must be awesome at sunset!
But, we needed to cross the river before the border closed.
So, off we went and if you ever travel that way, take the ferry! It was fun! (People looked at my little car very funny, which was even "funner" :) )
The wind was blowing so that the flags were easy to photograph like this:
Across the way the road was gravel, but as smooth as a mirror - better even than some of the tarred roads up till now.
We followed the Oranje meandering in the river bed, framed by black, rocky hills on either side. Beautiful!
A few Oryx greeted us along the way, as well as a jackal shortly before Ai-Ais.
When we arrived in Ai-Ais, the lady was adamant there were no chalets or rooms available. But perhaps because I was not going anywhere, she asked for 10 minutes. We then had something to drink and lo and behold, there was a room!
Beautiful room above the hot spring internal pools.
PS a slight warning to travellers from South Africa to Namibia - your bank cards will incur international fees, since the banks are now separated from their RSA equivalent. Travel with as much cash as you are comfortable with, especially for petrol, since the petrol stations do not take debit cards.
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