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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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fish river canyon - 14th march

we were over the border but the scenery hadn't changed much. the sky was still vast and blue, the land flat and dry, the air baking, the road black and smooth and shimmering towards the horizon. we were back in namibia, the country we'd vowed to return to. i remembered a depressing morning in frankfurt airport, just over two years ago. a cold grey morning in a cold grey airport. we were waiting for our connecting flight to london, still slightly shocked to have been whisked away from the namibian heat after our five night tour. we knew that freezing weather awaited us at home and the departure gate felt like death row. we had been sick with envy as an older couple regaled us with the details of their month long namibian tour in a rented 4x4. and there and then we'd decided to go back, but we hadn't even dreamed on what a grand scale the reality would be.

we pressed on fast through heat and space, chasing the mirage. the details of that morning in the airport were clear in my mind but as distant from my surroundings as any two scenes could be. we smiled at each other then focussed on the road as the kilometres melted away.

after spending most of the day on the road we arrived at fish river canyon. the simplicity of the river's name betrays the astonishing fact its the only watercourse in southern namibia with sufficient volume to support fish. visually though, its the canyon itself that is more impressive, snaking a deep gorge through the otherwise uninterrupted desert of rock.

that night we treated ourselves to a meal in the lodge's restaurant to celebrate our successful return to the country. it was around then that we began to fear that namibia would blow our budget.

to aus - 15th march

we didn't have too far to go the next day, but we decided to make things difficult for ourselves by taking a scenic route described ...