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14th march - 4th april

Overlanding across Afica in our Land Rover Defender: Namibia

Andy Lees
2006-05-16 14:28:42

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i can tell you that in the fog it looked like one of cornwall's drearier harbours. so much so that we began to get a craving for fish and chips. miraculously, a take-away appeared specialiazing in just that dish and we ate on the quayside from steaming paper bags. with our vinegar soaked treats in hand the salty mist became the perfect accompaniment.

leaving the centre of town the tarmac soon gives way to sand, even before the houses end. we skirted some salt pans and more prohibited areas, before reaching a wide bay and a lighthouse. we weren't sure if the beach was prohibited too, but when dolphins began spinning and flipping from the surf we risked a stroll along the shore.

beyond the lighthouse the rocky headlands were home to colonies of sealions. the fog had finally cleared and they basked on rocks or raced between the foamy white water and the tangle of kelp.

on the way back to aus we once again passed the ghost town and the improved light tempted us into the forbidden zone to photograph the hopeless railway tracks where they emerged from the side of a dune. i wasn't sure what the penalty for trespass would be, but without my mining equipment to hand i didn't feel i posed much of a threat. i didn't see any diamonds anyway.

sesriem - 18th march

we left aus again. this time heading north towards sesriem and the famous dunes of sossusvlei; the tallest sand dunes in the world. the road was gravel and we left billowing clouds of dust as we sped along the perimeter of the namib naukluft national park. the trademark red dunes of the namib desert already visible to our left. to our right, long horned oryx fled at our approach, kicking up dust themselves.

by mid afternoon we'd arrived at sesriem campsite. this was where we'd first seen a roof-top tent on a 4x4 and decided we had to have one. now we were back, with our own roof-top tent and our own 4x4, but actually ...